Rosebank oil field environment report after scope 3 emissions review

The environment statement for the Rosebank oil field, a major North Sea development owned largely by Equinor, was published this week after the company resubmitted its assessment to include the greenhouse gas emissions from burning the field's oil and gas. The document, posted on the UK government website Wednesday, covers seabed disturbance, discharges, emissions, accidental events and the climate impacts of the field, which lies about 80 miles west of Shetland and is estimated to hold as much as 300 million barrels of oil.

Equinor revised the paperwork after courts earlier this year overturned approval for Rosebank and ordered developers to account for so-called scope 3 emissions, the greenhouse gases released when extracted fuels are combusted. In January the Court of Session in Edinburgh found it unlawful to approve Rosebank and the Jackdaw gas field without considering those downstream emissions, following a Supreme Court ruling that emissions from burning fossil fuels must be taken into account when granting permission for new sites.

In its resubmitted statement, Equinor acknowledges that Rosebank's scope 3 emissions would contribute to climate change but states the...