Donald Trump in call to 'open up' North Sea amid latest attack on renewable energy

US president-elect has repeatedly condemned wind power

Donald Trump has waded into a key Scottish energy policy debate after calling on the UK government to “open up” the North Sea and “get rid of windmills”.

In what represents the latest broadside by the US president-elect against renewable wind energy and Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour administration, Mr Trump said authorities in the UK were “making a very big mistake”.

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In a post on his Truth Social site, Mr Trump linked to a blog post published in November 2024 by the Aberdeen Chamber of Commerce referencing the decision by US oil firm Apache to exit the North Sea because of the UK energy profits levy, also known as the windfall tax.

The Texas-based firm took control of the Forties field, the second largest in the North Sea, located east of Fraserburgh, in 2003, but it suspended all new drilling activity in 2023. It plans to cease all production at its UK assets by the end of 2029.

John Christmann, chief executive of Apache’s parent firm APA, has said UK regulators issued new rules that will require “substantial new emissions control investments” on facilities that operate in the North Sea beyond 2029.

Donald Trump has condemned Labour’s stance over the North Sea oil and gas industry. Picture: Chip Somodevilla/Getty ImagesDonald Trump has condemned Labour’s stance over the North Sea oil and gas industry. Picture: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Donald Trump has condemned Labour’s stance over the North Sea oil and gas industry. Picture: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images | Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

He added that the investment required to comply with the regulations, coupled with the “onerous financial impact” of the windfall tax, made production beyond 2029 “uneconomic” for the firm.

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Other North Sea operators including Serica, Deltic, and Harbour, have also made moves to reduce their investments in the UK.

Labour increased the levy to 38 per cent in November last year, up from 35 per cent, bringing the headline rate of tax on upstream oil and gas activities to 78 per cent. The tax will remain in place until 31 March 2030, unless - as originally set out by the previous Conservative government - oil and gas prices drop below a certain level for six months.

The UK government has said the transition to cleaner energy would create thousands of new jobs, and pointed to its decision to set up Great British Energy. The UK energy secretary, Ed Miliband, has pledged to achieve clean power by 2030, putting the UK on a potential collision course with the incoming Trump administration.

Climate campaigners have criticised Mr Trump’s decision to intervene in the issue, with Tessa Khan, executive director at Uplift, hitting out: “The UK, and Scotland in particular, boasts some of the best wind resources in the world, which will provide us with energy security as the North Sea oil and gas basin declines.

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Mr Trump called on the UK government to ‘open up’ the North Sea. Picture: AFP via GettyMr Trump called on the UK government to ‘open up’ the North Sea. Picture: AFP via Getty
Mr Trump called on the UK government to ‘open up’ the North Sea. Picture: AFP via Getty | AFP via Getty Images

“Ill informed attacks on the UK's efforts to become a clean energy superpower will not change reality - the nation has burnt most of its gas, and what’s left of our oil is mainly exported.”

She added: “Trump is clearly looking after the interests of US oil and gas firms who have made billions during the recent energy crisis, while millions of households in the UK have struggled with soaring bills because of volatile gas prices. His team is shot through with oil and gas interests that want the rest of the world, the UK included, to slow its transition to clean energy and remain hooked on oil and gas for years to come just so they can keep profiting.”

However, others supported Mr Trump’s stance, including Claire Coutinho, the Conservative Party's shadow energy minister, who condemned Labour’s position in a post on X.

“As we have been saying, no other major economy is shutting down its domestic oil and gas production,” she wrote. “We’ll be losing £12 billion in tax receipts, hundreds of thousands of jobs - and for what? To import fuel from abroad with higher carbon emissions. It’s totally mad.”

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She added: “The hard truth is that if Ed Miliband had backed the North Sea, they wouldn’t need to take the winter fuel payments off of pensioners. That’s the political choice Labour have made. Ideology over living standards.”

The windfall tax was introduced by former prime minister Boris Johnson and then chancellor Rishi Sunak in 2022 in response to rising energy profits after prices soared in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Mr Trump has vowed to expand US oil and gas production once he re-enters the White House later this month. During the US election campaign, he repeatedly used a three-word chant, ‘Drill, baby, drill’, in support of the policy, and he has selected Chris Wright, an oil and gas industry executive, to serve as US energy secretary.

He has also been a longstanding critic of wind energy, both during his time in public office and while at the helm of the Trump Organisation.

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In 2019, the firm behind the 78 year-old’s inaugural golf resort in Scotland paid the Scottish Government £225,000 to cover its legal bills after being defeated in a long-running and acrimonious court battle over an offshore windfarm development near his Aberdeenshire property.

A spokesman for the Scottish Government said: “We are unwavering in our commitment to reach net zero emissions in Scotland by 2045 in a way that is just and fair. To do this, we must take advantage of our vast resources in offshore wind which provides us with significant opportunity to accelerate Scotland’s journey to net zero, whilst creating thousands of well-paid, green jobs across the country.”

A UK government spokesperson said: “Our priority is a fair, orderly and prosperous transition in the North Sea in line with our climate and legal obligations, and we will work with the sector to protect current and future generations of good jobs.

“We need to replace our dependency on unstable fossil fuel markets with clean, homegrown power controlled in Britain – which is the best way to protect billpayers and boost our energy independence.”

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