CLIMATE campaigners have been left outraged at the news Norwegian oil giant Equinor has announced pre-tax profits of £5.8 billion for the last three months.
Friends of the Earth Scotland say that the company’s flagship project, the Rosebank oil field, is in line to pocket a tax break of £3.75bn from the UK Government to incentivise its development.
The group says that this loophole in the windfall tax means that 91% of the cost of developing the 500-million-barrel field will be covered by the public purse.
In protest, campaigners in Aberdeen will deliver a “giant cheque” to the Equinor offices to highlight what they see as the injustice of the tax break.
The Rosebank oil and gas field is to be developed north of the Shetland Islands, producing 69,000 barrels of oil and 44 million cubic feet of gas per day.
It has been met with widespread opposition, including from a variety of SNP MPs including deputy Westminster leader Mhairi Black.
Friends of the Earth Scotland’s oil and gas campaigner Freya Aitchison said: “These outrageous profits every quarter serve as a stark reminder that companies like Equinor have no intention of changing their ways.
“Fossil fuel giants are simply making too much money from upholding the climate-destroying status quo.
“Adding insult to injury is the massive tax break Equinor will receive should they go ahead with Rosebank, showing how the UK Government would rather hand out public money than say no to big polluters.”
There are rumours that a final decision on Rosebank will be made following the summer recess, after delays due to concerns that the project would not meet net-zero commitments.
Aitchison continued: “Grant Shapps (below) and the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero are blatantly ignoring the devastating impacts of climate breakdown, exemplified most recently in the terrifying wildfires in Greece.
“By cheerfully inviting oil companies to drill for yet more polluting fossil fuels, they are effectively denying the reality of the climate crisis.
“The world is burning and the UK Government is helping the arsonists pay for the fuel.”
A UK Government spokesperson said: "These comments fail to recognise that the UK is a trailblazer in its ambitions to reach net zero by 2050 – forging ahead of many other countries and nearly halving emissions since 1990.
“Our world leading plans to power up Britain include large-scale investment in renewable and nuclear projects.
"But the transition to non-fossil forms of energy cannot happen overnight and even when we’re net zero, we still need some oil and gas – the industry also significantly boosts the Scottish economy estimated to support around 90,000 jobs.
“Through the Energy Profits Levy we are ensuring excess profits – driven by Putin's illegal invasion of Ukraine - are being used to drive down people’s energy bills across the country.”
Equinor was contacted for comment.
