The British government approves plans for new oil fields

The UK North Sea Transitional Regulatory Authority (NSTA, formerly the UK Oil and Gas Authority) has announced that it has approved the development of the Rosebank field in the Shetland Islands, Scotland. Equinor (Norway's Statoil) owns 80% of the project and Ithaca Energy (UK) owns 20% of the project, which has recoverable reserves of around 300 million barrels of oil equivalent. Equinor's research reports a total investment of £8.1bn over the life of the Rosebank field. At the peak of construction, 1,600 jobs will be created and 450 employees will be employed during the field's operation. The project is expected to start production in 2026-2027.