Trump says Burnham will ‘open up the North Sea’ for oil drilling

The US president said Prime Minister Andy Burnham told Donald Trump he would “open the North Sea to oil drilling”.

At a White House briefing on Wednesday, Mr Trump claimed Britain would be a “really rich country” if it drilled for oil and claimed there was up to 700 years worth of oil under the sea.

As the UK experiences its fourth heatwave of the year, with a record number of days above 35°C and half the country facing official drought, pressure to stop burning fossil fuels is mounting. France and Spain have been hit by devastating forest fires during a heatwave that has worsened amid the climate crisis.

The president said he tried to persuade Sir Keir Starmer to “open up the North Sea” during his premiership but was unable to persuade the then prime minister to do so.

Mr Burnham and Mr Trump spoke on the phone last Monday but oil was not mentioned in the summary of the conversation in Downing Street.

At the time, there were reports that the new prime minister would support new oil and gas drilling in the North Sea.

The president told reporters: “He said a very nice thing. He said he would open up the North Sea oil. If he does that, you will be a rich country.”

Insisting the UK had “windmills all over the place”, which were made in China, he said Britain also bought oil from Norway.

“Norway has trillions of dollars in the bank. Trillions. It sells its oil from the North Sea, and Scotland has a better part of the North Sea,” Mr. Trump said.

“And you’ve got 500, 600, 700 years. You’ve got unexplored areas in the North Sea. You’ve got one of the most valuable oil finds anywhere in the world, and if the UK… would be a rich country again.”

He continued: “I couldn’t get Starmer to use it. It was incredible. Every oil company I met, and they’re all big giants, everyone I know in the oil business, asked me, ‘Can you please open the North Sea? Can you get them to open it?’ he said. “They are dying to do this.”

Claiming that Aberdeen had “the best oil anywhere on the planet”, he added: “The new gentleman said he was going to open the North Sea when I spoke to him.”

Asked to confirm or deny Mr Burnham’s promise to drill for oil, the No 10 spokesman referred to the official summary of last week’s meeting. The letter said: “Launching his vision as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, the Prime Minister said he would focus on driving reindustrialization across the country to deliver good growth in every postcode.

“The Prime Minister also underlined his commitment to defense and security and said ensuring the security of the UK and its Allies was at the top of his agenda.”

The Labor government under Sir Keir has pledged to end new licenses for oil and gas exploration in the North Sea.

It is debatable how long the North Sea oil reserves can last.

Experts from the UK’s renewable energy sector believe reserves will not last much longer after 2050. Official statistics show that 93 percent of the oil and gas likely to be produced from the North Sea has already been extracted, and the North Sea Transit Authority believes 218 million tonnes could be extracted from existing fields before 2050.

But Offshore Energies UK says analysis suggests much more could be extracted.

Data shows that overall annual production is falling by 7 percent per year.

Mr Burnham had previously insisted Labor would stick to its manifesto pledge not to grant new drilling licences, but also refused to rule out reports he was considering approving new production.

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