New North Sea drilling would barely reduce UK gas imports at all, data shows

A gas platform in the North Sea off Norway. New fields in Scottish waters would leave the UK still dependent on supplies from Norway and elsewhere. Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images

Opening major new fields in the North Sea would make almost no difference to the UK’s reliance on gas imports, research has shown.

The Jackdaw field, one of the largest unexploited gasfields in the North Sea, would displace only 2% of the UK’s current imports of gas, which would leave the UK still almost entirely dependent on supplies from Norway and a few other sources.