A US oil firm has said it will complete all its operations in the North Sea by the complete of 2029, blaming the impact of the windfall responsibility.

Apache said recent confirmation in the budgetary schedule that the windfall responsibility on oil and gas firm profits would rise and be extended to 2030 had made production uneconomic.

The Texas-based firm took control of the Forties field, east of Fraserburgh, in 2003 but suspended all recent drilling activity last year.

The UK government said it wanted to make the UK a “tidy vigor superpower” and it was asking the oil and gas sector to contribute more to that shift.

The vigor Profits Levy (EPL) – the official name for the windfall responsibility – is a levy on profits made from extracting UK oil and gas.

It was introduced in May 2022 after vigor firms recorded bumper profits due to the rise in vigor prices.

Then Chancellor Rishi Sunak said the money raised would back households facing rising vigor bills.

Initially set at 25% and due to expire in 2025, the Conservatives later raised it to 35% and said it would last until March 2029.

In the recent budgetary schedule, Labour raised the levy to 38% – meaning the total responsibility rate on the companies is now 78% – and extended it by a further year.

An Apache spokesperson said: “The onerous budgetary impact of the EPL, combined with the substantial fund that will be essential to comply with regulatory requirements, makes production of hydrocarbons beyond 2029 uneconomic.

“Looking forward, our focus will be on maintaining resource safety and integrity as we prepare for the responsible decommissioning of our assets.”

Industry body Offshore Energies UK (OEUK) has previously said that raising the windfall responsibility would reduce fund in the oil and gas sector, putting thousands of jobs at hazard.

The UK government said the shift to cleaner vigor would make thousands of recent jobs, and pointed to its selection to set up Great British vigor.

The publicly-owned corporation headquartered in Aberdeen will work with the private sector in developing tidy vigor projects.

A spokesperson said: “We are committed to making the UK a tidy vigor superpower, with both community and private fund required to back the shift, enhance vigor safety, and provide sustainable jobs of the upcoming.

“To that complete we secured £24bn for green industries at the International fund Summit and have made changes to the vigor Profits Levy that recognise the oil and gas sector’s role in the UK’s vigor mix while asking it to contribute more to the shift – helping to fund GB vigor based in Aberdeen.”