§ Mr. Austin Mitchellasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the current representative price of North Sea oil; and if he will circulate in the Official Report a table showing the amount of tax, including royalty oil and so on, now payable on each barrel on the assumption that depreciation and other initial allowances have been exhausted.
§ Mr. Peter ReesBNOC has set a selling price of $29.75/barrel for Forties crude with small variations—of less than $1—because of quality and other differentials, for other North Sea crudes. The Government revenue from an incremental barrel of production without any costs or allowances is
Cash value of 12½ per cent. royalty, 12½ per cent.; 60 per cent. PRT, 52½ per cent.; 52 per cent. Corporation Tax, 18.2 per cent.: Total 83.2 per cent.Almost $25 of the $29.75 selling price of a marginal barrel would thus accrue to the Government, although the different components would be received at different times.