An American business has announced considerable tax hikes on energy companies has prompted it to withdraw from North Sea oil, triggering the past and future President to warn the UK is “making a very big mistake”.
President Donald Trump boosted American energy production during his first term, turning the country into an energy exporter, and has promised to “drill, baby, drill” in his second term in a bid to keep energy prices low. His apparent concern that allies are falling behind in energy security — the United Kingdom now has the highest energy prices in the world — has manifested again, this time in a Truth Social message decrying Britain for killing investment in energy.
In a message replying to the announcement a U.S. drilling company is withdrawing from the British North Sea oil field because taxes are too high under the country’s left-wing, anti-energy Labour government President Trump wrote: “The U.K. is making a very big mistake. Open up the North Sea. Get rid of Windmills!”.
The statement revealing that Apache Corporation, which has been drilling in the North Sea since 2003, was withdrawing from the UK came from the Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce, and stated the so-called ‘windfall tax’ had caused the withdrawal. Shortly after being elected, the Labour government announced it would be increasing “the headline rate of tax on upstream oil and gas activities to 78%”.
Speaking on behalf of Apache Corporation, parent company spokesman John Christmann said: “After six months of evaluation, we have concluded that the investment required to comply with these regulations… coupled with the onerous financial impact of the Energy Profits Levy makes production of hydrocarbons beyond the year 2029 uneconomic”.
Chief of the Chamber of Commerce Russell Borthwick said: “We have have been warning for almost two years now that the windfall tax would drive capital, investment and jobs away from the North Sea”. He said unless urgent changes were made “significant damage could be done to our domestic energy industry and its workforce.”
As well as punishing the gas and oil sector, the Labour government that took the reigns of power in 2024 has committed itself to a major push for ‘green’ energy, as nodded to by incoming President Trump with his remark on giving up on “windmills”. Labour has claimed that renewable energy is considerably cheaper than traditional energy sources, making the switch to green a win-win situation, but these assertions have been slammed by critics who say renewables have to be heavily subsidised to survive in the market.
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