Reports emerge of imminent government go

Following years of legal challenges and delays, the BBC has reported that the UK government is now set to give the go-ahead for a second time to the Jackdaw gas field in the North Sea, due east of Aberdeen. The Jackdaw gas field is a natural gas project located approximately 250km east of Aberdeen, adjacent to the UK/Norway median line. Originally approved by the Conservative government in 2022, the project is operated by Shell and is designed to connect to the existing Shearwater hub via a 31km subsea pipeline. According to Shell, the field is expected to represent around 6.5% of UK Continental Shelf gas production at its peak, providing enough fuel to heat 1.4M homes. Opponents of the scheme suggest that when imported gas is factored in, this would amount to a far lower proportion of the UK’s gas use. Latest Status and Legal Challenges The project has faced significant legal and environmental hurdles. In January 2025, legal challenges against the Jackdaw and Rosebank developments were upheld, resulting in the revocation of their consents. This followed the landmark “Finch ruling” by the Supreme Court in June 2024, which mandated that environmental impact assessments must consider “downstream” or Scope 3 emissions—the carbon impact resulting from customers burning the extracted fuel. As of late 2025 and early 2026, the following developments have occurred: - Consenting Status: While consent was initially revoked, Shell was permitted to continue construction while seeking re-consenting. As a result, in late 2025, NCE reported that the infrastructure work was well advanced. “The 31km pipeline from Jackdaw to Shearwater was laid in July 2024 and the steel jacket structure, which sits on the North Sea seabed, was installed in August 2023. The topsides were then installed in early October this year.” - Emissions Controversy: Greenpeace has challenged Shell’s environmental claims, asserting that the project will produce 35.8Mt of CO2e emissions over its lifetime—equivalent to roughly 90% of Scotland’s total emissions for 2023. - Corporate Restructuring: In late 2025, Shell and Equinor completed a deal to combine their UK offshore operations into a new company called Adura, which now manages the Jackdaw interest. - Government Decision: As of August 2026, the current Labour government was presented with a decision on whether to allow the field to proceed following the end of a consultation period. New announcement imminent With reports emerging that the government is set to give the Jackdaw project the go-ahead for completion, industry is keen to emphasise that this should represent a start, not a one-off. Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce chief executive Russell Borthwick commented “Approval of Jackdaw would be a hugely important vote of confidence in the North Sea, protecting jobs, strengthening our energy security and ensuring more of the oil and gas we still need is produced here in the UK. But Jackdaw cannot be the end of the story. “The same urgency must now be applied to Rosebank, another major project capable of supporting thousands of jobs, billions of pounds of economic activity and significant tax revenues for the Treasury. Together these projects represent 10% of our future gas supply at a point where we face a critical gas shortage. Have your say or a new account to join the discussion.