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No final consent had been published for either Rosebank or Jackdaw by 14 October 2026. Both applications were still in the regulatory process. A parliamentary answer said decisions would be made “in due course”, while an Associated Press report said outcomes were expected after consultations but gave no publication date. The public record therefore does not support a claim that Andy Burnham—or anyone else—has already approved either project.

Who is responsible for the decisions?

The latest official parliamentary answer, dated 14 September 2026, sets out two parts of the consent route. The Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero must decide whether to agree to the grant of consent, while the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) is responsible for final consenting decisions.

Minister Michael Shanks said: “The Jackdaw and Rosebank decisions are currently going through the regulatory process. The Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero will make decisions in due course on whether or not to agree to the grant of consent. Final consenting decisions are the responsibility of the North Sea Transition Authority.”

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That wording is the clearest available explanation of what “shortly” means: the projects were still being assessed, and no firm date had been announced. The published record does not identify Andy Burnham as the decision-maker.

Rosebank and Jackdaw compared

Issue Rosebank Jackdaw
Location West of Shetland About 150 miles east of Aberdeen
Main commodity Oil, with associated gas production Natural gas
Reported production scale Associated Press reported an estimate of 300 million to 500 million barrels over about 25 years. This is a reported project estimate, not an independently verified reserve figure. Shell has projected peak output equivalent to about 6.5% of UK gas production, as reported by Associated Press. That is a company forecast, not a guarantee of national supply or price effects.
Developer information in the current record The GOV.UK environmental statement now names Adura Operations Limited; earlier versions named Equinor UK Limited. Shell is the developer identified in the reported project material.
Infrastructure detail Not stated in the latest official updates. Not stated in the latest official updates.
Current legal status Under active review; no final consent published by 14 October 2026. Listed by GOV.UK as “Under Review”; no final consent published by 14 October 2026.

Why the projects had to go back through environmental review

The earlier approvals were challenged after the Supreme Court’s Finch judgment established that an environmental assessment must consider downstream emissions from burning the oil or gas produced by a project. The government subsequently accepted in parliamentary records that the previous environmental-impact decisions were unlawful because those emissions had not been assessed in the required way.

For Rosebank, the official scope-3 submission provides an assessment of indirect downstream emissions to inform the Secretary of State’s consent decision. Jackdaw’s application has also remained in the regulatory process while additional information was requested and assessed.

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This is not a routine administrative update. The regulator and the government must now consider the climate effects associated with combustion of the products, alongside the projects’ direct offshore and operational impacts, before consent can be finalised.

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Where each application stands

Rosebank

The GOV.UK Rosebank record shows further-information submissions during 2026. It also records a change in the developer name on the environmental statement from Equinor UK Limited to Adura Operations Limited. Those entries demonstrate an ongoing review and do not amount to a new approval.

Jackdaw

The GOV.UK Jackdaw page lists the development as “Under Review” and records further-information requests through March 2026. That status means the application had not reached a completed consent decision by the latest available date.

Will either project lower UK energy bills?

No published decision establishes that Rosebank or Jackdaw will reduce household bills. Supporters can argue that additional domestic production may contribute to supply resilience or reduce exposure to imports, while opponents question how much of the output would affect UK prices in internationally traded oil and gas markets. Those are competing political and economic arguments, not settled outcomes recorded by the consent process.

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Rosebank is primarily an oil development, so its reported barrel estimate should not be treated as a direct measure of UK household gas availability. Jackdaw’s projected contribution is stated as a share of UK gas production at peak output, but that forecast does not show what consumers would pay or how long any price effect would last.

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What happens next?

  1. Regulators complete their review of the additional environmental and technical information, including downstream combustion emissions required after Finch.
  2. The Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero decides whether to agree to the grant of consent.
  3. The NSTA carries out the final consenting step and publishes the applicable decision and conditions.

Consultations were part of the process described in the 13 October 2026 Associated Press report, which said decisions were expected after they concluded. Neither that report nor the 14 September parliamentary answer supplied a fixed publication date.

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