The Energy Secretary, Miatta Fahnbulleh, is not expected to approve the Rosebank oilfield, according to Guardian sources reported by London Loves Business. Neither her department nor the Treasury has confirmed this.
The report runs against ITV's Robert Peston. On 21 October he inferred that Rosebank approval may follow the go-ahead for the smaller Jackdaw gas field. He based this on the Chancellor, John Healey, saying that "oil and gas" revenues would go into a new fund.
Fahnbulleh is reported to say the case for Jackdaw does not apply to Rosebank. The reporting says Rosebank would export most of its output. It also cites figures putting Rosebank's carbon emissions at about seven times Jackdaw's. Those figures have not been independently checked.
If Rosebank is refused, Healey's reference to oil revenues feeding the fund would not match his own government's decision. As things stand, Jackdaw is the only field approved, and it produces gas only.
Separately, the Speaker, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, criticised Fahnbulleh in the Commons on 21 October for announcing Jackdaw to the media before telling MPs, according to a PA report.
Healey delivers the Budget on Wednesday 28 October.