UK Weighs Scrapping Its Largest Untapped Oilfield With Oil Over $100

OilPrice.com · Alex Kimani · 2026-10-27 00:00 UTC

Britain faces a major political split over the 8.7 billion Rosebank oilfield, with energy security and investment concerns clashing with climate commitments.

Britain is deciding whether to drill its largest untapped oilfield in the middle of an oil shock, with Brent above 100 and more than 70% of its oil already coming from abroad. Rosebank, west of Shetland, is an £8.7 billion (~11.6 billion) development that its operator says would pump about 69,000 barrels a day at peak, roughly a tenth of the country’s expected oil output. The production vessel has been on site since June, and Ithaca Energy, which owns a fifth of the field, says it will likely stop investing in Britain if the government says no.

A major Cabinet split has emerged within Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s government over whether to approve drilling at the Rosebank oilfield, with energy security on one side and climate commitments on the other.

Chancellor John Healey wants Rosebank approved for the jobs and the Treasury revenue, and Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds is backing him. An unnamed minister told the Mail on Sunday that Burnham will ultimately back the development too. Unite and GMB, two of Britain’s largest unions, are pushing for approval.

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