Rosebank: Life on the Oil Field at the Centre of a Big Debate

A team of journalists recently became the first reporters to visit Rosebank, a large oil field about 80 miles northwest of the Shetland Islands in the North Atlantic Ocean. Rosebank is at the centre of a big debate in the UK about climate change, energy, and the economy. The UK government must decide soon whether to allow oil and gas production there — a choice that will affect workers, families, and the environment for years to come.

The journalists flew to the field by helicopter, arriving just after the UK government had approved gas production at another nearby field called Jackdaw. Rosebank is bigger than Jackdaw, and it would produce more greenhouse gases. Its owners, companies called Adura and Ithaca, say it could also earn much more money. The next big decision now belongs to Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh.

Rosebank is not a regular platform fixed to the sea floor. Instead, it is a large ship called a floating production, storage, and offloading vessel, or FPSO. The ship is named the Petrojarl Rosebank, and it gently rocks back and forth on the ocean waves. During the journalists' 48 hours on board, the ship slowly rolled on the North Atlantic swell. The vessel turns around a fixed point called a turret so it always faces into the wind, which makes life a little easier for the crew.

Workers on the ship said the conditions can get very tough, especially in winter. Lead mechanical technician Ewan Leonard said last week the swell reached 30 metres, which is as tall as a ten-storey building. The CEO of Altera, the company that owns the ship, said the waters west of Shetland are 'as harsh as you get anywhere in the world.' Still, the crew keeps working through it.

Life on board is different from life on land in many ways. Workers spend two weeks on the ship, then get three weeks off at home. There is no alcohol allowed, no popping to the shops, and workers often miss birthdays and other special events. But the facilities are good — single bedrooms, a gym, a sauna, and excellent food served around the clock.

Helideck operator Nicola Boyd said she loves her job, even with its challenges. 'It's good fun, it's interesting, every day can change,' she said. Boyd has worked offshore for nearly ten years, including a year at Rosebank. When she gets home, she looks forward to her double bed and a pizza delivery.

The field beneath the ship is believed to hold between 300 million and 500 million barrels of oil and gas — enough to last about 25 years. If production is approved, the oil would be loaded onto tankers via a giant hose and sold on the international market. The gas would be piped to Shetland and then to the mainland, where it could heat up to 500,000 British homes at peak production. Production supervisor Douglas Hogge said approval would keep him employed until retirement: 'We need to see this approved.'

Not everyone agrees the project should go ahead. Environmental groups like Greenpeace and Uplift have been fighting to stop Rosebank for years. In 2023, the Conservative government approved the project, but in 2025 a Scottish court ruled that approval was unlawful. The court said the government had not properly considered the harm caused by burning fossil fuels in cars, homes, and factories.

Tessa Khan, the head of the campaigning group Uplift, says Rosebank would be bad for ordinary people and good only for already-wealthy companies. She argues that allowing a major new oil field would make it harder to attract investment in clean energy. She wants the government to focus on renewable energy instead, since the long-term future of the UK energy industry is already shifting that way. Oil production in the UK peaked about 25 years ago, and jobs in oil and gas are now disappearing faster than new jobs in wind and solar power are being created.

A government decision on Rosebank is expected before Christmas. Back on the ship, most workers said they were staying focused on their jobs while they waited for the news. For steward Liam Davidson, what he misses most is his French bulldog, Bailey. For Nicola Boyd, it was a pizza — though her trip home was delayed when the Met Office issued an amber weather warning for much of Scotland, meaning more stormy seas were on the way.