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August 20 2022

Thousands To Protest UK Government Sanctioning Jackdaw Field

k999content News fossil fuel, oil and gas, oil field, pollution, protests 0

The UK government approved the Jackdaw gas field on June 1 and it is set to draw mass protests of ‘thousands of people across the UK’ during August 20 to August 27. The Jackdaw project is expected to come online in the mid-2020s, and at peak production rates using latest mining plants and equipment, could represent over 6% of projected UK North Sea gas production in the middle of this decade, with operational emissions of less than 1% of the whole UK basin. This is expected to provide sufficient energy to heat 1.4 million homes. It is worth noting that Jackdaw is a part of Shell’s broader intent to invest $20 to $25 billion in the UK energy system in the next decade, 75 percent of which will go to the development of low and zero-carbon products and services.

The #StopCambo movement, named after the protests against Shell’s Cambo oilfield project, is similar to other global protests against climate change caused by oil and gas project activities. It said on its website that the decision of the UK government to approve Jackdaw on June 1 was placing ‘the narrow interests of Shell and its shareholders over the public good.’ The #StopCambo campaign is made up of individuals, grassroots groups, and organizations across Scotland, the rest of the UK, and the world who are dedicated to ending all new oil and gas extraction and bringing existing production within safe climate limits. “We won’t let that stand. We’re going to pressure the UK government to reverse their decision on Jackdaw and use every tool we can to delay and eventually stop this field. Jackdaw is the largest gas field to be approved since the IEA said we can’t have any newer fossil fuel projects if we want to stay within safe climate limits. Jackdaw’s gas won’t lower energy bills but burning it would create the same amount of pollution as half of Scotland’s.” the activists said.

Cambo and Jackdaw are not the only targets for the activists as, in times when options to decarbonize the oil and gas industry are being explored, the UK wants to approve dozens of new fossil fuel projects by the year 2025 and is set to launch another licensing round for new oil and gas exploration this fall. Aside from the Jackdaw project, Shell intends to build two new floating offshore wind farms around the Scottish coast by leveraging steel fabrication products, which could power six million homes, along with a target of having 100,000 public EV charge points operational in the UK by 2030. “Starting on August 20, we’re taking the fight back to the Government, to Shell, and to every oil and gas producer who thinks that they can burn our future and get away with it. We will not let them go ahead with Jackdaw, and we will continue to build a coalition strong enough to force the government to commit to no new fossil fuels and a just transition for all.”

“We’ve stopped Shell once already. Last year it pulled out of the huge Cambo oil field in the North Sea because of our actions. We can do it again,” the #StopCambo movement said. The activists claimed that they would pressure as many MP and MSPs as possible to commit to doing everything that they can to stop Jackdaw and all new fossil fuels – from asking for a meeting with them, pushing for a response on Twitter, challenging them publicly, etc.

June 25 2022

Environmental Group Seeks Injunction for Scarborough Project

k999content News australia, climate change, environment, oil and gas, pollution 0

In a similar case to the Santos Gas Project controversy, Australian energy company Woodside is facing a legal challenge from the Australian Conservation Foundation (AFC) which is seeking an injunction to restrain Scarborough gas project activities. The AFC has asked that the project be halted until new federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek has assessed whether the operation will damage the Great Barrier Reef by exacerbating climate change. According to the documents filed in court, predicted emissions from the project would cause global temperatures to rise by nearly 0.0004 degrees Celsius, “which will result in the deaths of millions of corals during each future mass bleaching event”.

The Scarborough field is in the Carnarvon Basin 233 miles off the coast of Western Australia and is estimated to contain 11.1 trillion cubic feet of dry gas. The project was sanctioned in November 2021 and will make use of metal fabrication, pressure vessels and other heavy equipment. The development of the Scarborough field comprises 13 subsea wells, a semi-submersible floating production unit, and a subsea export pipeline to Pluto LNG. Field development will be completed in two phases with eight wells drilled in Phase 1. The upstream production facilities will be installed to supply 8 Mtpa LNG and 180 TJ/day of domestic gas. The semi-submersible floating production unit will be built and delivered by McDermott and the first LNG cargo from the project is set for 2026.

The Scarborough Project has been the subject of rigorous environmental assessments by a range of regulators including the National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority, the Commonwealth Department of Agriculture, Water, and the Environment as well as from the Western Australian Environmental Protection Authority, Woodside explained. “The Scarborough Project is underway and proceeding to schedule after receiving all primary environmental approvals,” Woodside CEO Meg O’Neill said. “The project will deliver significant local and national benefits in the form of employment, tax revenue, and reliable gas supply in the energy transition for decades to come. Woodside will vigorously defend its position in these proceedings”, she added. Woodside said gas produced by the project would generate enough electricity to power 10 times the number of homes in Perth, and it would do that with emissions of about half of what would be generated by coal.

The ACF does not see it that way and made a statement regarding the Scarborough project on its social media channels earlier this month. “This is absolutely not the time to be approving new gas or coal projects – it is completely at odds with effective climate action. “Woodside’s Scarborough gas project is a massive carbon bomb that would add to damage climate change is doing to our reefs – it should not proceed,” ACF said on Twitter. This news regarding legal action against Scarborough comes only days after Australia joined the ‘coal-free’ club and decided to invest $3.8 billion in new green power infrastructure. The country’s government also decided to increase Australia’s national 2030 emission reduction target from 26-28 percent to 43 percent just last week.