The field, which is co-owned by Shell and Siccar Point Energy, has drawn significant opposition from militants, with government regulators considering whether or not to grant a final drilling permit last year. In December 2021, Shell withdrew from the project before any decision was made, citing the possibility of delays and the weak financial case for investment. Since then, the fight to remove Russian fossil fuels due to the war in Ukraine has changed the landscape for the oil and gas industry, and the UK government has signaled that supporting domestic mining will be part of a new energy security strategy. Image: The site in question has become a symbol of the debate over Britain’s future fossil fuel reserves as the climate crisis intensifies. Photo: Sevan SSP / Sembcorp Marine In a statement, a Shell spokesman told Sky News: “The North Sea Transition Authority has granted Siccar Point Energy and Shell UK an extension to the underlying licenses contained in the Cambo field, which were due to expire tomorrow (March 31, 2022). “At the moment there is no change in our position for December 2021, but the extension to the licenses will give time to evaluate all possible future options for the project.” “Blindly obvious” Tessa Khan, director of the Uplift fossil fuel campaign team, said it was “blindly obvious that there was no public case for the Cambo” as it would not cut fuel bills or secure supplies. The United Kingdom receives only 5-6% of gas imports from Russia, according to an analysis of government data by the think tank ECIU. Much of Britain’s gas comes from the North Sea and Norway, but prices are still set by international markets. Any new gas mined domestically will belong to the company that produced it and will be sold in international markets to the highest bidder. In February, independent government advisers, the Climate Change Commission, said increased North Sea extraction was unlikely to “substantially affect world oil or gas prices, as the UK energy market is highly interconnected. markets and the potential supply is relatively small “. Further mining would “make it more difficult to stay within safe climate limits,” Khan added. “The new oil and gas fields do not offer a solution to the UK’s energy problems. The fact that the government continues to encourage them is a scandal,” he said. Promoting the government’s electric heat pump plans and speeding up home insulation rates will reduce gas demand faster than the proposed North Sea drilling expansion, according to the ECIU analysis. Use the Chrome browser for a more accessible video player 3:21 Environmentalists say no new oil and gas projects should be launched, while Oil and Gas UK say the Plain is essential for the UK ‘s energy supply. Ownership of the field is 30% Shell and 70% Siccar Point. According to Siccar Point, the field could produce up to 170 million barrels of equivalent oil and 53.5 billion cubic feet of gas in 25 years. Friends of the Earth Scotland said the two-year license extension “only entails the inevitable rejection of Cambo”. Caroline Rance of the group said: “There is no secure future for new oil and gas production in the North Sea, the Cambo and all new developments in the fields must be rejected.” The Stop Cambo campaign team added: “Cambo was a bad idea in 2021. It’s a terrible idea now. Cambo will not cut bills, but it puts us on a path to ruining the climate.” Watch the Daily Climate Show at 8:30 pm Monday through Friday on Sky News, the Sky News website and app, on YouTube and Twitter. The show explores how global warming is changing our landscape and highlighting solutions to the crisis.
