UK approves Shell's Jackdaw gasfield in the North Sea
The UK government has approved the Jackdaw gasfield in the North Sea, a project operated by Shell, the Guardian reported on 21 October 2026. Energy secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh announced that the regulator can grant consent for gas production at the field. The government said Jackdaw will start supplying gas to homes and businesses from the end of October.
The approval touches one of the most contested questions in British energy policy: whether to keep developing North Sea oil and gas. Labour's 2024 election manifesto, the document a party sets out before a general election, committed it to a ban on new drilling licences in the North Sea. Jackdaw and Rosebank, an oilfield operated by Equinor, both had their environmental approvals rescinded after a judge ruled that the companies needed to account for emissions from burning the oil and gas they produce. Their operators resubmitted applications earlier this year. The Rosebank decision is being made separately from Jackdaw.
The timing has been a subject of reporting for weeks. In early September, Reuters, citing The Times, reported that approval was expected on 15 September. A later Reuters report, citing the Telegraph, said the decision would be held until after the October by-election. The announcement came after Labour won the Holborn and St Pancras byelection on 8 October, a local vote held to fill a seat, defeating a challenge from the Green Party.
Supporters and opponents have set out very different figures. Adura, a North Sea joint venture between Shell and Equinor, commissioned a report stating that rejecting Jackdaw and Rosebank would cost the UK economy nearly £10.8bn over the next decade. Tessa Khan of the campaign group Uplift said Jackdaw would provide around 2% of UK gas demand for roughly ten years, and that it would be largely unmanned and operated remotely. The oil and gas industry says Jackdaw and Rosebank together will provide 10% of UK output at their peak.
Political pressure runs in several directions. A poll by Savanta for the climate group E3G found that nearly a third of voters would be less likely to vote Labour if it approved more North Sea oil drilling. US President Donald Trump has urged Andy Burnham to open the Jackdaw and Rosebank fields. The Guardian reported that the decision would dismay environmental campaigners, and that it had been widely expected after lobbying by Shell.
