The Rosebank oil field, 80 miles northwest of Shetland, and the Jackdaw gas field, east of Aberdeen, are awaiting a formal decision from the government after a previous approval by a Conservative administration in 2023 was quashed by the Scottish courts.
The UK government has admitted in court that its approval of the giant Rosebank oilfield off Shetland was unlawful. Government lawyer Chris Pirie KC accepted at an Edinburg court that the previous Conservative administration did not include “the effects on climate of the combustion of oil and gas to be extracted from the fields.”
The Government has said it will not challenge judicial reviews brought against developments for the Rosebank and Jackdaw offshore oil and gas fields in the North Sea, in order to “save the taxpayer money”.