Sir Jim Ratcliffe has warned that taxing the North Sea oil and gas industry “to death" threatens future investment spent on upgrading Britain’s key pipelines.

The billionaire owner of British chemical company Ineos criticised the Government's decision last year to introduce a windfall tax on North Sea producers.

Speaking to the Financial Times, Sir Jim said the Government was playing “primitive politics” when it increased the taxes from 40pc to 65pc and then 75pc.

“Taxes are now so high that profits no longer fund future investments,” he said.

“What the country needs is energy security, which means encouraging developments in our strategic energy reserves in the North Sea. There has been no thought given to the long-term consequences of this ‘tax it to death’ move.”

David Bucknall, chief executive of Ineos’s energy division, said the company would instead welcome a “price floor” on the windfall tax, which would remove the levy if oil and gas prices fall below a certain level.