{"id":341508,"date":"2024-09-04T10:07:57","date_gmt":"2024-09-04T08:07:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=341508"},"modified":"2024-09-04T10:08:00","modified_gmt":"2024-09-04T08:08:00","slug":"top-north-sea-oil-field-in-jeopardy-after-miliband-crackdown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=341508","title":{"rendered":"Top North Sea oil field in jeopardy after Miliband crackdown"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Developer blames tax raid as project plunges into uncertainty<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the North Sea\u2019s biggest oil field developments is in jeopardy after developers put the project on hold following a crackdown by Ed Miliband<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NEO Energy on Monday announced a slowdown of investment in various UK schemes, including the large Buchan Horst redevelopment, 93 miles off the coast of Aberdeen. The Telegraph<\/a> has the story.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Buchan is the third-biggest upcoming North Sea project and is conservatively expected to yield about 70m barrels of oil, with peak production likely to hit about 35,000 barrels per day. It was expected to begin production in 2027.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But NEO claimed a tax raid and new consultation launched by the Labour Government had plunged the scheme into uncertainty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor, is working with Energy Secretary Mr Miliband to increase the windfall tax on oil and gas businesses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr Miliband\u2019s department is also reviewing the environmental assessment process for North Sea oil and gas developments in a consultation due to run until the spring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This was announced last month in response to a landmark Supreme Court ruling<\/a> which said the \u201cscope 3\u201d emissions \u2013 those that would indirectly result from a development, such as cars running on petrol \u2013 must be taken into account.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ruling has already led the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero to announce it will not defend previous decisions to grant licences for the major Rosebank and Jackdaw developments in court<\/a> \u2013 although these have not yet been revoked \u2013 with other North Sea operators also facing limbo while the Government decides what the ruling means for future schemes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sir Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, and Mr Miliband previously vowed not to grant any new oil and gas licences if they won power in July\u2019s election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The review has prompted the Offshore Petroleum Regulator for Environment and Decommissioning, which handles development applications, to impose a temporary moratorium on applications that are already in motion as well, NEO Energy said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The company said that combined with the harsher tax environment, this had implications for investment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It added: \u201cAgainst this uncertain backdrop, NEO and its owner HitecVision have taken the decision to materially slow down investment activities across all development assets in its portfolio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn relation to the Buchan Horst project, NEO awaits clarity regarding the UK regulatory and fiscal framework so that the full impact can be assessed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis will inevitably delay first oil timing in relation to the project which was previously forecast to be late 2027.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Offshore Energy UK, which represents developers, has urged ministers to speed up the Energy Department consultation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a separate report published on Monday, the lobby group warned Labour\u2019s tax raid on UK oil and gas companies would drive investment overseas and cost the country \u00a313bn<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It said plans to further increase the windfall tax on oil and gas profits and scrap tax breaks would virtually halt all further investment into the North Sea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New levies drawn up by Ms Reeves and Mr Miliband will result in North Sea oil and gas producers paying 78pc tax on profits from November, the highest rate of any UK industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read the full story here<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of the North Sea\u2019s biggest oil field developments is in jeopardy after developers put the project on hold following\u00a0a crackdown by Ed Miliband.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":341512,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691821693,691829913,691818154,691819807,691830465,691819148],"class_list":{"0":"post-341508","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-ed-miliband","9":"tag-energy-industry","10":"tag-net-zero","11":"tag-north-sea-oil","12":"tag-offshore-energy-uk","13":"tag-oil-and-gas","15":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/0oillll.webp?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1qQc","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":433546,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=433546","url_meta":{"origin":341508,"position":0},"title":"Miliband’s North Sea Ban: Ideological Madness in the Face of War-Driven Energy Chaos","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"03\/23\/2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Miliband maintains that extra North Sea production would make no \u201cmaterial difference\u201d to household bills (prices are set globally) or long-term supply. 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