Trump calls on the UK to actively search for oil in the North Sea

President of the United States Donald Trump called on the British Prime Minister Kir Starmer to extract more oil from the North Sea and criticized British taxes on fossil fuels.

"North Sea oil is a treasure trove for the United Kingdom. However, the taxes are so high that it's pointless," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Tuesday.

"Basically, they told the drillers and oil companies: 'We don't need you'. Get the drillers incentivized quickly. The UK will get a lot of wealth, and the population will get much lower energy prices!" Trump added.

Starmer's Labor government has announced that it will not issue new licenses for oil and gas production in the North Sea, although it will keep the existing ones.

Last year, Labor increased the excess profits tax for oil and gas producers from 35% to 38%, bringing the total taxation of the industry to 78%, clarifies Bloomberg.

• According to Offshore Energies UK, hydrocarbon reserves in the North Sea basin amount to at least 12 billion barrels of oil equivalent. Producers plan to produce 4 billion barrels of oil and gas equivalent in various stages of readiness, according to a March report by the lobby group.
• With the right policy, another 2 to 3 billion barrels could be produced by 2050, the organization added.