Marine conservation group Oceana UK is preparing to launch legal action against the UK government over its decision to award new oil and gas licences in the North Sea.
Oceana UK said the new licences, awarded by the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) as part of the 33rd Licensing Round, pose a “severe threat to marine life”.
The group claimed issuing the new licences was “unlawful on several grounds”, including a “failure to consider the extreme impacts of both accidental oil spills and the climate crisis on marine life”.
Oceana UK also claimed incumbent energy secretary Claire Coutinho and the NSTA “ignored advice” from independent government experts about the potential impact to Marine Protected Areas (MPAs).
The NSTA issued 82 new licences across three rounds between October 2023 and May this year.
The licences cover 226 blocks in the North Sea, and Oceana said around a third of these blocks overlap with MPAs.
More than 2,000 oil spills were recorded in UK waters between January 2011 and December 2023, according to an investigation by The Ferret.
Of these spills, 215 occurred in MPAs, including a more than six tonne leak from the Repsol Auk A platform in September 2022.
North Sea oil and gas licences
In a statement, Oceana claimed offshore environmental regulator OPRED’s assessment of the licence blocks did not reflect advice given by independent government experts, including the Joint Nature Conservation Committee.
Oceana claimed the subsequent decision to award the licences was therefore unlawful.
Oceana UK executive director Hugo Tagholm said the issuing of new licences by the UK government was a “deliberate choice to unlawfully ignore expert advice”.
“The truth is, chronic oil spills are already polluting UK seas,” Mr Tagholm said.
© Shutterstock“The fact that this damage and destruction is out of public view doesn’t make it any less severe.”
Solicitor Rowan Smith, from law firm Leigh Day acting on behalf of Oceana, called the decision to issue of new licences against the advice of independent experts “unthinkable”.
“Oceana hopes the secretary of state decides not to defend this legal claim, but our client is prepared to pursue it if that becomes necessary,” Mr Smith said.
A spokesperson for the NSTA said: “We do not comment on potential litigation matters.”
Energy Voice has contacted the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero for comment.
Last year, the High Court dismissed a separate attempt by campaign groups Greenpeace UK and Uplift to block the 33rd licensing round on climate grounds.
Downstream emissions
The potential legal challenge over the most recent licensing round comes as the Supreme Court prepares to issue its ruling in a case focused on downstream emissions which could impact North Sea oil and gas projects.
The ruling in the Finch case will determine whether it was lawful for Surrey County Council to approve an onshore oil development without requiring an assessment of downstream emissions.
Legal experts say the outcome in the Finch case could change the assessment process for all fossil fuel projects in the UK, potentially requiring planning officials to account for downstream, or Scope 3, emissions in their approval decisions.
The Supreme Court’s decision could also set a precedent for similar legal challenges against Shell’s Jackdaw project and Equinor’s Rosebank development.
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