Petroleum Royalties (Relief) Act 1983

Petroleum Royalties (Relief) Act 1983

Act of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title	An Act to confer on holders of petroleum production licences an exemption from royalties (including royalties in kind) in respect of petroleum from certain new fields off the coast of Great Britain
Citation	1983 chapter 59
Introduced by	4 July 1983 The Secretary of State for Energy, Mr. Peter Walker (Second reading) (Commons)
Territorial extent	Great Britain (does not extend to Northern Ireland)
Dates
Royal assent	21 December 1983
Commencement	21 February 1984
Other legislation
Amends	Petroleum (Production) Regulations 1982 (production licences for seaward areas), Oil and Gas (Enterprise) Act 1982
Amended by	Petroleum Royalties (Relief) and Continental Shelf Act 1989, Petroleum Act 1998 (c. 17)
Status: Amended

The Petroleum Royalties (Relief) Act 1983 (c. 59) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which exempted certain petroleum licence holders of new offshore oil and gas fields from the payment of petroleum royalties or the delivery of petroleum.

In the Budget statement in 1983 the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced changes to the taxation in the oil industry. He noted that Government had a responsibility to compare the likely returns from future development both to the Government and to the industry, and had to ensure that the country obtained the appropriate benefit.^[1]

The demarcation line between the direct benefit to the nation and the benefit to the oil and gas industry work was such that, after the Budget measures and taxation proposals and the measures in this Act the nation would obtain the majority of the benefit. Petroleum revenue tax was 75 per cent, and corporation tax was 52 per cent.^[1] The measures in this Act meant that benefit from other discoveries and developments will benefit the nation as a whole. As a result of the application of royalties for future developments outside the southern basin of the North Sea, the marginal tax rate for a field paying petroleum revenue tax will be reduced from 89.5 to 88 per cent.^[1]

Oil production increased and the Government's revenue from North Sea taxation in 1984/5 was £12 billion or 8 per cent of total tax revenue.^[2]

In response to the oil price fall in 1986 the Government reduced taxation further by enacting the Advance Petroleum Revenue Tax Act 1986.^[2]

The Petroleum Royalties (Relief) Act 1983 (1983 chapter 59) received Royal Assent on 21 December 1983. Its long title is ‘An Act to confer on holders of petroleum production licences an exemption from royalties (including royalties in kind) in respect of petroleum from certain new fields off the coast of Great Britain.’^[3]

The Act comprises two Sections:^[3]

• Section 1. Royalty exemption for petroleum from certain new offshore fields.
• Section 2. Short title, commencement and extent.

Section 1 of the 1983 Act was extended by Petroleum Royalties (Relief) and Continental Shelf Act 1989 (c. 1)

Section 1 of the 1983 Act was amended by Petroleum Act 1998 (c. 17)

• Oil and gas industry in the United Kingdom
• North Sea Oil
• Petroleum Act

• "Petroleum Royalties (Relief) Act 1983". Halsbury's Statutes of England and Wales. Fourth Edition. 2009 Reissue. LexisNexis. Volume 17(1). Pages 714 and 715.
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• Peter Allsop (ed). "Petroleum Royalties (Relief) Act 1983". Current Law Statutes Annotated 1983. Sweet & Maxwell. Stevens & Sons. London. W Green & Son. Edinburgh. 1984. Chapter 59. Pages 59/1 and 59/2.
• Is it in Force? 2003. Butterworths. 2003. Page 140.
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