Ministers have approved plans to begin drilling in the Jackdaw gas field in the North Sea after months of speculation over the decision.
Energy secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh gave approval for the project on Wednesday, in a move she said will “support the country’s energy security with homegrown gas this winter”.
Prime minister Andy Burnham added the decision will “protect hundreds of jobs and help keep millions of homes warm”, but stressed it would not hinder the government’s targets on renewable energy.
However, the government is facing backlash from environmental campaigners, who have called the decision “deeply disappointing” and warned it would result in “supercharging the climate chaos hitting families here and abroad”.
The decision ends months of speculation about the future of the project, which owner Adura said could deliver around 6 per cent of UK North Sea gas production.
The drilling project is one of two – alongside the Rosebank oil field off Shetland – which were approved by the previous Conservative government.
Both were approved for drilling licences in June 2022, but this was overturned by the Scottish courts after a challenge from environmental campaigners.
Fresh public consultations on the proposals took place this year and closed in August, and the government gave the green light to Jackdaw on Wednesday morning.
A decision on Rosebank, the largest untapped oil field in the North Sea, is being made separately, with energy secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh saying it will take “a bit longer”.
Prime minister Andy Burnham said the government remained committed to renewable energy but was taking a “pragmatic” approach to the North Sea.
He said: “I welcome the energy secretary’s decision, which will protect hundreds of jobs and help keep millions of homes warm this winter.
“At a time when people are really struggling, it’s right that we look in a responsible way at maximising the existing energy reserves we have in Britain that could help.”
But environmental campaigners criticised the government’s decision, which they said would “supercharging the climate chaos hitting families here and abroad”.
Ami McCarthy, head of politics for Greenpeace UK, said: “Approving Jackdaw shows the toxic grip fossil fuel lobbyists still hold over our energy policy.
“Andy Burnham promised pragmatism, but there is nothing pragmatic about rubber-stamping a project that won’t lower energy bills, won’t boost energy security and will create just 27 full-time jobs.”
Katherine May, head of Oxfam Scotland, said: “The prime minister promised to rise to the climate challenge.
“Instead, he’s folded like a deckchair at the first sign of pressure from an industry whose ballooning bank balances depend on keeping us hooked on fossil fuels.”
Campaigners have urged the government to reject the “even more damaging” Rosebank oil field, which is still awaiting a decision.
The two developments have often been clubbed together after they were both blocked by courts, but Whitehall decisions will be made separately.
The boss of the firm behind the Jackdaw project said approval of the Rosebank oil and gas scheme should now follow.
Adura chief executive Neil McCulloch said: “Our attention now turns to Rosebank. It follows Jackdaw in the regulatory process, but the case for approval is equally strong. We believe that applying the same rigorous, evidence-based approach can lead to a similarly positive decision.”
More to follow...