High energy prices make the UK ‘vulnerable’ US ambassador warns November 5, 2025 The US ambassador to the UK has warned Britain’s sky-high energy prices threaten to undermine its status as a major global economy. Speaking at an event at the Savoy Hotel on Wednesday, Warren Stephens described UK energy prices, which are among the highest in the world, as the “chief obstacle” to growth. “Energy costs in [...]
Thousands of jobs at risk as Petrofac appoints administrators October 27, 2025 North Sea oil and energy services group Petrofac has appointed administrators, putting thousands of jobs at risk. The company said it took the decision after one of its customers, TenneT, terminated its relationship over a 2GW energy programme in the Netherlands. “Having carefully assessed its options, and the impact of TenneT’s decision… the directors of [...]
Kemi Badenoch doubles down on North Sea oil drilling pledges September 2, 2025 Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch will pledge to make North Sea oil a “cornerstone” of the UK economy amid concerns producers have “much more to do” to reduce carbon emissions in the coming decades. In a speech to the Society of Petroleum Engineers Offshore Europe conference in Scotland, Badenoch will tell industry officials that she [...]
The climate activist case for continued drilling for fossil fuels August 29, 2025 A pragmatic energy transition requires maintaining domestic oil and gas production as a strategic bridge to a renewable future, in order to prevent higher emissions from foreign imports while securing national energy sovereignty, says Callum Adamson “Drill, baby, drill” is not something you’d expect a ‘climate activist’ to say. You probably wouldn’t hear it from [...]
Ed Miliband forced to look again at North Sea oil and gas June 19, 2025 The UK government is mulling over a change to the law to oil and gas projects in the North Sea in a drive to lower energy bills. Michael Shanks, a minister working under energy secretary Ed Miliband, will be visiting Scotland on Thursday with a decision set to be made on the government’s intervention on [...]
North Sea windfall tax causing ‘irreversible damage’ says oil giant May 27, 2025 The boss of Enquest has slammed the windfall tax on oil and gas firms as doing “irreversible damage” to the industry and “driving job losses across the sector”. Amjad Bseisu, Enquest’s chief executive, called for the North Sea tax to be scrapped in an operations update on Tuesday after claiming it makes the UK a [...]
Trump condemns UK net zero push May 23, 2025 Donald Trump has publicly criticised the UK’s net zero policy, saying it is disincentivising oil drilling and needlessly inflating energy prices. In an unusual intervention, the US President said that the UK’s North Sea reserves still had “a century of drilling left”, which if tapped would help bring costs down, “and fast”. “I strongly recommend [...]
Cut taxes for BP and Shell to protect UK from Trump’s trade war, Rachel Reeves told February 6, 2025 Oil giants such as BP and Shell who operate in the North Sea should be given huge tax breaks to help protect the UK against Donald Trump’s burgeoning trade war, Chancellor Rachel Reeves has been told. Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce is calling on the UK government to reduce the 78 per cent tax [...]
Ex-BP boss says Labour is ‘ignoring’ UK’s energy needs November 12, 2024 The new government’s decision to divest from North Sea oil and set up a state-owned renewable energy company is the “last thing” it should be doing, the former chief executive of BP has said. Bob Dudley, who ran the British petrochemical giant BP for ten years, told City AM that energy secretary Ed Miliband was [...]
HMRC takes Royal Bank of Canada to the UK’s highest court over corporation tax November 4, 2024 The tax agency has taken the Canada's largest bank to the UK Supreme Court over corporation tax payments on a North Sea oil production