UK's Burnham weighs approval for oil and gas drilling in the North Sea

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham faces a crucial decision on whether to allow oil and gas drilling in the North Sea.

People attend a climate protest outside the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero in London, Tuesday, Oct.

Credit: AP/Kin Cheung LONDON — British Prime Minister Andy Burnham is facing a key test of his environmental policies as he decides on whether oil and gas companies should be allowed to drill in the North Sea.

Burnham's government has been under heavy pressure from climate campaigners and businesses over whether to approve two oil and gas fields in waters north of Scotland, including one said to be the U.K.'s largest untapped oil resource.

Environmental groups have urged Burnham to refuse permission for the projects, known as Rosebank and Jackdaw, saying they would accelerate climate change at a time when the U.K., like the rest of Europe, faces record extreme heat linked to human actions including burning fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas.

But opposition politicians, the oil and gas industry and U.S.

President Donald Trump have piled pressure on Burnham to give the green light, arguing it would protect jobs, cut household bills and boost Britain’s energy security.

British officials have been expected to make a decision since August, when public consultations on the two projects closed.

Rosebank is an oil field that also will produce gas.

Located 80 miles (130 kilometers) north of Scotland's Shetland Islands, it is estimated to be the largest undeveloped oil and gas field in the U.K., reportedly with capacity to produce 300 million to 500 million barrels of oil within about 25 years.

People attend a climate protest outside the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero in London, Tuesday, Oct.

Credit: AP/Kin Cheung LONDON — British Prime Minister Andy Burnham is facing a key test of his environmental policies as he decides on whether oil and gas companies should be allowed to drill in the North Sea.

Burnham's government has been under heavy pressure from climate campaigners and businesses over whether to approve two oil and gas fields in waters north of Scotland, including one said to be the U.K.'s largest untapped oil resource.

Environmental groups have urged Burnham to refuse permission for the projects, known as Rosebank and Jackdaw, saying they would accelerate climate change at a time when the U.K., like the rest of Europe, faces record extreme heat linked to human actions including burning fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas.

But opposition politicians, the oil and gas industry and U.S.

President Donald Trump have piled pressure on Burnham to give the green light, arguing it would protect jobs, cut household bills and boost Britain’s energy security.

British officials have been expected to make a decision since August, when public consultations on the two projects closed.

Rosebank is an oil field that also will produce gas.

Located 80 miles (130 kilometers) north of Scotland's Shetland Islands, it is estimated to be the largest undeveloped oil and gas field in the U.K., reportedly with capacity to produce 300 million to 500 million barrels of oil within about 25 years.

Jackdaw is a gas field 150 miles east of Aberdeen on Scotland's northeast coast.

Production there was expected to last under a decade.

The Shell Group, one of the project's co-developers, predicts the field can produce around 6.5% of the U.K.’s gas production at its peak.

People attend a climate protest outside the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero in London, Tuesday, Oct.

Credit: AP/Kin Cheung The opposition Conservative Party, which has pushed for the developments to go ahead, said the Jackdaw field could start heating 1.4 million homes in the U.K.