There has been significant attention paid over the past few months to oil and gas taxation in the UK, following Labour’s announcement regarding its intentions for oil and gas taxation, should it form the next UK government.
Earlier this month, Labour announced its revised green investment plan. While the wider media focus has been on the reduction of the previous £28bn annual target, the announcement also contained potentially significant proposals regarding the taxation of UK upstream oil and gas.
It’s been a busy start to 2024 in UK oil and gas regulation, with two areas of interest reaching different stages of the legislative process.
The UK continues to maintain its position as one of the leading and most developed offshore wind markets in the world, with an installed capacity of over 14 gigawatts (GW), and an ambition to secure 50 GW of offshore wind capacity by 2030.
The long-awaited Energy Act 2023 (the “Act”) received Royal Assent on the 26 October 2023, more than a year after the original bill was first introduced to Parliament.
The Middle East has long been synonymous with the oil and gas industry, with approximately 30% of the world’s oil currently produced in the region.
With questions hanging over the future of North Sea licences, legal experts have floated potential solutions which could reassure firms over the safety of new investments.
The UK’s net zero ‘target’ is more than aspirational – the Secretary of State is subject to a legal duty to ensure that the UK reaches net zero by 2050.
Regulation of safety in the energy sector is uniquely challenging in high-hazard environments, particularly with increasing pressures to innovate to achieve the transition to net zero and provide energy security.
Two oil and gas sector specialists from an Aberdeen law firm have released a book on what they call the “radical” approach the UK has taken with its maximising economic recovery regime.
In May 2019, the UK’s Climate Change Committee stated that in order to achieve the UK’s net zero targets, carbon capture and storage is a necessity and not an option.
With further strikes by offshore workers set to begin this week, legal experts have warned of the potential ‘force majeure’ impact on energy sector contracts.
An Aberdeen conference take place this month to help oil and gas suppliers manage opportunities and risks around the energy transition.
The importance of ESG within the energy sector continues to be a headline topic and one which for oil and gas companies needs to form part of their business strategy as to how they contribute to the economy and society in which they operate.
Following the UK’s departure from the European Union, a key priority for the UK Government has been to amend UK laws to reduce red-tape for business and simplify EU laws that were retained in UK law following Brexit.
Is the North Sea getting to grips with ESG?
In August 2021 Marine Scotland released “The Offshore Wind Energy for Innovation Projects and Targeted Oil and Gas Decarbonisation (INTOG) Planning Specification and Context” report for public consultation. Within a year , Marine Scotland had identified areas it considered suitable for such developments and on August 10, 2022 the INTOG leasing round opened for applications, closing on November 18.
In looking back at 2022, it is hard to overstate some of the significant developments affecting the oil and gas industry.
"Looking ahead to 2023, it's pretty clear that what we are looking for is boredom”, says Addleshaw Goddard partner and co-head of oil and gas, Paul Jones, after the turbulence of the past 12 months.
Companies active in the energy sector would not be blamed for losing sight of their ESG strategy in 2022; the energy industry’s pre-COP 26 focus on climate-change action has been somewhat superseded by the race to balance the energy transition with security and affordability of supply.
OEUK’s Diversity and Inclusion Report last year, which garnered the views of some 1600 people from over 100 organisations in the UK Oil and Gas industry, made for sobering, if unsurprising, reading.
A judicial review decision in Scotland’s Court of Session over the summer provides further evidence of a growing wave of post-COP26 challenges to governments over their commitment in delivering on net zero pledges.
Experts have said the UK North Sea is the “highest risk” location in the world for legal disputes to erupt in the oil and gas sector.
For the last few decades the ONS conference in Stavanger has focused on the energy industry’s direction from the perspective of North Sea exploration and production business – this year, ONS 2022 will focus mainly on energy transition.
It is expected that the legislation introducing the new energy profits levy – better known as the windfall tax – will pass through parliament later this month, before taking effect from when it was originally announced 26 May.