Exploring the Rationales for Relaxations in the UK Petroleum Fiscal Regime 1980-2000
Dr Hafez Abdo, Nottingham Trent University. The UK petroleum fiscal regime was established in 1975 and tightened up with a number of different new taxes up until 1981. The period 1983-2000 witnessed three petroleum tax relaxations. These took place in 1983, 1987-88, and 1993, and presented a clear change in the type of UK governance of its petroleum resources from a proprietorial to a non-proprietorial regime. This paper will explore and test the historical rationales for the three UK petroleum tax relaxations. The investigation of these rationales is based on three viewpoints: that of the Government, the UK oil industry, and academics. The tests of the rationales will measure the success of the Government petroleum policy which was based on using tax relaxations to stimulate oil and gas investments. This paper will be set in the context of the two broad alternatives (proprietorial and non-proprietorial) because the UK has, over time, come to use its fiscal regime more and more as a tool of intervention. This became particularly apparent from the 1980s onwards after the initial period of fiscal tightening which Read more…
Categories: Academic Papers, Energy policy, Energy security, Gas, Oil
Tags: conference 2008, fiscal regime, Gas, Oil, Production, security and sustainability, tax, UK
Sep
2008