据路透社2月23日报道,英国石油天然气协会(Oil and Gas UK)于周二警告说,如果石油公司不尽力榨干北海的每一滴油,到2025年,英国的油气产量将减少一半。
包括在北海的传统重量级角色英国石油公司、壳牌公司、挪威国家石油公司在内,各油气公司在油价暴跌中都大幅度削减了预算。
英国政府去年就已经削减了油气税费,以阻止石油公司撤离北海,并成立了专门的石油监管机构,帮助石油产量最大化。
英国油气协会表示,英国政府在下月的年度预算中,应该削减更多的税费,来确保石油公司会继续投入资金,苏格兰政府对油气的高需求也能得到满足。
油价下跌加速了一些油田的永久性关闭,2015年就有21座油田停止了生产。协会警告说,若投资不力,到2020年底,这个数字将增加80座。
沈佳蕾摘译自路透社
原文如下:
Oil lobby warns UK output could halve by 2025 if money dries up
British oil and gas production could halve by 2025 if oil companies do not spend enough to squeeze every last drop out the North Sea, industry group Oil and Gas UK warned on Tuesday.
Oil and gas companies, including former North Sea heavyweights BP, Shell and Statoil, have slashed their budgets by billions of dollars as they grapple with a 70 percent fall in oil prices.
The British government last year cut oil and gas taxes to prevent companies from leaving the North Sea and established a dedicated oil regulator to help them maximise output.
Oil and Gas UK said more tax relief is needed in next month's annual budget to ensure companies continue investing, echoing demands from the Scottish government, whose economy is heavily oil and gas dependent.
The oil price fall has accelerated the permanent shutdown of some fields, with 21 ceasing production in 2015, and Oil and Gas UK said as many as 80 could follow by the end of 2020.