Trump demands Starmer ‘drill, baby, drill’ in the North Sea
Donald Trump has renewed his call for Britain to expand oil and gas drilling in the North Sea and called on Sir Keir Starmer’s government to “drill, baby, drill”.
While the US president added that “Aberdeen should be booming” in his latest social media rant against England, he reiterated his demand for “no more windmills” in Scotland.
As oil prices continue to rise amid tensions in the Middle East, the prime minister is under pressure to rethink his government’s stance on oil and gas exploration in the North Sea.
Prices fluctuated wildly after Iran and the United States declared a blockade in the Strait of Hormuz. Despite Trump’s insistence that American warships would stop ships carrying Iranian oil, at least one Chinese tanker sanctioned by the United States passed through this transit point, according to shipping data.
In a social media post on Tuesday, Trump said Britain could and should produce more oil.
He wrote: “Europe is desperate for energy and yet the UK refuses to tap one of the world’s largest deposits of North Sea Oil. Tragic!!! Aberdeen must be booming.”
“Norway sells North Sea Oil to the UK for twice the price. They make a fortune. The UK, which is better positioned energy wise than Norway on the North Sea, should do it, DRILE, BABY, DRILE!!! It’s absolutely crazy that they don’t… AND NO MORE WIND MILLS!”
Earlier this year, Trump called on Sir Keir Starmer to expand domestic oil and gas drilling in the North Sea, accusing the government of making it “impossible” for oil companies to develop domestic reserves.
During a state visit to the UK last year, the US President called wind energy an “expensive joke” and urged Sir Keir to capitalize on the “huge asset” of North Sea oil and gas.
It marks the US president’s latest move towards Sir Keir as the pair continue to be at odds with each other over Mr Trump’s approach to the war in the Middle East.
Last week, he compared Sir Keir to Neville Chamberlain and told reporters at an Easter event at the White House on Monday that Britain had “a long way to go”.
He also told how Sir Keir, impersonating the prime minister in a recent White House speech, told his team he should ask about sending “two old broken-down aircraft carriers” to the Middle East, and made another mockery of himself last month when he said he had no business dealing with Winston Churchill.
The question of whether to allow further drilling for domestic oil and gas in the North Sea has put pressure on Sir Keir in recent weeks, with calls for him to back the Jackdaw and Rosebank fields mounting after Mr Trump’s war caused oil prices to soar.
Last week Tony Blair called on Labor to expand drilling in the North Sea, saying the war in Iran had exposed Britain’s “structural vulnerability” to global fossil fuel shocks.
Earlier this month the government denied Ed Miliband was expected to green-light the first major North Sea field project in almost 10 years. But Chancellor Rachel Reeves said she would be “very happy” to support research at the Rosebank and Jackdaw sites.
Oil prices fell below US$100 per barrel on Tuesday morning on hopes that US-Iran talks could be revived and an agreement could be reached on the Strait of Hormuz.
A person familiar with Tehran’s negotiations told Bloomberg that the regime is trying to prevent tensions from escalating, with negotiating teams working urgently to restart talks in Islamabad.
Limiting the passage of Iranian ships through the Bosphorus for a few days is seen as a possible means for Tehran to prevent an incident that could undermine the talks.
