What's happened
Energy Secretary is preparing to recommend approval for the Jackdaw gas field and the Rosebank oil field after consultations, continuing the North Sea program to support jobs and energy security while facing climate concerns.
What's behind the headline?
Insight
- The North Sea remains a flashpoint between energy security and climate commitments. Jackdaw could supply gas, Rosebank oil, but both carry reputational and legal risk for meeting net-zero pledges.
- The decision process is influenced by economic pressures, energy security, and the political imperative to support regional jobs.
- Expect continued scrutiny of emissions, with potential conditions to redirect revenues to greener projects.
Forecast
- A decision to approve could accelerate project construction, sustaining jobs in Aberdeen and surrounding areas.
- Opposition will likely push for stronger environmental safeguards and clearer funding for clean energy alternatives.
- If approved, the government could face legal challenges or require accountability for climate commitments in the medium term.
How we got here
Jackdaw and Rosebank had been approved by the previous government but were challenged in court; environmental groups argued the projects would worsen climate change. Regulators reopened the cases, and consultations closed recently, with decisions now imminent.
Our analysis
Independent, Guardian, BBC, The Mirror, The Scotsman, The Ecologist, The Guardian, The Scotsman, BBC Business, The Independent, The Mirror, The Ecologist
Go deeper
- What conditions might be attached to approval for Jackdaw and Rosebank?
- How will revenues from these fields be allocated in the UK’s climate and energy budgets?
- What are the potential job and regional economic impacts if approvals proceed or are delayed?
More on these topics
-
North Sea - Sea
The North Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean located between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and France.
-
Aberdeen - City in Scotland
Aberdeen is a city in northeast Scotland. It is Scotland's third most populous city, one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas and the United Kingdom's 39th most populous built-up area, with an official 2018 population estimate of 198,880 for th
-
United Kingdom - Country in Europe
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom or Britain, is a sovereign country located off the northwestern coast of the European mainland.
-
Andy Burnham - Mayor of Greater Manchester
Andrew Murray Burnham is a British Labour Party politician who has served as Mayor of Greater Manchester since 2017. He attended Gordon Brown’s Cabinet as Chief Secretary to the Treasury from 2007 to 2008 and served in the Cabinet as Culture Secretary f
-
Equinor ASA - Company
-
Friends of the Earth Scotland - Environmental organization
Friends of the Earth Scotland is a Scottish charity and an independent member of the Friends of the Earth international network of environmental organisations It is one of the 30 national organisations that Friends of the Earth Europe represents and unite
-
Department for Energy Security and Net Zero - Government department
The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero is a ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It was established on 7 February 2023 by a cabinet reshuffle under the Rishi Sunak premiership.
-
Scotland - Country of the United Kingdom
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a 96 mile border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and w
-
Labour Party - Centrist social democratic political party in the United Kingdom
The Labour Party, commonly Labour, is one of the two main political parties in the United Kingdom, along with the Conservative Party. It sits on the centre-left of the left–right political spectrum, and has been described as an alliance of democratic...
-
Tessa Khan - Lawyer
Tessa Khan is an environmental lawyer residing in the United Kingdom. She cofounded and is co-director of the Climate Litigation Network, which supports legal cases related to climate change mitigation and climate justice.
-
Donald Trump - 45th and 47th U.S. President
Donald John Trump is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 45th president from 2017 to 2021.
-
The Independent - Newspaper
The Independent is a British online newspaper that was established in 1986 as a national morning printed newspaper published in London. Nicknamed the Indy, it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis
-
Shell - Oil industry company
Royal Dutch Shell PLC, commonly known as Shell, is a British-Dutch multinational oil and gas company headquartered in the Netherlands and incorporated in England.
-
Edinburgh - Capital of Scotland
Edinburgh is the capital of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian, it is located in Lothian on the Firth of Forth's southern shore.
-
British Broadcasting Corporation - Broadcasting company
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Headquartered at Broadcasting House in Westminster, London, it is the world's oldest national broadcaster, and the largest broadcaster in the world by number of employees.
-
The Scotsman - British national daily newspaper
The Scotsman is a Scottish compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until August 2004. Its parent company...