Jackdaw gas field
Shell-operated gas field in the central North Sea, about 250km east of Aberdeen.
Jackdaw won the support of Scottish Labour's new leader, Michael Marra, after his election on 19 September 2026, while the Shell-operated gas field still waited on a fresh consent decision following the Court of Session's 2025 ruling.
Last refreshed: 7 October 2026
Timeline for Jackdaw gas field
Mentioned in: Marra's MSPs vote for right to decide
UK Local Elections 2026Background
Jackdaw is a gas field in the central North Sea, roughly 250km east of Aberdeen and close to the median line between UK and Norwegian waters. Shell operates it.
the Court of Session quashed its development consent in 2025: the environmental assessment had not accounted for emissions from the gas once burned. Work may proceed, but output depends on a new decision, outstanding as of late September 2026.
Its consent fell together with Rosebank's, and the two are now the paired markers in Scottish argument over new fossil fuel production. The new leader of Scottish Labour declared for Jackdaw in September 2026.
Scottish Labour now wants approval
Once he had won the leadership on 19 September 2026, Marra said Jackdaw should be approved, naming it together with Rosebank. On this gas field, his stance lines Scottish Labour up with the energy sector of the north-east and away from The Greens.
For Jackdaw, Marra's backing carries political weight but no legal force. The earlier consent fell in 2025 because its assessment ignored emissions when the gas is burned, and the replacement decision had not been made by late September 2026. Shell can keep working on the project, but output waits on that ruling, which Labour's Scottish leadership now wants to go Jackdaw's way.