Rosebank: Life on the oil field at the centre of a political storm

When we landed by helicopter at Rosebank, this oil field was at the centre of a political storm - and set to be in the path of a real one.

We arrived on Wednesday morning, just a few hours after the UK government had granted consent for the production of gas from the Jackdaw field in the North Sea.

But already attention was shifting to this wild and windy patch of the North Atlantic – the next big decision for Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh.

Rosebank is bigger than Jackdaw, it would generate higher greenhouse gas emissions, and it could be far more lucrative for its owners, Adura and Ithaca.

This summer, along with a camera crew, I travelled to Jackdaw, 150 miles east of Aberdeen.

We came here - days before Storm Boelo arrived with strong winds and heavy rain - to scrutinise a controversial project which is at the heart of a national debate about climate change, energy policy and the economy.

"It's good fun, it's interesting, every day can change," said Nicola Boyd, who runs the helideck, and greeted us as we struggled out of our lifejackets and survival suits.

Boyd has worked offshore for nearly a decade, including a year on Rosebank - where she spends two weeks at a time followed by three weeks' leave.

The Petrojarl Rosebank is moored in the North Atlantic waiting to see if production gets the go-ahead from the UK government

Unlike the fixed Jackdaw platform, this installation – 80 miles north west of Shetland – is a large ship, a floating production, storage and offloading vessel (FPSO) named the Petrojarl Rosebank.

It's been chartered by the field's owners from Aberdeen-based Altera and, during my 48 hours on board, it was constantly but gently rolling on the North Atlantic swell.

With the understatement typical of an Orkney islander, lead mechanical technician Ewan Leonard told me the winter weather could be "a bit of a challenge."

"Last week we had a 30m heave coming through," he said, referring to the swell, "so we'll probably suffer more of that as the winter goes on."

Altera CEO Chris Brett told me that in the industry the environment west of Shetland is considered "as harsh as you get anywhere in the world."

Ewan Leonard says the winter weather can be "a bit of a challenge"

The jobs are well-paid and, according to Ewan Leonard, the facilities are excellent.

Douglas Hogge, a production supervisor in charge of a team responsible for the safe extraction of oil and gas, agrees.

There's even a cinema.

Everyone we spoke to agreed with that, praising the talented chefs who sent out all sorts of delicious dishes, from braised ox cheek to mackerel to pork loin, day and night.

As dusk gathers and the nightshift get ready for work with a strange breakfast of fillet steak and chocolate brownie pudding, the vessel begins to glow in the gloom.

The ship is an array of pipes, valves and bright yellow steelwork

The ship doesn't move far, rotating around a fixed central point called the turret to face into the weather, making life a little easier for those on board.

If production is approved, oil and gas will be pumped up through the turret from wells in the field below, which contains an estimated 300m to 500m barrels, enough for perhaps 25 years.

"We need to see this approved," he added.

"The future of the energy sector in the UK is renewable energy," said Tessa Khan, executive director of the campaigning group Uplift.

But in 2025, after a challenge by Greenpeace and Uplift, the Court of Session in Edinburgh ruled the approvals of the UK's largest known untapped oil field and Jackdaw were unlawful because they had failed to take into account the climate impact of actually burning the fossil fuels in cars, homes and factories.

The judge, Lord Ericht, said the fields' developers could carry on with work short of producing oil and gas while they provided more detailed environmental assessments for the government and regulators to consider.

"We think Rosebank would be a disastrous decision and a terrible deal for ordinary people across this country," said Khan, urging prime minister Andy Burnham to prioritise renewables in his quest to re-industrialise the nation.

"If the government's interested in building investor confidence, giving the green light to a major new oil field is going to do the opposite," she argued.

It's a quarter of a century since oil production peaked and in recent years jobs in oil and gas have been disappearing much faster than they're being created in renewable energy such as wind and solar power.

The timeline of Jackdaw and Rosebank

The oil from Rosebank would be loaded onto tankers via a gigantic hose and nozzle, which looks like the super-sized pump of an enormous floating filling station.

Opponents say that proves the project is of little benefit to the UK and should be rejected.

Supporters argue that's not the case because UK and European energy markets are co-dependent, adding that Rosebank will generate millions in tax for the Treasury.

Neil McCulloch, chief executive of Adura – which owns 80% of Rosebank and is a joint venture between Shell and the Norwegian state energy firm, Equinor – is optimistic.

He points out that Rosebank contains not just oil but gas which would be piped to Shetland and on to the St Fergus terminal in Aberdeenshire, with the potential to heat 500,000 British homes at peak production.

Approval of this project, argues McCulloch, could pave the way for four more Jackdaw-sized gas developments in the waters west of Shetland – Tornado, Tornado East, Tobermory and Suilven.

It would, argues Tessa Khan, exacerbate the deadly and damaging impact of climate change for British teachers, nurses, firefighters and families worried about their children while making "huge profits for companies that are already incredibly profitable".

When it comes to the impending UK government decision – which sources have told BBC News should come before Christmas – there is a strange mood at Rosebank.

For now, most workers we spoke to said they were just focusing on the job, with its strange rhythms and unusual restrictions – no ability to pop to the shops, no alcohol, a lot of special occasions missed.

For steward Liam Davidson, it is a desire to see his French bulldog, Bailey, at the end of his fortnight on board.

It is hoped the decision on Rosebank will be made in the next few weeks

"I love seeing the family, but for me, it's the pizza," she told me.

She is coming to the end of her fortnight but, as she helped us into our survival suits, the Met Office issued an amber weather warning for much of Scotland.

Get in touch

What are you hoping for from the Budget? What questions do you have?