Donald Trump has renewed his call for the UK to expand oil and gas drilling in the North Sea, urging Sir Keir Starmer’s government to “drill, baby, drill” and insisting that “Aberdeen should be booming”.
In a social media post, the US president said Europe was “desperate for energy” while the UK refused to open up one of the world’s greatest oil fields. He argued that Norway sells its North Sea oil to the UK at double the price and that the UK was better positioned for energy than Norway, adding “no more windmills”. Trump has previously called wind energy an “expensive joke” during his state visit last year.
The prime minister has faced mounting pressure to reconsider the government’s stance on oil and gas exploration as oil prices surged amid Middle East tensions. Tony Blair last week called for Labour to expand North Sea drilling, arguing that the conflict with Iran had exposed the UK’s “structural vulnerability” to global fossil-fuel shocks. The government has denied that Ed Miliband is expected to approve the first major North Sea oilfield project in nearly a decade, though Chancellor Rachel Reeves said she would be “very happy” to support exploration at the Rosebank and Jackdaw sites.
Oil prices fell back below $100 a barrel on Tuesday morning on hopes that US-Iran negotiations might revive over the Strait of Hormuz. The two countries have each announced blockades of the strategic chokepoint, but shipping data showed at least one US-sanctioned Chinese tanker had passed through. A source familiar with Tehran’s deliberations told Bloomberg that Iran was trying to avoid escalation, with negotiating teams working urgently to restart talks in Islamabad.
Trump’s latest intervention is the latest flashpoint in his strained relationship with Starmer, whom he likened to Neville Chamberlain at a White House Easter event last week. He has also mimicked the prime minister and said he was not Winston Churchill, while the two remain at odds over the president’s approach to the Middle East war.
