North Sea oil titan invests in UK despite criticising windfall tax
THE North Sea’s largest oil and gas producer is expanding its operations in Britain despite suggesting it would slash investment in the wake of Rishi Sunak’s windfall tax.
Harbour Energy stated in a trading update that it had increased spending in the UK and intends to grow further over the coming year.
The oil and gas giant said it had made several significant UK investments, including starting up a production facility at the Tolmount gas field at the end of last year.
Harbour plans to invest another $1.2bn (£950m) overall in the next year, up from $1bn last year, driven by higher spending in the UK and internationally, including increased North Sea drilling activity. The plans stand in stark contrast to remarks from its chief executive Linda Cook, who in March last year said the Government’s windfall tax had “reinforced our strategic goal to grow and diversify internationally”. She said the tax had “all but wiped out our profit for the year”. Mr Sunak, who was then chancellor, angered oil and gas companies when he levied a windfall tax on them in May 2022, amid soaring energy prices following the post-pandemic reopening and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Harbour was one of several major players saying they would cut back investment because of the Energy Profits Levy, which raised £2.6bn in its first year.
Shell at the time reported the highest profits in its 115-year history.
Jeremy Hunt increased the tax in January last year and extended it until March 2028, but promised he would withdraw it if prices fell below a certain threshold for six months.
Ms Cook said: “We are very proud of our achievements over the past year and excited about the future of the company.”