Much like a hard-fought boxing match, both sides in yesterday’s court battle walked away claiming victory.
The decision to revoke previously granted approvals for the Jackdaw and Rosebank projects is undoubtedly bruising for the North Sea oil and gas industry.
However, the refusal to halt either development is a victory for common sense – and for the UK’s credibility on the global stage.
Today’s ruling allows progress on these projects to continue while the industry awaits the UK Government’s next move on scope three emissions – those generated by the burning of fossil fuels.
Amid all the noise today, it is important to recognise that shutting down our oil and gas sector increases the risk of the UK becoming even more dependent on imports. In effect, we would be outsourcing our emissions rather than reducing them, damaging our energy security and doing enormous harm to our economy in the process.
We need a relentless focus on reducing emissions, not Pyrrhic victories that halt domestic production only to leave us more reliant on imports with a higher carbon footprint.
This pragmatism isn’t just what industry seeks - it’s what the public wants. Recent polling by Survation shows that a majority of the UK public supports a balanced approach to energy security, one that embraces renewables while making responsible use of domestic oil and gas resources.
But that’s not what they’re getting right now. The UK now sources most of its imported oil from the United States, while gas is piped from Norway and shipped as liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the US, Qatar, and Peru – at nearly four times the carbon footprint of domestically produced supplies.
And this trend is accelerating. UK Government figures reveal that nearly £20billion worth of oil and gas was imported from Norway in 2023/24 alone, while Britain’s overall energy demand now relies 40% on imports – the highest level in more than a decade. This growing reliance on foreign energy weakens our energy security, raises costs for consumers, and makes us more vulnerable to supply disruptions.
The business I work in, D2Zero, is grounded in the realities of the energy transition. Day in, day out, we work on emission reduction projects while accelerating the shift to renewable energy. And we see the herculean efforts being made to make our energy production as clean as possible.
North Sea operators are investing billions in carbon capture, electrification, and offshore wind – all of which will play a crucial role in delivering a lower-carbon future. But this transition must be managed carefully.
Scotland is uniquely positioned to lead in offshore wind and hydrogen, but these industries are not yet ready to fully replace oil and gas. We need an energy transition that doesn’t leave the UK exposed to energy insecurity, job losses, and economic decline.
It’s time to prioritise realism and common sense over ideology if the UK is to emerge with a secure, lower-carbon future. We need a fight plan built on pragmatism, not punches thrown in the dark.
Nicola Macleod is Group General Counsel at D2Zero, the decarbonisation and clean energy solutions group which is currently one of the fastest growing companies in Scotland