Failure to approve two North Sea fields would be a major setback and leave Britain no longer “investable”, according to the head of Norway’s state oil and gas company.
Anders Opedal, chief executive of Equinor, says Andy Burnham’s government should approve the Jackdaw gas field and the Rosebank oil field, both of which it co-owns with Shell through the Adura joint venture.
“Not approving Rosebank would be contradictory to energy security, to job creation,” Mr Opedal told the Energy Intelligence Forum in London.
The two fields were approved for development by the Conservative government, but a court ruling last year halted drilling because it was found that environmental considerations had not been taken into account. Development work was allowed to proceed and gas production would begin from Jackdaw within weeks of approval.
A decision was expected by the Energy department last month but has been delayed until after tomorrow’s Holborn & St Pancras by-election where Labour is in a tight battle with the Green Party.
Adura is the second-biggest producer in the UK North Sea and Equinor and says the projects would together involve a £10.8 billion investment, generating jobs as well as tax revenue for the Treasury.
It says Rosebank would produce 69,000 barrels of oil per day, or about 10% of expected UK North Sea output. Production would begin early next year.
Shell and Equinor combined their UK North Sea assets to create Adura last year and the venture is expected to produce about 140,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day. Adura has been linked to BP’s UK North Sea fields.
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