UK authorizes exploitation of controversial North Sea oil field

The British oil and gas regulator announced on Wednesday September 27 that it had granted “development and production authorization” for the controversial Rosebank oil field, located off the coast of Shetland, in the North Sea, above Scotland. A decision strongly contested by environmental defenders, while the consumption of fossil fuels linked to human activities is the main cause of climate change.

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The authorization was given on Wednesday by the North Sea Transition Authority “after acceptance of the environmental declaration” of the project and “taking into account considerations” linked to the objective of carbon neutrality, argues the regulator.

An investment of 3.6 billion euros

The Norwegian energy company Equinor and its counterpart Ithaca, a subsidiary of the Israeli Delek, which will jointly exploit this deposit, have announced an investment of 3.8 billion dollars (3.6 billion euros) in this project.

A week after the announcement by British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak of the postponement of several key measures of the United Kingdom’s climate policy, the NGO Greenpeace judges that the leader “proved once and for all that he put oil company profits above ordinary people.”

Between a plethora of new oil and gas exploration permits and an offshore wind crisis, the UK’s carbon neutrality promises are becoming more complicated, while the war in Ukraine has put energy security back at the heart of London’s priorities .