The government has today granted permission for the North Sea’s Jackdaw gas field, expected to produce 35.8 million tonnes of CO2 over its lifetime, to be drilled. The decision was made by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, which hosted an oil industry lobbyist among its staff from 2024 until last month.

The secondee, revealed by this website in January as a result of Freedom of Informatook requests, was placed in the department by Fuels Industry UK, the main lobby group for the ‘downstream’ oil industry in Britain. Shell, one of the two companies benefitting from the decision, has been listed as one of the eight members of the group.

Speaking to me at the time, Green Party leader Zack Polanski said the appointment was “like asking an arsonist to put out the fire”.

Labour’s 2024 election manifesto committee to a ban on new drilling licences in the North Sea. However, there has been significant lobbying pressure from oil companies and newspapers owned by oligarchs to go back on this promise. Shell’s profits have soared over the last year, as oil and gas prices have risen, and are expected to rise further as a result of this announcement.

Earlier this week, Abolish Westminster revealed the role played by British diplomats around the world in promoting Shell and BP as they sought new oil and gas contracts abroad. Yesterday, we revealed that a government minister had misled parliament by claiming not to know about these meetings, when they did in fact hold the relevant information.