Shell and Equinor to fight North Sea judicial review
Shell and Equinor have vowed to fight legal cases brought by environmental campaigners against their plans to develop new oil and gas projects in the North Sea.
This comes despite the new UK Government’s decision to withdraw government support for the plans, which were approved by the previous administration over the last two years.
Greenpeace called for a judicial review of the government’s go-ahead for the Jackdaw gasfield, operated by Shell, which received approval in 2022. Alongside the campaign group Uplift, it called for a judicial review of Equinor’s plan to develop an oilfield at Rosebank, which was approved last year.
Earlier this week, Energy Secretary Ed Miliband withdrew support for the companies’ plans, while also ruling out further licensing rounds for new projects in the UK North Sea.
The government’s decision came months after a supreme court ruling, known as the Finch ruling, appeared to lend support to judicial reviews by finding in a separate case that the full emissions impact of burning fossil fuels should be taken into account before approving new oil and gas projects.
A Shell spokesperson responded: “We accept the UK supreme court’s ruling in the Finch case, but will argue that Jackdaw is a vital project for UK energy security that is already well under way.
“Stopping the work is a highly complex process, with significant technical and safety issues now that infrastructure is in place and drilling has started in the North Sea.
“Jackdaw will provide fuel for UK customers – enough to heat 1.4 million homes – strengthening energy independence for Britain, as other, older gas fields reach the end of production.”
A spokesperson for Equinor said Rosebank “is a vital project for the UK in terms of investment, job creation and energy security”.
Tessa Khan, executive director at Uplift, commented: “Rosebank is a bad deal for Britain, its reserves are mostly oil for export, doing nothing to lower bills or boost energy security here in the UK.
“Worse, Rosebank won’t provide long term security for oil and gas workers and their communities – even with new fields being approved, jobs supported by the industry have more than halved in the past decade.
“We face a stark choice today: do we protect ourselves against the worsening climate crisis or allow the oil and gas industry to continue profiteering.
“Oil companies, like Equinor, are fighting in courts around the world to be allowed to keep polluting; the case against Rosebank is about the UK’s fight for a liveable future.“
Published: 06-09-2024