![\"Chancellor](\"https:\/\/dailybusinessgroup.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Chancellor-meets-oil-and-gas-leaders-March-2026-2.png\")
Chancellor Rachel Reeves had planned to announce an end to the energy profits levy in the Spring Statement but delayed a decision because of the Middle East crisis.<\/p>\n
At a meeting with industry leaders today Ms Reeves was told that action was needed quickly to avoid the loss of oil and gas investment and thousands of jobs.<\/p>\n
BP, Adura, Offshore Energies UK and the Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce were among those attending the meeting at 11 Downing Street.<\/p>\n
It followed several weeks of in-depth discussions, which took place at the instigation of the Treasury.<\/p>\n
A government source said: \u201cThe Chancellor was clear with industry that she wants the Energy Profits Levy to come to an end. <\/p>\n \u201cShe has made that promise and she stands by it. Indeed, it was a commitment she wanted to make this week. <\/p>\n \u201cBut the crisis in the Middle East has had real-time consequences on oil and gas prices and it is right that we respond to this.\u201d<\/p>\n The meeting followed a previous commitment from operators to invest \u00a350 billion between now and 2050 if the EPL \u2013 a tax on profits \u2013 was replaced with the government\u2019s own proposed successor windfall tax, the Oil and Gas Price Mechanism (OGPM), which is due to be introduced in 2030, but sooner if price fall below a certain level.<\/p>\n Ms Reeves reaffirmed her commitment to backing Britain\u2019s oil and gas industry, and recognised that domestic oil and gas will continue to have a role in the energy mix for decades to come.<\/p>\n She told the meeting that she had instructed the Financial Secretary and officials to work with the industry on two immediate priorities: providing long term financial certainty and working with the industry on the current period of uncertainty.<\/p>\n Russell Borthwick, chief executive, Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce, said:\u00a0 \u201cWe welcome the Chancellor\u2019s recognition that the EPL must come to an end now. Events in the Middle East strengthen, not weaken, the case for change.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe offer on the table was billions of pounds worth of investment, which can be unlocked overnight if the right fiscal and regulatory conditions are in place.<\/p>\n \u201cFor the thousands of companies and tens of thousands of workers who depend on the UK oil and gas industry, that investment would support jobs, strengthen supply chains and reinforce the UK\u2019s energy security at a time of growing global uncertainty.<\/p>\n \u201cThere has never been a more been a more important, more urgent moment to back the North Sea and invest in domestic production. It is now incumbent upon the Chancellor to create the fiscal and regulatory environment which would allow these companies to invest.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe Energy Profits Levy has left the UK exporting jobs and importing oil and gas from volatile regions. Moving to the Oil and Gas Price Mechanism can change that trajectory, but it\u2019s up to the UK Government to act now.\u201d<\/p>\n \t <\/div>\n![\"Russell](\"https:\/\/dailybusinessgroup.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Russell-Borthwick-at-SAC-26-feb-25.png\")