Oil and gas industry tax receipts have fallen to just £35m, the lowest since the early days of offshore operations in the North Sea.

The latest figures from HM Revenue and Customs show offshore corporation tax raised £538m over the last financial year but that was offset by petroleum revenue tax rebates of £503m.

The £35m difference compares with tax revenues of around £2bn in 2014/15 and almost £11bn as recently as 2011/12.

Chancellor George Osborne announced a series of tax cuts for North Sea oil and gas fields in his March Budget, including effectively abolishing petroleum revenue tax by permanently reducing the rate from 35% to 0%.

The Office for Budget Responsibility has forecast that receipts will be negative until 2020/21, however, with repayments expected to be around £1bn higher than payments each year as the slump drags on.

More than 70,000 people have lost their jobs across the UK as a result, with Aberdeen among the worst hit cities.

Oil and Gas UK economic director Mike Tholen said: "At around $40 per barrel, oil is still more than 60% lower than it has been over the last three years.

"In these conditions, the UK North Sea industry will continue to struggle to sustain its current scale.

"More than £330bn in 2014 money has been paid to date on UK oil and gas production, however, HM Treasury has noted that tax take on production will fall in 2015/16 and fall further by 2021.

"Despite the projected fall in production taxes which is a consequence of the current low oil prices, industry will remain a significant employer, provider of energy security, hub of innovation and leader in the export of goods and services to overseas markets.

"Although the sector has seen success recently in reducing its cost to produce a barrel of oil or gas by a third, unfortunately the indications suggest that the oil price will remain lower for longer, so it's crucial the pace of these efforts doesn't abate."

But Lang Banks, director of environmental organisation WWF Scotland, said the plunging value of North Sea tax receipts should "act as a wake-up call" to the government.

He added: ""The problems currently affecting tax receipts and jobs in the North Sea should act as a wake-up call to government of the urgent need to prepare for a future where we are all less dependent on oil and gas.

"While it's true that the oil and gas industry will continue to be a major contributor to our economy for some time, now is the time to be setting out a clear plan to sensibly transition away from dirty fossil fuels.

"We need to see a just transition that enables us to harness the engineering skills currently deployed in the North Sea and apply them to supporting a range of cleaner forms of energy production.

"To reduce the risk of dangerous global climate change, the vast majority of known fossil fuel reserves need to be left in the ground and not exploited."