Tag: Rosebank oil field

Rosebank APPROVED

The North Sea Transition Authority has today granted development and production consent for the Rosebank field, north-west of Shetland.

The consent has been given by the oil and gas regulator to owners Equinor and Ithaca Energy, following the acceptance of the Environmental Statement.

An NSTA spokesperson said: “We have today approved the Rosebank Field Development Plan which allows the owners to proceed with their project.

“The FDP is awarded in accordance with our published guidance and taking net zero considerations into account throughout the project’s lifecycle.”

GREEN MP Caroline Lucas described the announcement as “the greatest act of environmental vandalism in my lifetime, causing emissions equal to 28 lowest income countries, busting #climate targets & doing nothing for energy security since vast majority is for export” #climatecriminals

Labour’s Environment spokesperson, Shadow Climate and Net Zero Secretary Ed Miliband said: “Here’s what it means. Rosebank: £3.75bn of taxpayer subsidy which could have been invested in renewables. 80% of oil exported, not a penny off bills, equivalent to half all UK emissions for a year.

“Colossal waste of taxpayer money and climate vandalism.” However Ed’s boss Sir Keir Starmer has already said that a future Labour government will NOT reverse the decision.

More responses from environmental organisations to follow

Rosebank decision delayed AGAIN

Climate campaigners have welcomed the news that a decision on the controversial Rosebank oil field could be delayed until the autumn.  

City AM reported yesterday that due to concerns about whether Rosebank would conform to new net zero regulations, a decision on whether the field should start development would be delayed until after summer recess at Westminster, having previously been expected for July.  

The article states that concerns relate to the potential for electrifying the oil field, as if Rosebank is not powered by renewable energy it will not meet the emissions reductions requirements of the North Sea Transition Deal.  

Rosebank is the biggest undeveloped oil field in the North Sea and if all the oil and gas contained within it is burned it will produce the equivalent CO2 emissions of the annual emissions of 28 low income countries. Along with a 130,000 person strong petition opposing the development, the project has faced sustained criticism from climate campaigners, across the political spectrum and from academics and climate scientists.  

Friends of the Earth Scotland oil and gas campaigner Freya Aitchison said: “This is the latest in a long series of delays showing that the pressure from campaigners and across civil society to stop the disastrous Rosebank field is working. However, the UK Government needs to end its climate denial and say no to Rosebank once and for all.  

“The vast majority of the emissions from any oil field comes from burning the oil and gas extracted, not from the production process. The claim that companies will power the extraction with renewable energy are a greenwashing distraction from the true damage this field will cause.  

“The wind farm on Shetland that is earmarked to provide electricity to Rosebank and other oil fields could either power three new oil fields or all the homes in Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Shetland put together. It should be a no-brainer that this clean power should be used to bring down people’s energy bills and not to prolong the lifespan of the oil and gas industry.  

“The Scottish Government needs to find its voice and join the chorus who strongly oppose this disastrous project adding to the pressure on the UK Government to say no to Rosebank.” 

Environmental campaigners welcome Scottish Government statement on oil and gas licences

Environmental campaigners have welcomed yesterday’s statement from Minister for Environment and Land Reform Mairi McAllan that the Scottish Government “does not agree with the UK Government issuing new oil and gas licences”.

This came in response to a parliamentary question from Mark Ruskell MSP about whether the Rosebank oil field, and new licensing, should be allowed to go ahead, given the First Minister’s previous opposition to the Cambo oil field last year.

Ms McAllan said that the licensing of new oil and gas extraction is not the answer to either the cost of energy crisis or the climate crisis. The UK Government recently opened a licensing round which could issue over 100 licences for fossil fuel companies to explore the UK Continental Shelf for new oil and gas fields.

The Rosebank oil field already has a licence, and would be three times the size of Cambo. Equinor, the Norwegian oil company that wants to develop Rosebank, is currently awaiting approval from the UK Government’s Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy on its environmental statement before the project can begin development.

Rosebank would not extract its first oil until late 2026, and the majority of the oil extracted would be exported and sold on the open market, doing little for the UK’s energy security.

Campaigners welcomed Ms McAllan’s statement as a strengthening of the Scottish Government’s position on new oil and gas.

Friends of the Earth Scotland’s oil and gas campaigner Freya Aitchison said: “Mairi McAllan is completely right to say that new oil and gas extraction isn’t the answer to the cost of living crisis or the climate crisis.

“Millions of families are being pushed into fuel poverty by greedy oil companies for short-term profits. Meanwhile climate science is clear that there can be no new oil and gas licensing if we are to avoid truly catastrophic warming.

“This is the furthest the Scottish Government has gone to date in its opposition to new licensing, and Ministers must now pressure the UK Government to abandon its climate-wrecking oil expansion plans, starting by rejecting the plans to develop Rosebank. The Scottish Government must cement this position in the forthcoming Energy Strategy, putting an end date on fossil fuels and setting out the framework for a managed and just phase out of oil and gas within this decade.

“The Scottish Government’s opposition to new oil and gas extraction will make Rosebank a more risky investment, so Equinor should really think again.

“If Rosebank were allowed to go ahead, it would produce the same amount of climate-wrecking pollution as the annual emissions of 28 low-income countries combined.

“Approving it would fly in the face of climate science, which is clear that allowing any new fossil fuel extraction will take us past globally agreed climate targets.”

‘Oily’ Roses expose toxic relationships around Rosebank oil field

Environmental campaigners have been highlighting companies and groups connected to Norwegian oil giant Equinor by delivering roses in order to expose their toxic relationships with the proposed Rosebank oil field.

Campaigners yesterday delivered bunches of ‘oil’ covered roses to locations in Glasgow and Edinburgh representing some form of financial or political influence over whether the Rosebank oil field goes ahead.

These included the Norwegian consulates in both cities; the UK Government building, Barclays bank and the First Minister’s residence Bute House in Edinburgh; and Glasgow City Chambers.

 + Equinor holds a 40% stake in the Rosebank field and is majority owned by the Norwegian state.
 + Barclays is one of Equinor’s corporate financiers providing them with $2.46 billion of backing since 2015.
 + The Strathclyde Pension Fund, which runs Glasgow City Council pensions investments, holds £9million in shares in Equinor.
 + Nicola Sturgeon has failed so far to explicitly oppose the  Rosebank field, despite objecting to the smaller Cambo development in late 2021.

Rosebank contains over 500 million barrels of oil, which if burned would produce the equivalent CO2 emissions of the 28 lowest-income countries combined. Ahead of the COP27 climate talks, the UN has warned that the world was on course for a catastrophic 2.8C of climate warming by the end of this century.

The UN report ‘The Closing Window’  demanded that emissions should fall 45% by 2030 if we are to stay within agreed climate limits.

Friends of the Earth Scotland’s Oil and Gas campaigner Freya Aitchison said: “Equinor is propped up by governments, investors and pension funds, but by drawing attention to these toxic relationships we can undermine their reputation and highlight the dangers posed by the vast Rosebank project.

“Today’s deliveries show that support for Equinor and Rosebank is all around us, and these links must be broken if this climate-wrecking development is to be stopped.

“Climate science is clear that the development of new oil and gas fields will take us even further past safe climate limits. Lending financial or political support for new fossil fuels is climate denial.

“Governments, banks and investors urgently need to redirect support away from the fossil fuel industry that is driving the death and destruction across the world and instead invest in ramping up affordable, reliable renewable energy.”

Separate analysis has shown that developing the Rosebank field will cost UK taxpayers over £100 million, due to a deliberate loophole in the UK Government’s windfall tax.

Equinor recently declared profits of £21 billion for the third quarter of 2022.