Last week, the UK government announced that they will be allowing the fossil fuel giants, the likes of “Shell” and “Equinor”, to drill for gas in the North Sea. This announcement comes as the UN warns that emissions need to be cut by 18% over the next 4 years.
In 2025, Scottish Judge Lord Ericht, blocked the decision to continue Jackdaw drilling operations. By enforcing a temporary halt, he ruled the North Sea project as “unlawful” in an age of growing climate concerns. However, last week on the 21st of October, the UK government overturned this and green-lit the plans.
And no, the Jackdaw is not Leo Dicaprio’s character in Titanic, it is an oil and gas field situated in the North Sea. Located around 150 miles east off of Aberdeen, it is set to add 36 million tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere.
Prime minister Andy Burnham has stated the main reasoning behind the decision to drill, is that the Jackdaw will provide more jobs – a whole 27 to be exact.
Now, it could be argued that this decision will at least benefit the UK public. Yet The Energy Secretary, Miatta Fahnbulleh has admitted that the project will not achieve the government’s main energy target to reduce bills, stating that “this is not about bills”. Instead, the gas that is extracted from the North Sea will not go back into the UK, but rather be sold on international markets to private companies. And yes, it is argued by the government that the tax paid by these private companies will go into renewable energy. But between the years of 2018 to 2021, shell and BP paid zero tax. Yikes!
During the Budget presented on Wednesday, approval of North Sea drilling had been taken into account. This is presents a clear sign that a new wave of drilling should be expected.
To add further fuel to the fire, the Government is also considering sanctioning the oil field known as Rosebank. The field was originally discovered back in 2001 and remains the largest unexploited oil field within the region. The proposed production could emit 254 million tonnes of CO2, that is about seven times the amount created by Jackdaw. Fahnbullah is currently under significant pressures from both fossil fuel lobbyists to and climate activists.
The final decision is ultimately up to Andy Burnham, expected by the end of the year.
