Labour to let oilfield plans die in court

The future of two big North Sea oil and gas projects has been thrown into doubt as the government says it will not contest a legal challenge that could block them.
The Jackdaw gas field planned by a Shell affiliate and the Rosebank oil and gas field by the Norwegian energy giant Equinor were approved by the last government.
However, a judicial review by the environmental groups Greenpeace and Uplift will no longer be defended in light of a landmark Supreme Court ruling in June. That judgment set a precedent that planning decisions must factor in the climate impact of the emissions from burning fossil fuels, not just from extracting them.
Government insiders insisted the move was practical rather than political, given Ed Miliband’s desire as energy secretary to put Britain back on track to meet its binding carbon targets. They consider the Supreme Court ruling so conclusive that the judicial review would have been impossible to defend. The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said its decision would save taxpayers money.
The ruling has already claimed the scalps of other fossil fuel projects. Ministers recently dropped defences against legal challenges to an oil well in Lincolnshire and a coalmine in Cumbria. Both are considered unlikely to go ahead.
Announcing the shift on Rosebank and Jackdaw, Michael Shanks, the energy minister, said: “We will consult at pace on new guidance that takes into account the Supreme Court’s ruling on environmental impact assessments, to enable the industry to plan, secure jobs, and invest in our economy.”
Equinor and Shell said they were considering the ramifications of the decision. If Jackdaw and Rosebank are blocked in the courts, Labour would strictly be able to argue it had stuck to its manifesto promise of only blocking new oil and gas licences, not cancelling existing ones. The government will consult this year on stopping new licences.
The International Energy Agency, the world’s energy watchdog, is among several authorities that have said no new oil and gas wells can be developed if the world is to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
Greenpeace hailed what it called “absolutely the right decision” by the government. “Shell and Equinor should respect the Supreme Court’s decision and the government’s position that their permits are illegal, and not waste time and money in greedy, tactical legal battles,” said Mel Evans, its UK climate team leader.
“This is a hugely welcome step forward,” said Shaun Spiers, executive director of the Green Alliance think tank. He said it showed the need for a transition plan to support North Sea workers into “the clean jobs of the future”.
The Jackdaw field is 150 miles east of Aberdeen and Rosebank 80 miles off Shetland. Experts estimated the oil and gas extracted from Rosebank would release about 129 million tonnes of carbon dioxide over its lifetime, the equivalent of the annual emissions from more than 90 countries.
An Equinor spokesman said: “Rosebank is a vital project for the UK and is bringing benefits in terms of investment, job creation and energy security.” Shell said: “We believe the Jackdaw field remains an important development for the UK, providing fuel to heat 1.4 million homes and supporting energy security, as other older gas fields reach the end of production.”