UK go-ahead for North Sea oil and gas field angers environmental groups

Campaigners including Greta Thunberg had called for halt to Rosebank project
involving Oslo-listed Equinor
Britain has given the go-ahead to develop the UK�s biggest untapped oilfield off
Shetland, sparking outrage from environmental campaigners.

The UK oil and gas regulator�s decision to grant the 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 the 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.

Green campaigners, including Greta Thunberg, had called on the UK government to

halt the development, arguing that it contravened 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 cubic feet of gas
every day, according to Equinor.

Tessa Khan, a climate lawyer and the executive director of the 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.

Hannah Martin, a co-director of Green New Deal Rising, said: �Approving the
Rosebank oilfield 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.� Members of Fossil Free London and Stop Rosebank protested
outside the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero on Whitehall Place.

Simon Francis, the coordinator of the End Fuel Poverty Coalition, said: �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 multibillion-pound tax break to this Norwegian firm
� 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.�

Claire Coutinho, the secretary of state for energy security and net zero, said the
UK needed to �be pragmatic�, with oil and gas forecast to still be needed for a
quarter of the country�s energy needs in 2050.

�We will not play politics with our energy security,� she posted on X. �The choice
we face is this: do we shut down our own oil and gas leaving us reliant on foreign
regimes? Do we lose 200,000 jobs across the UK? Do we import fuel with much higher
carbon footprints instead? And lose billions in tax revenue?

�We are a world leader at reducing carbon emissions but as much as we will be
ambitious, we must be pragmatic.�
The chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, said: �We are accelerating renewables and nuclear
power but will still need oil and gas for decades to come � so let�s get more of
what we need from within British waters.�

Permission to develop the field has come a week after Sunak announced a 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.

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, Ant�nio Guterres, called on governments to halt new licences for
oil and gas exploration and development.

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