Summary

p>The UK government has for some time recognised that the maturing provinces of the North Sea, coupled with more recent smaller developments, have created a need for a change in its approach to licensing and taxation. It is arguable that the changes began as long ago as 1982, when royalty was abolished for new fields, and continued in 1993 with the abolition of petroleum revenue tax for new fields. At the same time the government’s expectations of the companies has changed - there have been various incentives to shorten the time to first oil in the last three licensing rounds.