The boss of energy giant Shell has warned that cutting oil and gas production would be "dangerous and irresponsible."

Wael Sawan told the BBC that failing to continue drilling, at the same time as demand from China increased could lead to significantly higher prices.

Head of the UN António Guterres recently said investment in new oil and gas production was "economic and moral madness".

Mr Sawan told the BBC: "I respectfully disagree." He added: "What would be dangerous and irresponsible is cutting oil and gas production so that the cost of living, as we saw last year, starts to shoot up again."

READ MORE: Climate advisers: UK has 'undermined' COP26 progress with oil push

The energy boss also hit out at the uncertainty over the UK’s domestic production.

Currently, the UK imports more than half of its oil and gas. That proportion will rise if there is no further drilling in the North Sea.

Recently, Labour has signalled that while oil and gas will be part of the UK energy supply for “many years” to come, they will block new licenses for exploration in the North Sea. 

Meanwhile, the Tories angered the industry by imposing a windfall tax on fossil fuel profits.

The energy profits levy saw firms, introduced last May, saw firms taxed an additional 25% tax on UK oil and gas profits on top of the existing 40% headline rate of tax.

That was then increased to 35% from January this year and is due to run until March 2028. It was previously due to finish in 2025.

A recent change in the policy means that the windfall tax will end if oil and gas prices fall below a certain level for six months.

The Herald: Wael Sawan became chief executive of Shell in January Picture Shell

Mr Sawan, who took up his post last September, said the UK Government needed to “make a call as to their views on imported versus domestic production.”

He told the broadcaster: "When you do not have the stability you require in these long-term investments, that raises questions when we compare that to other countries where there is very clear support for those investments."

He said the discussion with US officials had underlined his feeling that America was more supportive of oil and gas companies.

"They said we continue to value a company that provides us the energy we desperately need. That resonated with me as a person who comes from Lebanon where we are starved of energy,” Mr Sawan added. 

READ MORE: More splits over Starmer oil and gas ban plan emerge

The Shell chief executive also warned that poorer countries could bear the brunt of a gas shortfall.

He said a bidding war last year saw poorer countries like Pakistan and Bangladesh unable to afford liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipments that were instead diverted to Northern Europe.

"They took away LNG from those countries and children had to work and study by candlelight," he said. "If we're going to have a transition it needs to be a just transition that doesn't just work for one part of the world."

Responding to the comments, the Scottish Conservative shadow secretary for net zero, energy and transport Douglas Lumsden said: “This stark warning from the boss of Shell highlights the economic illiteracy of Labour and the SNP’s naïve opposition to future oil and gas production.

“The reality is that, currently, renewable sources come nowhere near to satisfying our energy needs, so prematurely turning off the taps in the North Sea – as Keir Starmer has vowed to do, and the Nationalists support – would be utter madness. 

“Not only would it throw tens of thousands of skilled workers across Scotland – and especially in the North East – under a bus, it would undermine our energy security, leaving us at the mercy of despotic regimes like Putin’s Russia for more expensive imports of fossil fuels carrying a greater carbon footprint.”

READ MORE: Grant Shapps criticises 'bonkers policy' of ruling out new oil and gas

Mr Sawan’s comments were criticised by climate campaigners. 

Jamie Peters, the head of climate at Friends of the Earth, said it was “utterly ironic for Shell to be calling anything ‘dangerous and irresponsible’”.

“Let’s be clear, companies like Shell are fuelling both the climate crisis and the soaring cost of energy. They are profiting from the misery of ordinary people while destroying the planet, and they’re making a cynical case to continue locking us into the volatile fossil fuel markets that are the root cause of the energy crisis.”

He pointed out that the remarks followed news of the hottest June on record.