Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh is minded to refuse approval for Rosebank, the largest undeveloped oilfield in the North Sea, according to officials cited by the Guardian on Wednesday, the same day she approved the smaller Jackdaw gas field in Aberdeen. No final decision on Rosebank has been taken, and a ruling is expected later this year.
The distinction she is drawing is between gas and oil. Jackdaw, due to start producing within weeks, serves the domestic market and fits her argument that Britain will still need gas during the transition and should source it at home rather than import it. Rosebank’s oil would be mainly exported, so that energy security rationale does not apply, and its emissions would be about seven times Jackdaw’s estimated 36 million tonnes. Neil McCulloch, chief executive of Adura, one of the companies behind Rosebank, said the opposite outcome remained likely and pointed to the field’s larger scale and longer life for jobs and economic impact.