The government’s approval of the £2.1 billion Jackdaw gas field has been welcomed across the energy and business sectors, though not without a sharp warning that the decision has been a long time coming.

Offshore Energies UK (OEUK) described the go-ahead as an opening move towards releasing some £50 billion of investment in new North Sea oil and gas production. Jackdaw is expected to begin producing within weeks, in time for the depths of winter, and will lift domestic gas supply by around 6% – enough to heat roughly 1.4 million British homes.

Approval followed an extensive regulatory process overseen by the Offshore Petroleum Regulator for Environment and Decommissioning (OPRED), which included public consultation and a review of the latest environmental evidence. According to OEUK, the field’s production emissions will be about half the UK Continental Shelf average and around an eighth of those associated with imported liquefied natural gas.

The industry body argues that the real prize lies in the 100-plus further projects waiting in the wings, among them the Rosebank oil field. Britain currently imports about 40% of its energy, and forecasts suggest the country will still need more than 10 billion barrels of oil and gas between now and 2050, even as the shift to net zero gathers pace. OEUK estimates that progressing the wider pipeline could add more than three billion barrels of home-grown production, meeting at least half of national demand to mid-century.

Any future approvals would be made under a regime that now explicitly takes account of Scope 3, or end-use, emissions.

With next week’s Budget looming, OEUK is pressing the Treasury to adopt its proposed Oil and Gas Revenue Levy – a permanent windfall tax that would apply only when prices are high – arguing it would offer the stable fiscal footing investors need. Industry modelling suggests introducing the levy in 2027 could raise an extra £14.9 billion in tax over the coming decade.

David Whitehouse, chief executive of OEUK, said: “The Prime Minister has said the question is not whether we use oil and gas, but where it comes from. The answer, surely, is our own North Sea, where it is produced under some of the highest environmental standards in the world.

“Today’s decision on Jackdaw is an important step forward. But securing Britain’s energy future means unlocking a wider pipeline of North Sea projects.

“Britain spent £84 billion on energy imports last year, equivalent to almost 3% of GDP. That means jobs, investment and economic value flowing overseas. On every measure, from energy security and emissions to jobs and economic value, the right and responsible choice is to prioritise domestic production.”

The CBI struck a similarly positive note, framing the decision as part of an orderly transition rather than a retreat from it.

“The Jackdaw decision is a welcome recognition of the North Sea’s continuing role in a pragmatic, managed energy transition, making responsible use of domestic resources while sustaining the skills and expertise built up over decades,” said Rain Newton-Smith, the organisation’s chief executive.

She added that the new Energy Wealth Fund offered “a welcome opportunity to turn the strength of today’s North Sea into long-term investment, skilled jobs and greater energy security for the future.”

Not everyone was in celebratory mood. Andy Mayer, energy fellow at the Institute of Economic Affairs, said the approval was welcome but “absurdly late”, pointing out that the field was discovered 21 years ago and first approved in 2022.

That consent was overturned following the Finch ruling, which obliges developers to weigh the emissions produced when their oil and gas is eventually burned. Mr Mayer argued that ministers had neither changed the laws behind what he called “obstructive bureaucracy” nor reversed other decisions blocking new exploration.

“Creating a sovereign wealth fund to direct some future North Sea tax revenue into low carbon energy is a good idea in principle,” he said. “But only if targeted on innovation, not production subsidies, and not at all if there are no new fields to fund it.”

The government, it seems, has turned on one tap. Whether the rest of the North Sea follows may depend on what the Chancellor says next week