The UK government has approved gas production at Shell's Jackdaw gasfield in the North Sea, The Guardian reported on Wednesday, with Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh announcing that the regulator can grant consent for production at the field, about 150 miles east of Aberdeen. The government said Jackdaw will start supplying gas to homes and businesses from the end of October.

Source: The Guardian via The Brief

Fahnbulleh said the decision would support energy security with homegrown gas this winter and help minimise Britain's use of imported higher-emission fuels, and that it is compatible with the UK's legally binding climate commitments, with the government remaining resolute on ending new licences for oil and gas and achieving net zero by 2050. Speaking to BBC Radio Scotland, she also said Jackdaw 'won't lower energy bills this winter'.

A field approved, struck down, then approved again

Jackdaw and the Rosebank oilfield, operated by Equinor, were both approved by the previous Conservative government in 2022, but their environmental approvals were later rescinded after a court ruled that companies needed to account for emissions from burning the oil and gas they produce. The operators resubmitted applications earlier this year. Labour's 2024 election manifesto committed it to a ban on new drilling licences in the North Sea; supporters of Jackdaw argue it is not a new field because development was already under way before Labour took office. A separate decision on Rosebank is still pending and will take 'a bit longer', Fahnbulleh indicated.

What supporters and critics claim it is worth

At peak production the field could increase Britain's domestic gas output by about 6%, with an estimated £2.9 billion in wider economic benefits — yaani about 29,000 crore rupees' worth in pound terms (£1 billion = 100 crore pounds) — according to reporting of the government's case. Campaign group Uplift's Tessa Khan said Jackdaw would provide around 2% of UK gas demand for roughly ten years and would be largely unmanned. An industry-commissioned report cited by Adura, the Shell-Equinor North Sea venture, claimed rejecting Jackdaw and Rosebank together would cost the UK economy nearly £10.8 billion over the next decade — yaani about £108 billion would be 10 times that figure; £10.8 billion is roughly 1,080 crore pounds. These are competing claims from supporters and critics, not settled figures.