Westminster Tories face doing U-turn on windfall tax

Sir, – Today I heard a Tory unionist on TV likening the proposed windfall tax on the North Sea oil and gas production as a “form of stealing”. A bit more extreme perhaps than their usual “it would drive future investment in the North Sea away”.

Last year it was reported that as a result of the efforts of the oil producers over a number of years when the oil price was low, the average production costs had been driven down to around $25 a barrel.

At the beginning of 2021, the oil price was around $50 a barrel and the oil companies were comfortable.

I am not aware that the cost of producing oil in the North Sea has soared since then – world events and market forces being the cause of the present high world prices for oil and gas enjoyed by the international oil companies.

These prices are not expected to go down soon.

At the present oil and gas prices – over $110 per barrel for oil – the value of Scotland’s oil and gas production is now in around £100 million/day.

Probably three-quarters of that sum is above the production cost. Even the oil companies are admitting that it is akin to printing money for them. There is a cast-iron case to introduce a windfall tax.

And I feel sure that threequarters of the UK’s population is also in favour of such a tax which they will see as fair in the circumstances.

What is it about this

Westminster Tory government that is so resistant to a windfall tax which could be used to relieve the burden of so many who are now struggling? They will have to do a U-turn but they have become used to that.

And what a good opportunity to then recognise where the money has come from and to use a sizeable proportion of this Scottish windfall to level up in Scotland.

Nick Dekker.

Nairn Way, Cumbernauld.