Small North Sea oil and gas field gets OGA consent

The small Abigail oil and gas field off the east coast of Scotland was quietly approved by the Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) last month. The field go-ahead defied opposition from climate campaigners and the International Energy Agency that no new fossil fuel developments should be pursued, given world climate targets.

The OGA decision came in the wake of separate opposition to the Cambo oil field, which was halted in the face of significant public pressure.

Ithaca Energy was given consent to extract oil and gas from the Abigail field on 19 January 2021, while environmental campaigners hit out at the decision by the OGA just months after making a commitment to limit global warming to 1.5^oC at COP26 in Glasgow.

The UK government is currently consulting on plans to licence more North Sea fields, with a new test of meeting a ‘climate compatibility checkpoint’ to ensure new licenses are in line with UK climate objectives.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons/Ronnie Robertson