UK North Sea -- One Of The Best Areas for Oil Development -- Not Immune From Oil Taxes

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The outlook of the UK upstream oil and gas industry remained fragile in this year’s second quarter, increasing modestly to 54 points from 51, according to Oil & Gas UK’s latest business confidence index.

“Across the operator community, confidence increased slightly from 46 to 48 points but this score still represents a negative outlook,” said Ken Cruickshank, OGUK’s supply chain manager.

OGUK’s index measures a number of economic indicators, including changes in business confidence, activity levels, business revenue, investment, and employment.

The index gauges overall industry confidence on a 100-point scale, with a higher rating (above 50) indicating a more positive outlook and a lower rating (below 50) representing a more negative viewpoint.

This is what oil companies are worried about: taxes.

“While it appears that some companies may feel reassured by the Treasury’s willingness to engage on ways to mitigate the negative impact of the tax increase on investment, the confidence of many independent operators in particular continued to decline in the second quarter,” Cruickshank said.

The North Dakota legislature needs to take note.