Webinar: Carbon taxes and the upstream subsidy debate

On Tuesday 27 April, 2021 Senior Vice President, Graham Kellas, and Principal Economist, Joshua Firestone held a discussion on the issues of fossil fuel subsidies and the potential impact of carbon taxes in the upstream oil and gas sector. Questions addressed in the debate include: • which of the following are actually subsidies: o government supported prices in local gas markets? o accelerated depreciation of capital expenditure? o tax refunds for decommissioning costs? o overly competitive fiscal terms – i.e. not getting a ‘fair share’? o not accounting for the full costs of pollution, e.g. no carbon taxes? • where do upstream carbon charges currently exist and how do they interact with other fiscal terms? • what is the potential impact of carbon charges on upstream asset values