Miliband's North Sea shutdown causing ‘irreparable damage'
Ed Miliband's retreat from the North Sea is causing 'irreversible damage' to Britain's oil and gas industry, a leading energy producer has warned.
Amjad Bseisu, chief executive of listed oil company EnQuest, criticised the Energy Secretary's windfall tax, claiming it had sparked a swathe of job losses.
He has called for an urgent rethink on the levy as falling oil prices pile more pressure on North Sea firms, which are facing a 78pc tax on profits.
Mr Bseisu said: 'The recent stepdown in commodity prices has further amplified calls for the UK Government to remove the Energy Profits Levy and return the North Sea to a position of global competitiveness.
'The status quo, which sees Britain as the only country levying a windfall tax on homegrown energy producers, where no windfall profits exist, is resulting in irreversible damage to this strategic national industry and is driving job losses across the sector.'
His comments come as a growing number of North Sea producers consider cutting jobs and scaling back investment.
This is partially in response to the Government's decision to increase the oil and gas windfall tax from 75pc to 78pc last year, while also extending the levy for an extra year to 2030.
The industry has also been hammered by Mr Miliband's decision to ban all new drilling in the North Sea, as he seeks to prioritise investment in renewables to help Britain achieve its net zero targets.
Mounting pressure led to Harbour Energy, the UK's largest oil and gas producer, announcing plans to cut 250 jobs in Aberdeen earlier this month.
Scott Barr, managing director of Harbour Energy's UK business, blamed the job losses on 'the Government's ongoing punitive fiscal position and a challenging regulatory environment'.
A new report also revealed that Britain's oil and gas industry is already suffering an exodus of staff.
According to a survey by the Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce, almost half of North Sea producers said their employees were leaving the UK to work abroad.
They said the moves were caused by weak domestic confidence, uncompetitive government policy and a lack of viable projects in the UK.
It comes after a separate analysis found last week that the windfall tax would leave 1.5bn barrels of oil and gas stuck in abandoned North Sea oil wells.
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