Under John Swinney, the SNP have repeatedly called on Chancellor Rachel Reeves to scrap the Energy Profits Levy (EPL), which was first introduced under the Tories in May 2022. It is a position also taken by the Scottish Tories and Reform UK.
It was introduced following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which saw oil and gas prices nearly double.
After the US-Israel attacks on Iran, oil and gas prices have seen a similar rise due to the crisis in the Middle East.
READ MORE: Impact of Palestine Action ban on human rights overstated, Home Office lawyer claims
The SNP’s position on the windfall tax has come under further scrutiny from environmental campaigners after BP’s “grotesque” profits boosted by the Iran war were revealed.
The firm’s profits surged by more than 130% to a better-than-expected $3.2 billion (£2.4bn) in the first quarter of 2026.
This led to Friends of the Earth (FoE) Scotland urging the SNP to drop their opposition to the levy,
Under Labour, the EPL was increased to 38%, with it set to remain in place until 2030.
North Sea producers are subject to the Energy Profits Levy
As firms operating in the North Sea pay 30% corporation tax and a supplementary 10% rate on top, oil and gas companies operating in the UK pay 78% tax on their profits.
First Minister Swinney has previously said it is “utterly essential” that the UK Government scraps the windfall tax, suggesting that it is harming jobs and investment in the sector.
Rosie Hampton, FoE Scotland’s oil and gas campaigns manager, said: “While ordinary people are worried sick about rising energy bills, it’s grotesque that BP is making billions from the violence in Iran.
“Instead of making sure that the windfall profits of these greedy polluters are supporting public services, politicians across Scotland have spent months calling for this necessary tax to be scrapped. They should be hanging their heads in shame today.
“It’s obscenely unjust to watch this same story play out year after year with ordinary people suffering while company bosses and shareholders get even richer from these inevitable crises.
READ MORE: Scottish independence demo planned in front of media on Holyrood election day
“Scotland is in prime position to take advantage of the shift to renewables. Taking climate action will improve people’s lives – whether that’s through cheaper bills, warmer homes or better public transport.
“We’ve got the workforce, the resources and the expertise to lead the way. The next Scottish Government must deliver on this transition and end this cycle of profiteering from oil and gas giants once and for all.”
Polling released in March found the windfall tax “retains the support of the public” and that twice as many people support it than oppose it.
Scottish Greens environment spokesperson Patrick Harvie said BP’s profits were “obscene” and “come on the back of chaos and destruction in Iran, and fuel poverty here at home”.
Patrick Harvie (Image: PA)
“It is blood money and the result of a broken system,” he added.
“This is war profiteering, plain and simple, and it underlines the immoral nature of the fossil-fuel industry.
“It’s indefensible that so many other political parties are demanding massive tax cuts for the fossil-fuel profiteers, at a time when millions of households are struggling with the soaring cost of bills and the weekly shop.
“The oil giants are raking it in, and the rest of us are suffering both from their climate wreckage and from the cost of living.
“Far from stopping the windfall tax, we should be closing the loopholes and making it stronger to support people in fuel poverty and fund our transition to a cleaner, greener future.”
READ MORE: Impact of Palestine Action ban on human rights overstated, Home Office lawyer claims
In response for calls for the party to drop its opposition to the EPL, Jackie Dunbar, SNP candidate for Aberdeen Donside, said: “The Labour Party is presiding over the absurd situation that in energy-rich Scotland, energy jobs are going down while energy bills are going up.
“We support a mechanism that taxes excess profits, but that cuts off before jobs and investment in our energy sector and our renewables future is lost – that is the reality right now.
“There is a sensible approach and it is the Oil and Gas Price Mechanism that the Labour Government backed – it must be implemented immediately.
“Unlike the Labour Party, we won’t sit silent as thousands of jobs are lost, investment in our energy sector is ruined and our net-zero ambitions are crushed – while the Westminster parties want our natural resources to work for Westminster, we want them to work for the people of Scotland.
“Energy-rich Scotland should not be home to Scots paying among the highest energy bills in Europe – that’s the reality right now under Westminster control and that’s why Scotland’s energy should be in Scotland’s hands.”
The Scottish Conservatives and Reform UK did not respond to our request for comment.