WASHINGTON - The newly elected president of the United States, Donald Trump, wants the North Sea to be reopened for oil exploration and for the wind turbines to be removed. Trump will return to the White House on January 20. He made this demand on Friday in a message on the social media platform Truth Social. He was responding to plans by Apache, part of US oil and gas producer APA, to leave the North Sea by the end of 2029. 

More and more oil and gas companies are leaving the North Sea. This is partly due to plans by the British government to increase taxes on oil and gas producers in the North Sea to 38 percent, up from 35 percent, and to extend the levy by a year. 

The British government wants to use the extra income from oil and gas to finance sustainable energy projects. Oil and gas producers have already warned that the higher tax rate will lead to a sharp drop in investment and withdrawal from the area. 

The press agency Reuters had previously reported that Harbour Energy, the largest British oil and gas producer in the North Sea, wants to sell its interests in the oil fields in the area and plans to list on the New York Stock Exchange. The major American oil and gas company ExxonMobil completed its exit from the North Sea region in July last year. 

The United Kingdom and other European countries built large windmill parks in the North Sea in the last few years. The sector for windmill parks at sea has had a tough few years. Costs have increased significantly due to technological and supply issues and higher interest rates. 

Companies like Ørsted from Denmark, which is the largest developer of offshore wind parks in the world, reduced their investment and also had to make significant write-downs on ongoing projects.