Court overturns controversial approval of energy project: 'Long-term justification ... has dwindled away'
A Scottish oil field is in doubt after lawsuits by Uplift and Greenpeace.
The country's Court of Session ruled on Jan. 30 that the Rosebank oil field in the North Sea cannot be developed under its previous approval agreement, Forbes reported. U.K. Conservatives had granted permission for drilling in 2023.
There are infrastructure projects under way there and in the Jackdaw gas field, and they can continue under the order, but oil cannot be extracted without a new permit.
A judge said that "the private interest of members of the public in climate change outweigh the private interest of the developers."
The Rosebank site, owned by Norway's Equinor and Britain's Ithaca Energy, could hold 500 million barrels of oil and produce 8% of U.K. oil, they say. But the use of that dirty energy would release over 220 million tons of carbon dioxide pollution, more than the 700 million people in the world's 28 poorest countries generate in a year, according to Forbes.
Shell owns the Jackdaw site, which could account for 6% of North Sea gas production, the BBC reported.
The outlet noted the ruling hinged on Scope 3 emissions, which are produced when extracted oil and gas are burned and were not considered when the projects were approved. The approval did weigh the release of heat-trapping gases from the extraction process.
"But last June, in a dispute about oil wells near London's Gatwick Airport, the U.K. Supreme Court ruled that environmental impact assessments must also include downstream emissions," the BBC stated.
The oil and gas companies argue that these projects will support energy stability and economic growth and even green transition goals since the U.K. would not have to import as much dirty fuel.
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Shell is "pressing government in private for assurances about Jackdaw," per the BBC, which added that lawmakers would likely approve drilling at both sites even when accounting for the downstream pollution — and against significant pushback from climate campaigners.
"From an investor perspective, the long-term justification for capital expenditure on drilling new oil and gas sites in the North Sea like Rosebank has dwindled away," U.K. Sustainable Investment and Finance Association CEO James Alexander told Forbes. "Renewables have overtaken oil and gas as the cheaper alternative; demand projections are changing. The U.K.'s key growth sectors of the future are in renewable energy."
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