This morning’s EIC Post Budget Reflection webinar captured the industry’s mood, especially around what yesterday’s UK Budget stopped short of saying.
We heard from Rebecca Groundwater, global head of external affairs, EIC, Jack Boggis, energy analyst, EIC, Matt Abraham, head of operations, James Fisher and David Evans, senior public affairs manager, Mineral Products Association. Each speaker viewed the Budget from a different angle, but they all agreed the essentials for industry were missing.
Yesterday’s Autumn Budget Statement left the Energy Profits Levy in place to 2030 despite continuous pleas from the energy industry to remove this tax to spur business activity in the North Sea, secure energy and better fund transition industries.
Speakers noted that decommissioning received no strategic push. Decommissioning is one of the few levers that can protect skills and sustain work through the transition.
The Budget also lacked project-funding mechanisms. This lack threatens to leave many more projects, especially in cleantech, on paper. For an industry planning multi-year pipelines, there was no clear push to encourage more projects to reach FID. The absence of reliable project finance structures leaves SMEs exposed; these make the bulk of EIC’s membership base. But it also leaves large contractors carrying risk and doesn’t inspire investors’ confidence.
Tie-backs saw no meaningful strengthening. Tie-backs bring near-term certainty, extend field life and let companies keep engineering talent in the UK. But the framework still lacks the clarity and pace firms need.
These points mirror insights from conversations we’ve been having with our members. The government asks the supply chain to deliver scale without offering the necessary support mechanisms, including speeding up the slow pace of permissions and long approval timelines.
Earlier this year, Rebecca brought this wider industry perspective to Parliament for the Scottish Affairs Committee session on GB Energy. Today’s conversation brought her message home again: if the UK wants the transition to succeed, it needs a plan that matches how businesses actually operate and it needs to work to keep talent and supply chain capacity at home. Otherwise, they’ll follow work internationally, leaving the UK energy market resource-thin.