Shell North Sea Gas Platform Planned Despite Drilling Block

Energy giant Shell plans to install a multi-billion pound gas platform in the North Sea this spring, despite a drilling block. The Jackdaw field, which could potentially power over a million UK homes, requires fresh approval from Downing Street to extract gas, following a recent Scottish court ruling.

The previous Conservative administration was found to have behaved “unlawfully” by an Edinburgh judge when it approved Shell’s Jackdaw and Rosebank, the largest undeveloped oilfield in the United Kingdom with an estimated 350 million barrels of oil.

Eventually, the two might still move on. However, the court ruled that the initial evaluations did not take into account the effects of burning the petrol and oil as opposed to merely extracting them from the ground.

Drilling is prohibited until fresh permits are obtained. Shell, which says it is happy with the outcome, is still working on its platform, which is now nearing completion in Norway.

Although the company has not disclosed its future plans, it is believed that the structure will be barged into British waters in the upcoming months.

“The decision rightly permits work to proceed on this nationally significant energy project while new consents are sought,” a Shell representative stated.

“We have spent more than £800m since the regulator approved Jackdaw in 2022.

“Swift action is needed from the government so that we and other North Sea operators can make decisions about vital UK energy infrastructure.”

Ithaca Energy and Equinor jointly run Rosebank. Permissions will be reassessed “at speed” by Sir Keir Starmer’s ministry.

The case puts the prime minister in a potential political bind after he promised not to grant additional oil and gas licenses during the general election campaign.

The oil companies, who have already invested hundreds of millions of pounds in these projects, will be hoping that the political impact from refusing these licences will be too painful for Labour to handle as

Downing Street embarks on a well-publicized drive to boost economic development in the UK.

Since these projects currently have licenses and only require final government approval, Labour could still approve them while honouring its electoral pledge.

Climate activists saw the court’s decision as a success. Tessa Khan, executive director of the advocacy organisation Uplift, commented on the choices the prime minister is currently facing, saying: “The government must reject it.

“To do otherwise would undermine its ambitious clean growth plans by sending a signal to investors that the UK isn’t serious about transitioning away from expensive oil and gas.”

Sky News