Rosebank and Jackdaw fields: Billions at stake in court battle over North Sea oil and gas

Both groups now want the judge to pause work on Rosebank and Jackdaw while the fields’ downstream emissions are assessed.

Then, they argue, the Energy Secretary, Ed Miliband, and the government’s North Sea Transition Authority (formerly known as the Oil and Gas Authority), could make a fresh decision about the fields’ licences, armed with a fuller understanding of their contribution to climate change.

Even then, there may be a snag. Lawyers for the government, who were also in court, say they have doubts that Mr Miliband has the necessary legal power to revisit the decisions at all.

If Mr Miliband does have the power, and if it does come to the crunch, it is not clear what he would do. In court, the UK government’s lawyer was reluctant to be drawn on the matter.

At times he sounded as if ministers very much wished the whole affair would simply go away.

After all, in campaigning against the Tories in the general election this summer, Labour had carefully crafted a policy which appeared designed to minimise controversy, and to avoid becoming dragged into the debate about Rosebank.

It went like this — Labour was committed to tackling climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions but also recognised the importance of the oil and gas industry.

As such it would not grant any new exploration licences in UK waters but it would allow existing projects — including Rosebank and Jackdaw — to continue.

Ministers spoke of domestic energy production as critical for keeping bills down; helping to ensure the nation’s energy security; generating taxes; and for assisting with the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy.

Many of those claims are contested by environmentalists.