Ed Miliband is set to green light the first major North Sea gas field project in almost a decade amid growing political pressure to boost domestic energy production.
Whitehall officials say the Energy Secretary is expected to approve the Jackdaw gas field, around 150 miles off Aberdeen, after concluding it is compatible with the UK’s carbon reduction targets.
The project is being reassessed after the High Court ruled earlier licences failed to account for emissions generated from burning the extracted gas.
Mr Miliband is still understood to oppose the Rosebank oil field, which he has previously described as “climate vandalism”.
A final decision is not expected before next month’s Scottish elections.
However, the Scottish National Party has softened its stance, signalling support for drilling at both Jackdaw and Rosebank.
First Minister John Swinney said the “evidence in the world” – including the Iran conflict and energy security concerns – should be considered when deciding whether to proceed.
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar also backed approving the licences.
Ed Miliband is said to believe opening Jackdaw gas field would not be incompatible with carbon reduction commitments
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He said Mr Miliband was doing a good job but admitted there was “work to do”.
Mr Sanwar said: “We made a commitment before the election that we would honour licences that were granted.
“The licences then have come into question – we should honour those licences.”
The Jackdaw project is currently being assessed under new environmental criteria by the Offshore Petroleum Regulator for Environment and Decommissioning.
ED MILIBAND AND NORTH SEA OIL – READ MORE:
Ed Miliband is not opening oil and gas field Rosebank, which he previously described as ‘climate vandalism’ in 2023
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GETTYTrade union GMB, one of Labour’s largest affiliates, has backed opening both fields.
The union has previously warned of a “growing sense of betrayal” among North Sea workers.
Sir Keir Starmer has not publicly stated his position, saying the decision rests with the Energy Secretary.
Downing Street sources suggest the Prime Minister is aware public opinion on drilling has shifted following the Iran conflict and rising oil prices.
John Swinney has softened the SNP’s position on North Sea drilling
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After Donald Trump threatened to bomb Iran “back to the Stone Age”, oil prices surged above $112 a barrel.
Sir James Dyson wrote in The Times that the Government had been “slow to act” on North Sea drilling and called for fracking to be reconsidered.
“Labour has been incredibly slow to act on North Sea gas drilling and continues to block oil drilling and fracking while recklessly buying energy from other countries.
“As President Trump likes to remind us, the US has its own energy so can survive without the Strait of Hormuz being open, while Britain, under Ed Miliband’s perverse destruction of our energy assets, cannot.”
Tessa Khan, executive director of Uplift, said opening Jackdaw would have “zero impact on our energy bills and do precious little to increase gas supply”.
The SNP’s shift has drawn criticism from the Scottish Greens, who previously governed with the party until the power-sharing deal collapsed in April 2024.
A Government spokesman said no final decision has yet been made on either project.
