Government approves drilling in Jackdaw gas field in the North Sea

Oct 22, 2026

An editorial argues that Britain’s energy supply has been exposed by the wars in Ukraine and Iran, leaving the country still dependent on gas for heating and electricity. It defends the Burnham government’s decision to allow further North Sea drilling at the Jackdaw field as a temporary, pragmatic measure for supply security and energy resilience. The piece also highlights cost-of-living pressures this winter and points to changes to standing charges as a way to reduce bills while encouraging fairer payment for actual usage.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

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Pages129

Reading Time5 h 25 min

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Government approves drilling in Jackdaw gas field in the North Sea

| THURSDAY 22 OCTOBER 2026 | WWW. INDEPENDENT. CO. UK | | --- | --- | | | | Thursday 22 October 2026 News/Editorial By drilling Jackdaw, Burnham offers the nation a drop of hope he wars in Ukraine and Iran have brutally exposed the fragility of Britain’s energy supplies. Despite the transition to renewable sources, which must continue unabated, the country is still highly reliant on gas for heating and electricity generation. But it has become painfully apparent that the UK economy depends on the kindness of strangers, friendly or otherwise, to keep the lights on and the delivery trucks running. Which is why the diﬃcult decision made by the Burnham government to permit further gas production in the North Sea’s Jackdaw ﬁeld is justiﬁed. It won’t make a dent in domestic gas bills – no one should expect that – but it will be some help in the desperate struggle to ensure security of supplies and energy resilience. Where once it was absolutely normal that British needs were met by imports of gas from Norway, the United States and Qatar, diesel fuel from Russia, and electricity from France, that is plainly no longer an option. Regrettably, that has pushed ministers to look again at the North Sea. As an asset in structural decline – 93 per cent of the basin’s recoverable oil and gas has been extracted over the past six decades of intensive activity – for a relatively few vital years ahead, it can make some diﬀerence to whether Britain suﬀers power cuts. Opening up more of the Jackdaw gasﬁeld – as well as the Rosebank oilﬁeld, yet to be decided – is an unsatisfactory and temporary answer to much deeper challenges. But it is an unavoidable one. AsAndy Burnham replied to a disgruntled Green MP during Prime Minister’s Questions, if we don’t source our own gas, it will still be needed – “it would just be imported from somewhere else”. The climate crisis remains the transcendent issue of our times. As the freakish global weather patterns this year prove, there is every sign that the crisis is intensifying. However, there is also a cost of living crisis no less severe. This winter will inﬂict real hardship on households trying to stay warm, and businesses trying to survive. As the prime minister is prone to saying, the nation as a whole needs some “breathing space” – until these wars end, and until solar, nuclear and wind power can become more properly established. With the Jackdaw decision, Mr Burnham is once again oﬀering the nation a little hope. People understand that these crises are not of the government’s making – these are problems essentially made in the Kremlin and the White House – but they look to the prime minister and his colleagues to be responsive. They feel that the government cannot simply do nothing, which was becoming the problem under Sir Keir Starmer, who stuck too rigidly to a somewhat bloodless economist’s analysis of the situation – that none of this will reduce household gas bills or relieve British businesses of some of the highest energy costs in the world. The Jackdaw decision is one of the ways in which Mr Burnham is showing himself to be the more skilful politician. By all accounts, next week’s Budget will do more of the same – alleviating the burden on energy intensive sectors such as steel, automotive, cement and ceramics. Supplies from Jackdaw will be much greener than producing and transporting liqueﬁed gas in tankers from the US and the Gulf, even without wartime disruptions. What probably will soon reduce gas and electricity bills for many households is the review of standing charges announced to widespread surprise by Mr Burnham at Prime Minister’s Questions. At ﬁrst sight, erasing the ﬁxed daily charge for being supplied with energy would be of most help to smaller and poorer households who tend to be more economical (and ecological) with their usage; larger homes pay for the shortfall. For too long, the energy suppliers have used standing charges to avoid Ofgem control

FAQs

Why does the editorial support additional drilling at Jackdaw?

It frames the move as a necessary, temporary response to fragile energy supplies and the need to improve security and resilience this winter.

How does the article relate energy supply to household costs?

It argues the Jackdaw decision will not eliminate bills, but reviews of standing charges could reduce fixed daily costs and help smaller and poorer households.

What broader energy challenges are discussed beyond drilling?

The text emphasizes the climate crisis, the urgency created by extreme weather, and the need to expand solar, nuclear, and wind power while fossil fuels remain part of the mix for some time.

Oct 22, 2026

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