Public consultation has opened into the £8,7 billion Rosebank development.
Developers Adura has today (Thursday) welcomed the opening of the consultation, into the West of Shetland project, which has been led by the Offshore Petroleum Regulator for Environment and Decommissioning (OPRED)
The consultation will run until 17th August and forms part of the regulatory process required before Rosebank can commence production.
Adura said Rosebank represented private sector investment of £8.7 billion and is the largest advanced energy project awaiting regulatory approval in the UK.
Together with the Jackdaw gas field, which also recently entered public consultation, the two projects represent a combined investment of £10.8 billion, with more than three-quarters of that investment in the UK.
Adura said that approval of Rosebank alongside Jackdaw would provide the greatest possible economic and energy-security benefit to the UK, unlocking a nationally significant programme of investment, supply-chain activity, skilled employment and domestic energy production.
Across Rosebank and Jackdaw, 198 contracts have been placed with suppliers, including 171 UK-registered companies. Rosebank-related activity is already supporting Lerwick Port.
However, the project has also faced criticism from environmental campaigners who say its carbon emissions will worsen climate change and prevent the UK from meeting its net zero commitments.
Analysis published last month by campaign group Uplift indicated Rosebank would produce six and a half times more climate pollution over its lifetime than Scotland’s annual emissions.
Rosebank’s original approval was ruled unlawful by Scottish courts in January 2025.
This required the application to be resubmitted taking consideration of the project’s downstream emissions.
A new government decision is now imminent.
Adura chief executive Neil McCulloch said: “Rosebank is a project of national scale and significance. It represents an anticipated investment of £8.7 billion and has the potential to support businesses, skilled workers and communities across the UK for many years to come.
“We welcome the opening of public consultation and would encourage everyone who wants to see Britain strengthen its energy security, create high-quality jobs and support its world-class energy supply chain to make their voice heard in support of this endeavour.
“The scale of the supply-chain opportunity is particularly significant. From Shetland to Southend, businesses across the UK are already contributing their skills and expertise to delivering Rosebank and Jackdaw.
“Rosebank and Jackdaw can be part of a nationally significant programme of reindustrialisation, stimulating economic growth, sustaining thousands of jobs and apprenticeships, and providing substantial revenues to fund public services.
“Together, they can provide around 10 per cent of the UK’s domestic gas production, while Rosebank alone can contribute approximately 10 per cent of UK Continental Shelf oil output. Rosebank can also help increase the availability of refined products such as jet fuel and slow the decline in UK oil production by several years.
“Timely consent for both Rosebank and Jackdaw is the way to deliver the greatest benefit for the UK: supporting domestic energy production, unlocking billions of pounds of economic activity and giving supply-chain businesses the confidence to invest in their people and our industrial future.”
Visit here to access the consultation.
