WATCH: UK's energy and net zero strategies analyzed

The UK giving the go-ahead to one of its biggest new oil and gas projects in years is a positive and pragmatic choice, will boost jobs, boost tax revenue and has aligned itself with most of the world's energy exporters.

That is the view of Gaurav Sharma, Independent energy analyst, who supports the newly-approved Rosebank oilfield and backed the UK prime minister watering down interim plans for the government's 2050 net zero emissions target. 

Sunak recently announced a delay on banning the sales of new petrol and diesel cars to maintain the consent of the British people in the switch to net zero, but added he remained committed to the legally-binding target.

British regulators approved Equinor's North Sea Rosebank field on Wednesday, insisting energy security was the priority despite opposition from environmentalists who had urged the government to halt its development off the Shetland Islands in Scotland, saying it contravened ambitions for a net-zero economy.

"Some of the mass hysteria that greeted this announcement is unmerited," Sharma told CGTN Europe. "We're talking about 300 million barrels, 200 to 245 million of which would come on stream possibly within the next five years. So there is a near term advantage. 

"These net zero credentials that have been touted all over the place, they were unrealistic to begin with. The prime minister has had a moment of clarity. He pushed back the EV adoption program and the time to cancel diesel and petrol vehicles. 

"Now we have this announcement that the government is finally being pragmatic. There are some clear dividing lines between him and his opposition. That said, these net zero targets; I'm very skeptical about them. 

"What I'm not skeptical about at all are the number of jobs this (Equinor's project) would generate and the number of international partnerships. After all, there is a Norwegian company involved with a local British partner. So I think the advantages outweigh some of the political rhetoric."

Oil and gas output from Britain's North Sea has shrunk by two-thirds in the past 20 years and the country is a net importer, but the industry is still a big contributor to the economy, supporting 200,000 jobs and is expected to provide $61 billion pounds in tax revenues over the next five years, according to the government.

The cornerstone of the plan to make Rosebank less emissions-intensive is to electrify the extraction process. Norwegian energy group Equinor said the earliest the field, located west of the Shetland Islands and due to start output in 2026/27, would be electrified is 2030.

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With some critics saying the government's stance could also encourage other countries to rein in their climate ambitions, where does this latest energy decision leave the UK in terms of the international platforms on achieving international net zero?

"I think it probably aligns the UK with a host of other energy exporters who say 'wake up and smell the coffee, we appreciate your net zero targets, but some of the rhetoric around it is quite unrealistic,'" Sharma added.

"While the Brits may or may not be keen to admit it, it currently aligns the UK with the number of these Middle Eastern exporters who are saying over the near to medium term, you need oil and gas. 

"So this is a tacit acknowledgment from the British government saying 'we kind of see what you're saying, you may not be talking the talk, but, you know, we understand that we are in this predicament.'"

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