LOCAL MP COMMENTS ON OIL INDUSTRY WARNING
Banff & Buchan MP Dr Eilidh Whiteford has commented on the results of Oil & Gas UK's updated Activity Survey which warns that unless mitigating measures are put in place, at least 25 projects which account for over a billion barrels of oil and gas and investment worth £12 billion are unlikely to go ahead and the lives of at least 20 producing fields will be shortened by up to five years.
Commenting, Dr Whiteford said:
"Even the Chancellor must now recognise the immense damage that his ill conceived tax grab will have, and the Treasury must step back before it is too late.
"The Chancellor's decision to hike tax on the North Sea oil and gas sector has already put investment and job creation in this vital industry at risk. There is widespread opposition to the way the UK Government is treating the North Sea industry, and I hope that the Chancellor will listen to the case for an alternative approach which protects exploration and development activity.
"We need, as the First Minster called for last week, a progressive system that puts more of the tax burden on the gatherers of North Sea oil and gas rather than the investors.
"There is no clearer demonstration of the need for Scotland to have responsibility for our North Sea than the misguided tax plans of the Tory and Lib Dem government.
"This year North sea revenue will raise £13.4 billion - a record amount of money flowing from Scotland's seas to the UK Treasury. Scotland's oil is bankrolling this Tory government just as Scotland's people are paying the price in rising taxes and now this Lib Dem /Tory tax is putting jobs at risk."