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UK prime minister set to back North Sea drilling projects
The proposal would cover new drilling at the Jackdaw gas field and the Rosebank oil field, plus additional tie-backs near existing sites.
Incoming UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham is expected to announce new North Sea oil and gas drilling soon after taking office, as his team asks the civil service to prepare plans to approve projects at the Jackdaw gas field and the Rosebank oil field off Scotland, Bloomberg reports.
The planned expansion also includes more tie-backs, which would allow further drilling closer to existing North Sea operations.
The fields are owned and operated by Adura, a joint venture launched by Shell and Equinor to combine their North Sea activities. No final decision has been made, and Burnham is reportedly expected to signal support for additional drilling, partly in response to pressure from Scottish Labour MPs.
The North Sea projects have become a political flashpoint amid the Middle East conflict, with calls to boost domestic energy output resisted by current Energy Secretary Ed Miliband, who said such steps would undermine the net-zero agenda. Jackdaw and Rosebank remain in legal limbo after earlier approvals were overturned by a court, which ruled the consents were illegal.