Shell submits new climate assessment for Jackdaw gas field

The oil company Shell has submitted a fresh environmental impact assessment for the controversial Jackdaw gas field in the North Sea.

The company was forced to produce a new assessment after a successful legal challenge by the environmental group Greenpeace.

The courts ruled that emissions from burning the oil and gas must be considered by ministers when deciding whether to give projects the go-ahead.

It means the consent previously granted was ruled unlawful.

The Jackdaw field – 150 miles east of Aberdeen – will be capable of producing 6% of the UK’s gas needs.

Construction is well underway for the production platform for the gas field.

However Shell has been told it cannot begin production until a fresh decision has been made by the UK government.

A Shell spokesman said: “We have submitted our response to the regulator’s request for further information on Jackdaw, which includes the assessment of scope three emissions associated with the project.

“We remain committed to delivering Jackdaw, which is a nationally important project that is almost complete and would provide enough fuel to heat 1.4 million homes.

“North Sea projects like Jackdaw deliver energy to UK homes and industry with significantly less emissions than importing more gas from overseas.”

Details of the new environmental impact assessment have not been released but are expected to be published by the UK government.

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said it could not comment on individual projects.

Greenpeace says the public has a right to see the information being submitted to the regulator and that the government has a duty to take it into account.

The charity’s senior climate campaigner Philip Evans added: “It’s not surprising to see Shell doggedly pursue a new gas project that will boost their multi-billion-pound profits while fuelling more extreme weather and bringing no relief to bill payers.

“But we have won a decisive court ruling that forced Shell and other oil giants to come clean over the full scale of climate damage caused by new drilling projects in the North Sea.”

The decision over whether to give the go ahead to the Jackdaw field, alongside Equinor’s Rosebank oil development, will be the first to be taken since the court ruling.