London (AFP) – Britain’s Labour government announced plans Wednesday to start drilling in a controversial gas field in the North Sea, claiming it would boost energy security amid price shocks from the Iran war. The decision to approve the Jackdaw site, situated about 150 miles (240 kilometres) east of Aberdeen, ends months of speculation about the divisive project after a court ruling had put its future in doubt.
Environmentalists said the approval would worsen carbon emissions, but industry groups and unions welcomed the project, which the government said would start supplying gas to homes and businesses within weeks. Prime Minister Andy Burnham, who has faced calls from US President Donald Trump for more drilling of fossil fuels in UK waters, said Jackdaw would “protect hundreds of jobs and help keep millions of homes warm this winter.”
“At a time when people are really struggling, it’s right that we look in a responsible way at maximising the existing energy reserves we have in Britain that could help,” he said. “We’re committed to moving towards renewable energy and reaching net zero by 2050. But even on our ambitious climate path, we’ll still require oil and gas as part of our energy needs for decades to come,” Burnham added. “That’s why we’re taking a pragmatic approach to the North Sea.”
The issue has divided the Labour Party, pitting its climate ambitions against pressure to increase domestic energy supplies and ease surging utility bills to help Britons with the cost of living. Labour promised when returning to power in 2024 under former leader Keir Starmer not to issue any new oil and gas drilling licences as it sought to steer Britain away from fossil fuels towards cleaner renewable energy.
Supporters argue that neither Jackdaw, with its expected lifespan of 11 years, nor the Rosebank field — which mainly contains oil and lies west of the Shetland Islands — are new fossil fuel sites. The previous Conservative government approved drilling at Jackdaw, which already has the infrastructure in place, and at Rosebank before both sites became the subject of lengthy legal battles. A Scottish court ruled early last year that the approvals failed to consider the carbon emissions the projects would indirectly generate, meaning both must reapply.
The government said Jackdaw was expected to increase domestic gas production by around six percent at its peak and add an estimated £2.9 billion ($3.9 billion) to the UK economy. It also announced a new wealth fund designed to reinvest oil and gas revenues into the climate transition, a move seen as an attempt to appease left-wing lawmakers angry at the imminent drilling.
Critics say UK consumers will see no difference in their electricity bills, as gas and oil costs are determined by international market prices. Zack Polanski, leader of the left-wing Green Party, called the decision “climate vandalism,” while Greenpeace said the approval showed “the toxic grip fossil fuel lobbyists still hold over our energy policy.”
“True pragmatism means severing our reliance on expensive oil and gas that leaves British households broke, supercharges extreme weather, and leaves our energy security at the mercy of petrostates,” said Ami McCarthy, head of politics at Greenpeace UK. James Earl, chief executive of Future Energy Networks, welcomed Jackdaw’s approval, saying that “at a time of global instability, gas produced at home strengthens Britain’s energy security.”
Sharon Graham, leader of the Unite labour union, said the approval “gives us a bit more time to create and fund a concrete plan for commensurate jobs” as the industry transitions to renewables. Adura, the joint venture between Shell and Norway’s Equinor that is behind both projects, called for Rosebank to now also be approved. Britain’s energy minister Miatta Fahnbulleh has said that a decision on Rosebank will take “a bit longer.”
© 2024 AFP
