EQUINOR WARNS UK INVESTMENT AT RISK OVER OIL FIELD APPROVALS

Equinor's chief executive, Anders Opedal, has warned the UK risks becoming "uninvestable" to his company unless the government approves the Rosebank and Jackdaw fields. Speaking at the Energy Intelligence Forum in London, he said rejecting the projects would be a "major setback" that is "contradictory to energy security, to job creation". He said Equinor would "have to take a hard view" if the fields were rejected. The Norwegian firm is part owner of both sites, which await a final government decision.

Rosebank, in the North Atlantic 80 miles north-west of the Shetland Islands, is described as the UK's largest undeveloped oil and gas field, thought to hold up to 500 million barrels. Rosebank and Jackdaw are being developed by Adura, a joint venture controlled by Equinor and Shell. Labour's election manifesto pledged a ban on new North Sea oil and gas licences, and the fields are awaiting final approval. Official forecasts suggest UK oil and gas production will halve by 2035, and the UK relies on Norway for around half of its gas needs.

Opedal said he remained confident that Prime Minister Andy Burnham's talk of a "pragmatic approach to oil and gas" meant both projects would be approved, though he called the current uncertainty "an uncomfortable position to be in". Russell Borthwick, chief executive of Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce, said approving the fields should be "the easiest decision ministers make all year" and warned that investment and jobs could move elsewhere. Campaigners have protested against new North Sea oil and gas projects outside the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero. The government said any decision would take into account all relevant evidence.