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George Osborne News

27 Nov 2015

Moore Stephens Highlights Potential Tax Issues for Shipping

As part of the Government’s drive to encourage voluntary compliance with the tax rules, it will legislate to introduce a new requirement that large businesses publish their tax strategies as they relate to or affect UK taxation, as well as a special measures regime to tackle businesses that persistently engage in aggressive tax planning and a framework for co-operative compliance. The Government has introduced legislation in order to counter two specific tax avoidance schemes involving capital allowances and leasing, which involve companies artificially lowering the disposal value of plant and machinery for capital allowances purposes. It is also introducing a new penalty of 60% of tax due in all cases successfully tackled by the general anti-abuse rule.

03 Nov 2015

STS Cranes For Liverpool2 Arrive

A giant vessel bearing five ‘megamax’ quayside cranes sailed up the River Mersey yesterday destined for the new Liverpool2 container terminal, completing the final stage of its voyage from China. The cranes originally set off from Shanghai in August passing south-east Asia, India, the Arabian Peninsula and Africa via the Cape of Good Hope en route to Liverpool in a journey of over 30,000km (18,000m, 16,400nm). The super-structures were produced by Chinese company, Zhenhua Heavy Industries Co (ZPMC), the largest heavy duty equipment manufacturer in the world, as part of a contract with Peel Ports worth over £100m. A total of eight ship…

12 Oct 2015

Cammell Laird to Build Polar Research Ship

Image: Cammell Laird

The U.K. Government announced Monday that Cammell Laird in Birkenhead has been selected as the preferred bidder to build the nation’s new £200 million polar research ship. The decision follows a 12-month competitive tender process that involved bids from companies in the U.K., Spain, Norway, Singapore and South Korea. The winning project will secure jobs and apprenticeships and provide an economic boost to Merseyside, the shipbuilder noted. The shipyard is expected to cut steel in autumn 2016 and deliver the next generation polar research vessel ready for operation by 2019.

31 Aug 2015

Britain Pumps GBP500mln into Scottish Naval Base

The Royal Navy’s submarine base at Faslane – home to Britain’s nuclear deterrent – is to receive a more than 500 million pounds investment grant from the Government, reports Reuters. Chancellor George Osborne says this move will safeguard 6,700 jobs at the Scottish site and create thousands more. Faslane would be the base for the new submarines. The Faslane naval base on the River Clyde, east of Glasgow, is home to the fleet of four Vanguard-class submarines, one of which is on patrol at all times, that form Britain's 'Trident' nuclear deterrent. The money will be spent on "ship lifts, sea walls, jetties and other major projects" and that work will start in 2017, the government said in a statement.

24 Feb 2015

UK North Sea Investments to Halve

Investment in British North Sea projects is expected to fall below 8 billion pounds ($12.35 billion) in 2016 from 14.8 billion last year, and could shrink further due to a rise in costs and fall in prices, industry lobby group Oil & Gas UK said in an annual survey on Tuesday. Falling investment means much of Britain's remaining oil reserves will not be extracted, said Malcolm Webb, chief executive of Oil & Gas UK, casting doubt on a North Sea revival which the government hopes will help fill its coffers. "Without sustained investment in new and existing fields, critical infrastructure will disappear, taking with it important North Sea hubs, effectively sterilising areas of the basin and leaving oil and gas in the ground," Webb said.

27 Jan 2015

A&P Contracted for Navy Tanker Maintenance

A&P Group, the UK’s largest ship repair firm has bagged a £15 million military contract to complete the fit-out of the Royal Navy support group’s new fleet of tankers. The Cornish shipbuilder will customize and maintain the Royal Fleet Auxiliary’s four new tankers, which are due to come into service from next year, for at least three years. The announcement was made by Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne during a visit to A&P Falmouth at the port's docks this morning. Osborne said that the Ministry of Defense (MoD) contract will also help secure 350 existing jobs at A&P Falmouth, as well as providing six apprenticeships. The new ships will be operated by the Royal Fleet Auxiliary.

10 Oct 2014

North Sea firms “Biding Time”

Oil and gas operators may be sitting on new investment decisions until the future of the North Sea becomes clearer, according to the latest report from business advisory firm Deloitte. The report, which details drilling, licensing and deal activity across North West Europe over the third quarter of 2014 and was ompiled by Deloitte’s Petroleum Services Group (PSG), found that four deals were announced offshore UK. This is slightly down in the five transactions reported in Q2 2014 and substantially lower than the 14 registered during Q3 2013. Derek Henderson, senior partner in Deloitte’s Aberdeen office, said the drop in deals may be down to North Sea operators continuing to wait for further clarity about the future of the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS).

25 Jul 2014

UK Chancellor Mentions Hi-Tech Tax Breaks on Bibby Offshore Visit

Bibby Offshore, subsea services provider to the oil & gas industry, says it has hosted a visit by George Osborne, Chancellor of the Exchequer, to the Company’s workshop, storage and maintenance facility in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The Chancellor was given a tour of Bibby Offshore’s new 50,000 sqft state-of-the-art Westhill facility, The Hangar. His visit follows the Company’s recent investment into its facilities; including the installation of a 16 tonne Gantry Crane and five separate workshops allowing for numerous speciality activities, such as care and maintenance of dive hats and diver umbilical’s. Bibby Offshore adds that during the visit…

13 May 2014

UK Clamp Down on North Sea Drilling Tax Holiday

A planned change in the way Britain taxes North Sea drillers exposes the loophole in a system that allowed an industry with annual revenues of 2 billion pounds to pay almost no corporation tax for two decades, prompting accusations that the UK tax authority is falling down on the job. The change, announced by Finance Minister George Osborne in March, caps the amount a UK company can deduct from profit for leasing drilling rigs from an overseas unit in the same group. The rig-leasing units are typically based in countries where their income is taxed lightly or not at all. A Reuters review of company accounts, shipping registers and other company statements…

30 Apr 2014

North Sea Drilling & Deals to Remain Lower: New Report

Drilling and deal activity on the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS) will remain at ‘a steady low’ for at least the next year, suggests a new report from business advisory firm Deloitte. Poor weather and high costs have already had an impact on the amount of exploration and appraisal (E&A) work conducted by operators in the region during the first quarter. The report, which details activity across North West Europe over the first three months of 2014 and was compiled by Deloitte’s Petroleum Services Group (PSG), found a total of 12 E&A wells were drilled on the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS). Although that represents an increase of five wells compared with Q4 2013, it is a decrease of one well on the same period last year.

07 Apr 2014

Rolls-Royce to Open Brazilian Offshore Facility

Rolls-Royce and U.K. Chancellor George Osborne announced today that the Group will further invest in Rio de Janeiro State to better support customers in the rapidly expanding offshore oil and gas industry. A new £22 million marine facility in Duque de Caxias will be used to assemble and test large thrusters and other propulsion equipment for use on semisubmersible rigs, drill ships, FPSOs and other highly complex offshore vessels. Construction at the 27,000 sqm site will begin next month. Delivery of the first set of UUC 405 thrusters, for seven drill ships being built by Brazilian shipyard Estaleiro Atlântico Sul for Sete Brasil, will commence in June of 2015.

04 Dec 2013

Shift in Wind Favourable to UK Offshore Wind Industry

Photo courtesy of EWEA

The government is to make big changes to the way it subsidises renewable energy, with subsidies for windfarms set to rise at the expense of onshore options, reports BBC News. The BBC reports Government ministers as stating that they will cut support for onshore wind and solar energy, but give more backing to offshore wind power. The price producers are promised for onshore wind power and solar energy will be cut from 2015, while the amount paid for offshore wind power will be increased.

21 Jun 2013

Dredging Begins at Port of Liverpool

Work on Liverpool2, a new terminal at the Port of LIverpool, has begun. More than one million cubic meters of material will now be moved by dredgers to clear a deep-water channel at the Port of Liverpool (United Kingdom), operated by Peel Ports. The dredging work – funded by a £35 million U.K. Government Regional Growth Fund grant – will create a 16.5-meter deep berthing pocket to secure access to the developing Liverpool2 project. This funding was awarded to the Mersey Docks and Harbor Company by Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne last month (May 2013).

05 Nov 2012

Rolls-Royce Open Apprentice Academy

The new facility at the Derby Learning & Development Centre in UK will double the number of Rolls-Royce apprentices under training. The additional apprentices will find work in the supply chain, providing an additional source of skilled labour to the UK engineering and manufacturing industry. The facility, which spans three floors, includes a 1,200 square metre workshop area featuring the latest machines, which enables apprentices to be trained on the same equipment they will be using in the workplace. The Rt Hon George Osborne MP, Chancellor of the Exchequer, officially opened the Rolls-Royce Apprentice Academy. He was accompanied by Colin Smith…

19 Mar 2012

UK O&G to Address Decommissioning Issues

The UK oil and gas industry will be looking for a firm step towards resolving the fiscal uncertainty surrounding North Sea decommissioning when Chancellor George Osborne delivers his 2012 Budget on March 21, according to business advisory firm Deloitte. Over the next decade, the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS) can expect to see a number of fields and installations cease production and commence decommissioning, potentially leading to the loss of critical infrastructure. Long term, over the next 30 years, almost 500 platforms, 8,000 wells, 4 million tons of steel and several hundred subsea wells, manifolds and pipelines will need to be decommissioned in the North Sea area*.