Oil & Gas UK has commended the UK Government for its continued support for industry, with inclusion of Transferable Tax History (TTH) in its draft Finance Bill published this week.

TTH allows additional investment to be unlocked in the North Sea by enabling more assets to change hands and aids new owners when providing fresh investment to many mature oil and gas fields.

Mike Tholen, Upstream Policy Director Oil & Gas UK, said: 
“The publication of draft legislation for Transferable Tax History is greatly welcomed by the industry as it’s an additional tool in the deal toolkit, with the potential for bringing new investment to the basin.

“TTH will help increase recovery from existing fields and encourage fresh investment which will both help generate activity for our hard-pressed supply chain. It will also help extend the lives of many mature fields and postpone decommissioning.

“Adopting this measure makes it clear that the Treasury recognises the need for a predictable fiscal regime as the basin matures, which is critical in ensuring it remains competitive.

“We look forward to continuing our work with Government for these measures to be put into law and available for use to industry for deals from 1 November 2018. This in turn will ensure industry continues to provide security of energy supply for the longer term, contributing billions to the economy and supporting hundreds of thousands of high-value jobs.”