Energy firms ‘must invest in Britain’
BUSINESS Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng has demanded that energy giants produce a plan for how they will reinvest their huge profits in the UK.
The Government wants the firms to put cash into British energy projects to further reduce the country’s dependence on foreign imports.
A Government source insisted the companies “need to step up”, saying: “These companies are making a lot of money.we want that money reinvested in the UK, in British jobs, in the British supply chain.we think that’s a pretty fair request.”
The concern about European dependence on Russian gas has brought a new urgency to the push to ramp up British production.
The source said: “When countries are dependent on Russia it affects their actions against Russia.
“The UK only imports about four per cent of its gas from Russia so we’ve been able to put in place far more significant and crippling sanctions compared to those countries that are more dependent on Russian gas.
“The more gas we produce at home the less we need to import from abroad.”
Labour has proposed a 10 per cent increase in corporation tax for North Sea oil and gas producers, claiming this would raise £1.2billion.
In his letter to the firms, Mr Kwarteng said: “Scaling up, accelerating and investing in homegrown energy production will support us in continuing to grow the British economy, create good jobs across the country, and crucially bring down consumer bills in the long-term.
“In return for the UK Government’s ongoing support for the sector, the Prime Minister and I want to see a clear plan from the oil and gas industry to reinvest profits in the North Sea and, importantly, in the clean energy technologies of the future.
“[I] would like you to set out how you will reinvest profits, double down on investments in the clean energy transition and, importantly, accelerate and maximise domestic oil and gas production.
“We need to collectively show the British people how the success of our offshore oil and gas sector has a direct and enduring benefit to the British economy and people’s jobs and livelihoods in order to protect the North Sea as a major UK energy asset for decades
to come.”