Jackdaw gas field set to be approved by UK Labour government
The North Sea project, 150 miles east of Aberdeen, could be connected to the UK network within months.
The UK Government is expected to give the controversial Jackdaw gas field the go ahead on Wednesday after months of speculation.
The North Sea project, 150 miles east of Aberdeen, could be connected to the UK network within months and opens the door to a host of fossil fuel projects being approved.
Reports suggest that the project’s eagerly-awaited environmental consent is expected to be approved on Wednesday in what has bene a key test of the Labour UK government’s pledge to ban new North Sea drilling.
Politico reports that UK government officials are expecting the approval to be made on Wednesday morning, while a source at Adura, the partnership between Shell and Equinor bringing forward both Jackdaw and Rosebank projects, told The Scotsman the company is also expecting a decision on Wednesday.
READ MORE: North Sea chief demands action from Andy Burnham to open 'bigger pipeline' of oil and gas projects
A licence for the field was granted years ago by the Conservative UK government, but it sparked legal challenges from environmental groups.
The Court of Session in Edinburgh ruled last year that Jackdaw and the Rosebank oil field, 80 miles north-west of Shetland, had been unlawfully approved.
This is because the government had failed to take into account the climate impact of burning oil and gas from the sites.
A decision is still to be taken on Rosebank, which is Britain’s largest untapped oil field.
Industry bodies have argued that starting production at the fields will provide jobs and help the UK’s energy security.
But climate campaigners have said that more drilling would harm efforts to reduce carbon emissions. They have also said that production would not help energy security.
Under the process, the North Sea Transition Authority can only grant consent for drilling to go ahead once the Offshore Petroleum Regulator for Environment and Decommissioning (OPRED), part of the UK government’s Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ), has completed its assessment of the environmental impact and UK Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh has agreed that consent can be granted.
Adura believes that the Jackdaw project could help meet the UK’s gas needs this winter while approval could open the door to the Rosebank oil project and several other developments awaiting environmental consent, moving ahead.
Earlier this week, the CEO of Offshore Energies UK (OEUK), David Whitehouse, told The Scotsman that Prime Minister Andy Burnham should put his commitment to reindustrialise the UK into action by opening the door for a “bigger pipeline of projects” in fossil fuel drilling in the North Sea.
Mr Whitehouse added: “We want to hear that support and more importantly, we want to see the government recognising it's not those two projects (Jackdaw and Rosebank), it's the bigger pipeline of projects that's important.”
Labour vowed to ban new oil and gas exploration licences in its manifesto ahead of winning the 2024 UK general election. Party bosses have argued that allowing Jackdaw to go ahead will not break that commitment due to the project having previously obtaining a licence.
The Scottish government, which has shifted its stance under John Swinney’s leadership to a position more supportive of new developments, has maintained that it has not been able to explicitly back the project while it has been under consideration by UK ministers, but it is expected to welcome the decsion to approve Jackdaw.
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