Part of the debate – in the Scottish Parliament on 9 February 2016.
It is very clear from the experience of Total in relation to the Laggan and Tormore fields that the existence of a tax allowance for deep-water gas developments has undoubtedly assisted in securing that advancement, which rather makes the point that Mr MacKenzie raised in his supplementary question. I very much welcome the steps that were taken in the budget last spring by the Chancellor of the Exchequer to improve the fiscal regime in the North Sea; it certainly needed to be improved and it was improved. We would encourage further developments as part of the preparation for the budget later this year, which would enable us to address some of the further challenges that are required to be addressed to improve the fiscal position of North Sea oil and gas companies.