Trump calls for end of North Sea ‘windmills’ in swipe at UK energy policy By Reuters

Written by Ron Bousso

LONDON (Reuters) – U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Friday criticized the British government’s energy policy over the country’s need to “open up” the old North Sea oil and gas fields and end oil farms. the wind.

The North Sea is one of the world’s oldest offshore oil and gas fields where production has been declining since the turn of the millennium. At the same time, it has become one of the world’s largest offshore wind farms.

“The UK is making a huge mistake. Open the North Sea. Remove the Windmills!” Trump said in a post on his social media platform Public Truth.

Climate skeptic Trump has long opposed wind farms. In 2015, he unsuccessfully fought plans to build near his luxury golf course in Scotland.

His post on Friday included a link to a report from last November about US oil and gas producer APA Corp’s Apache plans to exit the North Sea by the end of 2029. The company expects that North Sea production has fallen by 20% annually. in the year 2025.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labor Government won last year’s election on a pledge to build Britain’s low-carbon economy. The government aims to quadruple offshore wind capacity by 2030 to 60 gigawatts as part of plans to reduce carbon emissions and improve air quality.

In October, the British government said it would increase the windfall tax on North Sea oil and gas producers to 38% from 35% and increase the tax in one year. The government wants to use oil and gas revenues to raise funds for renewable energy projects.

Oil and gas companies have said that the higher tax rate could lead to a drop in investment. Some companies have sold assets while others are consolidating operations and looking to move into other areas.

Asked about Trump’s comments, a British government spokesman said it would continue to prioritize “a fair, orderly and successful transition to the North Sea in line with our climate and legal obligations”.

“We need to replace our reliance on volatile fuel markets with clean, domestically managed energy in Britain – the best way to protect taxpayers and strengthen our energy independence,” the spokesman said. add.

Claire Coutinho, shadow energy minister for the opposition Conservative party, said in an X post in response to Trump’s comments that “no other major economy is shutting down its domestic oil and gas production… Yes completely crazy”.

DRILL OIL, BREATHTAKING OIL

Oil companies are pulling out of the North Sea to target new basins. Production has declined from a peak of 4.4 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (boed) at the turn of the millennium to 1.3 million now.

Britain and major European countries have seen the development of offshore wind farms, but growth in the sector has stalled as costs have risen due to technology and supply chain problems as well as high profit margins. give birth

Some developers are weighing up their investments in offshore wind, or having problems, because of the rising cost of building wind farms up to 100 kilometers (60 miles) in length. leave the beach.

Orsted (CSE: ), the world’s largest offshore wind farm developer, cut its investment and capacity targets last year.

Britain has a target to reduce its electricity consumption by 2030, which means reducing its reliance on gas-fired power plants and rapidly increasing its renewable energy.