UK energy secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh recently struck an unusually positive tone on fossil fuels when she approved drilling at the Jackdaw gasfield in the North Sea, saying it would "support the country's energy security with homegrown gas this winter." Security of supply has long been a lower priority for the Labour government than showing global leadership in the net zero transition, a theme of her predecessor Ed Miliband. But wars in Ukraine and the Middle East are sharpening the focus on self-sufficiency.
Fahnbulleh now faces a tougher decision on the Rosebank oilfield west of Shetland. She appears sceptical, noting that Rosebank is "a different proposition" because most of its oil would be shipped to Europe rather than refined in Britain. Yet the Office for Budget Responsibility has already counted it in its tax forecasts, and the article argues approval is compatible with the government's energy policies and its Paris commitments. Even with Rosebank and the nearby Cambo field, the UK will remain a net importer of oil and gas.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham's government faces pressure from climate campaigners and some Labour MPs to block the project, although the field already holds the necessary exploration licences. Campaigners such as Uplift argue that "no new oil and gas fields are compatible with safe climate limits." Mark Carney, who once warned of "stranded assets" as Bank of England governor, now urges Canada to become an "energy superpower."
The article contends that the opponents' case is weaker than it looks. More than two-thirds of the UK's crude exports to European refineries return as processed fuel, according to Wood Mackenzie, and much of the diesel and heating oil Britain imports is effectively "our own oil coming back", says John Underhill of Aberdeen University. Energy security, the piece suggests, is best judged within an integrated European system.
Source: Financial Times Companies · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing