UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has indicated he will not block the Rosebank oil field from going ahead after a court ruled its approval “unlawful”.
Last week, a Scottish court overturned regulatory approvals for the Rosebank project because they did not take the climate impact of downstream emissions into account.
The court ruling also overturned environmental approvals for the Jackdaw gas field, in a case brought by campaign groups Greenpeace and Uplift.
Norwegian operator Equinor (OL:EQNR) holds an 80% stake in Rosebank with Ithaca Energy (LON:ITH) holding 20%.
The Rosebank field is the largest untapped oil reserve in the UK North Sea, containing an estimated 350 million barrels of oil equivalent.
© Supplied by Roddie Reid/ DCTMeanwhile, oil supermajor Shell (LON:SHEL) is advancing the Jackdaw natural gas project, which could eventually account for 6% of UK gas production.
While the court ruled the original approvals unlawful, Equinor and Shell are able to resubmit their applications taking downstream emissions into account.
Prior to the UK general election last year, Starmer’s Labour party said it would not issue new licences to explore new fields in the North Sea.
But speaking to Sky News, Starmer signalled he would not intervene to block Rosebank going ahead.
“I can’t pre-empt the decision, but you know, we did say that where a licence had already been granted, we wouldn’t interfere with them,” Starmer said.
“I’ll be open with you, oil and gas is part of the future mix for decades to come.”
Equinor chief calls for Rosebank approval
Earlier this week, Equinor chief executive Anders Opedal called on UK energy secretary Ed Miliband to issue new permits for Rosebank.
Opedal said allowing Rosebank and Jackdaw to go ahead will ensure the UK is a “predictable country for investors”.
“Reading the Labour manifesto, Rosebank is an existing licence for an existing field that we are now developing,” Opedal said at the company’s capital markets day in London.
“That’s why we think it’s right to continue that development, although we respect that the current governments do not want to issue new licences.
“Although there is a new government, we expect that [licencing] decisions made by the previous government will be followed through. It is important for the UK to be a predictable country for investors.
“So we are assuming that Rosebank will go through, based on the first approval we got from British authorities.”
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