UK energy stocks rally after emergency plan excludes windfall tax

Britain’s energy and oil sector received a brief boost on Thursday after a UK plan to tackle the energy crisis excluded a windfall tax on record oil and gas profits.

Shares in FTSE-listed oil majors BP and Shell briefly spiked to session highs as UK Prime Minister Liz Truss set out her plan to cushion consumers and businesses from soaring energy bills. Shares in BP and Shell were last up 1.2 per cent and 0.9 per cent respectively, outperforming the UK blue-chip FTSE 100 index which was last up 0.1 per cent.

Truss said the Treasury would announce a joint scheme working with the Bank of England to address the extraordinary liquidity requirements faced by energy firms, worth 40 billion pounds.

Along with the support for bills, Truss announced more than 100 new exploration licences for oil and gas in the North Sea and the removal of a ban on fracking for communities.