UK authorizes controversial drilling of North Sea gas field

The British government gave the green light on Wednesday to the controversial Jackdaw gas project in the North Sea, ending months of speculation over the future of the site. Prime Minister Andy Burnham said in particular that approval for the operation of Jackdaw, located around 240 km east of Aberdeen, “will protect hundreds of jobs and help keep millions of homes warm this winter”.

The subject is politically sensitive because, before coming to power in 2024, the Labor Party had pledged not to approve new drilling permits in the North Sea. However, the Labor government's commitments make it possible to approve projects under existing licenses. This is the case for Jackdaw, initially approved by the conservatives in 2022 before being the subject of a long legal battle, pointed out in early October, Anders Opedal, the boss of Equinor questioned on this subject.

“We will still need oil and gas”

The Norwegian hydrocarbon giant formed the Adura joint venture with Shell, in charge of this gas field and another project which mainly contains oil, Rosebank, for which the government must also make a decision. “We are committed to moving towards renewable energy and achieving carbon neutrality by 2050. But even on our ambitious climate trajectory, we will still need oil and gas to meet part of our energy needs for decades,” Andy Burnham said in a press release. “This is why we are adopting a pragmatic approach towards the North Sea,” added the Prime Minister who had already said he wanted to be “pragmatic” on new drilling in the North Sea.

Adura claims that together the Jackdaw and Rosebank fields could supply around six per cent of the UK's North Sea gas production. Opponents of these projects counter that any additional production of fossil energy implies more consumption and only delays the energy transition. They also claim that Britons will not see a difference in their electricity bills because gas and oil prices depend on international prices anyway.