Every now and then, there are some good energy news. It’s even better if this angers some eco-nuts.
It’s the North Sea Oil this time. The North Sea Transition Authority has approved the development of the controversial North Sea Rosebank gas and oil field. This will help to solve Europe’s energy problems.
After the Environmental Statement was accepted, the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA), said that the oil and Gas regulator had consented to the owners Equinor Energy and Ithaca Energy.
Environmental activists, including Greta Thunberg, had strongly opposed the development.
Rosebank, located in north-west Shetland, contains 350 million barrels worth of oil. It is one of the biggest untapped discoveries of UK waters.
A spokesperson for the NSTA said: “We approved today the Rosebank Field Development Plan, which allows the owners of the project to move forward.”
The FDP will be awarded according to our published guidelines and with net zero in mind throughout the life of the project.
Rosebank, according to Equinor, could produce 69,000 barrels per day of oil, or 8% of the UK’s projected daily production between 2026 and 3030. It could also produce 44 million cubic feet of natural gas each day.
The UK government has welcomed the decision, saying that it was subjected to extensive scrutiny from regulators. This included a thorough environmental impact assessment and a period for public consultation prior to approval.
This is a lot of energy. Not to mention all the by-products from extracting and refining oil.
Pippi Longspeiling, a Swedish national, was among the usual suspects who were angered by this move.
#StopRosebank pic.twitter.com/qeC4Mt1DiR
— Greta Thunberg (@GretaThunberg) July 28, 2023
The Doom Pixie is blathering on about a subject she doesn’t know much about while the project gets underway. The project is not only going to bring new oil and gas online but will also create many well-paying job opportunities, something that environmental extremists don’t care about.
Energy Security Secretary Claire Coutinho stated: “We invest in our world-leading, renewable energy, but as the Climate Change Committee has acknowledged, oil and gas will be part of the mix as we move towards net zero. It makes sense, therefore, to use our supplies from North Sea fields such as Rosebank.”
The jobs and billions that this will bring to our economy, will allow us to be more energy-independent. This makes us safer against tyrants such as (Vladimir).
We will continue to support the UK oil and gas sector to ensure our energy security, to grow our economy, and to help us achieve the transition to cleaner, cheaper energy.
Of course, the “environmentalists” on the left care nothing about the lives of ordinary people. Especially not us crazy people in rural areas who depend on propane and oil for cooking and heating. The fact that most of us own SUVs or trucks and have guns makes us more unacceptable in their circles. But don’t let this ease your mind. They could live in the city or suburbs and still not care about you or your family. They’d prefer you didn’t exist at all.
It’s funny: If you were to draw a Venn Diagram with two circles labeled as “environmental activists”, and the other circle being “people who dislike Russian dictator Vladimir Putin”, there would be an unnoticeable overlap. The development of North Sea gas and oil reduces Europe’s dependency on Russian energy. This weakens Putin. That’s a good thing, isn’t it?
Rosebank will proceed in any event. Construction on the rigs is already underway. In time, men will be hired and thousands of industrial pre-cursors, from pharmaceuticals to plastics, will come from petroleum.
Sometimes, in the midst of a crazy world, some sanity creeps in. It’s one of those moments.
It seems reasonable.
