Andy Burnham approves North Sea's controversial Jackdaw gas field - what it really means

Need to know Andy Burnham approves North Sea's controversial Jackdaw gas field - what it really means This is what the approval of the Jackdaw gas field means. Share Article Share Article Facebook X LinkedIn Reddit Bluesky Email Copy Link Link copied Add us as preferred source Comments By Steph Spyro , Deputy political editor and environment editor 06:54, Wed, Oct 21, 2026 Updated: 07:54, Wed, Oct 21, 2026 Andy Burnham has approved the Jackdaw gas field (Image: Getty) TABLE OF CONTENT Will Jackdaw lower energy bills? What difference will Jackdaw make to UK energy security? Will Jackdaw lower energy bills? No. There is largely consensus that production at the two sites will not lower domestic energy bills for UK households. This is because the resources will be sold at prices dictacted by international markets, which are influenced by factors such as the supply disruptions currently being caused by the Middle East crisis. Most of the oil extracted at Rosebank will have to be exported abroad to be refined because the UK’s remaining refineries are unable to process the type of oil extracted from Rosebank. If the UK were to use any of the refined products, such as diesel or jet fuel, they would have to be reimported back into the country. While gas from Jackdaw will feed directly onto the UK’s grid, it will still come at a cost governed by the high global market prices. What difference will Jackdaw make to UK energy security? Bosses at Adura and industry stakeholders have argued the projects will result in billions in investment, support jobs and provide domestically produced gas to British homes. Supporters say the fields will also improve the UK’s energy security. However, even if the UK could legally or practically ringfence the resources entirely for domestic use rather than export – which it cannot – the country would still remain a net importer of fossil fuels, beholden to volatile international prices and supply disruptions. The group Uplift, which campaigns for a transition away from oil and gas production in the UK, has found that Jackdaw would have no meaningful impact on the UK’s energy security – providing just 2% of UK gas demand over its roughly 10-year lifetime. Meanwhile, the small gas component of the Rosebank field would reduce UK gas import dependency by about 1% on average, its analysis found. Many environmentalists and experts have argued that only by boosting homegrown clean energy can the UK improve its energy security. The End Fuel Poverty Coalition argued that the North Sea basin is in decline and approving new projects will prolong the country’s exposure to price shocks, while ministers should be focusing on accelerating the transition. How many new, permanent UK jobs will Jackdaw create? Supporting new projects in the North Sea still offers economic benefits, including higher tax revenues from oil and gas companies, income tax from well-paid workers and job creation within the industry and its supply chain. But the North Sea workforce has more than halved in the past decade despite new field approvals, figures showed. North Sea production rose by a fifth between 2014 and 2019, while employment in Aberdeen’s oil and gas sector fell by 11%. Green groups said this suggests that more production no longer means more jobs. Only 27 direct full-time jobs would be created by Jackdaw, one of the biggest gasfields remaining in the North Sea, according to an environmental impact assessment filed publicly by its owner, Adura, a joint venture between Shell and Norway’s Equinor. But Jackdaw's owner Adura said Jackdaw and the gas and oil field Rosebank represent a combined investment of £10.8 billion, with more than three-quarters expected to be invested in the UK. It added: "Across their producing lifespans, the projects are expected to generate £28.7 billion in gross value added, support more than 3,500 jobs at peak construction, sustain around 880 jobs during production and create at least 125 apprenticeships." What did Labour's 2024 manifesto say about new oil and gas? Labour's 2024 manifesto committed to issuing no new oil and gas licences for the North Sea. But proponents of Jackdaw and Rosebank within the party have argued that neither are new fossil fuel fields, given the wheels were in motion to tap them ahead of Labour winning power. Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh has said a decision on Rosebank, the largest untapped oil field in the North Sea, will take “a bit longer”, suggesting it will be made separately from Jackdaw. Andy Burnham North Sea Share Article Share Article Facebook X LinkedIn Reddit Bluesky Email Copy Link Link copied Add us as preferred source Comments