The UK has approved the £2.1bn ($2.8bn) Jackdaw gas development in the North Sea, opening the way for production to begin as early as the end of October, Splash247 reported. Operator Adura, the UK upstream joint venture of Shell and Equinor, said first gas could arrive within weeks because most offshore infrastructure was already in place.
The North Sea Transition Authority issued new development consent after energy secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh accepted that the project could advance under revised environmental assessment requirements. The decision ends an approval impasse following a 2025 court ruling that made the original 2022 consent ineffective. That ruling concerned the assessment’s inadequate treatment of emissions generated when the gas is burned.
Work on construction had been permitted to carry on while the project underwent another consenting process, but gas production remained dependent on a fresh authorisation. The updated assessment examined emissions from the eventual use of the gas alongside other environmental effects. Existing offshore facilities will also serve the development, a feature the regulator cited in discussing both its environmental performance and its role in domestic supply.
Jackdaw lies roughly 225 km east of Aberdeen and is a high-pressure, high-temperature gas-condensate field. Expected peak production is about 40,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day. According to the operator’s estimate, the gas supplied at peak would be sufficient to heat the equivalent of 1.4 million UK homes.
Government projections cited by Splash247 put the potential increase in domestic gas production at around 6% at peak, with output lasting up to 11 years. Ministers also anticipate a £2.9bn economic contribution, the protection of 273 existing jobs and the creation of 27 additional posts.
Shell portrayed the approval as an improvement in regulatory certainty, while climate campaigners argued it conflicted with UK emissions objectives. The decision also brings renewed focus to Rosebank, another major North Sea project affected by the same legal dispute. Adura has called on the government to use a comparable assessment for Rosebank’s pending consent application.