Shetland deepwater wells likely to be approved in face of Greenpeace action

The British government is shortly expected to give permission for new deepwater drilling off the Shetland Islands in a controversial move that could trigger a legal confrontation with Greenpeace.

The environmental group fears the Department of Energy and Climate Change (Decc) could make a decision as early as tomorrow for the first wells of this kind off Britain since BP ran into trouble in the Gulf of Mexico.

US company Chevron will be first in line for permission to explore two prospects, with BP following, but Decc officials insisted last night that a decision had yet to be taken.

Greenpeace yesterday started a new campaign of direct action using swimmers against a Chevron-chartered ship, Stena Carron, (below right) in a bid to stop it sailing to the Shetlands where it is expected to drill on the Lagavulin prospect. The Greenpeace protesters took to the waters of the north Atlantic less than 48 hours after a separate occupation of the same vessel was ruled illegal by an Edinburgh court.

The protest comes just after the UK government derailed attempts by other nations in the European Union to introduce international scrutiny of deepwater drilling operations that could have led to a moratorium offshore.

Greenpeace said it planned to extend the wider campaign against David Cameron's administration, including going to court to seek a judicial review.

"We think the government is acting irrationally if it presses ahead with new drilling permits when the lessons from the Gulf of Mexico have not yet been learned," said Ben Ayliffe, a spokesman for Greenpeace. "We will be doing all we can to ensure a change of policy."

Late last week Richard Benyon, a minister at the department for the environment, was dispatched to Oslo to head off a German initiative to subject drilling to far more scrutiny following the BP well blowout in the Gulf of Mexico.

Germany wanted firm action taken under the Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the north-east Atlantic treaty (known as Ospar) but retreated in the face of opposition from Britain, Norway and the Netherlands – all big North Sea oil producers.

Greenpeace condemned the result of the Ospar summit, saying it sat very badly with the coalition government's supposed commitment to taking environmental issues more seriously.

"When the self-styled 'greenest government ever' sends its ministers overseas to block international scrutiny of its deepwater drilling regime, it's obvious they have something to hide," said Ruth Davis, policy director at Greenpeace.

"With ministers acting as special envoys for the oil industry, it's no wonder people feel they need to take peaceful direct action against new deepwater drilling, to protect their oceans and their climate."

Last Friday the campaign group lost a case brought by Chevron, forcing its activists to abandon a direct action against the Stena Carron drillship that was being prepared for operations off the Shetlands.

A court in Edinburgh ordered Greenpeace to end its protest on the grounds that it endangered the safety of the vessel. Activists spent four days in a "survival pod" hanging off the ship's anchor.

The environmental group's action follows similar protests against Cairn Energy's drilling off the coast of Greenland. Greenpeace says both waters – off the Shetlands (Shetlands in map at upper left hand corner at right) and Greenland – are inappropriate for oil exploration given the unspoiled natural environment and the new information from BP's Deepwater Explorer accident about how devastating a blowout can be to the local shoreline.

BP, Chevron and Total of France are all pushing Decc to give permission for further drilling west of the Shetlands. Decc itself has estimated that 17% of the UK's unexploited oil and gas reserves may lie in this deepwater Atlantic area. BP already has Foinaven, Clair and Schiehallion as producing fields there, and wants to drill the North Uist prospect.

The department is keen to see the area developed but is also wary of allowing BP and others to drill in deep water so soon after the Gulf of Mexico spill. BP has already withdrawn from a planned new licensing round off Greenland rather than risk being banned by the government in Nuuk.

The move to the Shetlands and Greenland are all part of a wider push towards the Arctic as oil companies are forced into increasingly environmentally sensitive areas as reserves in more accessible and less controversial locations.

Last week the Russian government held a major conference on the Arctic which is believed to be the home of one quarter of the world's resources of oil and gas at a time when global warming is breaking up the ice and making it easier to drill.

Russia, America and other countries are all pushing to have their sovereignty accepted by the United Nations amid fears of a a new cold war over this polar region.

Source:
The Guardian, "Shetland deepwater wells likely to be approved in face of Greenpeace action", accessed September 29, 2010