UK Court Dismisses Oceana’s Challenge To Oil And Gas Exploration Licences

A London High Court on Friday dismissed a lawsuit brought by campaigners against the UK government’s decision to issue over two dozen oil and gas exploration licences, according to Reuters.

Oceana UK, the marine conservation organisation that filed the suit, had argued that the government failed to properly assess the risk to protected marine life.

However, the court held that the UK government’s decision was lawful.

The licences were issued as part of the North Sea Transition Authority’s oil and gas licensing round and grant their holders the right to search for fossil fuels.

Although an exploration licence does not necessarily lead to production, Oceana’s lawyers said in court filings that the licences provide “a clear pathway towards extracting oil and gas”.

Counsel for Oceana, Zoe Leventhal, said the wider impact should be considered at the licensing stage, when authorities can assess “all the sites across all the areas at the same time”.

Britain’s Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, however, argued that it was not possible to know the impact on climate change before the scale of any production was known.

Judge Tim Mould dismissed Oceana’s challenge but said any adverse impact on marine habitats caused by developments must be assessed at every stage.

Hugo Tagholm, executive director of Oceana UK, said the government must make clear — as it did in court — that honouring existing licences does not guarantee that consent for production will be granted.

Oceana’s case comes after the British government dropped its defence in other challenges following a Supreme Court ruling that planning authorities must consider the impact of burning, rather than just extracting, fossil fuels when approving projects.

This included the approval of two major North Sea oil and gas fields, which was overturned by a Scottish court in January, casting doubt on the future of new fossil fuel projects.