Corporation Tax Act 2010 section 356IB

"Authorisation of development": oil fields

Section 356IB defines what counts as "authorisation of development" of an oil field for the purposes of the investment allowance rules, and identifies which governmental bodies can grant such authorisation.

• Authorisation of development occurs when a national authority grants consent, serves a development programme, or approves a development programme for an oil field
• Development means actually winning oil from a field, not merely searching for oil or drilling exploratory wells
• Consent for development does not include consent limited solely to testing the characteristics of an oil-bearing area
• The relevant national authorities are the OGA, the Scottish Ministers, the Welsh Ministers, and a Northern Ireland department