Poll: 68% back UK oil and gas amid rising NE job losses

The Herald Scotland

09-05-2025

Earlier this week, Harbour Energy — the UK's largest oil and gas producer — announced 250 job losses, on top of 350 redundancies made in 2023.
Scott Barr, managing director of the Aberdeen-based firm, blamed the cuts on 'the government's ongoing punitive fiscal position and a challenging regulatory environment'.
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At an emergency press conference in Aberdeen, Russell Borthwick, chief executive of the Chamber, said nearly 600 jobs had been lost across the region in recent weeks.
He warned these were not isolated incidents but part of a wider trend driven by political and fiscal instability.
Mr Borthwick said: 'We are witnessing the start of deindustrialisation in the UK's energy capital. This is not what the public voted for, and this is reflected in our polling published today.'
The Energy Profits Levy — widely referred to as the windfall tax — was introduced in 2022 by then Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Initially set at 35%, it was raised to 38% in last year's Budget by Chancellor Rachel Reeves. The headline rate of tax on upstream oil and gas activities is now 78% — among the highest in the world.
Mr Borthwick said: 'The Energy Profits Levy is starving the sector of investment and damaging the very supply chain we need to deliver net zero. The country did not vote for lost jobs, rising imports and higher emissions.'
He added: 'Since the windfall tax was first imposed in May 2022, the price of Brent Crude oil has nearly halved. Meanwhile, the levy has been increased by successive governments.
'As the industry faces this punishing tax rate — coupled with uncertainty over environmental assessments and a closed door on exploration — these findings show the UK has become a difficult place to do business.
'It leaves the country reliant on imported oil and gas, and has cost jobs from the energy supply chain which is vital for delivering projects in offshore wind, hydrogen and carbon capture — all essential for net zero.
'The shift to renewables at scale is the goal, particularly offshore wind, but volatile transmission charges and the risk of zonal pricing are undermining investment plans. Policy should instead seek to put the energy transition back on the front foot.'
According to the Chamber's poll, 68% of voters want to meet oil and gas demand from domestic production, rather than relying on imports.
Just 27% believe the windfall tax has had any meaningful impact on reducing household bills, with more than 60% describing it as ineffective.
When informed that companies operating in the North Sea face a 78% tax rate, three times as many voters said they considered the levy unfair as those who said it was fair.
The Chamber has now called for urgent action from both the UK and Scottish governments.
It is seeking an emergency summit involving the Prime Minister and First Minister to prevent further job losses and accelerate green job creation.
It has also called for the Energy Profits Levy to be scrapped before the next financial year, and for clear funding commitments to support the Acorn carbon capture project at St Fergus.
The poll was seized upon by the Scottish Conservatives, who accused both Labour and the SNP of waging an 'ideological war' on the North Sea.
Douglas Lumsden, the party's shadow energy and net zero secretary, said: 'This poll is just the latest to confirm that an overwhelming majority of Scots back producing our own oil and gas while we still depend on it — unlike John Swinney and Keir Starmer, who would rather leave us reliant on imports.'
He added: 'It is crazy that Labour and the SNP continue their ideological war on the North Sea, even as hundreds of workers at Harbour Energy lose their jobs. They are putting our energy security at risk.'
Mr Lumsden said the SNP had 'fought tooth and nail against Jackdaw and Rosebank', and that the First Minister was 'no friend of the industry'.
A UK Government spokesperson said: 'The Government has reformed the Energy Profits Levy to support investment and give industry certainty and stability.
"The Prime Minister has made clear the UK Government's steadfast commitment to the north east of Scotland's energy sector, which plays a vital role in the UK economy and will continue to do so for future generations.
'By making the UK a clean energy superpower, including launching a world-leading carbon capture and storage industry after years of delay, consenting record amounts of clean power, and ending many years of no new nuclear, we will get the UK off dependence on markets controlled by petrostates and dictators, and drive jobs and growth through our Plan for Change.'
The Scottish Government has been approached for comment.