The Rosebank oil field northwest of the Shetland Islands is considered the largest undeveloped oil field in British waters. Climate activists are outraged, the government defends the project.
The responsible British supervisory authority has given its approval to controversial plans to exploit an oil field at the bottom of the North Sea. As the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) announced, the two companies Equinor and Ithaca Energy may begin developing the Rosebank oil field northwest of the Shetland Islands.
Rosebank is considered the largest undeveloped oil field in British waters. According to the companies involved, 69,000 barrels of oil per day could be produced there in the future. The authority says plans to exploit the oil field are in line with Britain’s goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2050.
Climate activists criticize the plans as irresponsible. However, Rishi Sunak’s Conservative government in London argues that the use of domestic resources is necessary to secure energy supplies during the transition to renewable energy.
The Green MP in the British House of Commons, Caroline Lucas, described the decision as “the biggest act of environmental vandalism in my lifetime”.
Source: Stern
