UK Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh is expected to let the Jackdaw gas field advance toward regulatory consent, the Guardian reported, testing Labour's pledge against new North Sea oil and gas licenses.
The decision would give Adura Operations Limited, the current applicant, a possible path to production. Adura is part of a Shell and Equinor joint venture and says the field's platform is installed and drilling was completed in early 2026. The North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) must still decide whether to grant consent.
The Guardian reported, citing several unnamed sources, that Fahnbulleh had decided not to block the field. It said she was expected to announce her position in Aberdeen alongside Chancellor John Healey and NSTA chief executive Stuart Payne.
Labour's 2024 manifesto ruled out new North Sea oil and gas licenses. The Guardian reported that ministers are expected to argue Jackdaw's existing license makes the project consistent with that pledge. In a Sept. 21 response to Parliament, the government said the project remained in the regulatory process and gave no date for a decision.
The field received approval in 2022 under the previous Conservative government. A court later ordered the ministerial agreement and regulator consent quashed after finding that the environmental assessment had omitted emissions from burning the gas. The court suspended that order until the regulator makes a new decision and barred extraction in the meantime. The developer supplied additional environmental information in September 2025.
Uplift executive director Tessa Khan disputed the project's economic value. She estimated that Jackdaw would meet about 2% of UK gas demand for around 10 years and said it would not halt the wider decline in North Sea jobs. Unions have campaigned for permits, while climate campaigners argue that allowing production would conflict with safe climate limits, the Guardian reported.
The Guardian also reported that Fahnbulleh had not reached a final decision on the Rosebank oil field and that a decision was expected later this year. Earlier EconoTimes coverage of the expected Jackdaw decision noted that Rosebank had no announced timetable.
Fahnbulleh's announcement on Jackdaw is expected Wednesday, Oct. 21. The NSTA's consent decision would follow.
