Coalition to allow first deepwater drilling in British waters since BP spill
Decision flies in the face of US and EU, who argue Gulf spill investigations should be completed first
The government today gave the go-ahead for the first deepwater drilling off Britain since the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, a move immediately condemned as irresponsible by Greenpeace.
The decision to allow Chevron to begin drilling flew in the face of the US and EU, who argue it would be foolish to press ahead with deepwater drilling until the independent reports into the Gulf spill have been completed.
Controversy over the move deepened as it emerged that Chevron, a US oil firm, is planning to use the same contractor and safety equipment partly blamed by BP for the Gulf disaster. Chevron has brought in Halliburton to do the cementing and will use a Cameron blowout preventer on its planned well, west of Shetland.
Both those companies were fiercely criticised in a recent report by BP into what went wrong when the Deepwater Horizon rig blew up, killing 11 men and causing the worst oil pollution in US history.
The contractor and equipment were named in documents filed by Chevron to the UK safety authorities before it obtained permission for its plans from Chris Huhne, the energy and climate change secretary.
Greenpeace said it was preparing legal action to halt an operation which it has already tried to disrupt by protesting on Chevron’s drill ship and then sending out swimmers in front of the vessel.
Greenpeace’s executive director, John Sauven, said: “A government claiming to be the greenest ever should be taking us beyond oil, but instead Chris Huhne is opening the door for the oil industry and inviting it to drill in ever more dangerous and difficult-to-reach places.
“Without waiting to learn the lessons from the Gulf of Mexico and without waiting for public and expert opinion, Huhne has made the bizarre decision that there is a low risk of harm from Chevron’s deep-sea drilling and there is no need for an environmental assessment of its effects.”
The US is continuing its ban on deepwater drilling, and the European energy commissioner, Günther Oettinger, has argued for the same moratorium in the North Sea.
The Department of Energy and Climate Change said there was a choice between the economic benefits of drilling for hydrocarbons in UK waters, where it said there was one of the most robust safety and regulatory regimes in the world, or paying to import oil and gas from overseas.
“All lessons learnt from [BP's Macondo well] have been applied to this well and steps have been taken to prevent the specific failures on Macondo. Close scrutiny of the well will continue, by the Health and Safety Executive, by DECC, and by Chevron itself,” it added in a statement.
Permission for Chevron is seen as opening the door to others, most controversially BP, which is also talking to the government about permission to operate in the deep waters of the Atlantic.
Chevron said it had done intensive preparation work: “We recognise and accept that we have an obligation to the UK public to ensure that vital energy resources are produced safely, reliably and without environmental harm.”
Loading ...