The UK government is deciding whether to approve oil and gas production at Rosebank, a North Atlantic oil field 80 miles northwest of Shetland that could operate for up to 25 years and supply higher greenhouse gas emissions than the already-approved Jackdaw field.
Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh must now rule on Rosebank after granting consent for Jackdaw production days before journalists visited the site. Rosebank's owners, Adura and Ithaca, operate a floating production vessel, the Petrojarl Rosebank, currently moored at the field with 122 workers on board. The field contains an estimated 300 million to 500 million barrels of recoverable oil and gas.
The project sits at the centre of a collision between energy security and climate policy. Workers interviewed on the vessel said the well-paid jobs and facilities offer stable employment into retirement. "For myself and a lot of the guys, that would see us out to retirement," said production supervisor Douglas Hogge. Lead mechanical technician Ewan Leonard called winter conditions in the area "a bit of a challenge," noting 30-metre swells occur regularly.
Environmental campaigners oppose approval. The Court of Session in Edinburgh ruled in 2025 that the original Conservative government approvals of both Rosebank and Jackdaw were unlawful because regulators failed to account for greenhouse gas emissions from burning the fuel. The court allowed development work to continue while developers provide more detailed environmental assessments.
Tessa Khan, executive director of campaign group Uplift, told BBC reporters that Rosebank would be "a disastrous decision" and that the government should prioritise renewable energy instead. "If the government's interested in building investor confidence, giving the green light to a major new oil field is going to do the opposite," Khan said.
The broader industry context shows decline. Oil production in the UK peaked 25 years ago. Recent years have seen jobs in oil and gas disappearing faster than new positions are being created in renewable sectors like wind and solar power.