Donald Trump has put the North Sea firmly back into the global political spotlight, using a high-profile appearance at the World Economic Forum in Davos to launch a blistering attack on the UK’s energy policy – just hours before rowing back on threats of punitive trade tariffs against Britain and Europe.
Speaking to reporters at the gathering, the US president warned that “between immigration and energy – if they don’t change, bad things will happen to them”, claiming that Europe has become “unrecognisable”.
Mr Trump reserved particular criticism for the UK Government’s approach to oil and gas, arguing that policy decisions had made it “impossible” to develop North Sea reserves.
He said: “The United Kingdom produces just one-third of the total energy from all sources that it did in 1999 – think of that, one-third – and they’re sitting on top of the North Sea, one of the greatest reserves anywhere in the world, but they don’t use it, and that’s one reason why their energy has reached catastrophically low levels, with equally high prices.
“High prices, very low levels. Think of that – one-third and you’re sitting on top of the North Sea.
“They like to say, ‘Well, you know, that’s depleted’. It’s not depleted. It’s got 500 years. They haven’t even found the oil, the North Sea is incredible.
“They don’t let anybody drill, environmentally, they don’t let them drill. They make it impossible for the oil companies to go."
The comments came amid heightened geopolitical tensions at Davos, where Mr Trump also triggered market volatility by threatening a 10 per cent tariff on the UK and other European countries over their refusal to support his proposed annexation of Greenland.
However, those threats were later withdrawn after the US agreed a “future framework” for Greenland and the wider Arctic region with Nato secretary-general Mark Rutte. Mr Trump described the outcome as “a very productive meeting” and said the deal was “really fantastic for the USA”.
Markets responded positively, with Wall Street stocks rising sharply after the president reversed course on a potential trade war.
The renewed focus on energy security closely echoes warnings issued this week by Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce chief executive Russell Borthwick, who has written to Energy Secretary Ed Miliband urging an urgent rethink of UK energy policy.
In the letter, Mr Borthwick warns that by pivoting away from domestic production, the UK has “eroded our own capabilities in producing, refining and supplying the energy that Europe so badly needs”, while becoming increasingly reliant on imports in an “uncertain world”.
He highlights the impact of what he describes as a “dysfunctional regulatory regime”, the Energy Profits Levy, and an “ideological ban on new licences”, arguing that these policies are accelerating decline in the UK Continental Shelf and increasing exposure to geopolitical shocks.
“Energy security, economic security and national security are inseparable,” Mr Borthwick writes, adding that UK businesses “stand ready to play a central role in delivering secure, affordable and lower-carbon energy for the UK, but this requires policy that values and favours domestic production over import dependency”.
You can read the full letter here.