GREENPEACE ACTION AT BP HEADQUARTERS IN HAMBURG
Greenpeace calls for BP to stop oil production at the new "Foinaven" field in the Atlantic
Hamburg, Germany 15 August 1997.
Since 9:45 this morning, twenty Greenpeace activists have been protesting at BP's national headquarters in Hamburg against the oil company's exploitation of the new "Foinaven" oil field in the northeastern Atlantic area west of the Shetland Islands. At the main entrance, a banner with the slogan "BP is destroying the climate - hands off new oil fields" warns that the burning of new oil reserves would drastically change global climate. A balloon encompassing a volume of 70 cubic meters graphically depicts the amount of CO2 gas that is released when only 50 liters of oil are burned.
Greenpeace calls for BP to stop its exploitation of the Foinaven oil field and to push for wider use of solar energy. Greenpeace activists are currently still blocking the towing of a mobile oil rig, the "Stena Dee", to Foinaven where the first production of oil in this region is supposed to start.
"BP was the first oil company to recognise that it can no longer ignore the changing climate", said Jan Rispens, Greenpeace oil expert. "If BP is to behave responsibly, as its management would like us to believe, then it has to act now. But BP managers are producing nothing more than hot air. When BP exploits new oil reserves, it actively promotes destruction of the climate. Every single liter of oil that is burned will heat the atmosphere."
Greenpeace has been protesting for two months against the exploitation of new oil reserves in the Atlantic Frontier. For several weeks the environmental organisation has been hindering seismic research ships that sound out where oil reserves lie under the seabed. Since last Saturday, Greenpeace actions have brought public attention to the fact that the Stena Dee is being towed to the Foinaven field. BP wants to use the Stena Dee to complete the last stages of work that will connect oil wellheads at a depth of 500 meters to the mother ship, a floating oil platform. The project is already one year behind schedule.
BP will have invested 1.6 billion D-marks (about one billion dollars) in the Foinaven project. In contrast, it has invested only 190 million D-marks (about 120 million dollars) in its solar projects until now. "As long as there are such glaring differences in how investments are made, we won't take any statements by BP management seriously that they understand the significance of global climate change," said Rispens.
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
Jan Rispens: (mobile) ++49-171-3569-123 or -103 Photos: ++49-40-30618-376/7