US President Donald Trump has said that Britain will be “bankrupt“ if it does not expand oil production in the North Sea. According to him, the country can become rich if it uses the deposits off its coast more actively.
“If they open the North Sea, Britain will be rich. If they don't open it, Britain is bankrupt“, Trump told journalists. He linked his call to British Prime Minister Andy Burnham and said he expects London to allow new drilling.
This does not mean that production in the North Sea has stopped. Britain continues to produce oil and gas, but the sector is in a long-term decline. According to preliminary data from the British government, oil production was 31.18 million tons in 2025, compared to 40.866 million tons in 2021.
Production is declining, but not stopped
The British government points out that oil and gas production in the North Sea has fallen by 75 percent between 1999 and 2024. Britain has been a net importer of energy since 2004, and most of the oil from the British sector of the North Sea is exported. At the same time, the country imports a significant part of the raw material used by local refineries.
The government in London defends the position that the new exploration licenses would have a limited effect on overall production due to the natural decline of the mature basin. The cabinet has said that existing fields will be exploited to the end of their life cycle, but has no plans to issue exploration licences for new fields.
Decisions on Rosebank and Jackdaw are pending
The political dispute has centred on two developments. The Rosebank oil field is located northwest of the Shetland Islands, and the Jackdaw gas field is located east of Aberdeen. Both were approved under the previous Conservative government, but legal challenges overturned the decisions and the projects went through the regulatory process again.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said he will take a pragmatic approach to oil and gas resources in the North Sea. However, British authorities have stressed that final decisions on Rosebank and Jackdaw have not yet been taken.
Trump's calls are part of his ongoing criticism of British energy policy. He claims that London is paying a high price for energy from Norway, even though Norway also produces oil and gas from the North Sea. The British government and opponents of new drilling argue that expanding production would reduce energy bills, since the extracted oil is sold on the international market.
Sources: report.az, news.sky.com, the-independent.com