Cabinet Split Deepens Over Rosebank Oilfield as Chancellor Backs Drilling and Energy Secretary Leans Against

A cabinet disagreement has surfaced over whether to allow drilling at the Rosebank oilfield in the North Sea. The chancellor, John Healey, is understood to favour approving the project. The energy secretary, Miatta Fahnbulleh, who is ultimately responsible for the decision, has been leaning the other way.

The Guardian reported last week that Fahnbulleh was inclined to reject Rosebank, having already granted permission for the smaller Jackdaw gasfield. Officials say she has not yet made up her mind. The Rosebank licence is currently on hold over concerns about the project's environmental impact.

Healey gave a signal of his own view last week. Speaking to ITV, he said he expected oil and gas revenues to contribute to a new energy wealth fund, which suggested he was counting on income from Rosebank. On Sunday, the Mail on Sunday reported that Andy Burnham and Healey had agreed to try to push the project through. No 10 declined to comment, saying the matter was for the energy secretary. Even so, the views of Burnham and Healey will carry weight, and if the cabinet cannot agree, the prime minister would be expected to make the final call.

Fahnbulleh has argued that the reasoning behind Jackdaw does not carry over to Rosebank. She told the Guardian that the UK will rely on gas during the transition to net zero, and that it is better to draw it from relatively low-carbon North Sea sources than to import it. "One is a gasfield that caters for the domestic market, while the other is an oilfield that is mainly for export," she said. She added that each application should be judged on its own merits, and that any decision must be consistent with climate obligations, carbon budgets and the destination the energy transition requires.

The numbers help explain her caution. Rosebank would produce roughly seven times the emissions of Jackdaw, and Fahnbulleh is understood to believe it would do less for UK energy security because most of its oil would be exported.

The politics inside Labour are delicate. MPs said on Wednesday that approval would provoke a big pushback in the party, though most are prepared to accept that Jackdaw was a necessary part of the move to net zero. MPs are understood to have discussed ways of forcing or encouraging a parliamentary vote on Rosebank if it is approved, as a way of registering dissent.

A spokesperson for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said the department does not comment on speculation. The spokesperson called the North Sea a vital national asset and said oil and gas will keep an important role in the energy system for decades, alongside the shift to clean power. Any decision, they said, will weigh all relevant evidence, including environmental assessments and public representations from the consultation.

The energy wealth fund is a second point of friction. Fahnbulleh has promised that future North Sea revenues will go to green energy projects through the fund, and said last week it would receive £2bn in the budget. The money, she said, would go to renewables, nuclear and other clean energy schemes. She could not say which tax revenues would feed the fund or how much they might raise, saying the chancellor would set out those details in the budget.

A final decision on Rosebank is expected before the end of the year. Rejection would hurt the North Sea energy industry and be a major win for climate campaigners; approval would test the party's patience.