據油價網2023年6月14日報道，在英國能源利潤稅(通常被稱為暴利稅)的最新變化之后，美國知名石油公司阿帕奇公司停止了其在英國北海的油氣鉆井活動，并在英國裁員。

這家總部位于美國的石油公司是英國北海十大石油和天然氣生產商之一，阿帕奇公司表示，暴利稅和具有挑戰性的監管環境使其在英國的業務競爭力下降。

阿帕奇公司還證實，暫停鉆井活動將導致其旗下英國分公司不得不裁員。

阿帕奇公司的一位女發言人告訴媒體記者：“我們正在重新評估我們的投資，因為我們考慮到具有挑戰性的英國宏觀環境，其成本越來越高，稅收和監管制度越來越繁重。”

“考慮到英國油氣行業的商業環境，與我們投資組合的其他資產相比，這些資產的競爭力已經下降。”女發言人如是說。

上周，英國政府為暴利稅設定了最低價格，但如果油氣平均價格連續兩個季度降至或低于每桶石油71.40美元，那么這個最低價格只會觸發北海油氣生產邊際稅率恢復到40%，而目前的稅率為75%。

阿伯丁商會政策主管瑞安·克里頓表示，英國天然氣價格不太可能跌至上述水平。

“所以，基本上，這個氣價永遠不會被觸發。”克里頓如是說。

克里頓說：“財政部門需要與油氣行業合作，把這件事做好。因為在合適的條件下，北海地區可以創造數十億英鎊的投資和數千個新的就業機會。”

“另一種選擇是征稅，這可能會加速我們石油和天然氣行業的衰退，危及實現英國凈零排放計劃所需的技能和投資。”

在英國在去年年底將暴利稅提高到35%之后，英國北海最大的石油和天然氣生產商海港能源公司退出了英國最新一輪旨在頒發100多份新許可證的許可證出售招標。殼牌公司表示，該公司將重新評估在英國的每個項目，包括其在英國能源系統的305億美元(250億英鎊)計劃投資，而法國道達爾能源公司表示將削減其在英國投資的25%。

李峻 編譯自 油價網 

原文如下：

Apache Halts Drilling In The UK North Sea

Apache Corporation is halting drilling in the UK North Sea, cutting jobs in Britain, after the latest change to the UK Energy Profits Levy, commonly referred to as the windfall tax.

The U.S.-based corporation, which is one of the top ten producers of oil and gas in the UK North Sea, has said that the windfall tax and the challenging regulatory environment are making its UK operations less competitive.

Apache has also confirmed the suspension of drilling activities will lead to job losses in its UK division.

“We are reassessing our investments, as we consider the challenging UK macro environment with its increasingly costly and burdensome tax and regulatory regime,” a spokeswoman for Apache told media.

“Given the business climate for the oil and gas industry in the UK, these assets have become less competitive in comparison to the rest of our portfolio,” she said.

Last week, the UK government put a price floor to the windfall tax, but this price floor will only trigger a return to a 40% marginal tax rate on North Sea oil and gas production, compared to the current tax rate of 75%, if both average oil and gas prices fall to, or below, $71.40 per barrel for oil and ￡0.54 per therm for gas, for two consecutive quarters.

cording to Ryan Crighton, policy director at Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce, UK gas prices are unlikely to drop to those levels,

“So, basically, it will never be triggered.”

“The Chancellor needs to work with the industry to get this right, because billions of pounds worth of investment and thousands of new jobs could be created in the North Sea in the right conditions,” Crighton said.

“The alternative is a levy which risks accelerating the decline of our oil and gas sector at a pace which jeopardises the skills and investment required to deliver the UK’s net zero plans.” 

After the UK raised the windfall tax to 35% at the end of last year, Harbour Energy, the biggest oil and gas producer in the UK North Sea, backed out of the latest licensing round aimed at awarding more than 100 new licenses. Shell has said it would be re-evaluating each project comprising its $30.5 billion (25 billion pounds) planned investment in the UK energy system, and TotalEnergies has said it would slash its investment in the UK by 25%.