Ministers have opened the door to approving drilling at two controversial North Sea oilfields, as new guidance on how energy firms should account for future emissions was released. Michael Shanks, the energy security minister, said on Thursday the guidance would “offer clarity on the way forward for the North Sea oil and gas industry”, after a supreme court ruling in 2024 that blocked drilling.
In January, a judge at Edinburgh’s court of session found that permissions given to Equinor, the lead developer at the Rosebank site, and Shell, which is in charge of Jackdaw, were unlawful because they did not take into account the full scope of carbon emissions they would produce. The judge ruled that the applications should have accounted for the carbon produced by burning the oil and gas extracted, not just that from drilling.
The new guidance is aimed at applications for projects in already-licensed North Sea oil and gas fields, and sets out how environmental impacts should be assessed. Shanks said: “It marks a step forward in ensuring the full implications of oil and gas extraction are considered for potential projects, and that we ensure a managed, prosperous and orderly transition to the North Sea’s clean energy future.”
The announcement was made as new figures from the climate group Uplift suggest Britain will be almost entirely dependent on foreign gas by 2050, even if the fields are given the green light. The analysis shows the UK’s gas import dependency will increase from 55% today to 94% in 2050, because the UK has already burned through most of the gas in the declining basin.
Tessa Khan, executive director of Uplift, said: “This Labour government needs to do the right thing and stand up to the oil and gas firms that have got obscenely rich while millions of people in the UK have struggled, and stop their endless polluting.” A Shell spokesperson said the company remains committed to delivering Jackdaw, which would provide enough fuel to heat 1.4 million UK homes.
