Britain has given the go-ahead to develop the UK’s biggest untapped oilfield off the Shetland Islands, sparking outrage from environmental campaigners.
The UK oil and gas regulator’s decision to grant Oslo-listed Equinor and the British firm Ithaca Energy permission to develop the Rosebank oil and gas field in the North Sea was condemned by Green party MP Caroline Lucas as “the greatest act of environmental vandalism in my lifetime”.
“We have today approved the Rosebank field development plan, which allows the owners to proceed with their project,” the North Sea Transition Authority said in a statement on Wednesday.
“The FDP is awarded in accordance with our published guidance and taking net zero considerations into account throughout the project’s lifecycle.”
The field has the potential to produce 500m barrels of oil in its lifetime, which when burned would emit as much carbon dioxide as running 56 coal-fired power stations for a year.
Environmental campaigners including Greta Thunberg had called on the UK government to halt the development, arguing it contravenes Britain’s plan for a net zero economy.
“Rishi Sunak has proven once and for all that he puts the profits of oil companies above everyday people,” said Philip Evans, a Greenpeace UK climate campaigner. “We know that relying on fossil fuels is terrible for our energy security, the cost of living, and the climate.”
Rosebank could produce 69,000 barrels of oil a day – about 8% of the UK’s projected daily output between 2026 and 2030 – and could also produce 44m cu ft of gas every day, according to Equinor.
Tessa Khan, a climate lawyer and the executive director of campaign group Uplift, which helped coordinate the Stop Rosebank campaign, said a legal challenge could be mounted against the government.
“There are strong grounds to believe that the way this government has come to this decision is unlawful and we will see them in court if so,” she said. “We shouldn’t have to fight this government for cheap, clean energy and a livable climate, but we will.”
Hannah Martin, Co Director of Green New Deal Rising said: “Approving the Rosebank oil field is an act of climate vandalism by Rishi Sunak and his government … but Labour has not committed to reversing this decision, despite acknowledging that Rosebank’s approval is wrong. This position does not make sense, and there is still time for Keir Starmer to put himself on the right side of history and show leadership by committing to revoking Rosebank’s licence.’
Simon Francis, coordinator of the End Fuel Poverty Coalition, commented: “Hidden in the small print of the deal is that this project can only go ahead thanks to a massive tax break the Government is giving to international oil and gas giant Equinor.
“Households struggling with their energy bills will be shocked that the new Energy Secretary has chosen to hand a multi-billion pound tax break to this Norwegian firm, rather than help people in the UK suffering in fuel poverty.
“The Government’s major drive to keep the country hooked on fossil fuels will be for little reward. Figures show that more North Sea production will only give us an extra year of domestic gas, which will be charged to struggling households at global market prices.”
Permission to develop the field has come a week after the UK prime minister announced a major U-turn on the government’s climate commitments, including pushing back the deadline for selling new petrol and diesel cars and the phasing out of gas boilers.
Sunak has said he remains “absolutely unequivocal” about sticking to the commitment to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050 but that he wanted to take a “more pragmatic, proportionate and realistic approach”.
In July, Sunak said that it would be “economically illiterate” not to invest in UK oil and gas because Britain will remain reliant on fossil fuels for “the next few decades”.
The Rosebank project has faced stiff resistance with hundreds of climate scientists and academics and more than 200 organisations from the Women’s Institute to Oxfam joining tens of thousands of people across the UK in opposing it.
The International Energy Agency warned before the UK-hosted Cop26 climate summit in 2021 that no new oil and gas exploration should take place if the world was to limit global heating to 1.5C above pre-industrial temperatures. This year, the UN secretary general, António Guterres, called on governments to halt new licences for oil and gas exploration and development.
