The British Prime Minister has been cautioned that granting approval for the Rosebank oil field could contravene his administration’s recently imposed sanctions on illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank. The government is facing a long-awaited decision on whether to proceed with the development, which is Britain’s largest untapped oil reserve located off the Shetland Islands.
Environmental activists and Green Party leader Zack Polanski have separately addressed letters to Andy Burnham and Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband, raising alarms regarding the project’s ties to Israel’s Delek Group. Last year, Delek Group was listed in a United Nations database of firms accused of supporting settlements in occupied Palestinian territories, although the company maintains it has no current involvement in settlements and asserts it was incorrectly added to the list.
Delek Group controls Ithaca Energy, which holds a 20% stake in the Rosebank project. The campaign organization Uplift, which successfully challenged the field’s approval in court during 2023, helped coordinate the correspondence. In a letter reviewed by BBC News, representatives from Stop Rosebank and Greenpeace requested clarification on whether Delek would fall under the scope of sanctions announced last month.
Polanski characterized Rosebank as a critical test of whether Labour’s proposed sanctions framework is effective. He stated, “Companies blacklisted by the UN for operating in the illegal settlements should not be financed by oil and gas revenues from the North Sea,” adding that revenues from UK production must not fund settlement expansion.
Last month, Miliband signaled a tougher stance on Israel’s occupation by announcing measures targeting companies and individuals providing infrastructure services for settlement growth, alongside bans on imports from illegal settlements. Uplift urged Burnham to unequivocally confirm whether Delek would be caught by these new regulations, questioning how an exclusion would align with the government’s intent to sanction those financing settlements.
In response to the scrutiny, a spokesperson for Ithaca Energy described the firm as a FTSE 100-listed company adhering to high governance standards, highlighting its role as a major taxpayer and contributor to UK energy security. A Delek spokesman told the Daily Telegraph that the group intends to formally challenge its UN listing and seek immediate removal from the database.
The approval process for Rosebank, as well as the Jackdaw gas field east of Aberdeen, has become a significant political issue. While the previous Conservative government approved Rosebank in 2023, the subsequent legal challenge by campaigners has delayed the decision. The final authority now rests with Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh, but the outcome is viewed as reflective of Burnham’s broader energy strategy. Unlike his predecessor Keir Starmer, under whom Miliband served as energy secretary, Burnham has advocated for a flexible energy policy and supports increased drilling where licenses already exist.
The decision also carries geopolitical weight, particularly regarding relations with the United States. President Trump has pressured UK leadership to increase North Sea drilling. While Downing Street has expressed relief that Trump has not criticized the government’s recent West Bank sanctions, the US administration has indicated it will not follow the same path.
Tessa Khan, executive director at Uplift, emphasized that no profits from North Sea oil should benefit a company facing potential UK sanctions. The Foreign Office declined to comment on the matter. The controversy arises against the backdrop of approximately 160 Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, home to 700,000 Jewish residents, while an estimated 3.3 million Palestinians live in the area, with recent reports indicating a rise in violence by settlers.
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