THE UK government has made a concession to North Sea oil and gas producers over its Energy Profits Levy by introducing a price floor for what many have called a windfall tax since its introduction last year. Sadly, for some oil and gas company workers in the UK, the damage from the levy is done. Dozens of UK employees at US-based APA Corporation (formerly known as Apache) have been shown the door in layoffs, which the company has blamed on the UK's "increasingly costly and burdensome tax and regulatory regime". And Harbour Energy, the UK's largest oil and gas producer and a vocal opponent of the windfall tax, has said it is cutting about 350 onshore workers as part of a review into its UK organisation. Now, the UK government must act to avoid further energy job cuts. The new price floor gives the industry certainty that the marginal tax rate of 75% on North Sea oil and gas production would fall back to the previous 40% rate, but only if oil and gas prices consistently return to normal levels for a sustained period.
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