UK ministers are expected to approve the Jackdaw North Sea gasfield as soon as next week, with the larger Rosebank oilfield likely to follow later in 2026

Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh is expected to recommend approval of the Jackdaw gasfield off the coast of Aberdeen as soon as Monday, with formal sign-off from the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) potentially following within a week, according to government sources. A decision on the Rosebank oilfield, estimated at £8.7bn and containing as much as 500 million barrels of oil or oil equivalent and described as the biggest undeveloped field in UK waters, is expected later in 2026, with Fahnbulleh also likely to approve that project. Both fields hold licences to operate but lost their environmental permits after a court ruled that the operating companies, Shell (Jackdaw) and Equinor (Rosebank), had failed to account for the carbon emissions produced by burning the extracted oil and gas. Both companies resubmitted environmental approval applications earlier in 2026, and consultations on those submissions closed last month. The industry says the two fields could together supply around 10% of the UK's oil and gas output at peak production. Campaigners argue they would generate as much as £336bn in economic damage from carbon pollution. Ministers are reportedly exploring whether Rosebank's tax revenues could be directed to clean energy projects, potentially through the National Wealth Fund, though the sources note this could prove legally complex given the consenting process is already advanced and the revenues have been accounted for in Treasury forecasts. The decisions sit at the intersection of energy security, the UK's climate commitments, and significant political pressure from multiple directions, with the US president urging the prime minister to open up the fields while many Labour MPs remain opposed.

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