North Sea oilwells should be taxed more heavily and so should the production of natural gas. Energy companies are making record-breaking profits from the sale of hydrocarbons that lie in the deep water that surrounds Britain and that should shame the industry when the people paying the highest price are the poorest in society.
It should shame them into willingly parting with some of the gains, especially when the price of oil and gas is dictated by global markets that are driven at the moment largely by the conflict in Ukraine. These are not super-profits that can be attributed to the ingenuity of their staff or foresight of company directors.
