High energy bills here to stay due to windfall tax and green switch, oil boss claims

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Scots face eye-watering energy bills for years to come due to windfall taxes and the shift to green energy, the boss of one of Europe’s biggest oil companies claimed.Anders Opedal, chief exec of Norwegian energy giant Equinor, warned high bills were here to stay, partly blaming investment by firms in renewables.But it comes after Opedal’s Equinor - which is planning the controversial Rosebank oil field off Shetland - raked in £20billion in profits in the space of just three months last year.Meanwhile, green groups and unions have called for the UK’s National Grid to be brought entirely into public ownership to force a speedier phase-out of fossil fuels.Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Opedal said Russia’s move to choke Europe of gas supplies - in retaliation against sanctions over its war on Ukraine - had stripped the continent’s energy markets of a “vital fuel”.Opedal told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: "We see a rewiring of the whole energy system in Europe.

We need massive amounts of more renewables. We need to do the industry in a totally different way, requiring hydrogen and so on."This will require a lot of investment and these investments need to be paid - so, I would assume that energy bills will maybe be slightly higher than in the past.”On the UK Government’s 35 per cent windfall tax on oil firm profits, he added: “It is affecting how we judge each project.”Speaking ahead of attending the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Opedal also insisted the Rosebank development - which it’s claimed could produce some 70,000 barrels of oil a day - was needed for the UK’s energy security.However, campaigners say the project flies in the face of climate targets.