Abigail Oil Field Gets Go Ahead
By Paul Homewood
h/t Ian Magness
Finally a bit of commonsense, though Silly Jilly is throwing her toys out of the pram!
The Abigail oil and gas field off the east coast of Scotland was quietly approved by the government’s Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) last month, defying climate experts who warned at the Glasgow conference in November that no new fossil fuel developments would be compatible with the world’s climate targets.
Climate campaigners object to the field, which will be developed by Israeli owned Ithaca Energy, because its diminutive gas reserves will do little to help secure the UK’s energy supplies while contributing to carbon emissions.
Tessa Khan, the director of Uplift, a group which campaigns for a fossil-free UK, said the field would “see little to no benefit for UK energy customers or taxpayers, which only worsens the climate crisis, and where the only winners are the oil firm behind the project”.
Khan said the government should instead cut the UK’s reliance on “very expensive, highly polluting energy” in favour of a “serious response” to both unaffordable energy bills and the climate crisis based on renewable energy.
“The government needs to stop rolling over for the oil and gas industry, stop dishing out licences, and get on with making sure people have access to affordable, renewable energy,” she said.
An OGA spokesperson said; “The OGA will continuously hold the operator to account on emissions reductions as part of our stewardship.”
The government has also faced opposition for failing to insist that a major new oil development at Cambo in the North Sea comply with incoming legislation which would apply a “climate compatibility checkpoint” for new fossil fuel projects.
Work at the Cambo field was halted late last year by private equity-backed fossil fuel explorer Siccar Point Energy, after its project partner Shell pulled out of the project following fierce opposition from environmental activists.
Caroline Rance, a climate and energy campaigner for Friends of the Earth Scotland, described the government’s climate checklist as a “farcical plan” which was “designed to set the bar so low that the oil industry gets to lock us into their climate-wrecking business as usual for decades to come”.
“The UK government should immediately stop granting permission for new oil and gas projects, and instead begin a managed phase-out of existing fields while ensuring a just transition for affected workers and communities,” she said.
“The simple fact is that there is no such thing as a climate compatible oil and gas development. Climate science is crystal clear that burning fossil fuels is the key driver of the climate crisis and that there can be no new oil and gas fields anywhere in the world if we’re to limit warming to the 1.5C limit,” Rance added.
As is usual with Silly Jimmy, there is no attempt to explain the other side of the issue. I suspect she does not even think one exists. Instead her article is full of moaning from green chums.
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NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT 
I don’t recall seeing any opportunity to vote for these nutjobs who think they have a mandate to decide the country’s future. Why doesn’t someone tell them to fuck off, get a real job and mind their own business.
Yes, couldn’t have phrased it better myself
The sheer unadulterated stupidity of the people they quote is just painful.
“the only winners are the oil firm behind the project”
It is literally impossible in a free market for that to be true. For the business to profit, we must buy its products. In a free market we do willingly and at a price that is competitive. The profit made by the business is part of the wealth created by using resources to do this rather than something else or nothing at all. In general terms, the consumer shares in the wealth created because she chooses to buy this product rather than another one.
This is standard economics, the way capitalism and free markets deliver more wealth. Yet the Guardian and this spokesperson simply deny economics in a way that is no different from being a flat-earther. Because what underlies all of this, pretty much the entire output from the Guardian and Green groups, is the belief that what they think we should want is better than what we think we should want.
Well said!
You saved me writing those very words
And no doubt they will expect a healthy pension when they retire – where do they think their money is invested? Unicorn funds?
And the Guardian was doing so well promoting its woke parallel universe that the Gates money laundering Foundation gave it over £13m (possibly $) to take a majority stake to bail it out.
Phoenix44,
not only are they denying economics they are denying simple technical facts. We need fossil fuels for without them we will return to medieval times. This entails further exploration, it is simple and a real fact.
“there can be no new oil and gas fields anywhere in the world if we’re to limit warming to the 1.5C limit,” Rance added.”
Tell that to Brazil: https://en.mercopress.com/2022/01/31/brazil-wants-to-team-guyana-and-suriname-oil-and-gas-in-a-regional-energy-corridor
“Brazil is betting strongly to become the main player in the development of oil and gas production in its northeast corner, where the state of Amapá shares proximity with French Guiana, Suriname, and Guyana, these two of which are set to become significant players in the hydrocarbons business.
With this in mind Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro was to visit Surinam and Guyana with the purpose of creating a regional energy corridor that includes Brazil’s vast pre salt reserves.
The talks between Bolsonaro with Guyana’s president Irfaan Ali and Chandrikapersad Santokhi of Suriname, anticipated the construction of a gas pipeline network tied to industrial and petrochemical projects, such as a gas-fired aluminum smelter to process Guyana’s bauxite ore.”
10-4.
‘no new fossil fuel developments would be compatible with the world’s climate targets’
The ‘world’ isn’t involved. UK targets are not the “world’s” targets.
By hosting CoP2, does UK now believe it speaks for the world?
Snatch Tessa and Caroline’s iPhones and car keys and chuck them in the river.
I read that “them” referred to Tessa and Caroline, not their iPhones and car keys. Perhaps, all four would be best.
Love the conspiratorial use of the word ‘quietly’ in her first sentence. Kind of sets the scene for her position on it.
“Climate science is crystal clear that burning fossil fuels is the key driver of the climate crisis”.
What crisis? What is her ideal world temperature? So far it has been net good from increasing CO2 – less famine, more food, less deaths from weather related causes, no acceleration in sea level rise above the small, steady rate for the last 170 years, plenty of polar bears, no increase in ACE or tornadoes or hurricanes, increasing arctic ice for the last 8 years. The only downsides so far are the mass depression caused by idiots like this sad activist and increased energy costs in the western world but not the rest coupled with a desperately confused energy future. And the IPCC has nowhere proven that natural increases in temperature are not possible, even they are not so arrogant as to say categorically that they know everything about weather and climate, hence they use probabilistic terms, which incidentally are not based on statistics, just their “(self appointed) expert” judgement and faux attribution studies.
Can we throw this clown and all her sources in jail when she is proved wrong? The real world has already proven that she is 97% wrong.
Being a UK Citizen and in total opposition to these so-called ‘climate groups’ I wish it duly noted that I back the Government on this first flicker of sanity and encourage them to re-visit the other projects they recently turned down. These ‘climate groups’ are simply Soros (or Putin – even tho I do quite like that chap) funded pressure groups and can f**k off.
Curious that the only field to get the green light from Govt is developed by an Israeli company. What strings can they pull that Anglo-saxon companies cant? Friends in high places?
I think you will find that Whitehall and Westminster hold the same kind of anti-semitic sentiments with which you seem to be infected.
In fact, it should be noted that Israel is far more realistic that the gormless wokerati that dominates both politics and many businesses in the UK.
Martin, you are looking for racism in Bobn’s comments where non exist. If you think sensibly about what he said, he was asking why no British companies were awarded the contract as against some foreign company, whether they be Israeli, Chinese, French, German or anyone else.
The licence that Ithaca hold was bought from Chevron in 2019. Ithaca bought the field and have the rights to propose development. The government have approved it because it is a small development that will optimise and extend the life of a major hub facility it will be connected too. The hub is there anyway, so it makes sense to connect satellites to it. North Sea has always been an international playground, so I don’t think the nationality of the company has any bearing whatsoever.
There is an incredible arrogance in people like Rance who believe THEY and THEY alone can determine what is the perfect (not ideal) climate for this planet when she spouts the nonsense of the totally unproven claim that we are heading for a 1.5C increase in climate (at some time in the future – when she won’t be around to suffer the brick-bats of her failed demi-God-ery).
My God! Even a character in Coronation Street is banging on about more severe storms disrupting railways because climate change!!
“……making sure people have access to affordable, renewable energy,”
Explain to us just how that’s to be achieved Jilly.
While there should be a place for The Guardian in public discourse its ‘tin ear’ when it comes to lying down in front of on-coming traffic – in more than one sense – does nothing to enhance its status as a serious journal.
Somewhat off topic: The New Civil Engineer today reports that the carbon cost of the proposed Lower Thames Crossing will be £500m.
The Guardian is anything but a “serious journal”. It is a disgusting and evil shit rag that deliberately lies day in, day out. There is a very good reason why it is the lowest circulating national newspaper (latest estimate 105,134 and falling) – it is crap..
This key lie that all this hinges on is:
“Climate science is crystal clear that burning fossil fuels is the key driver of the climate crisis”
That this is utter bullcrap and fantasy nonsense is what we must tirelessly attack. As long as they get away with telling this lie the insanity will continue.
One could argue that ‘climate science’ is not actually science – and making a very good case.
Climate science itself makes the best argument to support your case. Al Gore said “the debate is over” and that’s been a hallmark of how climate science has dealt with dissent. There is no science without debate.
What about more ‘common sense’ now by approving the Cambo oil field?
‘“The government needs to stop rolling over for the oil and gas industry, stop dishing out licences, and get on with making sure people have access to affordable, renewable energy,” she said.’
wut?
Affordable renewable energy? Why not go for reliable, affordable renewable energy?
Has ANYONE actually found ANY sign of a climate ‘crisis’ anywhere, beyond the usual occasional storm or a few decent days weather? Forest fires have occurred routinely over MILLIONS of years, floods are nothing new either. As for NOT drilling for oil, even that strange woman’s bike chain will need lube sooner or later. AND my car needs diesel every week or two. Time to remove the rose-tinted specs, eh Miss.
Yes, there self evidently is a “Climate Crisis”.
It is entirely composed of Crony Capitalists farming subsidies given by incompetent GangGreen Government and stolen from the pockets of ordinary people via taxation and energy bills (on the one hand) and of Academia and the Media either barefacedly lying or supinely going along with a very long falsified proposal that the Climate is driven by fossil fuel consumption (on the other). As Dick Lindzen pointed out back in the last Century, this isn’t even a plausible hypothesis.
The “Crisis” in a nutshell. And Boris has the chutzpah to complain of people who point out the studipity of his Covid policies (the great Booster Moon Shot for Zero Carbon), by accusing them of “Mumbo Jumbo”.
This from the ‘man’ (or rather the GangGreen’s sock puppet) who hastens to nail his colours (and the Nation’s future) to the mast of any preposterous chancer whom he is told represents “The Science”.
“The Science” which even homeopaths and astologers would find embarassing.
If that doesn’t constitute a “Crisis”, I’m unsure what might.
“The Science” which even homeopaths and astrologers would find embarrassing” – great summing up, although I think the latter two groups have similarities with the first in that one refuses to accept any contrary evidence and the other ignores failure by issuing new predictions.
Excellent
Don’t the numpties realise that if they want their windwills and solar panels its needs vast amounts of energy in the first place to create all the concrete, steel along with all the mineral extraction and processing to get to the rare minerals. If the economy blows up due to lack of energy at reasonable costs all that will happen is civil disorder and that will cause far more problems than climate change.
Some politicians are at last getting this and need to get square on the agenda that for ar least next two decades we need fossil fuel to deliver the green transition.
Nobody has mentioned that today’s Telegraph carried news that Boris is placing Net Zero above rolling back European regulations doing which “could make Net Zero” more difficult to achieve”. He and the Prime Minister have to go!
Carrie on regardless.
“defying climate experts who warned at the Glasgow conference in November”
Odd. Who they? I remember a lot of climate activists and global agendarists, bankers, politicians and billionaire ‘philanthropists’, the odd senile president and plenty of virtue-signallers and snake-oil salesman hoping to benefit, but didn’t see or hear any climate experts. They were notable by their absence.
“….and get on with making sure people have access to affordable, renewable energy.”
That means inexpensive renewable biofuels for transportation. But they are only 10% renewable ethanol and 90% fossil fuel. Because we have been urged to lower CO2 emissions that means lower availability and higher prices at the pumps. And that, in the end, means no other forms of energy can be made available without fuel for their manufacture, and transportation to where they will be used. Seems pretty stupid to get on with it.
Caroline Lucas for PM! The natural successor.
Abigail has 5million barrels of recoverable oil, roughly what Saudi produces in 12 hours… I’m guessing that after this song and dance oil companies will be even less inclined to spend in the North Sea. Really, this country is screwed.
Estimated production is some puny 3500 barrels a day. That’s like 1% of the country’s demand.
Meanwhile our neighbours in the North Sea are cracking on with some much bigger projects there and further north.
According to NS Energy:
“Equinor has secured approval to develop the NOK6.5bn ($742m) phase 1 of the Kristin South project in the Norwegian Sea from Norway’s Ministry of Petroleum and Energy.
Under phase 1 of the Kristin South project, the Lavrans and the Kristin Q discoveries will be developed, with first production aimed to be achieved in 2024.
Both the discoveries are planned to be tied back to the Kristin platform. They are expected to have a combined production of 6.2GSm3 of gas and 1.9MSm3 of oil, which is equivalent to 58.2 million barrels of oil equivalent (MMboe).”
And:
“Equinor has today, on behalf of the partners, presented an impact assessment for development and operation of Wisting. The plan for development and operation (PDO) is scheduled to be finalised at the end of 2022. The impact assessment to be issued for public consultation is covering both the development phase and the operations phase of the Wisting project in the Barents Sea.
The Wisting discovery is of considerable size, containing close to 500 million barrels of oil equivalent. Expected investments are in the range of NOK 60 – 75 billion.”