Trump calls for UK North Sea oil drilling, ramps up energy criticism
Conservative party leader Kemi Badenoch visits the Well-Safe Protective Oil Rig in Aberdeen’s South Harbor on March 30, 2026 in Aberdeen, Scotland.
Paul Reid | Getty Images News | Getty Images
US President Donald Trump has renewed his criticism of Britain’s energy policy, mocking the ruling centre-left Labor government’s decision to ban licenses for new oil and gas fields in the North Sea.
“Europe is desperate for energy but the UK refuses to open one of the world’s largest fields, North Sea Oil. Tragic!!!” Trump said on Tuesday: Real Social post.
Trump said, “Aberdeen must be booming. Norway sells North Sea Oil to England for twice the price. They make a fortune.”
“The UK, which is better positioned energy-wise than Norway in the North Sea, should DRILL, BABY, DRILL! It’s absolutely crazy that they don’t… AND THERE ARE NO MORE WIND MILLS!” he added.
His comments come amid continued uncertainty over crude oil supplies from the oil-rich Middle East as the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz remains effectively closed.
Oil and gas prices have risen since the US-Israeli war with Iran began in late February, delivering the performance predicted by the International Energy Agency. described It has been described as “the most severe oil supply shock in history”.
The energy shock is expected to hit the UK hardest among the world’s developed economies, according to the International Monetary Fund. The IMF cut its forecast for UK growth in its latest World Economic Outlook report to just 0.8% this year, from a forecast of 1.3% before the start of hostilities.
Trump’s criticism of Britain’s energy policy follows a series of personal attacks on British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in recent weeks.
The US president has previously described the North Sea as a “treasure chest” for oil and gas and last year told the UK government to “drill, baby, drill” to reduce energy bills.
A spokesman for the UK Energy Security and Net Zero Agency said the government had taken action to tackle the cost of living, including cutting £117 ($158.74) from average energy bills this month and supporting de-escalation in the Middle East.
“The lesson from another fossil fuel crisis is that the UK needs to get off the fossil fuel roller coaster and move to clean domestic energy that we control,” they told CNBC via email.
energy security
British Energy Minister Ed Miliband has previously He said the Iran war had reinforced the need to accelerate Britain’s transition to clean energy so the country could “escape the clutches of fossil fuel markets we don’t control”.
Some of Britain’s right-leaning opposition parties, particularly the Reform and Conservatives, have called for new oil and gas licenses in the North Sea as a way to reduce fuel bills.
Meanwhile, Unite, the UK’s leading union representing thousands of North Sea oil and gas workers, has called on the government to urgently increase North Sea production. He made the call after industry body Offshore Energies UK. warned The UK needed to improve national energy security by increasing domestic natural gas supplies.
But energy experts question whether new North Sea oil and gas licenses could help bolster domestic energy security.
Ed Miliband, UK Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, arrives in Downing Street to attend a Cabinet meeting ahead of the Spring Statement announcement in London on 3 March 2026.
Wiktor Szymanowicz | Future Publishing | Getty Images
“The North Sea is a mature oil and gas basin that will decline in the long term, and this is a geological fact that no political slogans can change.” in question Laura Anderson is senior partner at the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU).
His comments came in response to proposals put forward by Reform earlier this month to maximize North Sea oil and gas production.
“Even with new licenses, overall production will continue to decline, meaning any strategy built around doubling oil and gas risks chasing a dwindling resource rather than planning for the future,” Anderson said.
