Rosebank Oil and Gas Field (United Kingdom)

This article is part of the Global Oil and Gas Extraction Tracker, a Global Energy Monitor project.

Report an error

Related categories:

Oil and gas extraction Oil and gas pipelines LNG terminals

Rosebank Oil and Gas Field is an in development oil and gas field in United Kingdom.

Rosebank Oil and Gas Field is a part of the Rosebank complex.

Project Details

Main Data

Table 1: Field-level project details for Rosebank Oil and Gas Field

¹Final Investment Decision

Unit name	Status	Operator	Owner	Discovery year	FID1 year	Production start year	Production type
Rosebank	In development	Equinor	Equinor (80.0%); Ithaca Energy (20.0%)	2004	2023	2027 (expected)	Conventional

Production and Reserves

Table 2: Reserves of Rosebank Oil and Gas Field

million m³ = million cubic meters
million bbl = million barrels of oil
million boe = million barrels of oil equivalent

Fuel description	Reserves classification	Quantity	Units	Data year	Source
crude oil and condensate	remaining recoverable reserves	325.32	million bbl	2021	​
gas	remaining recoverable reserves	7369.11	million m³	2021	​
hydrocarbons	Recoverable resources	300	million boe	2020	​
oil	recoverable reserves	300	million bbl	2023	​

Table 3: Production from Rosebank Oil and Gas Field

million m³/y = million cubic meters per year
million bbl/y = million barrels of oil per year

Category	Fuel description	Quantity	Units	Data year	Source
production design capacity	oil	25.52	million bbl/y	2027
production design capacity	gas	627.8	million m³/y	2027
production design capacity	oil	25.55	million bbl/y	2026
production design capacity	oil	23.73	million bbl/y	2027

Location

Table 4: Field-level location details for Rosebank Oil and Gas Field

Concession/Block	Location	Onshore/Offshore	Coordinates (WGS 84)
213/27a, 213/26b, 205/1a, 205/2a	Offshore, United Kingdom	Offshore	61.051, -3.907 (exact)

The map below shows the exact location of the field(s) within the Rosebank complex:

Loading map...

{"type":"ROADMAP","minzoom":false,"maxzoom":false,"types":["ROADMAP","SATELLITE","HYBRID","TERRAIN"],"mappingservice":"googlemaps3","width":"600px","height":"500px","centre":false,"title":"","label":"","icon":"","lines":[],"polygons":[],"circles":[],"rectangles":[],"copycoords":false,"static":false,"visitedicon":"","wmsoverlay":false,"zoom":7,"layers":[],"controls":["pan","zoom","type","scale","streetview","rotate"],"zoomstyle":"DEFAULT","typestyle":"DEFAULT","autoinfowindows":false,"resizable":false,"kmlrezoom":false,"poi":true,"cluster":false,"clustergridsize":60,"clustermaxzoom":20,"clusterzoomonclick":true,"clusteraveragecenter":true,"clusterminsize":2,"imageoverlays":[],"kml":[],"gkml":[],"searchmarkers":"","fullscreen":false,"scrollwheelzoom":false,"locations":[{"text":"","title":"","link":"","lat":61.051,"lon":-3.907,"icon":"","inlineLabel":"Rosebank Oil and Gas Field\n"}]}

Background

Texaco North Sea UK Company, a subsidiary of Chevron, was awarded blocks 213/26 and 213/17 under the UKs 19th licensing round in 2001. DONG Energy, OMV and StatOilHydro formed a venture with the Chevron subsidiary and acquired adjacent block 205/1a in the 23rd licensing round. In 2004, the companies discovered the Rosebank field via an exploration well in block 213/27. In 2012, joint venture participants “reached an important milestone as the project entered into the Front End Engineering and Design (FEED) phase.” The companies invested in the field have changed over time, and as of 2022, the field is owned by Equinor (40%, operator), Suncor Energy (20%) and Siccar Point Energy (20%).

CAPEX for the project is 5.22 billion USD, according to Equinor. Energy Voice puts the project’s price tag at 8.2 billion USD.

Estimates of how much oil and gas Rosebank will produce vary by source. Equinor has stated it’s asset has “recoverable resources of more than 350 million barrels of oil equivalent.” Offshore Technology expects the field to recover 325.32 Mmbbl of crude oil & condensate and 260.24 bcf (43.38 mmboe) of gas reserves. Carbon Brief published an analysis by Uplift which states expected recovery as 325 Mmboe. Industry estimates, including those of Wood Mackenzie and TROVE, put that figure at 300 Mmboe.

In 2012, final investment decision (FID) was expected to be taken in “early” 2013, with first production in 2017. However, as of 2022, FID has not been reached. In 2019, Equinor stated that a final investment decision for Rosebank is planned to be taken by May 2022. However, in February 2022, ExproNews reported that Equinor “has not even submitted an FID” and that “no drill bit will go into the ground any time soon.” According to the project’s Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), FID was expected in 2023, with first oil is expected in the latter part of 2026. Production was set to continue through to 2050.

Equinor and Ithaca Energy made the FID for Rosebank Phase 1 in September 2023, investing USD 3.8 billion. Phase one is targeting 245 mmboe.

In early 2025, a Scottish court ruled Rosebank's approval was unlawful and ordered a new Environmental Impact Assessment to be submitted. The companies involved claimed the project timeline remained on track. See the opposition section for more details.

Opposition

Greenpeace vowed to fight the field coming online, calling the project “shameful” as the “climate crisis rages on, triggering a national emergency and causing death and destruction in the Global South.” Uplift criticized the UK Government for “effectively handing over at least half a billion to the Norwegian government” while the United Kingdom “faces a prolonged recession and millions of British families are being pushed into poverty from soaring energy bills.”

In January 2025, in a victory for Greenpeace and Uplift, Scotland’s court has ruled that the 2023 approval of Rosebank oil and gas field was unlawful since it did not account for the total lifecycle emissions from the field, including 'scope three' emissions. The court's decision followed a U.K. Supreme Court decision in June 2024 mandating that planning authorities consider the full climate impact of fossil fuel projects, including downstream emissions.

The ruling allows the companies to continue preparatory work at the field but no oil and gas can be extracted until a new Environmental Impact Assessment is submitted and approved, which would account for the field’s enormous ‘scope three’ emissions. Guidance on how oil and gas companies should factor ‘scope three’ emissions into applications is currently being consulted on by the government, and no new fields, including Rosebank, are being considered prior to the guidance being in place in spring 2025.

Equinor and Ithaca "welcomed the ruling" and remained confident that the project timeline would remain on track, with the start-up still planned in 2026/2027.

Articles and Resources

Additional Data

To access additional data, including an interactive map of oil and gas extraction sites, a downloadable dataset, and summary data, please visit the Global Oil and Gas Extraction Tracker on the Global Energy Monitor website.