Shell calls for certainty over North Sea future after UK raises windfall tax on energy profits

There has been an exodus of oil producers from the UK’s North Sea basin in recent years. Photograph: Royal Dutch Shell Ho/EPA

Shell has called on the government to “provide certainty” over the future of the North Sea after the chancellor confirmed plans to toughen its windfall tax on oil and gas profits.

Rachel Reeves used Labour’s first budget in almost 15 years to raise the headline tax rate of the energy profits levy by three percentage points to 78% until 2030 and close the “loophole” left by the previous government that enabled fossil fuel producers to reduce their taxes through investment allowances.