Mastodawn

The narrative that all we need to do to solve our energy crisis is to exploit the North Sea more is undermined by the actual output of those field issued exploration & production licences in the last decade... they're not producing very much at all.

Rather than listen to the fossil fuels lobby what the UK needs to do is really push further with the green transition to renewables & better storage.

Here, Ed Miliband is on the right side of history!

#energy #renewables
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/mar/28/north-sea-oil-gas-licences-conservatives

Hundreds of North Sea licences granted by Tories ‘produce only 36 days of gas’

Exclusive: Findings cast doubt on claims new drilling would help cut bills and boost energy security, researchers say

The Guardian

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BashStKid 3d ago

@ChrisMayLA6 It won't surprise you that the companies are skilled at tax minimisation, not least because they wrote some of the rules.

Most of this is oriented towards having capex spending on a new project, then making use of capital allowances and reduced tax rates prior to project payback, which is a very manipulable variable. Also the rules on depreciation and amortisation can be bent quite a lot.

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BashStKid 3d ago

The end goal is to put the profits somewhere they're not visible to UK taxes or windfall taxes, then turn around and ask for more assistance because their profits are so low. Some of those bad habits are spreading to the offshore windfarm industry, which isn't good.

There's an old joke that the companies are financial traders with a sideline in tax-efficient construction.

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Emeritus Prof Christopher May

@BashStKid

Yes, and if only such manipulation was limited to energy - such profit shifting was exactly what has prompted both he OECD & the UN to look to establish global corporation tax agreements (which of course the US has worked hard to water down & wreck).

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BashStKid 3d ago

@ChrisMayLA6 Indeed, the companies have always been trailblazers for multinationals shrugging off responsibilities.
Ironically, now that so much avoidance focus is of the financial variety, double-Irish and so forth, the companies might evade scrutiny by making actual things. It's hard to regulate a bidding process where the loser is from your country's shipyards and the winner is from a tax-free Gulf state that is a minority partner in the project. (qv windfarm holdups from Hormuz closure)