Environment & Climate
UK government faces decisions on Rosebank and Jackdaw drilling projects
Proposals for North Sea and North Atlantic fossil fuel projects are under renewed scrutiny after a court invalidated their original environmental assessments.
The short version
- The UK government must decide whether to approve the Jackdaw gasfield and the Rosebank oilfield after a court ruled their previous environmental assessments unlawful.
- While Jackdaw is a relatively small gasfield meant for domestic consumption, the much larger Rosebank oilfield is expected to produce oil for export beyond the UK's 2050 net-zero target.
- Analysts suggest the government could condition consent for Rosebank on mandatory carbon capture and storage (CCS) to align the project with legal climate commitments.
Key facts
- The Conservative government originally licensed the Rosebank and Jackdaw fields in 2022 and 2023, but Edinburgh’s court of session later ruled those environmental impact assessments unlawful because they omitted downstream emissions.[The Guardian]
- The Jackdaw gasfield is projected to have an 11-year lifespan with total emissions of approximately 24 million tonnes, producing gas that will be piped directly into the UK for domestic consumption.[The Guardian]
- The Rosebank oilfield is a larger development with a 25-year operational life and projected emissions of around 250 million tonnes, with extracted oil slated for refining in the Netherlands.[The Guardian]
- Project operators state that developing and operating both fields will generate roughly 3,500 development jobs and 880 operational jobs.[The Guardian]
- Industry data indicates that employment in the UK oil and gas sector declined from 441,000 to 213,000 between 2013 and 2023 as domestic reserves face exhaustion.[The Guardian]
What remains uncertain
- It is uncertain whether the UK government will approve both, one, or neither of the projects under their revised environmental assessments.[The Guardian]
- It remains to be seen if the government will impose strict new conditions, such as mandatory carbon capture and storage or specific methane limits, on the operators.[The Guardian]