New North Sea gas to flow after approval for Jackdaw drilling

North Sea gas production will increase within weeks after ministers give approval on Wednesday for drilling in the first big new field in almost a decade. Miatta Fahnbulleh, the energy secretary, will confirm that Jackdaw, off Aberdeen, has passed a new environmental assessment and will go into production before Christmas. Most commented 1 Forgotten particle may hold key to how universe survived big bang Science 246 comments 2 Lily Allen: ‘I felt I was a vehicle for male pleasure — not my own’ Music 241 comments 3 ‘We got a call yesterday. Birth mum’s had another baby’ Parenting 32 comments 4 Doctor Who and me — Russell T Davies on his life in TV Books 24 comments 5 Budget 2026 predictions: when is it and what could be announced? Economics 235 comments The field is the UK’s largest known untapped gas reservoir and could account for 6 per cent of North Sea gas production when fully operational. Top stories 1 16 of the best safaris in Africa Africa The project has been awaiting fresh approval since January last year, when the Court of Session ruled that its original consent was unlawful because it did not account for emissions from burning the gas it would produce. The ruling followed a Supreme Court judgment in 2024 that established the need to consider such emissions in environmental assessments. It is understood that the offshore petroleum regulator for environment and decommissioning has approved an assessment under the new criteria — a decision that ministers will endorse. Advertisement The move, a week before the budget , will be presented as an important part of Britain’s energy independence and as protection for jobs and expertise in the North Sea. Miatta Fahnbulleh WIKTOR SZYMANOWICZ/FUTURE PUBLISHING/GETTY IMAGES However, it will be attacked by environmentalists who have long argued that climate change targets mean that no new fields should be allowed into production. Top stories 1 Prepare now for the inheritance tax mess coming for your pension Tax These concerns are likely to delay authorisation of the Rosebank field, which primarily contains oil, because it would result in higher levels of emissions than Jackdaw. The UN’s environmental chief has said the world cannot go “cold turkey” on oil and gas overnight. Inger Andersen, executive director of the UN Environment Programme (Unep), said: “We are hooked on hydrocarbons; we are completely addicted, and we can’t just go cold turkey.” Advertisement Andersen said while she understood governments taking “short-term stopgaps” like approving new oil and gasfields , they needed a long-term vision for energy security and tackling climate change. Inger Andersen ANTHONY WALLACE/AFP/GETTY IMAGES Asked about Jackdaw and Rosebank, Andersen, an economist by training, said: “I would say that [for] long-term investments, surely, it’s wiser to really think about renewables.” She added: “You have a wind velocity in this country that’s really quite high and not that different from right across the waters where Denmark is. On a good windy day, Denmark is 100 per cent supplied by wind, which is amazing.”