Oil and gas taxation

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FORTHCOMING CHANGES: At Budget 2025, the government announced that when the energy profits levy comes to an end, it will be replaced by a permanent measure called the oil and gas profits mechanism (OGPM). The main features of the OGPM will include the following:

  1. •

    it will be a revenue-based tax and will apply to upstream oil and gas companies operating in the UK or UK continental shelf

  2. •

    a company will be in scope of the OGPM where it disposes of oil or gas and the consideration received (ie the realised price the company receives) for the disposal exceeds the relevant threshold. The thresholds for the financial year 2026–27 will be US$90 per barrel for oil and 90p per therm for gas. For subsequent years, thresholds will be adjusted using the preceding year’s CPI, and

  3. •

    the OGPM tax rate will be 35%

The government has stated that it ‘will continue to work with the sector to deliver [the OGPM] as effectively and efficiently as possible’. It will then introduce legislation in Finance Bill 2026–27 to provide for the OGPM

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