I will make final decision on Rosebank oil field, energy secretary insists
UK Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh has asserted her authority to make the final decision on the controversial Rosebank oil field project. The decision involves balancing energy security and job creation against significant environmental concerns regarding greenhouse gas emissions.
Why it matters
The project represents a major tension point in UK climate policy, pitting the government's economic and energy security goals against its stated environmental commitments.
Image source, PA Media Image caption, Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh visited a gas terminal in Aberdeenshire with Chancellor John Healey (right) and Scottish Secretary Douglas Alexander on Wednesday
Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh has insisted she will make the final decision over whether to approve the controversial Rosebank oil field, not the prime minister or chancellor.
She said there was a "tight" framework involved in making the decision to avoid it being overturned in the courts, and she was the only one who could make the final choice about whether to give the scheme the go-ahead.
Rosebank, which is about 80 miles (128km) north-west of Shetland, is Britain's largest untapped oil field and would also produce some gas.
It comes after the UK government approved production from the Jackdaw gas field in the North Sea .
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