Consent to drill at Jackdaw gas field granted

The consenting decision, made following the energy secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh’s consideration of the environmental statement and agreement to the grant of consent, comes after an earlier consent granted for the project was ruled unlawful.

In 2025, the Court of Session in Edinburgh determined the original decision-making process for both Jackdaw, situated to the east of Aberdeen, and the separate Rosebank project, which envisages drilling for oil at a site to the northwest of Shetland, was flawed. This was because ‘Scope 3’ emissions had not been factored into the initial environmental assessments for each project.

Further environmental information was subsequently submitted for the projects. Fahnbulleh has now said the Jackdaw decision “is compatible with [the UK ’s] legally binding climate commitments”. An updated consenting decision in relation to Rosebank has still to be announced.

Adura, the developer behind the Jackdaw project, said the decision will enable gas from the site to be supplied “within weeks”. It estimates that, at peak production, Jackdaw could produce enough gas to heat the equivalent of around 1.4 million UK homes.

UK prime minister Andy Burnham said the decision “will protect hundreds of jobs and help keep millions of homes warm this winter”.

“At a time when people are really struggling, it’s right that we look in a responsible way at maximising the existing energy reserves we have in Britain that could help,” Burnham said. “We’re committed to moving towards renewable energy and reaching net zero by 2050. But even on our ambitious climate path, we’ll still require oil and gas as part of our energy needs for decades to come.”

Aberdeen-based energy expert Chris Sawyer of Pinsent Masons said: “Jackdaw's approval is a pragmatic decision by the government to the UK's current energy needs. As the transition to a low-carbon energy system is accelerating, oil and gas will continue to play an important role in meeting demand for the foreseeable future. Domestic production can help strengthen energy security, generate tax revenue for the UK, support skilled jobs across the UK supply chain, and reduce reliance on imported energy.”

Alongside the announcement of consent for the Jackdaw project, the UK government confirmed that it will set up a new Energy Wealth Fund.

Full details of how the fund will operate have yet to be outlined, but the government said it will “invest in renewable energy” and “help ensure more value from Britain’s energy resources is invested for the long term, supporting the green transition and creating a lasting national asset for future generations”.