Media Centre
Tuesday 2 March 2010
Oil & Gas UK meets Greg Clark, Shadow Secretary for Energy and Climate Change
Malcolm Webb, Oil & Gas UK’s chief executive along with other Oil & Gas UK Board members, attended a lunchtime meeting today (02 March 2010) with Greg Clark MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change. He commented:
“It was good to welcome the Shadow Secretary for Energy and Climate Change in Aberdeen today and reinforce the importance of the oil and gas industry as the provider of the UK's primary source of energy for many years to come. As our recent Activity Survey showed, the UK offers still significant opportunity for offshore oil and gas development but companies are finding it increasingly difficult to turn new reserves into economic production.
“Securing all the investments needed to develop the often smaller, more technically challenging fields will not only demand action from industry to increase efficiency and reduce costs, but it also requires government to lower production taxes and lighten UK and EU regulatory burden.
“The Treasury’s recent announcements were steps in the right direction. But much more needs to be done to improve the UK industry’s global competitive position so that it can attract the substantial investment that will be required to explore for and develop the country’s estimated remaining 25 billion barrels of oil and gas and keep its successful supply chain anchored here.
“Over lunch, Oil & Gas UK and representatives from member companies had an opportunity to emphasise to the Shadow Secretary that, without the right measures, the UK’s offshore oil and gas industry risks accelerated decline and the supply chain will move overseas. Natural resources left in the ground do not create jobs, nor do they earn tax revenues. They mean greater dependency on imported oil and gas, weakening the UK’s balance of trade and its security of energy supply.”
For further information, please contact Britta Hallbauer on 01224 577331
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