Trump slams UK’s plan to phase out North Sea oil and gas production

US President-elect Donald Trump has launched a sharp criticism of the UK’s plan to reduce its reliance on North Sea oil and gas production, marking another public challenge against Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour government.

In a post shared on his Truth Social platform, Trump described the UK’s decision as a “very big mistake,” urging the government to “open up the North Sea” and “get rid of windmills,” Caliber.Az reports, citing foreign media.

The post included a link to a November article discussing APA Corporation, which owns the US-based oil producer Apache. The article highlighted that Apache planned to wind down its North Sea operations by 2029, citing high taxes and stringent environmental regulations as factors that made their investments “uneconomic.” Apache had already ceased drilling in the region by June 2023, prior to Starmer’s government taking office in July.

Trump’s intervention directly challenges one of Labour’s key policies, which aims to transition the UK away from fossil fuels in favor of renewable energy sources. The former president's comments signal a continued willingness to engage in domestic matters of foreign countries, a trait that was prominent during his first term. His remarks could further complicate US-UK relations ahead of his upcoming inauguration.

This latest criticism follows a series of disapproving remarks by other high-profile figures, including Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who was appointed by Trump to co-lead a new waste-cutting department. These developments are likely to stir concerns in the UK about potential friction between the US and UK under Trump's renewed presidency.

In response, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Foreign Secretary David Lammy have been working to strengthen ties with the incoming administration. Starmer’s government, meanwhile, has placed a strong emphasis on renewable energy, such as wind turbines and solar farms, as part of its broader plan to decarbonize the UK’s electricity system by 2030. This aligns with the country’s legally binding target of achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

However, the political debate in the UK over fossil fuel dependence has become increasingly polarized. The Conservative Party, which introduced the 2050 Net Zero targets under Theresa May, has grown closer to Trump’s pro-fossil fuel stance.

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch, a self-described "net zero skeptic," recently met with vice president-elect JD Vance, while Musk has publicly supported Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party, which advocates scrapping the UK’s net-zero emissions goals.

Trump’s stance is clear: he wants to boost oil and gas drilling in the US and has pledged to reverse President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, which provides subsidies for green energy projects. Furthermore, Trump’s campaign has indicated a desire to withdraw the US from the Paris Agreement on climate change, a move he previously made at the end of his first term in 2020, although the US rejoined under Biden.

Starmer’s government, however, remains committed to shifting away from fossil fuels, arguing that the damaging impact of burning oil and gas on the climate necessitates a pivot toward renewable energy. The Labour-led administration plans to cease issuing new licenses for North Sea oil and gas exploration and has increased taxes on oil and gas producers.

Critics, however, have raised concerns about the practicality of throttling domestic oil and gas production at a time when both remain essential for the UK’s energy needs over the next several decades, even as the nation moves towards its 2050 carbon reduction goal.

By Khagan Isayev