The Chancellor, John Healey, has conceded that the Jackdaw gas field will not bring down household energy bills. He made the admission in an interview with ITV's Robert Peston on 21 October, recorded at Shell's St Fergus terminal after the field was approved.
Peston reports that at its peak Jackdaw will meet only 3% of UK gas needs. He says Healey accepted the field would not lower bills and that the case for it is mainly about security of supply. The 3% figure has not been independently checked.
Healey told Peston:
"Government can't remove those cost pressures, the cost-of-living pressures that people face"
He repeated that he would look to do more at the Budget "to give a bit of breathing space" on the cost of living and the cost of business. He also said the Budget is where he has "decisions to take across the economy, across the tax system".
Peston reports that Healey repeatedly said "oil and gas" revenues would go into the new energy wealth fund. Because Jackdaw produces only gas, Peston infers that approval of the Rosebank field may be expected. He says the Energy Secretary, Miatta Fahnbulleh, seems to be signalling the opposite. This is Peston's reading, not a government statement.
Healey delivers the Budget on Wednesday 28 October.