Multi-billion projects at stake: Another blow for UK’s largest untapped oil & gas duo but Shell, Equinor, and Ithaca remain upbeat
In the wake of a new court ruling, the development of two hydrocarbon projects – said to be the largest undeveloped oil and gas fields off the coast of the United Kingdom (UK) – has suffered another setback for the sake of the climate. However, the battle does not seem to be over, as confirmed by environmental activists and the operators, Britain’s Shell and Norway’s Equinor, alongside the latter’s partner, Ithaca Energy. Which side will come on top is not yet clear, but it is unlikely that either will throw in the towel at this late stage in the UK’s oil and gas saga without a fight.
The UK’s oil and gas industry has been facing looming uncertainty for some time, exacerbated by a court ruling in 2024, which put the oil and gas developments in hot water by throwing them under the proverbial bus if they failed to weigh in on the climate impact of burning the oil, spurring further litigation on climate grounds. Shell’s Jackdaw in the North Sea and Equinor’s Rosebank located west of the Shetland Islands, considered the largest untapped oil fields in British waters, have been walking a tightrope for some time.
However, climate campaigners win in a years-long legal challenge, brought on by local campaigner Sarah Finch on behalf of Weald Action Group and supported by Friends of the Earth, against Surrey County Council over its decision to grant planning permission for oil drilling at Horse Hill, led to an unprecedented plot twist in the handling of lawsuits against fossil fuel projects, giving an advantage to those fighting for the climate in court.
Thanks to the ruling’s historic emphasis on the need to account for emissions from burning oil and gas when approving such projects, environmental activists and climate campaigners were given a fresh impetus to continue their mission to quash the development of new oil and gas fields. With this ruling at the forefront, the government’s decision to stay out of the courtroom during the latest Jackdaw and Rosebank challenge does not come as a surprise, as the outcome was likely to be in favor of arguments presented by opponents of these projects given the lack of Scope 3 emissions assessment for the duo.
The government even said it would not challenge the judicial reviews brought against development consents for the Jackdaw and Rosebank offshore oil and gas fields to save the taxpayers’ money but still underscored that the litigation did not signify the withdrawal of licenses for the two giant projects. After Uplift and Greenpeace UK launched judicial review challenges in December 2023, they presented their arguments against the oil and gas projects in November last year.
Based on those arguments, the Court of Session in Edinburgh ruled on January 30, 2025, that the decision to approve the Rosebank and Jackdaw oil fields by the previous government was unlawful. As a result, it overturned the decision, accepting Uplift’s argument that the government failed to consider the emissions that would be caused by burning the oil and gas produced by these fields when it approved them.
According to the ruling issued by Andrew Stewart, the Honorable Lord Ericht, “the public interest in authorities acting lawfully and the private interest of members of the public in climate change outweigh the private interest of the developers.” Despite the wording, Shell, Equinor, and Ithaca do not appear to be deterred by the ruling and instead see it as a chance to prepare the groundwork for a new green light from the UK’s Labour government.
Activists celebrate ruling as climate victory
While enjoying the spoils of victory, environmental activists remain vigilant since the ruling puts the ball in the UK government’s court, which neither plans on giving out any new oil and gas licenses in the North Sea basin nor intends to grant production licenses, such as the ones both Rosebank and Jackdaw would require, until its revised environmental guidance, incorporating emissions from burning extracted oil and gas, is completed. This is expected to be done in the spring.
Greenpeace UK’s Prishita Maheshwari-Aplin, who pointed out the court ruled that the government must reconsider these projects based on their full climate impact, outlined: “The Scottish courts ruled in our favour – agreeing with us that the Rosebank and Jackdaw oil and gas fields were unlawfully approved. This is game-changing. Shell, Equinor and Ithaca – the fossil fuel giants who own these fields – are currently blocked from extracting any oil and gas from them.”
Climate activists claim that the burning of almost 500 million barrels of oil and gas, which Rosebank contains, will produce more CO2 than the annual emissions of the world’s 28 lowest-income countries combined. Therefore, they urge the government to invest in renewables, which they see as a cheap and clean alternative to oil and gas that also offers oil workers jobs in new green energies as the fight against Big Oil’s expansion plans rages on.
“New oil and gas fields would be a disaster for the climate, and they are a terrible deal for the UK – costing taxpayers billions while failing to bring down energy bills or make us energy secure. So this should be an easy call to make, right? Wrong. Big Oil won’t give up the fight easily. The government will already be feeling the weight of their influence, so we need to show them the public won’t stand for it. This victory shows what’s possible when we take action together – and we need to keep up momentum,” underlined Maheshwari-Aplin.
Uplift is adamant that burning Rosebank’s oil and gas reserves, located 80 miles west of Shetland, would create more than 200 million tonnes of CO2, deemed to represent more climate pollution than the 700 million people living in the world’s low-income countries cause in a year.
Tessa Khan, Executive Director of Uplift, underlined: “This is a significant win which means that Rosebank cannot go ahead without accounting for its enormous climate harm. The continued burning of oil and gas is why we are seeing more extreme weather like Storm Eowyn and flooding that have claimed lives and caused hundreds of millions of pounds in damage and clean up costs, not to mention the devastation it’s causing in other countries. Most people are now joining the dots with endless oil and gas drilling and are worried about the future.
“Rosebank is a bad deal for the UK. Most of its oil will be exported and sold on the international market, doing nothing to lower our energy bills or boost UK energy security. As for jobs in the UK, Rosebank’s drilling ship is currently being built in Dubai, as unions have noted. The North Sea is in decline, with the number of jobs supported by the oil and gas industry more than halving in the past decade. As we roll out major offshore wind projects, the future of jobs in the North Sea is in building the industries that will make those wind turbines at home.”
Given its conviction that the field will produce mainly oil for export, Uplift insists the project will do nothing to lower UK household energy bills or boost energy security while allowing billions in tax breaks to be handed to the developers as it puts a gas pipeline through what it describes as a marine protected area.
“If Equinor and Ithaca Energy try to push Rosebank through despite this ruling, the government must reject it. To do otherwise would undermine its ambitious clean growth plans by sending a signal to investors that the UK isn’t serious about transitioning away from expensive oil and gas. Rosebank is not the answer to energy security, lower bills or jobs. It would simply make obscenely rich oil companies even richer, while increasing the dangers for the rest of us,” Khan added.
As pointed out by XR Scotland, one of the groups protesting against the development of the Jackdaw and Rosebank oil and gas fields for years as part of the Stop Rosebank network, another victory was also secured last week against the fossil fuel industry by forcing SSE to re-examine the climate risk of its Peterhead gas power station, for which the energy firm submitted a planning application with Equinor to expand the existing facilities at Peterhead Power Station.
XR Scotland, which sees Peterhead Power Station as Scotland’s single biggest climate polluter, believes that the expansion of the facilities will be a climate disaster. The group justifies its views with the analysis conducted by Carbon Tracker, which found the climate pollution for the plans could be as much as five times higher than the developers claim because SSE’s environmental impact assessment does not account for the pollution created by the extraction and transport of the gas that would be burned.
“If we want a liveable climate, we can’t allow any new oil and gas projects or licences. The UK must stop Rosebank and all new oil & gas fields. Each new field delays a just transition to renewable energy and locks us even further into an expensive, climate-wrecking energy system. To meet the the 1.5°C target of the Paris Agreement, there can be no new investment in oil, gas, or coal,” highlighted supporters of the Stop Rosebank campaign, adding:
“We should be winding down production of oil and gas while making sure that workers and impacted communities are not left behind – this is what’s called a ‘just transition.’ People want change: not the same rip-off energy system where oil giants walk off with massive profits while we’re left with higher bills, declining jobs and a worsening climate crisis. It’s time for a rapid and just transition to homegrown clean affordable energy that prioritises community and justice.”
Shell, Equinor, and Ithaca soldier on irrespective of obstacles in their path
The UK, which is perceived to be the second biggest oil and gas producer in Europe, is reshaping itself to become a clean energy superpower thanks to the government’s green agenda. However, the end of the fossil fuel era is not currently in sight, thus, the battle is not yet over for either Rosebank or Jackdaw. While the ruling has suspended the previous approval for the fields, meaning no oil and gas can be extracted until a new decision comes from the government, Shell and Equinor are not prohibited from continuing preparatory work on these projects.
If Jackdaw and Rosebank’s owners still want to move forward with the projects, they need to resubmit new environmental impact assessments to the UK government, which account for Scope 3 emissions. Once the government’s new guidance on how oil and gas companies should factor these combustion or Scope 3 emissions into applications is in place, the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) and the Energy Secretary will be able to remake the decision on Rosebank and Jackdaw.
Aside from the waiting game, which would ensue once Scope 3 emissions have been assessed to enable the NSTA and the Energy Secretary to approve or refuse consents for the fields, both Shell and Equinor, along with Ithaca, have another play they could make in the meantime, as each has the option to appeal the court’s decision within 21 days of the ruling date. The Inner House of the Court of Session, Scotland’s court of appeal for civil cases, will handle any such appeal. The decision on the appeal, should one be made, could take three to six months.
A Shell spokesperson highlighted: “We have spent more than £800 million since the regulator approved Jackdaw in 2022. Swift action is needed from the government so that we and other North Sea operators can make decisions about vital UK energy infrastructure. When operational, Jackdaw would provide enough fuel to heat 1.4 million UK homes, at a time when older gas fields are reaching the end of their production and the UK is reliant on imported gas to meet its energy needs.”
While welcoming the ruling, all three oil and gas players said they were pleased with the outcome, as it allows them to continue progressing the projects while they await new consents. Equinor remains confident that the project timeline remains on track, with the start-up still planned for 2026/2027. The Norwegian giant’s spokesperson underscored Rosebank’s benefits, seeing it as a project that is “critical for the UK’s economic growth, with an estimated 77% (£6.6 billion) of total direct investment benefiting UK businesses.”
Ithaca Energy emphasized: “The Rosebank development is expected to lead to £8.5 billion of total direct investment, of which £6.6 billion is likely to be invested in UK-based businesses. To date the Rosebank JV partnership has already committed over £2.2bn on developing Rosebank, awarding vital contracts across the supply chain and employing personnel to deliver the work. The project is expected to support around 2,000 jobs during the height of the construction phase of the project, and it will continue to support approx. 525 UK-based jobs during the lifetime of the field.
“Ithaca Energy, together with Equinor as Operator, will continue to work closely with the Regulators and Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) to progress the Rosebank project. This includes submitting a downstream end user combustion emissions (‘scope 3’) assessment in full compliance with the Government’s new environmental guidance which is targeted to be published this spring.”
The energy companies that have a stake in these two oil and gas projects are not the only ones that are happy with the court’s decision to let the work on Jackdaw and Rosebank continue, as Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce has also welcomed this display of “common sense” while Shell and Equinor reapply for consents.
Russell Borthwick, Chief Executive at Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce, noted: “Allowing work on Jackdaw and Rosebank to continue is a victory for common sense and averts what could have been an international embarrassment for the UK on energy security and investment. The businesses and workforce we represent want a just transition to net zero which grows our economy, protects jobs and keeps the lights on.
“Those seeking to deny that fair transition would instead turn the UK into the ultimate climate catfish; sacrificing our domestic energy sector and the livelihoods of 200,000 working families only to import foreign oil and gas at a higher price and with a significantly higher global carbon footprint. The public are waking up to this farce – almost three quarters of Scots back domestic production – and our policymakers need to catch up quickly.”
Located approximately 250 km east of Aberdeen, the Jackdaw gas field, approved in June 2022, is adjacent to the UK/Norway median line, and its design is based on a not permanently attended wellhead platform and subsea infrastructure tied back to Shell’s existing Shearwater gas hub.
This project could cover over 6% of forecast UK North Sea gas production in the middle of the decade at peak production rates, with operational emissions of less than 1% of the whole UK basin, which is perceived to be enough energy to heat 1.4 million homes. The peak production from the field is estimated at 40,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.
On the other hand, the Rosebank oil field, which received a stamp of approval in September 2023, enabled Equinor and its partner, Ithaca Energy, to disclose a $3.8 billion investment, underlining that the field’s lifetime upstream CO2 intensity is estimated to decrease from 12 kg to about 3 kg CO2/boe by employing electrification.
The field could produce 69,000 barrels of oil or 9,000 tons per day at its peak, which is equivalent to 8% of the UK’s entire output between 2026 and 2030, along with over 21 mmscf of natural gas every day, the equivalent of the daily use of Aberdeen City. This is a huge project and its development is anticipated to result in £8.1 billion (over $9.8 billion) of total direct investment, with the lion’s share likely to be invested in UK-based businesses.
Borthwick hammered home the need for more domestic oil and gas by concluding: “Halting future oil and gas production makes the UK even more dependent on imports to meet our energy needs – in effect outsourcing and increasing our emissions, rather than reducing them, and doing the same to bills.
“We urge the UK Government to show pragmatic leadership and engage with the British Chambers of Commerce North Sea Transition Taskforce as a matter of urgency to find solutions that acknowledge the progress that is being made in decarbonising energy production in the North Sea – and which strikes a realistic balance between meeting our energy needs for the near future and our climate obligations.”
