Licensing

The UK government has said it will not defend the upstream licences Rosebank and Jackdaw, marking a victory for environmentalists.

The future of Rosebank appears even more uncertain after a landmark decision by the UK Supreme Court last month.

Just weeks before the start of COP28, the UK government approved the Offshore Petroleum Licensing bill, which envisages annual oil and gas licensing rounds.

The Rosebank oil and gas field is one of the largest undeveloped discoveries in UK waters, estimated to hold 300 million barrels of oil.

Prime Minister Sunak’s decision to delay UK net zero targets could damage the nation’s credibility as a global net zero leader, say experts.

The UK government has said it will grant more than one hundred North Sea oil and gas licences this autumn.

For years, proposed U.S. LNG projects could count on the government to extend their export licenses. But a recent policy change means extensions may be harder to come by, leaving delayed LNG projects stuck on the drawing board.

Extracting gas from the North Sea to bolster the UK energy system will make it much more difficult for the British government to make good on its latest carbon budget.