Rosebank

‘We’d go absolutely nuts’: PM warned of Labour fight if he backs huge oilfield

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https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/jan/31/keir-starmer-warned-against-approving-rosebank-oilfield-labour-unease-heathrow

[Guardian] Exclusive: MPs and ministers say they would oppose Starmer if he tries to approve Rosebank development

Senior Labour figures are warning of a serious fight if Keir Starmer tries to give the go-ahead to a giant new oilfield off Shetland later this year.

MPs and ministers have told the Guardian they are prepared to oppose the UK prime minister should he try and give final consent to the Rosebank development, which is Britain’s biggest untapped oilfield.

Many in the party see the battle over Rosebank as the next front in the struggle between its environmental wing and those around Rachel Reeves who want to push for economic growth above all else. The chancellor signalled her support for a third runway at Heathrow this week as part of the government’s latest push to stimulate the economy.

One ally of the energy secretary, Ed Miliband, who is leading the government’s climate agenda, said the former Labour leader would have a “punchy” response for any attempt to give consent to Rosebank. The ally said: “Ed will come to that fight armed with a lot of evidence about what Rosebank will do to our carbon emissions.”

A spokesperson for Miliband declined to comment.

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https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/jan/31/keir-starmer-warned-against-approving-rosebank-oilfield-labour-unease-heathrow

Orcas are pleased that Rosebank and Jackdaw oil fields are blocked.
Orcas are pleased that Rosebank and Jackdaw oil fields are blocked.
Continue Reading‘We’d go absolutely nuts’: PM warned of Labour fight if he backs huge oilfield

New oil and gas field consent was unlawful – judge

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https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c3e1pw7npklo

A court has ruled that consent for two new Scottish oil and gas fields was granted unlawfully and their owners must seek fresh approval from the UK government before drilling can begin.

The written judgement on the Rosebank and Jackdaw fields came after a case brought by environmental campaigners, Uplift and Greenpeace, at the Court of Session in Edinburgh.

In his judgement, Lord Ericht said a more detailed assessment of the fields’ environmental impact was required, taking into account the effect on the climate of burning any fossil fuels extracted.

He said work on both fields could continue while the new information was gathered but no oil and gas could be extracted unless fresh approval was granted.

Shell’s Jackdaw gas field in the North Sea was originally approved by the previous UK Conservative government, and the industry regulator, in summer 2022.

Permission for the Rosebank oil development, 80 miles west of Shetland in the North Atlantic, was granted in autumn 2023.

In a 57-page judgement, Lord Ericht wrote that there was a public interest in having the decision “remade on a lawful basis” because of the effects of climate change – which he said outweighed the interests of the developers.

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https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c3e1pw7npklo

Orcas are pleased that Rosebank and Jackdaw oil fields are blocked.
Orcas are pleased that Rosebank and Jackdaw oil fields are blocked.
Continue ReadingNew oil and gas field consent was unlawful – judge

UK government approves Rosebank oilfield in UK’s North Sea

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The UK government has approved the Rosebank oil field in the North Sea. I’ll have a lot to say on this but for a start while it blows any remaining pretence that UK is committed to net zero, the UK government will be massively subsidising a foreign company to extract and take the oil abroad …

Extinction Rebellion NL image reads STOP FOSSIELE SUBSIDIES
Extinction Rebellion NL image reads STOP FOSSIELE SUBSIDIES

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/mar/24/uk-government-launch-revamped-net-zero-strategy-oil-gas-capital-aberdeen

… [N]ew estimates by the campaign group Uplift show that Rosebank, expected to cost £4.1bn to develop, could receive an effective taxpayer subsidy worth £3.75bn through tax breaks and the loophole in the government’s windfall tax that spares oil and gas investment.

This would mean that Equinor, the Norwegian state-owned company behind the potential field, would pay only £350m to develop Rosebank, which is three times the size of the Cambo oilfield. Equinor made £62bn last year, and about 80% of the oil from Rosebank is likely to be exported, rather than bolstering the UK’s energy security.

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Continue ReadingUK government approves Rosebank oilfield in UK’s North Sea

Campaigners take to Westminster Bridge to block Rosebank

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Fossil Free London set off flares and dropped a 15-metre banner Image: Fossil Free London
Fossil Free London set off flares and dropped a 15-metre banner Image: Fossil Free London

ENVIORNMENTAL activists have demanded MPs block a “reckless and absurd” climate time-bomb.

MPs returning to Parliament today were welcomed by Fossil Free London, who set off flares and dropped a 15-metre banner from the nearby bridge demanding development of the Rosebank oil field be dropped.

The decision to develop the field has been repeatedly delayed but, if granted, the licence could see oil giant Equinor benefit to the tune of £3.7 billion in tax breaks as the Tory tax giveaway to big oil — costing £10.6bn so far — continues apace.

Fossil Free London’s Joanna Warrington said: “Rishi Sunak wants to give billions of pounds of public money to a giant oil company in exchange for the climate time-bomb, which will do absolutely nothing to lower our energy bills.

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/b/campaigners-take-westminster-bridge-block-rosebank

First Minister Humza Yousaf ‘not convinced’ by Rosebank

In a conversation with the Daily Record, Scotland’s first minister said: “My starting position on Rosebank is I’m not convinced it should go ahead and I’ve said as much publicly, for a number of reasons.

“First and foremost, for example, the majority of Rosebank is oil as opposed to gas – that oil, of course, then gets exported.

“Any suggestion that helps us in terms of our domestic energy security, I think, doesn’t quite stack up.”

Humza Yousaf added: “Unlimited oil and gas extraction is not Scotland’s future,” when asked about the controversial Rosebank oil field.

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Continue ReadingCampaigners take to Westminster Bridge to block Rosebank

Climate protesters storm theatre show over Sadlers Wells fossil fuel sponsorship

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https://leftfootforward.org/2023/09/climate-protesters-storm-theatre-show-over-sadlers-wells-fossil-fuel-sponsorship/

Fossil Free London climate protestors protest Barclays sponsorship of the arts at Saddlers Wells.
Fossil Free London climate protestors protest Barclays sponsorship of the arts at Saddlers Wells.

A ballet performance of Romeo and Juliet at Sadlers Wells faced significant disruption on Thursday evening after climate activists stormed the stage to protest the theatre’s Barclays sponsorship.

Five member of the campaign organisation Fossil Free London hijacked the stage after the interval holding a banner that read “Drop Barclays Sponsorship”, whilst two others held placards and chanted “oily money out” from the wings.

Sadlers Wells includes Barclays bank as one of its sponsors. Barclays has continued to fund new oil and gas projects, investing over $190 billion in fossil fuels since 2016.

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Barclays also invests in the oil company Equinor who are pushing forward controversial plans for the Rosebank oil and gas field in the North Sea. They are currently waiting on the approval of their environmental report by the government, due in October.  

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https://leftfootforward.org/2023/09/climate-protesters-storm-theatre-show-over-sadlers-wells-fossil-fuel-sponsorship/

Continue ReadingClimate protesters storm theatre show over Sadlers Wells fossil fuel sponsorship