The British government has approved a controversial offshore natural gas drilling project in the North Sea off the coast of Scotland, which could be providing gas to consumers in a matter of days.
First discovered in 2005, the North Sea's Jackdaw gas field has faced years of development delays tied to high costs, technical challenges and legal disputes over its climate impact. A project to start drilling for natural gas at the field was initially approved in 2022, but a Scottish court overturned that decision in January 2025, citing an environmental assessment that failed to account for emissions from burning the gas it would produce.
According to The New York Times, the project now has the official approval of the U.K. government. On October 21, Russell Borthwick, chief executive of the Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce said the development was 99% complete, and could begin supplying gas to U.K. homes "within weeks." Operated by Adura — a joint venture between Shell and Norway’s Equinor — Jackdaw is expected to meet roughly 6% of the U.K.’s gas needs over its 10-year lifetime, with the capacity to power the equivalent of 1.4 million homes.
However, environmental advocates claim that Jackdaw will meet closer to 2% of the U.K.'s gas needs, while diverting money away from renewable energy. Campaign group Uplift also argues that the project will do little to lower household energy bills, given that recent upticks in fuel prices have been driven by the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
The U.K. has been drilling in the North Sea for the better part of the last half-century. In recent years, though, production has steadily dropped as reserves have been depleted, leaving the country more reliant on imported natural gas to meet its energy needs. Today, the U.K. already imports more than half of its gas, and Uplift estimates that share will reach two-thirds by 2030, and exceed 90% by 2050, even if new fields are developed.
