Meeting of the Parliament 26 November 2025
I will use the short time that I have to make one point to Fergus Ewing. I am fully in favour of electrification of production platforms. The decrease in production emissions is important and should be taken into account when all licences are considered.
I am deeply worried, because the UK Government did not even mention EPL in the budget statement today. The situation is worse than simply not heeding warnings from the industry. The Labour Government has not taken the offer of Offshore Energies UK to reform the levy in a way that would prompt renewed investment while creating longer-term tax receipts for the UK Treasury. It did the work for the Government. It presented a plan and a way out that would lead to more revenue coming to the Exchequer, but it was not even referenced. As far as I know, it has not even had a response.
The EPL is affecting investment in offshore wind and the stability of the energy supply chain, as well as causing job losses well beyond oil and gas producers. It is having a ripple effect on communities in the north-east, Grangemouth and Fife. Furthermore, it is preventing the decommissioning of obsolete assets, with all the jobs that would come with that.