/cloudfront-us-east-2.images.arcpublishing.com/reuters/ACWGV4LRIJOJTHAUVDRZOADPKI.jpg)
[ad_1]
Dec 1 (Reuters) – TotalEnergies ( TTEF.PA ) will cut its investment in British North Sea oil and gas projects by a quarter next year after the UK government raised a windfall tax on the sector, the French company’s British exploration and production chief said. on Wednesday.
Energy giants Shell ( SHEL.L ) and Equinor ( EQNR.OL ) have also said they are evaluating their investment plans after a windfall tax was raised from 25% to 35% this month to help plug Britain’s fiscal hole.
The windfall tax, on top of several other taxes the sector is subject to, brings the overall tax rate to 75%, the highest in the world.
“For 2023 alone, our investment will be reduced by 25%,” Jean-Luc Guiziou said in a statement, first reported by Energy Voice.
TotalEnergies, the second-largest oil and gas producer in the British North Sea according to WoodMac data, originally planned to spend 500 million pounds ($613.00 million) in the British North Sea next year, the spokesman said.
In its current form, Guizio said, without a mechanism to reflect any decline in oil and gas prices, the windfall tax would particularly affect short-term investments such as filling wells near existing production.
One project that will be eliminated is a well on the Elgin field, the spokesperson added.
“The energy industry operates in a cyclical market and is subject to volatile commodity prices. We believe the government should be open to reviewing energy profit collection if prices fall before 2028,” Guizio said.
($1 = 0.8157 pounds)
Reporting by Tasilo Hummel and Shadia Nasralla; Editing by Bernadette Baum
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
[ad_2]
Source link