Two North Sea developments worth a combined $47 billion remain in regulatory limbo, and Prime Minister Andy Burnham has told MPs the delay comes down to "government process" and lengthy bureaucratic wrangling.

The fields at issue are Jackdaw and Rosebank. Scottish courts blocked both in 2024 on environmental grounds. Since then, operators and energy bosses have lobbied for the projects to proceed, arguing the approvals should be restored rather than re-litigated.

Burnham's answer to MPs this week was careful. He said he would take a "pragmatic approach" on oil and gas drilling. He offered no date for a decision, no commitment on either field, and no indication of which way the government leans.

The decision itself sits elsewhere in Whitehall.

Who actually decides Jackdaw and Rosebank?

Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh is expected to rule on whether to grant fresh approvals for the two sites. That decision now carries the weight of the $47 billion figure — roughly the scale of investment the developments represent across their lifetimes, and a sum comparable to what the entire UK continental shelf has attracted in several recent years combined.

For context: $47 billion would fund roughly a decade of typical North Sea capital spending at current rates, according to the project valuation cited in the debate.

The sequence so far:

• Original approvals granted for Jackdaw and Rosebank under the previous framework
• Scottish courts overturned both in 2024 on environmental grounds
• Energy bosses pressed government to allow drilling to proceed
• Burnham signals a "pragmatic approach" but cites process delays
• Fahnbulleh's ruling pending, with no timetable published

Sanctioned projects these are not — not yet. Both sit in the awkward space between a court overturn and a ministerial re-approval, which is where capital goes to wait.

What did the Prime Minister actually say?

Burnham told MPs that approval for more drilling at the two sites had been delayed by "government process" and lengthy bureaucratic wrangling.

He added that he would take a "pragmatic approach" on oil and gas drilling, responding to calls from energy bosses for work to restart at Jackdaw and Rosebank.

The phrasing deserves note. "Pragmatic" is the word ministers reach for when they wish to keep both the industry and the courts' environmental findings in view simultaneously. It commits the government to nothing beyond eventual clarity.

One sentence, plainly: the Prime Minister has acknowledged the delay and named no fix.

Why the courts blocked the fields

The 2024 rulings from Scottish courts turned on environmental grounds — the legal basis on which the original consents for both Jackdaw and Rosebank were overturned.

That legal history constrains whatever Fahnbulleh now decides. A fresh approval that fails to address the environmental deficiencies the courts identified invites a second round of litigation, and operators know it.

The industry's argument is economic continuity. The counter-argument is the court record. Fahnbulleh must satisfy both or risk one of them returning the file to a judge.

The takeaway: this is now a legal-administrative question dressed as a political one.

What to watch

The watch item is Fahnbulleh's decision, its timing, and its durability in court. Watch also for any government statement on process reform, since Burnham himself has fingered bureaucracy as the source of delay. A ruling that survives judicial review restarts the $47 billion clock. A ruling that does not merely restarts the case.

By Daniel Okafor, Rig & Refinery.