Scotland's First Minister is “very concerned” about reports that oil giant BP is considering abandoning the North Sea.
Bloomberg reported that the company had begun an internal review of its North Sea operations, although no final decision had been made.
Speaking to the Press Association on Saturday during a campaign stop in Glasgow, John Swinney put the blame squarely on the UK Government and its windfall tax on oil and gas.
“I've seen the reports and obviously that would worry me very much,” the Prime Minister said.
“What will drive this is the UK Government’s hostile fiscal approach through the energy profits tax, and I have told the Prime Minister to his face that the energy profits tax is causing significant economic damage to Scotland and the North Sea oil and gas sector.
“It is accelerating the decline of the sector and I made it clear to the Prime Minister that he should scrap that tax on energy profits, and I think speculation about BP should prompt early action by the UK Government.”
But Sir Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister claimed, was distracted by the pressure on his job as a result of the scandal surrounding the hiring and firing of former US ambassador Lord Peter Mandelson.
“But, as with so many issues about the challenges we face, the First Minister is distracted by his own failures and cannot take appropriate action to protect jobs and employment in Scotland, and that is an example of the weakness and failure of a Labor government,” Mr Swinney said.
The reports come after UK Energy Secretary Ed Miliband described BP's profits, which tripled in the first quarter of this year, in a now-deleted social media post as “morally and economically wrong”.
The UK government has been contacted for comment.
