By GB News (World News) | Created at 2026-10-13 11:36:22 | Updated at 2026-10-13 12:25:59
56 minutes ago
Failing to approve controversial North Sea oil fields could cost thousands of jobs a year and see almost £11billion lost to the economy over a decade, a new analysis warns.
Verdicts on Rosebank, Britain’s largest untapped oil field, and Jackdaw, a giant gas field, are “two of the most important investment decisions now facing the UK”, said Neil McCulloch, CEO of Adura, which is behind the projects. Work has stopped at both sites because of challenges on climate grounds.
The final decisions now rest Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh. The report, commissioned by Adura, modelled a range of North Sea scenarios, including the status quo of “managed decline” and a more supportive regime that saw all its projects approved.
It found greenlighting Rosebank, along with wider planned fields, would give a boost of almost £1 billion to the economy over ten years. Prime Minister Andy Burnham has pledged to take a “pragmatic” approach.
However, climate activists are fiercely opposed to new drilling. Mr Burnham’s Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband once described Rosebank as “climate vandalism”.
The new report found the “UK North Sea stands at a critical juncture”. The North Sea, Mr McCulloch said, “still represents a substantial economic prize”.
The research, carried out by Public First, found a “supportive and stable” approach would see Rosebank greenlit, along with Adura projects in existing licensed fields that still require development approval. This would support £35.3billion in Gross Value Added - (GVA) between 2026 and 2035, compared with £24.5billion if key oil projects do not go ahead – a difference of £10.8billion.
Turning them down would see the number of jobs supported fall from an average of 13,860 a year to 10,530, meaning 3,330 fewer jobs across the UK economy every year. Mr McCulloch said: “This report puts a clear price on leaving viable North Sea resources from existing licensed fields in the ground. Failure to approve Rosebank and other planned developments would mean billions of pounds less economic value for the UK and thousands fewer jobs supported every year.”
More than half of the jobs supported by Adura are estimated to be in Scotland, the report states. Mr McCulloch added: “Jackdaw and Rosebank are two of the most important investment decisions now facing the UK. Their impact will be felt well beyond the projects themselves, across the supply chain, the wider economy and the public finances. The UK North Sea still represents a substantial economic prize. Decisions taken now will help determine how much of that value, employment and investment is retained here in Britain.”
The report told how “the UK North Sea is at a pivotal moment”, stressing the sector is still “central to the UK’s economic resilience, energy security and managed transition to Net Zero”. With energy prices having risen, it adds “recent geopolitical turmoil” has highlighted the “importance of access to secure and affordable energy for both British households and businesses”.
Stressing “demand for oil and gas is expected to remain high” for decades to come, the report says the UK “will therefore need a level of supply to meet this significant demand” – either from domestic production or from imports. But imports of lliquified natural gas (LNG) are said to have an emissions impact that is more than three times higher than domestic production.
The decision on the fields would have “significant implications for UK carbon emissions”, Professor Nick Butler, Visiting Professor at King’s College London and a former senior policy adviser to Gordon Brown, insisted “Rosebank and Jackdaw are great projects of which we should be proud”.
Writing in the report’s foreword, Prof Butler added: “Their development along with the continued development of the other resources which remain in the UKCS is an essential contribution to maintaining the energy security on which British consumers – business as well as households – rely.”
Prof Butler said the Iran war, and the recent escalation in Saudi Arabia, meant “it is important to maximise production of oil and gas elsewhere, including in the North Sea”.
“That is happening in Norway and should happen here,” he wrote. “Rosebank and Jackdaw alone cannot substitute for the oil and gas trapped behind the blockade of Hormuz, but together they can make a positive contribution to preventing a surge in prices as supplies run short. They can limit the amount of oil and gas which the UK would otherwise have to import from the highly volatile international market.”
Mr Burnham is reportedly set to visit Scotland on Friday and shadow energy secretary Andrew Bowie, who said he should use the visit to approve the projects. He said: “Andy Burnham must use his first major trip to Scotland to finally give the green light to new drilling in the North Sea. His dithering over granting approval for Jackdaw and Rosebank is having a devastating effect on investment in the sector. While he continues to sit on the fence, 1,000 workers a month are losing their jobs because of Labour and the SNP’s ban on new North Sea projects.
"What more does the Prime Minister need to wait for? It is absolute madness that our energy security is becoming ever more reliant on imports when we could be maximising our own resources in the North Sea. If Andy Burnham wants to show he’s serious about protecting jobs and standing up for one of Scotland’s most important industries, then he will mark this trip by giving approval so these projects can get under way as soon as possible.”
A spokesman for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said: "The North Sea remains a vital national asset and oil and gas will continue to play an important role in our energy system for decades to come – alongside transitioning to clean power to protect jobs and tackle the climate crisis. Any decision will take into account all relevant evidence, including environmental assessments and public representations received as part of the regulatory process."
