Rishi Sunak defends granting new North Sea oil and gas licences

Subject: IR

Section: Places in news

Context:

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak defended the decision to grant 100 new North Sea oil and gas licences.

Details:

Project known as Acorn Project in St Fergus, Aberdeenshire.
The UK government has also said it will support a carbon capture project in the north east of Scotland.
It said that granting the new licenses was “entirely consistent” with net zero commitments.
Between the projects announced in 2021 and today 10 mega tonnes of carbon dioxide will be captured and stored by 2030.
That includes emissions from Mosmorran, from Grangemouth, from a new power station to be built at Peterhead and, potentially, from direct air capture.

About the St. Fergus project:

The St Fergus project is a joint venture between Shell UK and other companies.
It would become Scotland’s first carbon capture and storage facility, which would see harmful greenhouse gas emissions piped under the North Sea.
This would prevent the release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, by capturing it at the point where the fossil fuel is being burnt.

North Sea:

The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and France.
An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Sea in the north.
It is more than 970 kilometers (600 mi) long and 580 kilometers (360 mi) wide, covering 570,000 square kilometers (220,000 sq mi).
It hosts key north European shipping lanes and is a major fishery.
The coast is a popular destination for recreation and tourism in bordering countries, and a rich source of energy resources, including wind and wave power.