Donald Trump says UK is ‘making a very big mistake’ in North Sea warning

Donald Trump has said the UK is making a mistake over North Sea fossil fuels and called on Britain to get rid of “windmills”.

The US President-elect issued the warning on his Truth Social platform on Friday (January 3) in response to a US oil and gas producer’s plan to exit the North Sea by 2029.

Mr Trump wrote: “The UK is making a very big mistake. Open up the North Sea. Get rid of Windmills!”

The comment came after APA Corporation, a holding company for Houston based Apache Corp, announced its exit plan amid expectations its North Sea production will fall 20% in 2025.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer‘s Labour Government said in October that it plans to extend a windfall tax on North Sea oil and gas producers for a year and hike the levy from 35% to 38%.

The President-elect, who returns to the Oval Office on January 20, pledged to “drill, baby, drill” during his election campaign.

Former prime minister Boris Johnson introduced the windfall tax in 2022 as part of the then-Conservative government’s response to rocketing energy prices sparked by Russia‘s invasion of Ukraine.

October’s rise to the levy led Apache, which has operated the Forties oil field since 2003, to announce its exit, blaming its “onerous” financial impact.

Claire Coutinho, Shadow Energy Secretary, told Express.co.uk: “As we have been saying, no other major economy is shutting down its domestic oil and gas production.

“We’ll be losing £12billion in tax receipts, hundreds of thousands of jobs and for what? To import fuel from abroad with higher carbon emissions. It’s totally mad.

“The hard truth is, that if (Energy Secretary) Ed Miliband 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 Department for Energy Security and Net Zero has been approached for comment.

Major offshore wind farm developments have been established by Britain and other countries in Europe as they look to decarbonise their energy sectors by cutting reliance on power plants fuelled by gas.

A spokesperson for Offshore Energies UK said the UK needs a diverse energy mix from the North Sea, including oil, gas and offshore wind.

OEUK represents organisations with interests in the offshore wind, carbon capture, hydrogen and oil and gas sectors.

The spokesperson added: “Total energy production in the UK is at record lows with the country reliant on energy imports of oil, gas, and electricity for almost 40% of domestic energy demand.

“It’s essential to attract investment across the energy mix to meet the nation’s energy needs and keep jobs, firms and their supply chains here in the UK.

“The best way to protect consumers and provide secure affordable energy is to produce as much of it as we can in the UK.”

Tessa Khan, Executive Director at Uplift UK, which supports efforts to transition away from oil and gas production, said Britain, and Scotland in particular, boasts some of the best wind resources in the world.

She said these will provide the UK with energy security as the North Sea oil and gas basin declines, adding: “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.

“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.”