Tuesday 07 Jan
US President-elect Donald Trump criticized the UK's windfall tax on oil and gas producers in a social media post on Friday, adding to criticism launched by his incoming administration against British Prime Minister Keir Starmer's agenda.
In a post, Trump stated, "The UK is making a very big mistake. Open up the North Sea. Get rid of the windmills!"
Trump's comments were linked to a
report from last November indicating that US oil company Apache was planning to
exit the North Sea after the UK's energy profits tax rendered operations in the
region "economically unviable."
In its first budget, the Starmer
government confirmed it would raise the windfall tax by an additional three
percentage points to 38%, taking the main tax rate for UK oil and gas producers
to 78%. The government also extended the tax until March 2030.
Originally introduced by the
previous Conservative government in May 2022 following Russia's invasion of
Ukraine, the windfall tax was designed to capture the exceptional profits
generated by oil and gas producers amid soaring prices.
A sector lobby group has warned
that the UK's new tax regime for North Sea oil and gas could severely curtail
investment, potentially by more than 80%. This comes after the Labour Party,
during the summer's election campaign, pledged to halt the issuance of new
licenses for oil and gas exploration in the North Sea. This policy directly
contradicts the Trump administration's push for increased domestic oil and gas
development in the United States.
Trump's remarks follow a series of attacks by Elon Musk against Starmer in recent days. The world's richest man, who supported Trump in last year's election and was subsequently appointed to head a new government efficiency task force, has questioned Starmer's record as the Director of Public Prosecutions in the UK before entering politics. Musk has also called for new elections in the UK and criticized proposals to regulate social media platforms, including his own platform X (formerly Twitter).
