Companies will admit the UK made legal errors in awarding oil and gas licenses.

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Three oil and gas companies are set to admit that the UK government made legal errors in awarding licenses for two major offshore developments, as a key case for future fossil fuel projects begins.

But all three companies – oil major Shell, independent producer Ithaca and Norway's Equinor – say they should be allowed to go ahead with the two projects – Rosebank in the North Atlantic and Jackdaw in the North Sea.

The claims are set out in a document seen by the Financial Times ahead of a judicial review hearing brought by two environmental charities, Greenpeace and Uplift. The pair challenged the government's permitting the project because the environmental impact assessment only considered emissions from fuel extraction and ignored the effects of combustion.

The two judicial reviews that could lead to the cancellation of the project are being considered at a single hearing this week that is expected to last four days, starting on Tuesday at the Court of Session, Scotland's highest civil court, in Edinburgh. Last August, the British government announced it would not object to the review, leaving oil companies with no choice but to sue.

Rosebank, 80 miles north-west of the Shetland Islands, is being developed by Equinor and Ithaca, which have committed to invest $3.8 billion in the first phase of the massive project. Jackdaw is being developed by Shell and will produce natural gas condensate, a very light liquid hydrocarbon.

The issue arose after the UK Supreme Court ruled in a case brought by environmental activist Sarah Finch that environmental impact assessments for oil and gas production facilities must take into account the impact of burning the products.

The case will be closely watched for any signs of how the court might apply the Finch ruling, which relates to onshore oil development, to offshore oil and gas.

Shell is expected to admit in 2022 that Jackdaw's approval was unlawful. Equinor is expected to admit it was an error in the law for the government to ignore end-use emissions when approving Rosebank in 2023. Ithaca, meanwhile, is expected to accept that it cannot defend its original approval process.

But the three companies are expected to argue that the assessments were conducted in good faith and in accordance with the law as it was understood prior to the Finch decision. The number of contracts already in place and the significant economic damage that could result from their liquidation.

Shell said on Monday that the Jackdaw project had been developed in accordance with all relevant consents and permits.

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“We accept the Supreme Court's decision in the Finch case, but our position is that Jackdaw is an essential project for UK energy security and the project is already well underway,” the company said.

Ithaca declined to comment.

Equinor declined to comment on the lawsuit but said it welcomes regulatory approval for the Rosebank development in 2023 and will continue to work closely with all parties involved to advance the project.

The court can order the government to make a new decision on the right grounds, or it can make decisions that do not stop development, such as reducing the scope of the project.

It is expected that it will take at least a few weeks for the court to issue a ruling.

Philip Evans, senior campaigner at GreenpeaceUK, said oil companies were trying to deceive the public, the courts and the government and called for a halt to reckless and illegal projects.

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