The architect of a UK strategy to boost offshore oil and gas work has called on the government and industry to apply “clever thinking to incentivize investment.”
Calling crude prices below $50/bbl unsustainable, retired Wood Group Chairman Ian Wood told the BBC the industry “is right now facing as tough a time as it has ever faced.”
Wood led a committee that in 2013-14 developed recommendations for taxation and regulatory changes to help the country achieve what it called maximum economic recovery from the mature UK Continental Shelf oil and gas resource. The government has implemented many of the recommendations (OGJ Online, Feb. 25, 2015).
In his Aug. 28 remarks to the BBC, Wood said the government and industry should continue seeking tax changes to encourage development.
“Otherwise, we will not be in a position to take advantage of the upturn,” he said.