Trump urges Britain to increase oil production in the North Sea

Trump added: “I have a very good relationship with your new Prime Minister [Andy Burnham], and although he is very liberal, I heard that he intends to start drilling for oil in the North Sea. If he takes this step in Aberdeen, your country will become rich, but if he does not, you will face the specter of bankruptcy.”

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Trump urges Britain to increase oil production in the North Sea

Trump had previously stated that representatives of major oil companies asked him to help push London towards taking measures to increase hydrocarbon production in North Sea fields.

It is noteworthy that Trump has repeatedly criticized the British authorities for their policies in the field of energy and their refusal to expand the scope of oil and gas extraction operations in the region.

Oil and gas exploration began in the British North Sea in the 1960s, and developed rapidly during the 1970s, turning into one of the pillars of the British economy and the primary source of national energy security, reaching its historic peak in 1999, at a rate of approximately 4.4 million barrels per day. At the turn of the millennium, these fields entered a stage of natural decline as a result of the depletion of reserves, which turned Britain into a net importer of energy amid rising costs of complex exploration in the remaining reservoirs. Today, this sector stands at the heart of an intense British political conflict. An environmental movement is pressing to stop new licenses in compliance with the goals of climate change and “zero emission,” in contrast to a movement that demands expansion of exploration to ensure the stability of jobs and protect the security of local supplies from the fluctuations of global markets.