One of Britain's biggest independent oil and gas players is slashing its workforce again. Harbour Energy just announced plans to axe another 100 positions, a direct response to the government's decision to maintain its windfall tax on North Sea operations.

The move highlights how regulatory pressure continues reshaping the UK energy sector. When authorities keep punitive taxes in place, companies don't just absorb the costs—they restructure. For Harbour, that means fewer jobs and potentially scaled-back exploration efforts in British waters.

This isn't an isolated incident. It's part of a broader pattern where policy decisions create real-world employment consequences. The windfall tax, originally pitched as a way to capture excess profits during high energy prices, now looks like a double-edged sword for an industry already navigating volatile markets.