Energy / Equinor to continue progressing Rosebank project despite court ruling
Campaigners have also welcomed the court ruling, which calls for the government to reconsider approval for the oil and gas development
THE DEVELOPER of the Rosebank oil and gas field says it will continue to work on the project despite a court ruling which means the UK Government will have to re-consider its approval.
A spokesperson for Equinor said it is pleased that Lord Ericht’s Court of Session ruling allows the developer to continue to progress the project while awaiting new consent.
“We welcome the court’s judgment which enables Equinor to continue developing a project expected to create up to 2,000 UK jobs during its development phase,” they said.
“We will continue to work closely with the Regulators and Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) to progress the Rosebank project.”
Meanwhile campaign group Uplift, which was one of the organisations which took legal action against the approval of Rosebank as well as the Jackdaw gas development east of Aberdeen, said it welcomed a “sensible decision” from the Court of Session.
“Rosebank is a disaster for the climate and will do next to nothing to create the prosperity and stability that the UK needs,” director Tessa Khan said.
She also said it is “hard to imagine that an oil field of any size – let alone one that will create 200 million tonnes of CO2 can pass any credible” environmental assessment.
Khan added: “It should be clear that the decision to approve Rosebank was not just unlawful, but also one that prioritised private interest over public interest.”
Shetland’s sole Green councillor Alex Armitage, who has opposed the Rosebank project, believes the correct decision was made.
“Equinor and Ithaca [Rosebank partner] promised so much with this project, but as plans were developed, the jobs bonanza of engineering contracts and helicopter contracts never materialised,” he said.
“With climate-related storms lashing our coastline, increased rainfall waterlogging our football pitches and warmer seas causing death in our salmon cages, we are constantly reminded that we must transition our energy system away from fossil fuels and stop polluting the atmosphere.”
Armitage said Rosebank’s oil is “most valuable to us” left underground.
“We must make two transitions in our energy economy; firstly from fossil fuels to renewables, secondly from corporate ownership to community control,” he added.
“We have the opportunity in Shetland to benefit from renewable energy for decades and generations to come.
“We need to make the bold decisions now to ensure the value of our natural resources is not stolen by greedy corporations and instead is used to build wealth in our Shetland community.”
RSPB Scotland director Anne McCall also said that “opening a huge new oilfield without accounting for its environmental costs is simply incompatible with the UK’s commitments to tackle climate change”.
However the Scottish Conservatives called the decision a “hammer blow for the North Sea oil and gas industry”.
“Labour have abandoned tens of thousands of highly skilled workers by refusing to defend this case,” they said.
The court ruling, issued today (Thursday), quashed decisions from the government to approve the Rosebank and Jackdaw developments, made in 2023 and 2022 respectively.
The projects – which have not yet begun producing oil and gas – will have to be reconsidered and take into account the emissions which would result from burning the oil and gas produced from the fields.
But Lord Ericht suspended the “reduction” on the decision until a fresh decision has been reached.
This enables the oil and gas developers to continue working on the projects up to that point.
Equinor said the company and its joint venture partner Ithaca have already committed over £2.2 billion on developing Rosebank – “awarding vital contracts across the supply chain and employing personnel to deliver the work”.
All parties in the court case agreed that the approval of the Rosebank and Jackdaw projects were “unlawful” as their environmental impact assessments (EIA) did not take into account the effect on climate of the combustion of the oil and gas to be produced.
It followed a landmark Supreme Court ruling last year involving Surrey County Council which requires decision-makers to consider the impact of burning oil and gas in environmental impact assessment for new projects.
The Rosebank site is estimated to be the largest undeveloped oil and gas field in the UK continental shelf, with recoverable resources said to include over 300 million barrels of oil equivalent and the site having a production life of around 25 years.
It was given development and production consent from the UK Government in 2023.
Work is already underway on the project and drilling was due to begin in the first or second quarter of this year.
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