The chairman of one of the big North Sea players had plenty to say last week about the UK tax and regulatory regime.

Serica Energy’s David Latin issued a stark warning: “Making the fiscal and regulatory environment impossible for homegrown oil and gas simply increases the amount that we will need to import. This has a triple bottom line of being bad for jobs, bad for communities, and bad for the economy.”

The Labour Government has most certainly not been the toast of the North Sea sector since coming to power.

It had, of course, made no secret of its firm intention to increase the energy profits levy, also known as the windfall tax, well ahead of its general election victory on July 4 last year.

And Sir Keir Starmer’s administration last autumn increased the energy profits levy from 35% to 38%, bringing the headline rate of tax on upstream oil and gas activities to 78%.

Mr Latin told Serica’s annual meeting last week: “Current commodity prices very clearly do not represent windfall conditions, and the tax rate of 78% is entirely inappropriate at a time when the Government should be doing everything in its power to boost vital energy security and to support economic growth.”

It seems likely that the difference of opinion between the oil and gas sector and the Labour Government has a long way to run.

There is plenty of scope for differences of opinion on how much tax North Sea players should pay, and this is obviously a complex topic.

Mr........

© Herald Scotland