Britain’s largest oil field could be producing millions of barrels a day by autumn… if Ed Miliband says yes

Britain’s largest oil field could be producing millions of barrels a day by the autumn if Ed Miliband gives a green light to its plans, according to its owner.

The Energy Secretary must grant his approval for production to begin at the Rosebank site, which is off the coast of the Shetland Islands and is the North Sea’s largest undeveloped site.

The project’s owner, Ithaca Energy, said on Wednesday it is ‘entering the final stages of development towards first production’ – with the site forecast to generate up to 500million barrels of oil and gas.

Gas from Rosebank would be used in the UK and contribute to around 1 per cent of national needs.

But the oil would have to be exported elsewhere in northern Europe, as the UK no longer has the refinery capabilities to process it.

It comes just days after the industry group representing the UK’s manufacturers told Mr Miliband he must urgently approve the project amid concerns over a new energy crisis.

The outbreak of war in the Middle East has sparked fears over an energy crisis similar to the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Britain’s largest oil field could be producing millions of barrels a day by the autumn if Ed Miliband gives a green light to its plans, according to its owner

The Energy Secretary must grant his approval for production to begin at the Rosebank site, which is off the coast of the Shetland Islands and is the North Sea’s largest undeveloped site

Make UK this week called for Government action, arguing that ‘historically high industrial energy costs are already preventing growth in UK manufacturing’.

The group urged Mr Miliband to approve production at Rosebank, as well as allow work to start at Jackdaw, another undeveloped gas field in the North Sea. Both sites are licensed but are awaiting approval to start drilling, which requires passing environmental tests on emissions.

Stephen Phipson, chief executive of Make UK, said: ‘Manufacturers are calling for the Government to act quickly to progress with the Rosebank and Jackdaw developments to mitigate energy costs and energy security because of the conflict in the Middle East.’

US President Donald Trump has also fiercely advocated for the UK to ‘open up’ the North Sea and dial down its renewable energy efforts in favour of oil and gas production.

Labour increased the level of the windfall tax on oil and gas company profits to 78 per cent and extended it until 2030 – as well as restricting new exploration licences.

Mr Miliband told the BBC last week: ‘New exploration licences in the North Sea, which some people are calling for, will not take a penny off people’s bills.’

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Oil rockets to nearly $110 a barrel as ‘markets go into panic mode’ after Iran threatens huge attack on Gulf energy facilities

Oil prices have soared to nearly $110 per barrel amid Iranian reports that a facility in the world’s largest natural gas field has been hit in an airstrike.

Brent oil was quoted at 108.21 dollars a barrel at the time of the London equities close on Wednesday, up from 101.95 late on Tuesday.

Although below the conflict’s peak of 119.25, this remains well above the 73.08 level recorded on February 27, before tensions escalated.

‘If you thought it would be plain sailing into the FOMC meeting later this evening, think again,’ remarked XTB’s Kathleen Brooks.

‘Markets are back in panic mode. The Brent crude oil price is surging and is higher by another 5 per cent today, the gold price is down 2.8 per cent and is below 5,000 dollars per ounce, bonds are getting sold off, yields are surging, and the dollar is rallying.’

She continued: ‘Iran has warned Gulf nations that their energy assets and infrastructure are now legitimate targets…The risk is that an oil shipping crisis is morphing into an oil supply crisis.’

The increase followed a report that facilities belonging to Iran‘s oil industry in South Pars and Asaluyeh were attacked on Wednesday, Iranian state media reported, prompting Tehran to warn that it would target energy installations across Saudi Arabia, the United Arab ​Emirates and Qatar.

Iran – and even some Gulf neighbours who have absorbed its energy-related strikes – condemned the attack.

 ‘This will complicate the situation and could have uncontrollable consequences, the scope of which could engulf the entire world,’ Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian wrote on X.

Analysts have warned that ⁠any attack in South Pars would raise the possibility of retaliatory attacks by Iran on Gulf energy ​facilities, including those belonging to oil majors in Qatar.

The Brent crude oil benchmark hit $109.91 a barrel on Wednesday afternoon following that facilities belonging to Iran’s oil industry in South Pars and Asaluyeh were attacked

Qatar called it an Israeli attack without mentioning any U.S. role. ​

The Qatari foreign ministry spokesperson called it a ‘dangerous and irresponsible’ escalation that put global energy security at risk.

Qatar has fully shut its liquefied natural gas production because of the war, ​cutting 20 per cent of the world’s LNG supplies, and any damage to facilities could extend the outage beyond ​May.

Tasnim news agency said the attacks targeted petrochemical facilities in South Pars and added that the extent of the damage was ‌not ⁠yet clear.

Following the attack, Iranian gas flows to Iraq were halted as Iran diverted its gas domestically, a senior Iraqi official told Reuters. Tehran supplies between a third and 40 per cent of Iraq’s gas and power needs.

The Iran war has dealt a massive energy shock to the global economy by choking off exports of crude oil and liquefied natural gas through the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran has also attacked key export facilities in its Gulf neighbours, putting more upward pressure on energy prices, even though Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Iraq and the United Arab Emirates are not taking part in the US-Israeli attacks on Iran.

In the case of South Pars, the energy shock would appear to have a different target: not Iran’s exports, but its biggest source of domestic energy supplies in a country that sometimes struggles to produce enough electricity.

Iran relies heavily on gas to produce electricity and heat homes.

It is the fourth-largest consumer of natural gas in the world, behind the US, China and Russia, according to the Centre on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University, even though its economy is much smaller, In contrast to other Middle East countries, it uses gas for heating due to its cold climate and much of that use is subsidized, which discourages efficient use. South Pars is the main source.

A fire has been reported in Ras Laffan – arar’s main site for production of liquified natural gas

Although South Pars mainly supplies Iran’s domestic needs, global oil prices rose, and gas prices in Europe jumped 7 per cent on the news due to fears of Iranian retaliation on Gulf energy infrastructure.

‘The attack is a serious escalation which threatens retaliatory strikes on Gulf and Israeli production facilities,’ said Andres Cala, geopolitical analyst at energy intelligence firm Montel News.

Iran has suffered power shortages because of interruptions to gas supplies, even though on paper it has huge energy reserves. In July, public buildings had to shut down when a heat wave strained the power grid.

It comes as missiles caused ‘extensive damage’ in Qatar tonight, hours after Iran threatened to wage a ‘full-scale economic war’ by attacking energy facilities across the Middle East.

Video showed huge explosions in Ras Laffan – the country’s main site for production of liquefied natural gas – as well as Saudi Arabia’s capital Riyadh.

Energy sites in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar were evacuated after Tehran warned it would hit them with strikes in ‘the coming hours’.

‘These centres have become direct and legitimate targets ‌and will be targeted in the coming hours,’ the Islamic Republic warned.

Separately, a video showed the moment Riyadh was targeted by missiles, with a bright orange fireball lighting up the sky as huge explosions rocked the city.

Saudi Arabia said four residents had been injured by falling shrapnel from a ballistic missile which was intercepted over the capital.

The Civil Defence said danger alerts for Riyadh and Al-Kharj had now been lifted. However, it warned: ‘Avoid gathering or filming, stay away from hazardous areas, and report any danger.’

Israel said Iran’s intelligence minister Esmail Khatib had been killed in an overnight airstrike in Tehran

Iran’s security chief Ali Larijani was also assassinated in Tehran

Earlier, Israel said Iran’s intelligence minister Esmail Khatib had been killed in an overnight airstrike in Tehran, marking the latest assassination to hit the regime.

Israel’s defence minister, Israel Katz, declared Khatib had been ‘eliminated’ and promised more ‘significant surprises’ today as the Israeli military hunts down high-ranking Iranian officials.

Katz also promised ‘significant surprises’ to come.

It comes as Iranians gather for the funeral of Ali Larijani, the assassinated security chief whose death was confirmed by Tehran last night. Larijani and military commander Gholamreza Soleimani were assassinated yesterday.

Larijani was a senior policy adviser to the late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on strategy in nuclear talks with the Trump administration.

He was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury in January for his role in coordinating Iran’s violent suppression of nationwide protests.

General Soleimani was also sanctioned by the U.S. and other nations for his role in suppressing dissent for years.

Iran retaliated on Wednesday by unleashing attacks against Israel, where two people were killed near Tel Aviv.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei expressed condolences for the slaying of Larijani, according to a written statement published in Iranian media. ‘Undoubtedly, the assassination of such a person shows the extent of his importance and the hatred of the enemies of Islam towards him,’ the statement said.

The younger Khamenei has not made a public appearance since his father was killed in the war’s opening salvos during which he reportedly was also wounded.