Last year, the Court of Session in Edinburgh ruled that both Jackdaw and Rosebank had been unlawfully approved, because the government failed to take into account the climate impact of burning extracted oil and gas from the fields.
The legal case had been brought by environmental groups Uplift and Greenpeace.
In his judgement, Lord Ericht required a more detailed climate assessment and fresh approval from the UK government before production could begin.
Tessa Khan, executive director of Uplift, said Jackdaw would have “no impact on our energy bills and do precious little to increase our gas supply”.
She added: “The reality is, after 50 years of drilling, the UK has now burned most of its gas and a relatively small gas field like Jackdaw will do next to nothing to reduce our dependence on imports.”
Greenpeace said that “self-serving claims” in Adura’s assessment should not be taken at face value.
Doug Parr, Greenpeace UK chief scientist, said: “Any new oil and gas field approval is wholly incompatible with keeping global warming to 1.5°C, the internationally agreed limit for avoiding the worst impacts of climate breakdown.
“Ignoring that reality for a tiny amount of gas – which won’t lower energy bills or materially strengthen the UK’s energy security – is reckless and indefensible.”
