Extractive industries report demonstrates oil and gas sector’s commitment to transparency
Published: 05 April, 2017
In response to the UK Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (UK EITI) report released by the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy in Aberdeen recently, Oil & Gas UK welcomed the demonstration of the oil and gas sector’s continued commitment to meet the EITI’s aim to improve transparency in the extractive industries.
Mike Tholen, Oil & Gas UK’s upstream policy director, said: “EITI is a global standard for the governance of a country’s oil, gas and mineral resources aimed at increasing transparency around information relating to tax payments, licences, contracts and production relating to resource extraction. It is supported by governments, industry and civil society organisations and provides the public with reliable information about their country’s natural resources, enabling them to hold the government and companies to account.
“The 2015 report shows that more than 95 per cent of the oil and gas companies meeting the scope of the EITI criteria contributed to this year’s report. This response represents a very substantial proportion of the taxes paid to HM Treasury by our sector across a number of payment streams and demonstrates a high level of participation in a voluntary initiative.
“This report refers to 2015 and as such demonstrates how tough business conditions over the past two years have been, with a direct impact on tax revenues to the UK Exchequer. We are confident that next year's report covering 2016 will demonstrate the improvements in efficiency and performance that are now being seen across the basin. In the meantime, we will continue to work collaboratively with Governments to improve our competitiveness. This sector represents a vital part of the economy, providing highly skilled employment and a secure source of indigenous energy for decades to come.”
