OT21455 | Field allowance: authorisation of development

[Field Allowance was superseded by Investment Allowance which was introduced by Fiance Act 2015 and applies to expenditure incurred on or after 1 April 2015. See OT21550 for guidance on Investment Allowance.]

Authorisation of development means either the Secretary of State or a Northern Ireland Department:

• Granting a licensee consent for development for the field,

• Serving on a licensee a programme of development for the field, or

• Approving a programme of development for the field.

Consent for development does not include consent which is limited to the purpose of testing the characteristics of an oil-bearing area.

Development means winning oil from the field otherwise than in the course of searching for oil or drilling wells.

Where the development of a field is phased, only the first authorisation of development may trigger an allowance as a new field.