Net zero obsessed Ed Miliband will have to look again at his claim that two previously approved North Sea exploration projects would be ‘environmental vandalism’. Oil giants are now waiting for the green light after spending £millions setting up the projects.
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Ministers have opened the door to approving drilling at two controversial North Sea oilfields, as new guidance on how energy firms should account for future emissions was released, reports The Guardian.
Michael Shanks, the energy security minister, said on Thursday the guidance would “offer clarity on the way forward for the North Sea oil and gas industry”, after a supreme court ruling in 2024 that blocked drilling.
In January, a judge at Edinburgh’s court of session found that permissions given to Equinor, the lead developer at the Rosebank site, and Shell, which is in charge of Jackdaw, were unlawful because they did not take into account the full scope of carbon emissions they would produce.
The judge ruled that the applications should have accounted for the carbon produced by burning the oil and gas produced at the fields, not just that produced by the drilling.
The new guidance is aimed at applications for projects in North Sea oil and gas fields that are already licensed, and sets out how environmental impacts of oil and gas should be assessed.
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If Equinor and Shell do reapply, Miliband could have to play a quasi-judicial role in deciding whether to grant permission to begin drilling. The Labour manifesto rules out granting new licences for new fields, but ministers say that does not apply to Rosebank and Jackdaw, which already have their licences and are now awaiting environmental consent to begin drilling.
Government sources say the Treasury is pushing hard to allow the new developments as it focuses the government’s economic policy on growth. But many Labour MPs want Miliband to rule them out if there is a risk they could lead to the UK breaking its climate commitments.
Labour is under pressure from the Conservatives and Reform to drop its net zero target altogether. Miliband said this week that he and other green energy enthusiasts would “win [the] fight” against climate sceptics.
Full report here.
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Image: North Sea oil platform [credit: matchtech.com]
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