Rosebank Oil Field Approval Could Violate UK's Own West Bank Sanctions, PM Warned

The prime minister is facing mounting pressure over the imminent decision on Britain's largest untapped oil field, with campaigners warning that approving Rosebank could directly contradict the government's own sanctions regime targeting illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

The long-awaited ruling on whether to greenlight the controversial project, located off the coast of Shetland, rests with Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh. However, the outcome will be widely interpreted as a signal of Andy Burnham's broader stance on North Sea oil and gas production, given his repeated calls for a "flexible" approach to energy policy.

At the centre of the controversy is the involvement of Delek Group, an Israeli conglomerate that controls Ithaca Energy. Ithaca holds a 20% stake in the Rosebank development. Last year, Delek Group was named in a United Nations database listing companies allegedly providing services or utilities supporting settlements in occupied Palestinian territories.

A spokesman for Delek Group told the Daily Telegraph that the company no longer has any involvement in Israeli settlements and was included in the UN database erroneously. The firm said it intends to formally challenge its listing with the help of legal advisers and has requested its immediate removal from the database.

The timing of the Rosebank decision is particularly sensitive because it coincides with the Labour government's recent hardening of its position on West Bank settlements. Last month, Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband announced sanctions against companies and individuals providing services such as infrastructure to settlement expansion, as well as a ban on imports of goods from illegal settlements.

Environmental campaigners and Green Party leader Zack Polanski have separately written to Burnham and Miliband raising concerns about the potential contradiction. The campaign group Uplift, whose legal challenge against the Rosebank project in 2023 led to the current delay, helped organise a letter to both ministers.

In correspondence seen by BBC News, campaigners from Stop Rosebank and Greenpeace, with assistance from Uplift, have asked the government to clarify whether Delek will be caught by the newly announced sanctions. Uplift's letter to Burnham requested that he "confirm, unequivocally, whether Delek will be caught by the new planned measures."

The group further asked: "If it is not, please explain how that is consistent with the government's stated intent to sanction those who finance or facilitate illegal settlements?"

Polanski, in his separate letter to Miliband, questioned what steps the government would take to ensure revenue from UK oil and gas production did not finance illegal settlements. He described Rosebank as "a test of whether Labour's proposed sanctions regime is fit for purpose," adding that companies blacklisted by the UN for operating in illegal settlements should not be financed by North Sea oil and gas revenues.

Ithaca Energy pushed back against the concerns, telling the BBC that it is a London Stock Exchange-listed company and a member of the FTSE 100, governed by the highest standards of corporate governance. A spokesperson emphasised that Ithaca is one of the biggest investors in the North Sea and Scotland, describing it as a responsible employer and a major contributor to both the UK Treasury through tax payments and to the UK's energy security.

Tessa Khan, executive director at Uplift, said "not one penny of North Sea oil profits" should go to a company which "itself now risks being sanctioned by the UK."

The question of whether to approve Rosebank, along with the Jackdaw gas field east of Aberdeen, has become hugely politically significant. Rosebank was originally approved by the previous Conservative government in 2023, but that decision was successfully challenged in the courts by campaigners including Uplift.

Miliband was widely thought to have been opposed to Rosebank when he served as Sir Keir Starmer's energy secretary, making the current decision a potential indicator of shifting government priorities.

The decision also carries implications for the UK's relationship with the United States. President Trump has placed pressure on successive UK prime ministers to drill more in the North Sea. While Downing Street is relieved that Trump has not lashed out at the government's recent West Bank sanctions, his administration has signalled that the US will not take the same course of action.

The Foreign Office declined to comment on the matter when approached by the BBC.

The broader context of the dispute involves the approximately 160 settlements housing 700,000 Jews that Israel has built since occupying the West Bank and East Jerusalem during the 1967 Middle East war. An estimated 3.3 million Palestinians live alongside these settlements, which are considered illegal under international law. Recent months have seen a rise in violence towards Palestinians in the West Bank by settlers.

Israel has criticised the UK sanctions, accusing the government of pursuing "anti-Israel policies." The diplomatic fallout adds another layer of complexity to a decision that balances energy security, climate commitments, economic interests, and foreign policy principles.

As the government prepares to announce its verdict on Rosebank, the outcome will be scrutinised not only for its environmental and economic implications but also as a measure of whether Britain's new sanctions framework against illegal settlements carries genuine weight or remains vulnerable to accusations of inconsistency.