UK government to make Jackdaw gas field announcement

UK government to make decision on Jackdaw gas field

The full report

The UK government is expected to announce a decision on the Jackdaw gas field in the North Sea. According to multiple Whitehall sources, the government will make an announcement on Jackdaw on Wednesday morning, with Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh expected to address MPs in the afternoon.

The Jackdaw gas field, located about 150 miles east of Aberdeen, is a gas field that its operators say could be connected to the UK network within months. The field has been the subject of years of debates, legal wrangling, and public consultations, with arguments from both industry bodies and environmentalists being weighed up by the UK government.

Licences for the Jackdaw field were granted by the Conservative UK government in 2022, which sparked legal challenges from environmental groups. The Court of Session in Edinburgh ruled last year that Rosebank and Jackdaw had been unlawfully approved because the government had failed to take into account the climate impact of burning extracted oil and gas from the sites.

Environmentalists have been vocal in their opposition to the Jackdaw field, insisting that more drilling would be unconscionable and hamper efforts to cut planet-warming carbon emissions. They claim that starting production would not protect energy security and that transitioning sooner to greener technologies would be better for supporting jobs.

The UK government's decision on the Jackdaw field is seen as a significant moment in the country's energy policy. Prime Minister Andy Burnham has spoken repeatedly of the need for a 'flexible' approach to energy and is believed to be in favour of drilling more where licensing already exist in the North Sea.