Equinor says it may stop UK investment if Rosebank and Jackdaw not approved

Equinor, the Norwegian state oil company, said it may stop investing in the UK if new oil and gas fields at Rosebank and Jackdaw are not approved, according to the BBC. Anders Opedal, the company's boss, said: "The question will be: is the UK investable in the future? I hope it will not come to that." He said Equinor would "have to take a hard view about it" if a decision was made to reject new drilling.

The UK government is set to decide whether to grant final approval to extract oil and gas at the two sites. The government said any decision would take into account all relevant evidence. Following a public consultation on the sites, which closed in August, the final decision rests with Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh, the BBC reported.

Both fields were initially given the go-ahead by the former Conservative government but were delayed by a legal ruling from a Scottish court, after environmental groups argued consent was given without fully considering the climate impact. Rosebank is the UK's largest undeveloped oil and gas field, located in the North Atlantic about 80 miles north-west of the Shetland Islands, and is thought to hold up to 500 million barrels of oil and gas. Opedal said the exploration licence for the site was awarded in 2001, the discovery was made in 2004 and the final investment decision (the commitment of money to build) came in 2023.

Both Jackdaw and Rosebank are operated by Adura, a joint venture between Equinor and Shell. Aberdeen-based firm Ithaca also owns 20% of Rosebank. Adura has previously said that if approval comes soon, Jackdaw could start delivering gas to UK homes by this winter, as construction is "99% complete".

Tessa Khan, executive director of Uplift, an organisation that wants the UK to move away from fossil fuel production, said new drilling at Rosebank "won't cut our bills" and was a "bad deal for Britain". She said it was "overwhelmingly oil for export" and would make Equinor and its part-owner, the Norwegian government, richer, "while Britain is left with high energy bills and a declining workforce". Khan said Labour's "climate credibility is also on the line".

Opedal said he remained confident that Prime Minister Andy Burnham's talk of a "pragmatic approach to oil and gas" meant both projects would get approved, but he said the current limbo was "an uncomfortable position to be in". He said the UK could produce more of its own oil and gas, adding: "It's a political choice." A government spokesperson said the North Sea remained a "vital national asset" and that "oil and gas will continue to play an important role".