Starmer, Jetten Meet Energy Leaders as War Disrupts Supplies

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his Dutch counterpart Rob Jetten met energy leaders to discuss cooperation in the North Sea as the war in the Middle East disrupts global supplies. 

The leaders held bilateral talks at Downing Street on Tuesday, followed by a discussion with companies including Centrica Plc, Shell Plc, National Grid Plc and SSE Plc. The Dutch visit comes as the Iran war has upended global energy trade, in large part due to the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the route for about a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas.

The summit being convened by France and the UK later this week would be “a vital moment” of diplomatic, military and economic efforts to restore free transit through Hormuz, according to a Downing Street readout after the meeting of the two leaders, indicating Jetten’s participation in the event. 

They underscored the need for a stronger Europe, vowing to deepen defense industrial cooperation and expand UK-Netherlands maritime partnership.

Earlier in the day, Starmer’s spokesperson Tom Wells told reporters that the government puts the North Sea at the heart of its growth plans and that the Prime Minister believes that UK-Dutch cooperation can help lead the way on clean power, carbon storage and energy security. 

The British North Sea has become challenging for many oil and gas producers, which have been reassessing activities in the region. Shrinking output in the aging basin and a string of windfall tax hikes and extensions, combined with a push to decarbonize the country’s energy system, have forced multiple companies to sell or merge their assets in the region.

US President Donald Trump has called multiple times for the UK to reopen the North Sea for exploration. 

“Tragic!!! Aberdeen should be booming. Norway sells its North Sea Oil to the U.K. at double the price. They are making a fortune. U.K., which is better situated on the North Sea for purposes of energy than Norway, should, DRILL, BABY, DRILL!!!” he said on a social media post ahead of the meeting. 

Separately, Starmer and Jetten on Tuesday warned that Russian President Vladimir Putin was benefitting from the conflict in the Gulf, adding it was vital partners “looked at how they could step up pressure” on the country to mitigate that. 

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