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LONDON, June 23 (Reuters) - North Sea oil and gas companies on Thursday told Britain's finance minister Rishi Sunak that a planned windfall tax on energy profits could undermine new developments in the basin.
Sunak travelled to the North Sea hub of Aberdeen in Scotland to discuss the levy, announced last month, following mounting pressure on Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government to tackle soaring household energy bills as the world's top energy companies posted record profits.
Norwergian oil giant Equinor's head of UK political and public affairs David Cairns told Sunak the company is due to make a final investment decision on its giant Rosebank oilfield in the spring of next year but it "no longer knows if the UK is where we want to put our money," according to people present in the meeting.
Shell's North Sea boss Simon Roddy told Sunak that the Energy Profits Levy (EPL) was "a negative signal undermining investment" in Britain and that the company will "always favour a stable, regulated fiscal regime."
Shell is due decide in the coming months whether to go ahead with the development of the Jackdaw gas field.
Shell and Equinor did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Sunak said in a tweet following the meeting that "the energy sector is vital for the economy through the jobs it supports, the energy security it provides and for our transition to net zero" greenhouse gas emissions.
Energy minister Kwasi Kwarteng said earlier that the government was still "fleshing out details" of its plan to introduce a 25% windfall tax on oil and gas producers' profits, with a view to raising $5 billion.
The North Sea's biggest oil and gas producer, Harbour Energy , which was also present at the meeting, told the government in a letter earlier this week that the planned windfall tax will shrink the company's investment in the country. (Reporting by Ron Bousso Editing by Alexandra Hudson)
