- Regulators grant new licence for Rosebank field in the North
Sea
- Boost to UK energy security and economy with a direct
investment of over £8bn to provide, according to Equinor
estimates, nearly 1,600 at the project’s peak.
- The go-ahead follows extensive scrutiny by regulators
The government has today welcomed the decision by regulators to
approve the new Rosebank development – with the UK’s highly
skilled oil and gas industry strengthening energy security and
growing the economy.
While the government is scaling up homegrown clean energy sources
such as offshore wind and nuclear, the UK still relies on oil and
gas and this will continue to be the case over the coming
decades. As the government takes forward a pragmatic,
proportionate and realistic response to the path to net zero, a
key part of this will be maintaining our domestic oil and gas
industry which underpins our energy security and boosts the UK
economy.
The oil and gas industry adds £17 billion annually to the
economy, supports around 200,000 jobs, and will provide around
£50 billion in tax revenue over the next five years, which can be
used to support the shift to cleaner forms of energy.
According to Equinor’s estimates,
the Rosebank project represents a direct investment of
approximately £8.1 billion, of which £6.3 billion is likely to be
invested in UK-based businesses, with the developer also
estimating that at its peak the field producing 69,000 barrels of
oil and 44 million cubic feet of gas per day.
This will have wide-reaching benefits, including supporting UK
jobs and supply chains associated with the offshore sector. The
carbon footprint of domestically producing UK gas is also around
one-quarter of the carbon footprint of importing internationally
produced liquified natural gas.
The Rosebank development – as well as other oil and gas projects
– has been subject to extensive scrutiny by the regulators,
including undergoing a detailed environmental impact assessment
process and a period of public consultation before approval was
granted.
All new projects, including Rosebank, will be in line with the
natural decline of the North Sea basin.
New projects like Rosebank are expected to be significantly less
emissions intensive than previous developments, as they are more
efficient and are developed with measures to mitigate emissions.
Even when we’ve reached net zero in 2050, the Climate Change
Committee say that a quarter of our energy needs will come from
oil and gas, but the choice is between it coming from hostile
states rather than from the supplies we have here at home.
In addition, the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) has net
zero regulation embedded throughout the entire project lifecycle
and considers several factors, sometimes collectively referred to
as an ‘effective net zero test’, for decisions such as approving
new field developments.
Continued North Sea production is important for maintaining
domestic security of supply and making the UK less vulnerable to
a repeat of the energy crisis that caused prices to soar after
Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine. Furthermore, the oil and
gas supply chain – which will help deliver new developments like
Rosebank – is exactly the supply chain the UK needs for the
energy transition. The sector is playing an important role in
driving the development and delivery of low-carbon technologies
that will underpin the transition.
Energy Security Secretary said in response to the
decision:
“We are investing on our world-leading renewable energy but, as
the independent Climate Change Committee recognise, we will need
oil and gas as part of that mix on the path to net zero and so it
makes sense to use our own supplies from North Sea fields such as
Rosebank.
“The jobs and billions of pounds this is worth to our economy
will enable us to have greater energy independence, making us
more secure against tyrants like Putin.
“We will continue to back the UK’s oil and gas industry to
underpin our energy security, grow our economy and help us
deliver the transition to cheaper, cleaner energy.”
Following Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, the UK Government
took swift action - ending all imports of Russian fossil fuels,
with the latest figures showing the UK has not imported any
Russian gas in over a year.
On top of this, the government published the British Energy
Security Strategy, with a plan to supercharge domestic renewable
energy and nuclear capacity, as well as supporting our North Sea
oil and gas industry as we transition to lower carbon energy.
The oil and gas sector’s significant investment, skilled
workforce, strong supply chains and specialist engineering
expertise collectively build our ability and capacity to exploit
the UK’s resources and support overall energy security of supply.
The government’s plan to power up Britain builds on the UK’s
excellent progress scaling up renewables, with 40% of our
electricity now coming from renewable sources.
The UK is home to the world’s four largest offshore wind farms
and the government has set out plans to expand nuclear power,
with an ambition of up to a quarter of the country’s electricity
coming from nuclear by 2050.
