A great call
Final legal approval on the two projects – which are already well advanced and could start production as soon as this year – rests with the UK’s current Energy Secretary Ed Miliband.
Miliband’s Department for Energy Security and Net Zero has been approached for comment. Burnham’s team did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A prominent Labor climate champion, Miliband described Rosebank’s project as “weather damage” when the party was in opposition. Burnham’s main ally, Miliband is now seen as the main candidate to become his chancellor, the second most powerful position in government.
However Unite, which represents oil and gas workers, has warned Burnham not to endorse Miliband, citing their deep opposition to his policies on the North Sea, which they claim has not done enough to support the workforce.
Under Miliband, the Labor government has banned new oil and gas exploration (Rosebank and Jackdaw have already advanced beyond this phase) and has increased excise duty on miners. Burnham, when pressed on the matter, has he just said that “he has no special position.”
Although the decisions on Rosebank and Jackdaw are “judicial” for the energy secretary on the advice of regulators, Miliband has faced public pressure from his Cabinet colleagues – and from potential rivals for the chancellor’s role in the new administration.
