Jackdaw gas field set to be approved as soon as mid-September, sources say

Jackdaw gas platform [credit: BBC]

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The usual chorus of climate alarmist opposition will sound off and wail about ‘net zero’, but as even the Prime Minister admits: “We won’t be able to stop using oil and gas for some time. That’s just a fact.” It’s also a fact that stopping using them is impossible in any modern economy. Even wind turbines need oil to keep turning, and numerous products people rely on are petroleum-based. In any case, home-produced gas going straight into the system and replacing an equivalent amount of imports from distant countries should surely be seen as a benefit, not a problem.
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The government is set to give the go-ahead for the gas field off the coast of Aberdeen, the BBC understands.

Approval for the Jackdaw project could come in mid-September, just before Parliament breaks for party conference season, according to government and industry sources.

The gas field was approved by the former Conservative government in 2022 but was delayed by a legal ruling from a Scottish court, after environmental groups argued consent was given without fully considering the climate impact.

Jackdaw’s owner says it will account for 6% of UK gas output when at peak production but environmental groups say it will provide only 2% of UK use when imports are included.
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Both Jackdaw and Rosebank are operated by Adura, a joint venture between energy giants Shell and Norway’s Equinor. Aberdeen-based firm Ithaca also owns 20% of Rosebank.

Adura has estimated that Jackdaw could produce 35.8m tonnes of carbon over its 11-year lifetime, the equivalent of 90% of Scotland’s emissions for 2023. But it said a more likely estimate was about 23.6m tonnes – equivalent to 60% of the 2023 figure.
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Advocates of the project also told the BBC that Jackdaw’s output is critical to extending the life of other North Sea infrastructure including Shearwater – a large offshore oil and gas production hub that processes hydrocarbons before piping them to coastal refineries and terminals.

Adura said that if approval comes in September, the field could start delivering gas to UK homes by this winter as the construction is “99% complete”.

A public consultation on the future of Jackdaw and another new oil field, Rosebank, closed in August and the decision now rests with Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh.
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Prime Minister Andy Burnham recently said there needs to be a “pragmatic approach” towards domestic oil and gas.

“We won’t be able to stop using oil and gas for some time. That’s just a fact,” he said.

“The question is whether we can accelerate use of it so that we pay for the transition.”

Unlike North Sea oil, most of which is exported and then reimported in various refined forms, almost all North Sea gas is used domestically in the UK.

The UK is heavily reliant on gas imports with over 60% imported from Norway and the United States.
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Prices are set internationally and a green light to Jackdaw would not lower the cost of gas for domestic consumers.

But extracting gas domestically creates lower greenhouse gas emissions than liquefying, shipping and regasifying liquid natural gas (LNG) imported from other countries.

Chris O’Shea, the boss of British Gas owner Centrica, said any additional domestic gas supply would reduce Britain’s reliance on imported fossil fuels, “so it’s got to be good”.

He told the BBC’s Today programme: “It wouldn’t lower the cost materially, but basic economics would tell you that if you’ve got a fixed demand for a product and you increase the supply, the price should move.”

He also pointed to the high tax rates on profits from North Sea oil and gas, adding that the new extraction would give the government more money to spend.

Full article here.
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Image: Jackdaw gas platform [credit: BBC]

Source: https://talkshop.blog/2026/09/06/jackdaw-gas-field-set-to-be-approved-as-soon-as-mid-september-sources-say/