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U.K. Cuts Taxes on Oil Fields, Opens Areas to Development
The Wall Street Journal ^ | May 28, 2008 | LAURENCE NORMAN and JAMES HERRON

Posted on 05/29/2008 2:28:31 PM PDT by MinorityRepublican

LONDON -- The British government, pressed for solutions to soaring fuel prices, said it will exempt about 30 existing North Sea crude-oil and natural-gas fields from some taxes and approved the development of two new North Sea oil fields, which could begin production in early 2009.

But the measures, announced as U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling met with U.K. oil-industry executives to explore ways to increase oil and gas production, seemed unlikely to significantly alter Britain's fuel-price problems.

The British government, like others in Europe, has come under fire in recent weeks from groups that are severely affected by high fuel prices. Tuesday, transport companies sent hundreds of trucks into London to protest high fuel prices, while French President President Nicolas Sarkozy urged countries in the European Union to consider capping fuel taxes.

The measures adopted by the British Wednesday will do little to ease those concerns.

Tax changes to certain North Sea production operations will allow new oil and gas fields to be carved from unprofitable parts of 30 existing fields. This potentially will add 20,000 barrels a day of new production at the fields' peak, the Department of Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform said in a statement.

U.K. oil fields produced about 1.5 million barrels of oil a day in 2007, according to government figures.

The 30 fields will be exempted from the Petroleum Revenue Tax, which is levied at 50% of cash flow after capital expenditures and operating costs on oil produced in the North Sea above a specific allowance for each field. It applies only to fields that received development consent before March 1993.

(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...


TOPICS: United Kingdom
KEYWORDS: energyprices; enrgy; oil; taxes

1 posted on 05/29/2008 2:28:31 PM PDT by MinorityRepublican
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To: MinorityRepublican

It might take a convoy going to Washington to get those heads out of their a##holes!


2 posted on 05/29/2008 2:32:57 PM PDT by Sybeck1 (Ronald Reagan Fought Regulation, John McCain Brought Regulation...)
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To: MinorityRepublican
Too bad the dunderheads in Congress don't understand that this is the way to get lower gasoline prices rather than pillorying oil company executives and enacting new carbon taxes.
3 posted on 05/29/2008 2:35:09 PM PDT by The Great RJ ("Mir we bleiwen wat mir sin" or "We want to remain what we are." ..Luxembourg motto)
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To: MinorityRepublican

The E.U. nations need to wake up and do the ONE thing that will get lower prices, and take all the blame off them:

Make a big stink about how the U.S. is sitting on potentially 1 trillion barrels of oil that we don’t want to drill for because our environmentalist loons control Congress.


4 posted on 05/29/2008 2:37:03 PM PDT by Fox_Mulder77
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To: MinorityRepublican

Worldwide demand is approaching 100 million barrels/day. That means that about 120 million easily-extractable barrels of oil need to be discovered every single day throughout the world to prevent the price from rising further.

Price is not based on current supply, it’s based on projected supply. So far this decade, new discoveries have not kept pace with the long-term demand, so it was inevitable that we’d be facing record prices.

We are in deep doo-doo unless someone pulls a next generation nuclear rabbit out of their hat.


5 posted on 05/29/2008 2:37:41 PM PDT by Go_Raiders ("Being able to catch well in a crowd just means you can't get open, that's all." -- James Lofton)
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To: MinorityRepublican

It’s a sad day when Gordon Brown, the stupidest socialist in Europe, is smarter than the whole U.S. congress put together.


6 posted on 05/29/2008 2:47:25 PM PDT by Cicero (Marcus Tullius)
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To: MinorityRepublican

We are so stupid to be afraid of these watermelons about drilling.


7 posted on 05/29/2008 2:48:33 PM PDT by VeniVidiVici (Ted Kennedy is the finest collection of hops and barley money can buy)
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To: Fox_Mulder77

Plus, the U.S. has over 1/4 of the world’s known coal reserves.


8 posted on 05/29/2008 2:58:50 PM PDT by USFRIENDINVICTORIA
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To: Cicero
It’s a sad day when Gordon Brown, the stupidest socialist in Europe, is smarter than the whole U.S. congress put together.

Ditto to that. Also, Brown announced the UK is going to add more nuclear reactors. The Demos love to point to Europe as the example to follow. For some reason they are not so keen to follow Europe on oil/gas production and nuclear power.

9 posted on 05/29/2008 3:06:49 PM PDT by C19fan
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To: MinorityRepublican

Britian gets it. Conservatives in charge.


10 posted on 05/29/2008 3:27:27 PM PDT by timydnuc (I'll die on my feet before I'll live on my knees.)
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To: MinorityRepublican
Polital correctness will destroy this nation.

Mark my word.

11 posted on 05/29/2008 3:30:04 PM PDT by unixfox (The 13th Amendment Abolished Slavery, The 16th Amendment Reinstated It !)
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To: MinorityRepublican

Wish our Congress loved America more than they hate Republicans or we might find ways to cooperatively drill for oil.


12 posted on 05/29/2008 3:31:21 PM PDT by HeartlandOfAmerica (Don't blame me - I voted for Fred and am STILL a FredHead!)
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To: MinorityRepublican

Even the liberal British are getting it on oil production...

Hello... is anyone home in the US Congress? Anyone with even half of a functional brain?

Dear Nancy Peoloooozer.... Did you mother have any children who didn’t suffer from Oxygen deprivation after birth?


13 posted on 05/29/2008 3:36:47 PM PDT by TheBattman (LORD God, please give us a Christian Patriot with a backbone for President in 08, Amen.)
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To: MinorityRepublican

The 1987 Energy Bill authorized drilling in ANWR, but a filibuster by Senate Democrats kept the measure from coming to a vote. In 1995, Republicans prepared to take up the battle again and included a provision for ANWR in the federal budget. President Bill Clinton vetoed the entire budget and expressed his intention to veto any other bill that would open ANWR to drilling.

Liberals are responsible for high fuel prices. In both the US and UK.


14 posted on 05/29/2008 3:41:15 PM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer (The democRATS are near the tipping point.)
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To: Sybeck1

I am afraid that it will take far more than that.


15 posted on 05/29/2008 3:58:16 PM PDT by Gator113 (Obama is a member of the Far Wright Conspiracy.......)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Were I live, the odds of a terrorist hurting me is extremely small, but those bastard traitors in Washington are killing us all.


16 posted on 05/29/2008 4:02:41 PM PDT by Gator113 (Obama is a member of the Far Wright Conspiracy.......)
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To: Gator113

Were = Where


17 posted on 05/29/2008 4:03:27 PM PDT by Gator113 (Obama is a member of the Far Wright Conspiracy.......)
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To: MinorityRepublican

They should also gasify the coal they have into syngas...


18 posted on 05/29/2008 4:18:40 PM PDT by MD_Willington_1976
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