TAQA’s Acquisition of BP’s North Sea Assets to Boost Production, Oil & Gas UK Thinks

TAQA’s Acquisition of BP’s North Sea Assets to Boost Production, Oil & Gas UK Thinks

Transfer of UK Oil and Gas Assets to new independents could boost investment and production, according to Oil & Gas UK.

Noting the sale of a number of BP’s central North Sea oil and gas fields to TAQA today, Mike Tholen, Oil & Gas UK’s economics and commercial director, said: “We warmly welcome the purchase of UK oil and gas fields by independent oil and gas company, TAQA, which is another vote of confidence in Britain’s oil and gas industry and reflects the very significant potential that remains here. The transfer of these assets will bring forward additional investment and innovation with a resulting boost to jobs, oil and gas production and of course the tax revenues that come with that.

Recent constructive engagement with the Treasury to make the fiscal environment and case for investment in the UK more attractive to companies such as TAQA has resulted in several changes that are already acting to boost investment and jobs. While new tax allowances have made investment in a range of challenging fields more attractive to investors, the current wave of activity comes with the expectation that the Government will deliver certainty on tax relief on decommissioning and we look forward to hearing more on that front in the Autumn Statement and Budget 2013.

[mappress]
Press Release, November 30, 2012