Sir Ed Davey says Jackdaw gas field ‘makes sense’ as decision looms for government

September 19, 2026

The prime minister is under pressure to make a decision on new North Sea drilling and a consultation on Jackdaw – located 150 miles northeast of Aberdeen – closed last month.

The site and the Rosebank oil field were both approved by the last Conservative government, but the decisions were quashed by a court after a legal challenge from Greenpeace.

Andy Burnham’s government must now decide whether to give the green light to the project.

Asked if he would back a decision to approve Jackdaw, Sir Ed told the Press Association: “Jackdaw, I personally have always felt made sense because we’re going to need a lot of gas in the transition.

“And when I was secretary for energy and climate change, I was very strong on the need to have some gas because we’re going to need a lot of it.

“I would prefer to have gas produced in the North Sea from a place like Jackdaw if it passes the climate test, which it looks like it will, rather than importing gas that we know we’re going to need from the other side of the world in LNG (liquefied natural gas), which uses a lot more energy and has a higher carbon footprint.”

Climate campaigners are urging the prime minister to block the new developments, while oil and gas industry figures argue that they would create thousands of jobs and cut bills.

Sir Ed was speaking ahead of the annual Lib Dem party conference which begins on Saturday.

It will put health and the economy at the centre of the party’s agenda before the next general election, due to be held in 2029.

Sir Ed insisted that his party was a “really strong force now” following YouGov polling in which just over half of respondents described the Lib Dems as “weak”.

He said: “We got our best result for 100 years at the last election.

“Since then, we keep winning at local elections and building up, and I think we’ll go into the next election the strongest we’ve ever been, or at least for over 100 years.”