EurOil: UK High Court allows Greenpeace challenge to licensing to proceed to full hearing

The UK High Court ruled on April 25 that a challenge by environmentalist group Greenpeace against the government’s launch of a new licensing round in the North Sea can proceed to a full hearing, dashing the country’s hopes of reviving offshore exploration amid soaring energy costs for households and businesses.

The government resumed licensing contests last year after a three-year hiatus, and in January this year the competition was hailed as a success, attracting some 115 bids. The regulator overseeing UK oil and gas licensing, the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA), has said it wants to use the round to prioritise the issue of licences for gas projects that can be brought quickly into production.

However, Greenpeace argues that the government and NSTA should have taken into account the emissions that are produced when oil and gas are burned in the future as a result of the licensing round. These Scope 3 emissions are significantly higher than Scope 1 and 2 emissions that result directly from production activities.

“Ministers will now be forced to justify in front of a judge why they want to unleash a new drilling frenzy in the North Sea,” Greenpeace UK climate campaigner Philip Evans said. “We’ve had warning after warning that there must be no new oil, and now time is running out. Yet the government continues to ignore the experts.”

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