LONDON - Britain’s Labour government announced plans on Oct 21 to start drilling in a controversial gas field in the North Sea, claiming the “pragmatic” move would boost energy security amid price shocks from the Iran war.
US President Donald Trump hailed the decision to approve the Jackdaw site, situated about 240km east of Aberdeen in Scotland, after a court ruling put its future in doubt.
Environmentalists said the approval would worsen carbon emissions, but industry groups and unions welcomed the project, which the government said would start supplying gas to homes and businesses within weeks.
In a post on his Truth social platform, Trump called the decision “great news for the wealth and prosperity of the United Kingdom and the wonderful region of Aberdeen”, where he owns a luxury golf resort.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham said his centre-left administration had made a “pragmatic” decision.
“At a time when people are really struggling, it’s right that we look in a responsible way at maximising the existing energy reserves we have in Britain that could help,” he said.
“We’re committed to moving towards renewable energy and reaching net zero by 2050. But even on our ambitious climate path, we’ll still require oil and gas as part of our energy needs for decades to come.”
The issue has divided the Labour Party, pitting its climate ambitions against pressure to increase domestic energy supplies and ease surging utility bills to help Britons with the cost of living.
Labour promised when returning to power in 2024 under former leader Keir Starmer not to issue any new oil and gas drilling licences as it sought to steer Britain away from fossil fuels towards cleaner renewable energy.
Supporters argue that neither Jackdaw, with its expected lifespan of 11 years, nor the Rosebank field – which mainly contains oil and lies west of the Shetland Islands and will be ruled on separately – are new fossil fuel sites.
The previous Conservative government approved drilling at Jackdaw, which already has the infrastructure in place, and at Rosebank before both sites became the subject of lengthy legal battles.
But a Scottish court ruled in early 2025 that the approvals failed to consider the carbon emissions the projects would indirectly generate, meaning both must reapply.
‘Vandalism’
The government said Jackdaw was expected to increase domestic gas production by around 6% at its peak and add an estimated £2.9 billion (S$4.9 billion) to the economy. The approval will create 27 new jobs and protect some 270 existing ones.
But energy minister Miatta Fahnbulleh conceded the new drilling will not immediately reduce energy bills, since gas and oil costs are determined by international market prices.
The government announced a new wealth fund designed to reinvest oil and gas revenues into the climate transition, a move seen as an attempt to appease left-wing Labour lawmakers unhappy at the imminent drilling.
The approval of Jackdaw was supported by all main parties except the left-wing Greens, whose leader Zack Polanski called the decision “climate vandalism”.
Friends of the Earth said it was a “huge blow” to Labour’s green credentials, while Greenpeace’s Ami McCarthy said: “True pragmatism means severing our reliance on expensive oil and gas that leaves British households broke, supercharges extreme weather, and leaves our energy security at the mercy of petrostates.”
Greg Jackson, chief executive officer of Octopus Energy, called it a “good energy policy” because Jackdaw will “replace 20 ships a year of imported gas, with cleaner British gas that pays tax here”.
Meanwhile, Sharon Graham, leader of the Unite labour union, also welcomed the approval, saying it gives Britain “a bit more time to create and fund a concrete plan for commensurate jobs” as the industry transitions to renewables.
Adura, the joint venture between Shell and Norway’s Equinor that is behind both projects, called for Rosebank to now also be approved and Trump said Britain should go “full blast” in extracting North Sea resources.
In interviews on Oct 21, Fahnbulleh said Rosebank – Britain’s largest remaining untapped oil field – was different to Jackdaw.
“One is a gas field that caters for the domestic market, while the other is an oil field that is mainly for export,” she told the Guardian. AFP