英国内阁部长们正在游说首相安迪·伯纳姆和能源大臣米亚塔·范布勒，批准北海罗斯班克油气田的钻探项目，并在私下认为该决定正朝着有利于他们的方向发展。
UK cabinet ministers are lobbying Prime Minister Andy Burnham and Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh to approve drilling at the Rosebank oil and gas field in the North Sea, and privately believe the decision is heading in their favor.
据两名要求匿名谈论闭门讨论的政府官员透露，大多数内阁成员支持该项目，一些伯纳姆的高级顾问也持同样立场。该决定须经由范布勒主导的批准程序，预计将于年底前作出回应。
A majority of the cabinet supports the project, as do some senior Burnham advisers, according to two government officials who spoke on condition of anonymity about behind-closed-doors discussions. The decision is subject to an approval process led by Fahnbulleh that is due to report back by the end of the year.
该项目涉及的利益巨大：挪威国家石油公司与壳牌合资企业阿杜拉估计，将涉及66亿英镑（约合89亿美元）对英国本土企业的直接投资。罗斯班克是英国海域最大的未开发油气储量，估计储量达3亿桶油当量。反对者称，批准该项目将破坏英国长期以来到2050年将温室气体排放减少至所谓“净零”的气候目标。
At stake is a project that the Equinor ASA-Shell Plc joint venture Adura estimates will involve £6.6 billion ($8.9 billion) of direct investment in UK-based businesses. Rosebank is the largest undeveloped oil and gas reservoir in UK waters, with an estimated 300 million barrels of oil equivalent. Detractors say approving the project will undermine the UK’s long-stated climate goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to so-called net zero by 2050.
政府官员警告称，尚未作出决定，且对罗斯班克的最终决策权在于范布勒，她此前曾表示反对。在上个月批准杰克道天然气田时，范布勒曾对记者表示，罗斯班克的法律程序意味着只有她能做出决定。
Government officials cautioned that no decision has been taken and that ultimate responsibility over Rosebank lies with Fahnbulleh, who has previously indicated her opposition. When approving the gas field Jackdaw last month, Fahnbulleh told reporters that the legal process on Rosebank meant only she could take the decision.
范布勒10月对英国广播公司电台表示：“杰克道是主要用于英国国内市场的天然气；罗斯班克是主要出口国外的石油。我将逐个项目审视。逐案审视并作出决定是正确的。”能源安全与净零部的一位发言人表示，判断将通过准司法程序作出，并考虑所有相关证据，包括环境评估和收到的公众意见。一位知情人士称，决定不太可能在未来几周内出台。
“Jackdaw is gas that is predominantly used here in the UK market; Rosebank is oil that is predominantly imported abroad,” Fahnbulleh told BBC radio in October. “I will look at each project. It is right that you look at them on a case by case basis, and you make a decision.”A spokesperson for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said the judgment would be made through a quasi-judicial process, taking into account all relevant evidence, including environmental assessments and public representations received. The decision is unlikely to come in the next few weeks, a person familiar with the matter said.
Equinor首席执行官安德斯·奥佩达尔在“杰克道”项目获批决定前表示，如果这两个项目都未获批，可能会影响整个北海盆地的投资。“玫瑰岸”项目预计总可采资源量约为3亿桶石油。预计日产量7万桶石油和2100万立方英尺天然气，将使其成为英国最大的油气田之一。
Equinor Chief Executive Officer Anders Opedal said ahead of the Jackdaw decision that if both projects weren’t approved it could impact investments across the North Sea basin. Rosebank has estimated total recoverable resources of about 300 million barrels of oil. Intended daily production of 70,000 barrels of oil and 21 million cubic feet of gas would make it one of the largest fields in the UK.
“杰克道”和“玫瑰岸”项目此前由前保守党政府批准，但苏格兰法院去年年初推翻了这些决定，理由是未考虑燃烧所产石油和天然气对气候的影响。Adura随后修订并重新提交了申请。
Jackdaw and Rosebank were approved by the former Conservative government, but a Scottish court overturned the decisions early last year, saying they hadn’t considered the climate impact of burning the oil and gas produced. Adura subsequently revised and resubmitted its applications.
然而，先前的批准给工党留下了批准这两个项目的空间，尽管工党在竞选宣言中承诺不发放新许可证以勘探新油气田。周三，政府向议会提交了一项法案，旨在以法律形式强制落实这一承诺。
The prior approvals, however, give Labour scope to green-light both, despite an election manifesto promise not to issue new licenses to explore new fields. On Wednesday the government introduced a bill to parliament to legally enforce that pledge.
因此，北海钻探在工党内部仍存争议，伯纳姆政府试图在国家能源安全、生活成本担忧、追求更多税收收入与其净零排放承诺之间寻求平衡。
As a result, North Sea drilling remains controversial within Labour as Burnham’s administration tries to balance the country’s energy security, cost-of-living concerns and pursuit of greater tax receipts with its commitments on net zero.
政府内部支持者认为，“玫瑰岸”项目的批准不会违背英国碳排放目标，而不批准将意味着财政成本，因为财政部在核算未来税收收入时，是基于该项目将获批的假设。
Proponents within government argue that Rosebank can be approved without breaching UK carbon emissions targets and that not doing so would mean a fiscal cost because the Treasury has accounted for future tax revenues on the basis that it would be approved.
苏格兰工党领袖迈克尔·马拉敦促法恩布勒批准“玫瑰岸”项目，该项目也得到了主要工会Unite和GMB的支持，尽管另有10个工会表示反对。
Scottish Labour leader Michael Marra has urged Fahnbulleh to sign off on Rosebank, and the project is also supported by the major Unite and GMB trade unions, although 10 other unions have opposed it.
一位政府官员表示，在遵循工党宣言承诺禁止北海新勘探的同时批准“杰克道”和“玫瑰岸”两个项目，将是一种平衡的能源政策，能够负责任地而非意识形态地管理向净零排放的过渡。
A government official said approving both Jackdaw and Rosebank while banning new North Sea exploration in line with Labour’s manifesto commitments would be a balanced energy policy that manages the transition to net zero responsibly and not ideologically.
但一些工党议员表示，他们对Jackdaw批准的环保反对意见比他们所能表达的要弱得多，仅仅是因为Fahnbulleh大量暗示将采取不同的方法来处理Rosebank。他们警告称，缺乏预期管理可能会导致该党内部更大的反弹，如果Rosebank获批的话。
However, some Labour Members of Parliament said their environmental objections to the Jackdaw approval were more muted than they could have been only because Fahnbulleh heavily hinted a different approach would be taken to Rosebank. The lack of expectation management could result in a bigger backlash from within the party if Rosebank is approved, they warned.