Sir Jim Ratcliffe, owner of Ineos, the petrochemicals group, has accused the government of taxing the North Sea oil and gas industry “to death” and warned that plans to invest up to £1 billion upgrading key pipelines were at risk.
The billionaire, a contender to buy Manchester United football club, accused ministers of playing “primitive politics” when the windfall tax was introduced last year.
The energy profits levy increased the effective tax rate in the North Sea from 40 per cent to 65 per cent and then 75 per cent.
“Taxes are now so high that profits no longer fund future investments,” he told the Financial Times. “What the country needs is energy security, which means encouraging developments in our strategic energy reserves in the
