JACKDAW AND ROSEBANK – 10 QUESTIONS FOR GOVERNMENT
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  • Briefing

JACKDAW AND ROSEBANK – 10 QUESTIONS FOR GOVERNMENT

Graham Thompson
Graham Thompson

Greenpeace UK press briefing

The Government looks set to approve more oil and gas drilling in the North Sea. Based on the facts set out below, Greenpeace wants to know, why?

This brief sets out the latest facts about the climate, energy bills, jobs and energy security for both Jackdaw and Rosebank and suggests 10 questions for journalists to ask ministers and spokespeople ahead of the decision. 

Jackdaw key facts

  • Adura claims Jackdaw brings massive economic benefits, but in their own environmental statement they admit that it will create just 27 new full-time jobs. Most of the workforce already works on the existing Shearwater platform.
  • Using government calculations for climate harm, burning Jackdaw’s gas will cause an estimated £16.1 billion in global damage and over 8,000 heat-related deaths.
  • Jackdaw’s total gas reserves would only reduce our annual gas import dependency by 2% on average. This will not lower international gas prices paid by UK consumers.
  • Adura argues that Jackdaw’s emissions are only a tiny percentage of global pollution. However, existing oil and gas fields worldwide will already produce more than double the amount of carbon the planet can handle to limit warming to 1.5°C. We already have more than enough gas to meet global supply.

Rosebank key facts

  • Burning Rosebank’s 254 million tonnes of Scope 3 emissions will cause an estimated 57,000 global heat-related deaths under peer-reviewed climate models.
  • Using standard UK Treasury figures for life valuation, Rosebank inflicts over £114 billion in global climate damage, wiping out its claimed £24.3 billion in economic value nearly five times over.
  • 90% of Rosebank’s oil reserves are destined for international markets and all of it will be sold at global market prices, meaning no cheap oil reserved for UK consumers.
  • UK taxpayers effectively shoulder over 80% of Rosebank’s development costs through generous tax reliefs.
  • Equinor, which reported around $50 million in UK operating income, paid no tax or royalties to the UK in 2024.
  • In 2024 Shell paid no net tax on its North Sea drilling, instead receiving £12.4 million in tax reliefs. Shell is expected to avoid a further £1 billion of tax payments through the new Adura joint venture by offsetting its future profits against Equinor’s accumulated tax losses.
  • Rosebank would generate a total of 254 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalent in greenhouse gas emissions over its lifetime. That’s the equivalent of nearly 70% of the UK’s entire annual emissions in 2024.
  • The climate pollution from Rosebank’s reserves would be greater than the combined annual CO₂ emissions of the 73 lowest-emitting countries and territories (representing over 114 million people).

Wider Context

  • UK oil and gas employment halved from 441,000 in 2013 to 213,000 in 2023, despite hundreds of drilling licences being issued. 
  • The UK green economy is worth £100bn per year, employs over a million people and has nearly half a trillion pounds of investment in the pipeline.
  • Climate impacts were estimated to cost each UK household £3,000 in 2025. 
  • Shell’s Q2 profits were £7.4 billion, while the world’s five biggest oil companies made half a billion dollars per day in the second quarter of 2026 due to the Iran war. 
  • UK taxpayer-funded subsidies to fossil fuel companies are worth £13.3 billion for the last seven years. That amount could fund seven years of support for North Sea workers to transition to renewable industries, at the level called for by unions and environmental NGOs.

10 Questions for Government Ministers and Spokespeople

  1. Bills: How much will Jackdaw or Rosebank reduce household energy bills, and by when? If their oil and gas are sold at international market prices, what is the mechanism for delivering cheaper energy?
  2. Energy security: If Jackdaw reduces annual gas import dependency by only 2% on average, how does that justify its climate damage? How does Rosebank improve UK energy security when 90% of its oil is destined for international markets?
  3. Jobs: How many new, permanent UK jobs will each project create? How do ministers reconcile claims of major employment benefits with Adura’s own figures that Jackdaw provides just 27 permanent new jobs? 
  4. Trump: What commitments did the PM give to Donald Trump on North Sea drilling and is the US president now dictating UK energy policy? 
  5. Growth: How will licensing more drilling deliver good growth in every postcode? What lasting growth will these projects deliver, and why is further drilling a better investment than backing the UK’s surging green economy?
  6. Public money: Why should taxpayers effectively shoulder over 80% of Rosebank’s development costs? What is the expected net return to the public after tax reliefs and climate damage are taken into account?
  7. Climate damage: How do ministers justify Rosebank’s estimated £114 billion in global climate damage against its claimed £24.3 billion economic value? What weight have they given to the estimated heat-related deaths from both fields?
  8. Pragmatism:  Ministers have promised a pragmatic approach. What is pragmatic about approving projects that add to climate damage without delivering cheaper energy or a secure long-term future for workers?
  9. Political pressure: What role has lobbying by fossil fuel companies played in these decisions? Will ministers publish the evidence and records of relevant meetings?
  10. Rosebank: If the Government approves Jackdaw but delays Rosebank, why is it postponing a decision on the more damaging project? When will ministers give a definitive answer?

Greenpeace UK Press Office – press.uk@greenpeace.org or 020 7865 8255