UK Approves Controversial Jackdaw Gas Project in the North Sea
The UK government has given the green light for the Jackdaw natural gas field development in the North Sea, a major win for the UK's declining offshore oil and gas industry. Once online, Jackdaw will provide about two percent of the UK's natural gas needs, offsetting imports.
Work on the facility is already at an advanced stage, and its completion had only been prevented by court action. Now that it has its final government consent, it should be online and producing by this winter, Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh said.
"In the middle of an energy crisis, homegrown gas has a role to play in our energy security as we transition to net zero," said Fahnbuleh. "We’ll also invest North Sea revenues in renewables and other low-carbon projects."
The project's advocates say that Jackdaw will actually reduce UK greenhouse gas emissions. If not for the field's production, Britain would import even more LNG from the United States, paying the extra emissions "price" of the liquefaction and transport of every cubic meter. Wood Mackenzie analyst Gail Anderson estimates that relying on American gas instead of Jackdaw's gas would mean a net emissions increase of another 3.5 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent.
Perhaps even more importantly for policymakers, Jackdaw provides an incremental boost to the UK's energy security.
"At a time of global instability, homegrown energy can be a source of national strength. A pragmatic approach to increasing gas production in the North Sea will make the UK more secure," said British ambassador to the United States Christian Turner in a statement.
With Jackdaw approved, the oil industry and opponents of offshore drilling will be petitioning the government ahead of its decision on the Rosebank project, another stalled offshore field development that awaits the Labour government's consent. Rosebank is the largest undeveloped oil field remaining in UK waters.
The two projects were both approved by previous Conservative governments, then suspended by court order pending a revised environmental review process. That review has concluded, giving the current government the task of deciding whether to grant approval for a second time.
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The environmental NGO Greenpeace UK has led the campaign against the two projects, and this week it accused Prime Minister Andy Burnham of going back on his word on fossil-fuel extraction by approving Jackdaw. "Rosebank must be blocked. No more broken climate promises. No more putting fossil fuel profits before our future," said Greenpeace UK in a statement.
The Guardian reports that Fahnbulleh is leaning towards rejecting Rosebank's application, but no formal decision has yet been made.
