North Sea industry urgently needs clarity after Rosebank and Jackdaw ruling

Edinburgh’s court of session decision this week will allow continuing development of North Sea oil and gas fields pending supplementary environmental impact assessments of downstream emissions.

The judge has ruled that two North Sea oil and gas projects can continue development works while arrangements for a revised environmental impact assessment are completed.

Production from these fields cannot begin until this assessment is approved for each project, and the UK government has said it will finalise in the next few months its new guidance on how these assessments are to be made.

This change comes after the so-called Finch ruling last summer, which followed a London high court challenge from environmental campaigner Sarah Finch who successfully argued that oil and gas producers are legally bound to take into account the carbon emissions associated with end use of oil and gas extracted from the ground.

The industry supports a legally robust, practical framework in line with this ruling. UK government is consulting on this issue and clarity is needed urgently.

Official data from the Climate Change Committee forecasts that the UK is expected to use 15 billion barrels of oil and gas between now and 2050 on the journey to net-zero.

The current expectation from the North Sea Transition Authority is that the UK will produce four billion barrels of that demand.

Significant oil and gas reserves remain in UK waters, and these should be used responsibly alongside renewable energy.

© Supplied by Shell

Offshore Energies UK has shown that unlocking a further four billion barrels, while still not meeting domestic demand, adds over £200 billion to the UK economy, supporting UK jobs, and supporting a UK world class supply chain.

These reserves should be used responsibly alongside renewable energy.

To avoid a reliance on imported oil and gas, investors must be confident in the processes required to bring projects forward.

We are seeing a more widespread recognition that we have to get the oil and gas we need from somewhere and a pragmatic approach is needed to maintain UK supplies which can do much to assist the UK’s economic growth plans.

We are transitioning to greater reliance on renewable energy but while 85% of our homes and more than 75% of our vehicles still rely on gas and petrol respectively, we will continue to need both.

© Supplied by OEUK

We fully recognise the threat of climate change and the offshore energy industry is well on track for the government’s target of net zero emissions by 2050.

The UK offshore oil and gas industry was one of the first sectors to make a commitment to net zero by 2050 and remains committed to that goal.

It has already reduced production emissions by 28% since 2018 and will deliver a 50% reduction by 2030.

We must now do all we can to accelerate progress towards a robust environmental impact assessment procedure that provides long-term clarity for energy industry investors and the economic growth we all want to see.

For too long, the debate on energy, and particularly the North Sea, has been polarised. That has to change.

The coming months will be critical to shaping the future of our energy system and the future of those working in the sector, the communities that depend on those jobs, and the wider UK economy.

We must make the right choice.

Mark Wilson is the director of HSE and operations at Offshore Energies UK.