2 years, 8 months, 27 days, 3 hours
25 October 2026
Approving Jackdaw adds to capacity, hence on basic economics lowers cost and supports higher demand.
‘Jackdaw gas field gets green light’ was a provocative title for the UK Government’s press release on Wednesday, approving the production of gas from the North Sea Jackdaw gas field.
In the official Decision Document, the Government goes to considerable lengths to argue that production from the facility is compatible with reaching the legal obligation to achieve Net Zero by 2050. Of course they had to do that, as judges had last year overturned the previous consent for Jackdaw on the grounds that the decision had failed to take into account the climate impact of burning the fuel.
The most cunning argument is that the production will substitute for imported gas from older Norwegian fields whose carbon emissions are higher, hence lowering the overall carbon impact. That sits alongside the classic argument that the impact is relatively immaterial in the scheme of overall emissions, from an industry that is anyway in decline.
Logically true; morally flawed. Approving Jackdaw adds to capacity, hence on basic economics lowers cost and supports higher demand. It sets a precedent, that arguments for energy security, jobs and lower bills justify continuing to approve more fossil fuel facilities (the familiar story of the short-termist selfishness of today’s generation over the interests of future generations). And it encourages other countries to continue to do the same.
Attention now switches to the other pending UK North Sea consent, the Rosebank oil and gas facility. Fingers crossed, this one is much harder for the Government to approve as the oil is to be sold in international markets.