The future of a big oil and gas project in the North Sea has been thrown into doubt after the lead developer said that it would curb investment in light of an increase in windfall taxes and the potential introduction of more stringent emissions rules.
The £900 million Buchan project had been scheduled to start producing its first oil in 2027 and to turn out about 35,000 barrels a day at its peak.
However, Neo Energy, which owns 50 per cent of the scheme, said that government plans for new environmental rules for oil and gas extraction would cause delays in securing a sign-off from the Offshore Petroleum Regulator for Environment and Decommissioning, the environmental regulator for all offshore oil and gas operations in the