UK’s Rosebank, Jackdaw oil and gas projects to face fresh legal setback

Shell's Jackdaw gas field and Equinor's Rosebank oil field, both Located in the UK, will face a legal challenge from environmental group Greenpeace UK in a Scottish court on Nov. 12.

In a statement Sept. 25, Greenpeace UK confirmed it had been granted permission by Scottish courts for a judicial review of the two UK oil and gas fields.

Shell, which operates the Jackdaw gas field in the Central North Sea region, has said this news was administrative, with no substantive decision taken.

"From the outset, Jackdaw has been developed in line with all relevant consents and permits. At the substantive hearing of the judicial review in November, Shell will argue that those existing consents to develop Jackdaw should remain in place," a Shell spokesperson told S&P Global Commodity Insights.

"We accept the Supreme Court's ruling in the Finch case, but will argue that Jackdaw is a vital project for UK energy security that is already well under way. Stopping the work is a highly complex process, with significant technical and safety issues now that infrastructure is in place and drilling has started in the North Sea."

Shell's Jackdaw gas field in the Central North Sea region is expected to produce around 40,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day at peak production. Gas from the field will come ashore at St. Fergus, where Shell is involved in the Acorn Carbon Capture and Storage project, which aims to sequester emissions from industrial clusters and reform natural gas into blue hydrogen.

An Equinor spokesperson said it does not comment on ongoing litigation.

"Equinor welcomed regulatory approvals for the Rosebank development in 2023 and will continue to work closely with all relevant parties to progress the project," the spokesperson added. "It is vital for the UK and will bring benefits in terms of local investment, jobs and energy security."

Production from Equinor's 300-million-barrel Rosebank project is due on stream in 2026-27. Located west of Shetland, Rosebank is one of the largest undeveloped oil and gas resources in the UK sector of the North Sea.

Energy security, emissions

Both these projects have faced the wrath of environmentalists arguing they will result in a significant rise in UK emissions, but they recently gained government approval, with drilling work already underway.

The previous Conservative government approved these projects on energy security grounds, stating that the UK will continue to rely on oil and gas over the coming decades.

"As the government takes forward a pragmatic, proportionate and realistic response to the path to net-zero, a key part of this will be maintaining our domestic oil and gas industry, which underpins our energy security and boosts the UK economy," the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero said at the time it granted approval to Rosebank.

However, the new Labour government has pledged not to issue any new oil and gas licenses, but nor will it revoke existing licenses.

It has clearly stated that it would not play a role in legal challenges against Rosebank and Jackdaw and stressed those projects retained their licenses.

UK oil and gas fields still meet around half the country's energy needs, but production has been in sharp decline, with oil output down 9% on the year in the second quarter of 2024 at 642,000 b/d.

Trade association Offshore Energies UK, has said that the UK upstream sector is currently beating emissions reduction targets agreed with the previous government.

Emissions from upstream production processes have decreased by 28% since 2018, thanks to operational improvements such as upgrading power generation systems, it said in a recent report.

The industry is pledged to reduce its upstream emissions by 25% by 2027, which it says it has already achieved, and by 50% by 2030 -- compared with a 2018 baseline -- under a North Sea Transition Deal agreed in 2021.

UK oil fields continue to contribute to the Platts Dated Brent benchmark, alongside grades from Norway and some US shale oil.

Platts, part of Commodity Insights, last assessed Dated Brent at $75.82/b on Sept. 24.

Rosebank is a medium-light crude with an API gravity of 34.6-35.3, making it heavier than the mainstay Brent and Forties grades, but lighter than BP's West of Shetland crude production.