United Kingdom

Statut ITIE Progrès significatifs

Joined EITI in 2014

Dernières données de 2018

Latest Validation 2018

Last updated 14 September 2020

Tax and legal framework

The three main taxes and levies imposed on companies operating in the oil and gas sector include ring-fence corporation tax and supplementary charge, petroleum revenue tax and license fees. HM Revenue and Customs is the main body responsible for collecting and managing taxes paid to the central government. Responsibility for coal mining-related levies rests with the Coal Authority, aside from in Northern Ireland, where the Department for the Economy Northern Ireland (DFENI) manages levies. For non-fossil minerals, local authorities are responsible for levying and collecting Section 106 payments, for mining planning permission.

Oil and gas licenses are published on the websites of the Oil and Gas Authority website and the Department for the Economy Northern Ireland. Information on coal licenses can be requested from the Coal Authority and the DFENI.

Licenses

Oil and gas licenses are awarded through competitive tender, although out-of-round applications can be granted in exceptional circumstances. Onshore Northern Ireland, the DFENI holds jurisdiction (but not offshore) and has awarded one oil and gas license through ‘first come first served’. Coal licenses are granted on a ‘first come first served’ basis.

For minerals onshore aside from oil, gas, coal, gold and silver, ownership of subsoil resources is transferred with title deed. Planning and environmental permissions are granted by local authorities. Mineral rights offshore are managed by The Crown Estate and Crown Estate Scotland, with offshore mining licenses awarded on a competitive basis. In Northern Ireland, the only exception, mineral licenses are granted on a ‘first come first served’ basis.

Production

The United Kingdom oil and gas industry is in its sixth decade of offshore production. Between 2014 and 2017, production on the UK Continental Shelf increased by over 15% - a significant achievement given the basin had previously seen a consistent decline since 2000. The increased production level derived from both improved performance of existing oil and gas fields and the addition of capacity from new field start-ups. In 2017 the UK mining and quarrying industry produced 176 tonnes of primary aggregates. Mining in some parts of the UK is undergoing an upturn with new projects and mines being developed in the North West and North East of England and in Scotland.

Gov.uk oil and gas field data

British Geological Survey mineral production data

US Energy Information Administration, Country analysis brief: United Kingdom

Natural resources

The United Kingdom has rich deposits of crude oil, natural gas, coal, tungsten, tin as well as a range of industrial and construction materials. Abundant oil and gas reserves are found offshore, while coal deposits are largely centred in Scotland, England and South Wales.


Commodity	Reserves	Unit	Significance
Oil	4,339	million tons	Mostly offshore. Proven and probable reserves, not possible resources.
Gas	2,893	billion Sm3	Mostly offshore. Proven and probably reserves, not possible resources.
Coal	4,000	million metric tons	Potential resources. The UK has around 166 million tons of coal reserves operating mines and those in planning stages. There are another 167 million tons of coal in projects at pre-planning stage.
Tungsten	318,000	metric tons	England hosts the world's four largest known tungsten deposit, the Drakelands mine near Plympton, Devon.
Tin	32,700	metric tons	Located at the Drakelands Mine near Plympton, Devon.
Kaolin	N/A		UK deposits of kaolin are concentrated in Cornwall and Devon and world-class in terms of size and quality.
Ball clay	N/A		Deposits are centred in Devon and Dorset, mainly used for the manufacture of white ware ceramics
Potash	N/A		Yorkshire has one of the largest proven world deposits of potassium-rich minerals.
Salt	N/A		England accounts for 95% of UK salt production, 80% of which takes place in Cheshire; the Boulby potash mine in Yorkshire is another large centre
Flourspar	N/A		Production is centred at the Southern Pennine ore field in the Peak District National Park.

Revenue collection

The latest EITI disclosures (2017) show that the United Kingdom received net receipts from taxation of £847 million from oil and gas. Revenues were collected through ring-fence corporation tax and Supplementary Charge and license fees. A total of just under £68 million was received for mining and quarrying activities from taxation. Revenues were collected through Mainstream Corporation Tax, payments to The Crown Estate and Crown Estate Scotland.

Office for Budget Responsibility website

Oil and Gas UK annual industry survey

HM Revenue and Customs, Statistics of Government Revenues from UK oil and gas production

BGS Centre for sustainable mineral development mining statistics

Disbursed revenues by company: Sankey

Revenue allocation

HM Revenue and Customs manages all of the British state’s revenues from the extractive industries, aside from S106 payments levied by local authorities and the levy managed by the Oil and Gas Authority. Northern Ireland also receives a population-based share of revenues from petroleum license awarded on its offshore activities.

Gov.uk, Budget 2018

Office for Budget Responsibility data

IMF, 2015 Article IV Consultation

International Budget Partnership, United Kingdom country page

UK Open government civil society network

Main revenue recipients by government entity

Innovations

The EITI encourages multi-stakeholder groups to explore innovative approaches to make the EITI more relevant and useful.

One of the United Kingdom’s objectives for EITI implementation is to support moves towards common global reporting standards in oil, gas and mining.
The United Kingdom is developing a publicly available register with information on who owns and controls companies.
The 2014 EITI Report provides five-year oil and gas production, budget and trade balance forecasts. Disaggregated employment figures are also provided for mining and quarrying.

Implementation

Governance

The EITI's Champion in the UK is Lord Callanan, Minister for Climate Change and Corporate Responsibility. The multistakeholder group is chaired by Matthew Ray, Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS). The composition of the multistakeholder group can be found here. The minutes are published here.

The UK government has taken a strong leadership role on the global tax transparency debate. The EITI was set up under its leadership back in 2002. The UK then supported the EU country-by-country reporting, committed to implement the EITI in 2013, placed tax and transparency at the centre of the G8 summit in 2013, and set up a beneficial ownership register in June 2016. In April 2018, the UK Parliamentary voted to require its overseas territories, including the British Virgin Islands and the Cayman Islands, to establish public beneficial ownership registers.

At a joint press conference with President of France François Hollande on 22 May 2013, Prime Minister David Cameron announced that the United Kingdom would implement the EITI. The commitment was reaffirmed at the 6th EITI Global Conference in Sydney in May 2013 and in the United Kingdom’s second OGP National Action Plan published at the 2013 OGP London Summit. The first EITI launch event took place on 9 July 2013 and the nominations to the multi-stakeholder group (MSG), composed of four members from each stakeholder group, were finalised in September 2013. The United Kingdom submitted its EITI Candidature application on 5 August 2014, approved by the EITI Board on 15 October 2014.

Timeline

Validation

The country was admitted as EITI candidate in 2014.The first Validation of the UK has now been completed and the EITI Board have agreed that the United Kingdom has made “meaningful progress” in implementing the 2016 EITI Standard.

The EITI Board “congratulates the Government of the UK, the Multi-Stakeholder Group (MSG) and local stakeholders on establishing a robust platform to increase public understanding of the social and economic impacts of the UK's extractive industries and enrich public debate on the governance and stewardship of the UK's oil, gas and mineral resources.” The Board said that “the UK’s EITI implementation has effectively set the example for other resource rich countries” and that “the UK’s reporting is recognised by the Board as underscoring the Government’s commitment to transparency and accountability.”

The validation of the UK, carried out by the EITI International Secretariat during 2018, was intended to provide all stakeholders with an impartial assessment of whether EITI implementation in the UK is consistent with the provisions of the EITI Standard. The Validation Report also covered:

Impact of EITI in the UK
Implementation of activities encouraged by the EITI Standard
Lessons learnt in EITI implementation
Any concerns stakeholders have expressed
Recommendations for future implementation of the EITI

The initial Validation Report was published on 2 May 2019 and contained a number of recommendations and an assessment against each requirement of the Standard. This was followed by the independent Validator’s Report on 16 May 2019, which provided further comments on the initial report. Following further consultation with the UK MSG, on 14^th November 2019 the EITI Board agreed an overall assessment of “meaningful progress” for the UK in implementing the 2016 EITI Standard. The Validation identified a number of corrective actions that the MSG need to consider before re-validation. The EITI Board noted that these are not onerous, and it should be possible to address them quickly; they therefore recommended a revalidation within 12 months.

For further information on the UK’s Validation, please see the Board Decision.

Progress by requirement

EITI Reports and other key documents

2018 UK EITI Reconciliation and State of Industry Report

Date de publication:

November, 2019

Editeur:

United Kingdom EITI

This report sets out key summary information on the extractive industries in the UK. The website provides a deeper overview of these industries, including a comprehensive overview of the extractive industries in the UK, and dedicated pages on the upstream oil and gas sector, and the mining and quarrying sectors in the UK.

Following the summary information this report goes on to set out data on extractives-related payments received and made by the UK Government in 2018. This is the result of a data gathering and reconciliation exercise overseen by the multi-stakeholder group.

United Kingdom Validation 2018

Date de publication:

July, 2018

Editeur:

EITI International Secretariat

The Board agreed that the United Kingdom has made meaningful progress in implementing the 2016 EITI Standard. See Decision 2019-62/BC-281

Timeline of Validation and related materials

1 July 2018: Validation commenced19-26 September 2018: Country visit

Initial data collection and stakeholder consultations

30 April 2019 - Report on Initial data collection and stakeholder consultation [English

January, 2017

Editeur:

UK EITI

Attached below is UK's open data policy, published in December 2016.

Every EITI country must agree a clear policy on the access, release and re-use of EITI data (requirement 7.1.b of the EITI Standard).

UK beneficial ownership roadmap

Date de publication:

December, 2016

Editeur:

UK EITI

Attached below is the UK's roadmap on how it intends to disclose the beneficial owners of the companies active in the extractives sector (requirement 2.5