// BBC BUSINESS NEWS — FINANZA
UK risks being 'uninvestable' if new oil and gas fields not approved, warns Equinor
Anders Opedal said Equinor would have to take "a hard view" about future investments in the UK if it were to reject new drilling
Oil giant Equinor has warned it may shun further investments in the UK if new oil and gas fields at Rosebank and Jackdaw are not approved.
"The question will be: is the UK investable in the future? I hope it will not come to that," said Anders Opedal, boss of the Norwegian state oil company which is part owner of the sites.
He told the BBC the company would "have to take a hard view about it" if a decision was made to reject new drilling.
The warning comes as the UK government is set to decide whether or not to grant final approval to extract oil and gas at Rosebank and Jackdaw, despite a ban pledged in Labour's election manifesto.
The government said any decision would take into account all relevant evidence.
Rising energy prices have prompted renewed debate over the UK's energy security, with UK production forecast to halve by 2035.
The UK already relies on Norway for half of its gas needs, and the Norwegian government has continued to issue new licences for oil and gas exploration in its own North Sea waters.
Equinor has predicted production will remain at current levels until the middle of the next decade.
Opedal said he remained confident that Prime Minister Andy Burnham's talk of a "pragmatic approach to oil and gas" meant both projects would get approved but he said the current limbo was "an uncomfortable position to be in".