UK oil output drops 16% in a year

The Telegraph reports:

Britain's oil production from the North Sea has fallen by 16pc since last year in a drastic drop that will cost the Treasury millions of pounds in lost taxes. Officials from the Department for Energy and Climate Change put the unexpectedly large fall down to "maintenance and other production issues" on top of the long-term trend of declining output.
...
The Health and Safety Executive has warned that only one in 30 of the UK's North Sea oil rigs is in a good condition. A number of large platforms have closed for major maintenance this year. Full story

So on top of a declining natural resource, we've got a creaking and rusting and infrastructure... Doesn't bode well for energy security, or for the UK balance of payments...

Mike