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A court ruling requires the British government to consider the potential climate impact of the oil and gas produced in the North Sea.
Jan. 30, 2025Updated 5:18 a.m. ET
A court in Scotland blocked the production of oil and gas on Thursday at two large project sites being developed in British waters until their impact on climate change can be assessed.
The decision was a blow for the sites’ developers, Shell and the Norwegian company Equinor, which have already spent or committed hundreds of millions of pounds for the projects. But Judge Andrew Stewart of Scotland’s Court of Session said that the companies could continue to drill wells and perform other work at the sites until the government made a decision on whether they could produce oil and gas.
The oil and natural gas fields, called Jackdaw and Rosebank, are seen as tests for the flagging British oil industry because of their size and because Shell and Equinor are two of Europe’s largest energy companies. Jackdaw was expected to begin producing in 2026, while Rosebank was scheduled to come online in either 2026 or 2027.
Uplift, an environmental group, which joined Greenpeace in a lawsuit to stop production, called the ruling “a significant win.”
The ruling shows the extent that activist groups are able to use the courts in Britain to block or hamper activities such as drilling for oil and gas that they say could threaten the environment.
The oil companies welcomed the judge’s concession that allows them to proceed with some work, but Shell issued a reminder of how much was at stake.
