Key facts
- UK Budget assumes approval of new North Sea oil and gas drilling projects.
- Office for Budget Responsibility forecasts tax receipts from 1.2 billion barrels of prospective resources.
- Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh approved the Jackdaw field last week.
- A decision on the Rosebank oil field is pending.
- The government's 2024 manifesto promised to ban new drilling licenses, but these approvals would not breach that promise.
The UK Budget has signaled a potential acceleration in North Sea oil and gas drilling, with the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) factoring in tax revenues from the development of new fields. These projections, based on North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) estimates, anticipate the extraction of approximately 1.2 billion barrels of prospective resources. This includes the controversial Rosebank oil field and other future discoveries, despite the government's 2024 manifesto promise to ban new drilling licenses. Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh recently approved the Jackdaw field, citing energy security, and a decision on the larger Rosebank project is pending.