The Official History of North Sea Oil and Gas Vol. I: The Growing Dominance of the State Government Official History Series

Written by the leading expert in UK petroleum economics, this study provides a new, unique, in-depth analysis of the development of British policies towards the North Sea oil and gas industry from the early 1960s to the early 1980s.

Drawing on full access to the UK Government?s relevant archives, Alex Kemp examines the thinking behind the initial legislation in 1964, the early licensing arrangements and the events leading up to the boundary delimitation agreements with Norway and other adjacent North Sea countries. He explains the debate in the later 1960s about the appropriate role of the state in the exploitation of the gas and oil resources, the prolonged negotiations resulting in the early long-term gas contracts, and the continuing debate on the role of the state following the large oil discoveries in the first half of the 1970s resulting in the formation of BNOC (British National Oil Corporation). The debate leading up to the introduction of, and subsequent increase in, the Petroleum Revenue Tax is fully explained as is the introduction of Supplementary Petroleum Duty. The author also outlines the debates around interventionist depletion policies and on how the oil revenues should best be utilised.

The Official History of North Sea Oil and Gas will be of much interest to students of North Sea oil and gas, energy economics, business history, and British politics, as well as to petroleum professionals and policymakers.

1. Initial Legislation and Licensing 2. The Early North Sea Boundary Issues 3. What Role for the State? 4. The First Gas Contracts 5. The Coming of Oil, the Fourth Round Controversy and its Consequences 6. Further Gas Developments and the Frigg Contracts 7. Designing the Tax Package 8. Providing for BNOC and Enhanced State Control 9. The New Policy in Action: State Participation 10. The New Policy in Action: Further Licensing and Related Issues 11. Increasing the Government Take 12. Depletion and Conservation Policies 13. Utilising the Benefits. Conclusions to Volume 1

Alex Kemp is Professor of Petroleum Economics and Director, Aberdeen Centre for Research in Energy Economics and Finance (ACREEF) at the University of Aberdeen. He has published widely on the licensing and taxation aspects of the relationship between the oil companies and Governments, with particular reference to the North Sea. From 1993 to 2003 Professor Kemp was a member of the Energy Advisory Panel to the DTI. He has also advised many other Governments, companies, and the World Bank on petroleum licensing and taxation. In 2006 he was awarded the OBE for services to the oil and gas sector.