By Celsias
Posted on Oct. 1, 2012. Listed in:
Energy companies should not drill for crude oil in Arctic waters because the environmental risks are too high, Total SA Chief Executive Officer Christophe de Margerie told the Financial Times on Wednesday.
The risk of an oil spill in such an environmentally sensitive area was simply too high, according to de Margerie.
"Oil on Greenland would be a disaster. A leak would do too much damage to the image of the company," he said.
Earlier this month, Gazprom OAO delayed the start of oil production at its Prirazlomnoye field, the first Russian Arctic offshore oil deposit to be developed, due to safety
Earlier this week, the British Parliamentary Committee called for a halt to Arctic drilling. The Chair of the Environmental Audit Committee issued this statement:
"The oil companies should come clean and admit that dealing with an oil spill in the icy extremes of the Arctic would be exceptionally difficult. The infrastructure to mount a big clean-up operation is simply not in place and conventional oil spill response techniques have not been proven to work in such severe conditions. Drilling is only currently feasible in the Arctic during a short summer window when it is relatively ice-free.
We heard compelling evidence that if a blow-out occurred just before the dark Arctic winter returned it may not be possible to cap it until the following summer - potentially leaving oil spewing out under the ice for six months or more with devastating consequences for wildlife"
Shell , however ,refuses to budge from its "money first "position . Although it called off efforts to drill into oil depths in the Arctic Ocean this year, the company is currently preparing for drilling next year by “top drilling” or inserting preparatory casings up to 1,500 feet into the floor of the Chukchi Sea.
Instead, in the ultimate of ironies Shell has actually taken Greenpeace International to court in Holland.
Shell is getting testy and says it wants to protect its $4.5 billion investment in the Arctic off the coast of the Arctic.
Shell claims that Greenpeace's actions and demonstrations “have gone well beyond the limits of acceptable protest.”
But it's great to see at least one international oil company acting responsibly in the Arctic.This responsible action is predicated not just on the risks of an oil spill which are a question of when , not if, but also on the basis that we consumers will not like their product if they proceed.
