On Wednesday, the British government approved Jackdaw, a gas field in the North Sea, clearing a Shell and Equinor project that a Scottish court had left without valid consent since January 2025.
Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh cleared the regulator to issue production consent. Adura, the two companies’ joint venture, runs the field. Ministers expect peak output to add about 6% to domestic gas production, with 27 new jobs and 273 protected ones. Gas could start flowing this winter, and the field could produce for up to 11 years.
Scotland’s Court of Session quashed the earlier consent after Greenpeace and Uplift sued. Lord Ericht ruled that the environmental assessments omitted emissions from burning the gas. Construction could continue, but no extraction could start without fresh approval.
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Prime Minister Andy Burnham, who took office in July after Keir Starmer resigned, said Britain will need oil and gas “for decades to come.” He also unveiled an Energy Wealth Fund, seeded with £2 billion, that will steer oil and gas revenue toward the climate transition.
Labour promised in its manifesto to ban new exploration licences, but party figures argue Jackdaw sits outside that pledge because it held a licence before. Fahnbulleh described the decision as “compatible with our legally binding climate commitments.”
Uplift calculates that Jackdaw would meet roughly 2% of yearly UK gas demand across its 10-year life and would barely move household bills. The government has not decided on Rosebank, an oil field northwest of Shetland that the same court ruling covered. Fahnbulleh said that decision needs “a bit longer.”
