http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-s ... s-19515932

When's that independence vote?

It's not a tax break for oilfields, it's a tax break for the multinational corporations that run the oil fields. There's a bit of a difference.

President Obama is stopping tax breaks for BIG business (overseas) but increasing tax breaks for middle/lower class workers
and for new start ups within the USA, bringing jobs back instead of being 'out sourced'
hum ... i see a fundamental change in thinking here

lessons we will have to learn ...

This is a tax break to encourage capital investment in oil fields that are near exhaustion and are otherwise dubious investments. Every barrel you sell goes for the same price, but the costs of extraction can vary widely, so the government is reducing the cost of extraction in fields where otherwise it is liable to rise to a level where investment is risky.

It makes perfect sense, and I would expect any other chancellor to do exactly the same thing irrespective of party.