Trump urges UK to 'ditch windmills' as he slams retreat from North Sea oil and gas
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Donald Trump has slammed the UK's shift away from oil and gas production, urging the Government to "open up" the North Sea and ditch "windmills". The President-elect took to his social media platform, Truth Social, to voice his concerns, stating that Britain is "making a very big mistake" with its energy policy. He shared an article about Labour’s decision to hike taxes for North Sea oil and gas producers.
Back in October, the UK Government announced it would increase a windfall tax on companies drilling in the North Sea from 35% to 38%. Labour plans to use the revenue from oil and gas taxation to fund more renewable energy projects. Mr Trump posted: "The U.K. is making a very big mistake. Open up the North Sea. Get rid of Windmills! " His comments were in response to a November announcement by US oil firm Apache, which revealed plans to exit the North Sea.
Apache claimed the windfall tax has rendered its UK operations "uneconomic". However, oil companies have been gradually withdrawing from the North Sea for decades as resources deplete. Production peaked at 4.5 million barrels of oil equivalent per day in 1999, compared to around 1.3 million today.
The UK Government aims to decarbonise the power system by 2030, reducing the use of gas-fired power plants and replacing them with renewable energy. This includes a plan to quadruple energy generation from offshore wind over the next five years. Mr Trump has pledged to boost US oil and gas production if he returns to the Oval Office. In November, Apache, a company based in Texas, announced it will halt all production at its UK assets by December 2029, stating it is "well ahead of what would have been an otherwise reasonable time frame".
