The chief executive of the company behind the Jackdaw gas platform in the North Sea has warned that the UK faces the risk of domestic supply shortages this winter unless the government urgently approves production. Speaking from the field 150 miles east of Aberdeen, Adura chief executive Neil McCulloch told BBC News that the project was in its final stages and could meet 6% of the UK’s gas from 1 October. But the industry regulator is still considering revised applications for Jackdaw and Adura’s Rosebank oil field after a court ruled that both had been unlawfully approved.
McCulloch said the situation was “hyper critical”, noting that with only about eight days of gas storage, the UK would have limited options in the event of “a gas supply emergency”. He said such an emergency could be triggered by prolonged still, cloudy weather that impedes wind and solar power, or by hostility from “foreign threat actors”.
“Jackdaw gas field boss warns UK faces winter shortage if government fails to approve production urgently.”
BBC News was given exclusive access to Jackdaw, where the “business-as-usual” atmosphere belies the uncertainty hanging over the £1.5bn project, according to Aberdeen-based Adura, a joint venture between Shell and the Norwegian state energy firm Equinor. “If I were the secretary of state for energy security and net zero, I’d be looking closely at where’s my next source of energy security, and you’re standing on it,” McCulloch said. “The wells are drilled, they’re hooked up. We’re just readying the systems. It will be ready for the 1st of October. Jackdaw will play a vital part of this winter’s gas supply,” he added, citing energy security, employment and taxation.
Environmental campaigners, however, argue that this summer’s deadly and record-breaking heatwaves demonstrate the need to tackle climate change by rejecting both projects. Tessa Khan, executive director of the campaign group Uplift, said: “It would be a huge betrayal of the British public for the UK government to approve new oil and gas fields at a time when ordinary people are suffering so much as a result of these record-breaking heatwaves.” Environmentalists point out that although Jackdaw will produce 6% of the country’s annual gas supply during its lifetime, it will only reduce import dependency by 2%.
McCulloch responded that Jackdaw offers energy security, but the government now faces a stark choice between approving the field or risking a winter shortfall – a decision that will test its climate promises against immediate energy needs.