The letter – which has gained support from First Minister John Swinney and senior leaders across Scotland’s energy, business and public sectors – was handed over to senior HM Treasury officials at a meeting in London yesterday (10 December) by Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce Chief Executive Russell Borthwick and Ben Martin, Policy Manager at British Chambers of Commerce.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ decision to extend the Energy Profits Levy (EPL) to 2030 threatens tens of thousands of jobs across the UK energy sector and places the entire energy transition at risk.

The crippling 78% tax has already been blamed for thousands of redundancies, including 700 at Harbour Energy, while more than 800 jobs have been lost at major infrastructure hubs at Grangemouth and Mossmorran.

The UK government has already designed a new, fairer North Sea regime – the Oil & Gas Price Mechanism (OGPM) – which would only apply when prices are elevated, ranging from an oil price of $90 next year through to $97 in 2030.

The chamber is calling for this regime to be introduced four years earlier, in 2026.

In the space of a week, the campaign has grown rapidly – attracting support from energy workers, supply chain businesses, community leaders, entrepreneurs and senior public figures including Sir Ian Wood, Martin Gilbert, Dave Cormack (Aberdeen FC), Sandy Begbie (Scottish Financial Enterprise), Claire Mack OBE (Scottish Renewables), Barry MacLeod (Flotation Energy), Steve Nicol (Wood PLC), Hani El Kurd (Subsea7), Stuart Cameron (Boskalis), and port chiefs across the north-east.

The public letter states:

Russell Borthwick, chief executive at Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce, said: “The North Sea is being taxed into decline, and it is workers and energy communities who are bearing the brunt. We now need swift, decisive action to prevent major job losses and the deindustrialisation of Scotland’s critical energy infrastructure.

“Even the UK government accepts it is taxing windfalls that do not exist. There is simply no credible justification for persisting with the current regime.

“If we can slow the decline in domestic oil and gas production and rely less on imports, the UK’s public finances will improve – and the world-class workforce and supply chain needed for a genuinely managed and just transition will be protected.

“Ministers face a stark choice: keep the EPL in place until 2030 and trigger thousands more avoidable job losses, or work with industry to safeguard employment and unlock investment by moving to a new tax regime in 2026.”

He added: “Today’s handover sends a clear message from thousands of people across Scotland and the wider UK: we cannot delay this any longer. The livelihoods of energy workers, and the future of our economy, depend on decisive action now.”

Commenting on the recently released North Sea Future Plan, which was also discussed during the meeting, Ben Martin, policy manager at the BCC, said: “This plan rightly recognises the importance of delivering a long-term energy transition in the North Sea, and the critical role of businesses and workers in the sector. It incorporates many of the recommendations from the independent North Sea Transition Taskforce, which the BCC convened.

“But it fails to address the elephant in the room, that investment and jobs are draining out of the North Sea at an alarming rate because of the crippling tax regime being imposed on the industry.

“Unless the recently announced Oil & Gas Price Mechanism is introduced at the earliest opportunity, all other efforts from the North Sea Future Plan will be significantly limited in their impact. This would be a travesty as many of the other proposals in the report have merit.”