Energy giant Shell is due to install a multi-billion pound gas platform in the North Sea this spring despite being blocked from drilling, Sky News understands.
The Jackdaw field, which it is claimed could eventually power more than a million UK homes, has to get fresh approval from Downing Street to extract gas after a ruling this week by a Scottish court.
A judge in Edinburgh decided the previous Conservative government acted “unlawfully” when it gave consent to Shell’s Jackdaw and Rosebank, the UK’s largest untapped oilfield containing around 350 million barrels of oil.
The pair could eventually still proceed. But the court said the original assessments failed to acknowledge the impact of burning the oil and gas, rather than just from getting them out of the ground.
A ban on drilling is in place until new permissions are given.
Shell, which says it welcomes the decision, is continuing to prepare its platform which is currently in the final stages of construction in Norway.
The company has not confirmed its next steps, but it is understood the structure is due to be towed into British waters in the coming months by barge.
A Shell spokesman said: “The ruling rightly allows work to progress on this nationally important energy project while new consents are sought.
“We have spent more than £800m since the regulator approved Jackdaw in 2022.
“Swift action is needed from the government so that we and other North Sea operators can make decisions about vital UK energy infrastructure.”
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Rosebank is operated by Equinor and Ithaca Energy.
Sir Keir Starmer’s government says it will work “at speed” to reassess permissions.
The case creates a possible political quandary for the prime minister who pledged during the general election campaign not to issue new oil and gas licences.
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Downing Street is currently on a well-publicised mission to improve economic growth in the UK and the oil giants, who have already invested hundreds of millions of pounds in these projects, will be hoping the political fallout of rejecting these licences would be too excruciating for Labour to bear.
There is still a way Labour could sign them off while still sticking to its election promise, as these projects already have licences, but just need final government consent.
The court ruling is being seen as a victory among climate campaigners.
Commenting on the decisions the prime minister now faces, Tessa Khan, executive director of the campaign group Uplift, said: “The government must reject it.
“To do otherwise would undermine its ambitious clean growth plans by sending a signal to investors that the UK isn’t serious about transitioning away from expensive oil and gas.”
