Today the Treasury announced that a floor price will be introduced to the Energy Profits Levy on North Sea oil and gas production. This will see the tax rate levied on the industry fall back to 40% when prices consistently return to normal levels for a sustained period.
The Government will introduce a new Energy Security Investment Mechanism to protect domestic energy supply, help safeguard tens of thousands of jobs, and safeguard energy costs for the Great British public in difficult times.
The mechanism will give the oil and gas sector certainty to raise capital and invest in new and existing projects, securing affordable and reliable domestic energy supply and protecting some of the 215,000 British jobs the sector supports.
Following the announcement Andrew said:
“The floor price announcement by the Exchequer Secretary represents the best of all worlds for the consumer, for business and for Britain’s energy security. I believe it will have a hugely positive impact and have been campaigning for months for its introduction.
"It will offer certainty for the industry and its tens of thousands of employees in the North East of Scotland, as well as all those across Britain in the supply chain.”
Andrew said that he believed that the news “will give the public confidence that energy companies will be doing their bit to keep bills as low as possible, as they have been doing.
"And it should also replenish the confidence that these businesses need to continue to invest in the North Sea.
"That investment is crucial to training tomorrow’s energy workforce, meeting our net zero obligations and decreasing our reliance on foreign imports of oil and gas while demand is high.
"It is this Conservative government which is standing up for Scottish jobs and a vital part of our economy, while Labour and the SNP-Green coalition continue to demonise it."
You can read the full statement from the Treasury here.
