United Kingdom approves oil exploration in the North Sea – 09/27/2023 – Environment

The United Kingdom has authorized the advancement of one of its biggest new oil and gas exploration projects in years, Equinor’s Rosebank field in the North Sea, saying that energy security is the country’s priority despite the opposition from environmentalists.

Wednesday’s announcement comes after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak weakened the country’s climate targets last week, in a move that critics say could also encourage other countries to scale back their climate ambitions. .

Energy Security Minister Claire Coutinho said the Rosebank field will be less emissions-intensive than older oil and gas developments.

“We will continue to support the UK oil and gas sector to underpin our energy security, grow our economy and help us transition to cheaper, cleaner energy,” she said.

The basis of the plan to make Rosebank less emissions-intensive is to electrify the extraction process.

Norwegian group Equinor said that electrification of the field, located west of the Shetland Islands and scheduled to start production in 2026-27, will only occur in 2030.

Environmental advocates called on the government to halt development of Rosebank, saying the project goes against the plan for a net-zero greenhouse gas emissions economy.

But Sunak threw his support behind the North Sea project in July, saying the UK needed new domestic fossil fuels to improve energy security and that oil and gas would still be part of the country’s energy mix even in 2050.

The Rosebank field, relatively small in the global context, is expected to produce 300 million barrels of oil over its lifetime.

The Labor Party, the main opposition party, which wants to focus on clean energy, said it will respect all licenses granted before the next election, including that of Rosebank.