Jackdaw boss warns of winter fuel shortages if gas field not approved

The owners of the Jackdaw gas platform in the North Sea say it is "hyper critical" that the UK government approves production to avoid the risk of domestic supply shortages this winter.

Speaking to BBC News at the field 150 miles east of Aberdeen, Adura chief executive Neil McCulloch said the project was in its final stages and could meet 6% of the UK's gas needs from 1 October.

The industry regulator is considering revised applications for production at Jackdaw, and Adura's Rosebank oil field west of Shetland, after a court ruled that both had been unlawfully approved.

Environmental campaigners say this summer's deadly and record-breaking heatwaves demonstrate the need to tackle climate change by rejecting both projects.

But McCulloch said with only about eight days of gas storage, the UK would have limited options in the event of "a gas supply emergency."

He said this could come in the form of a prolonged period of still, cloudy weather which impeded the generation of wind and solar power, or hostility from "foreign threat actors".

BBC News has been given exclusive access to Jackdaw which is undergoing final checks and tests to be ready for production in the event of government approval being granted.

The "business-as-usual" atmosphere is somewhat surreal given the uncertainty hanging over the project, which has so far cost around £1.5bn according to Aberdeen-based Adura, a joint venture between Shell and the Norwegian state energy firm Equinor.

McCulloch said: "If I were the secretary of state for energy security and net zero, I'd be looking closely at where's my next source of energy security, and you're standing on it.

"The wells are drilled, they're hooked up. We're just readying the systems. It will be ready for the 1st of October.

"Jackdaw will play a vital part of this winter's gas supply," he added, providing energy security, employment and taxation to the UK.

Environmentalists say Jackdaw will only produce 2% of the country's annual gas demand during the lifetime of the field.