GREENPEACE ACTIVISTS BLOCKADE OIL EXPLORATION VESSEL IN BELFAST HARBOUR

HANDS OFF THE ATLANTIC FRONTIER: GREENPEACE ACTIVISTS BLOCKADE OIL EXPLORATION VESSEL IN BELFAST HARBOUR 22 January 1998 At 12.15 hours today, two Greenpeace activists inside a solar survival capsule prevented BP's new offshore oil exploration ship from leaving Belfast harbour for the Atlantic Frontier. In the first non-violent direct action against new oil exploration since the Kyoto summit on climate change (December 1997) the activists, supported by three inflatable boats and a team of eight including two divers, stopped the vessel Schiehallion from leaving port. Schiehallion, a Floating Production, Storage and Offloading vessel (FPSO), was to have sailed to the Atlantic Frontier (an area of ocean wilderness to the north of Ireland) to begin extracting new oil. Greenpeace said that it would not remove the blockade until the UK Government honoured its Kyoto summit pledge to take action to tackle climate change. Speaking from inside the solar survival capsule, Greenpeace activist Sarah said, "Climate change is caused by burning fossil fuels like oil. At a time when the world should be phasing out fossil fuels, the UK Government is actively encouraging the search for yet more. The message is clear, no new oil, the climate can't stand it". Greenpeace argues that far from licensing the search for more oil reserves, the Government should be investing in renewable energy to replace our reliance on fossil fuels. Renewable sources of energy, such as solar, are the key to enabling countries to meet their Kyoto summit pledges to cut emissions of carbon dioxide, the climate changing gas released when fossil fuels are burned. Today's action follows a year of protest over the Government's decision to licence oil exploration in the Atlantic Frontier. Throughout 1997, Greenpeace, the UK Government and oil companies battled over the licensing in the High Court, in Parliament and on the high seas. The process culminated in Greenpeace's August 1997 occupation of BP's Stena Dee oil platform, part of the company's Foinaven operation. Foinaven was the first FPSO to begin exploration in the area, Schiehallion was to be the second. As a result of the Stena Dee occupation, BP attempted to sue Greenpeace for stlg1.4 million and froze the assets of both the organisation and three individual members of staff. BP was ultimately forced to drop the legal action against Greenpeace in response to public pressure. Sarah said, "Greenpeace is calling on the Government to revoke current licences for new oil exploration in the Atlantic Frontier. It will fail its Kyoto promise if it does not. Until the Government takes action it falls to groups like Greenpeace to stop new oil production and protect the climate". The solar survival capsule used in the operation has been secured to the bottom of the harbour. It is solar powered and contains supplies to enable the activists to stay in place for a considerable time. The capsule is 6 foot long and 3 foot wide and was first used by Greenpeace when the organisation occupied Rockall, the tiny outcrop in the middle of the Atlantic Frontier. It is designed to withstand the worst storms that the Atlantic can produce and was home to three activists for a total of 48 days. Greenpeace occupied Rockall in June of last year as part of its campaign to stop new oil exploration in the area. The capsule was also used for the occupation of the Stena Dee platform. For Further Information Greenpeace Press Office on 0171 865 8255/6/7 or contact Mirella on 0410 392651 or Matilda on 0468 568365. Notes to correspondents: 1. Schiehallion was built by Harland & Wolff and is being blockaded inside the company's building docks. The vessel is 246 metres long with a breadth of 45 metres and a depth of 27 metres. The investors in the Schiehallion field are BP, Shell UK, Amerada Hess, Statoil, Murphy Petroleum and OMV (UK). Schiehallion is due to begin producing oil in June of this year. 2. The Kyoto climate summit in December 1997, brought world governments together to agree legally binding cuts in the emission of greenhouse gases, notably carbon dioxide. SCHIEHALLION - briefing paper The Schiehallion FPSO (Floating Production, Storage and Offloading vessel) has been built to extract new oil from British Petroleum's second oil field on the Atlantic Frontier - the Schiehallion field. The Schiehallion field lies approximately 100 miles due west of the Shetland Isles, adjacent to BP's Foinaven field, off the continental shelf, and in water depths down to between 350-450 metres. The field was discovered in 1993 and is expected to contain around 340million barrels of oil. At its peak Schiehallion will produce 154,000 barrels of oil per day. Oil will be extracted from below the seabed and pumped up to the ship through flexible pipes. Initially this oil will be stored on the ship (this FPSO has a storage capacity of 950,000 barrels of oil). Oil will then be offloaded to a shuttle tanker - the MV Loch Rannoch - and sent to the Sullom Voe oil terminal (Europe's largest) in Shetland. BP's partners in the Schiehallion field are Shell UK, Amerada Hess, Statoil, Murphy Petroleum and OMV (UK). BP have led the race for oil off Britain's west coast bringing 'first oil' from their Foinaven oil field (the first in the Atlantic Frontier) late in 1997. This first oil extraction was some 18months behind schedule due to a number of technical problems associated with the Foinaven FPSO - the Petrojarl Foinaven. The Schiehallion FPSO was built by Harland and Wolff in their Belfast ship yards. It is a massive vessel of 246 metres length and 45 metres breadth, with a depth of 27 metres. FPSO technology is the preferred means of extracting oil in areas such as the Atlantic Frontier, where very deep water and extremely harsh weather conditions dictate terms. Unfortunately for the marine environment, this technology remains relatively untested in such harsh conditions as those of the Atlantic Frontier. And it took a mere 13 days (9th December 1997) for BP's other Atlantic Frontier field (the first in the area), Foinaven, to spill oil into this near pristine marine environment. This first Atlantic Frontier oil spill coincided with world leaders meeting in Kyoto to decide how to tackle the urgent issue of human-induced climate change. Burning oil releases carbon dioxide, a principal greenhouse gas, causing climate change. Greenpeace believes that, as a starting point, to addressing this problem, Government and industry must begin a phase-out of fossil fuels and should start by leaving new sources of oil, like that at Schiehallion, in the ground. Decisions taken at Kyoto also reinforce Greenpeace's demands for a massive redeployment of resources and capital toward renewable sources of energy generation and fuels such as Wind, Wave and Solar power. John Prescott, Britain's Environment Minister, returned from the climate summit in Kyoto urging developing countries to not only meet their C02 reduction targets but to exceed them. He pledged to use Britain's presidency of the European Union and this year's G8 summit to do this. Britain has in effect pledged to lead the developing world in combating climate change by recommitting itself to achieving a reduction target of 20% on 1990 levels by 2010 - Kyoto agreed only a 5.2% overall target. Renewable energy generating technologies and fuels must be a key component of this government commitment. Mr Prescott need look no further then the European Union White Paper on Renewables for specific actions required in this area from the British Government. The major elements of the White Paper adopted by the European Commission in November 1997 are: A doubling from 6% to 12% of the share of renewable energies in total energy demand in the European Union by 2010. This means: A reduction in CO2 emissions of some 400 million tonnes of CO2. A publicly funded 4 billion ECU 'Campaign Take Off' to help commercialise key renewables such as solar photovoltaics and offshore wind. Under this campaign the White Paper calls for a 500,000 solar roof programme up to the year 2010. On a per capita basis this would mean Britain installing some 70,000 solar roofs as its contribution to this initiative. The generation of a stlg10 billion a year renewable export industry and the creation of at least half a million new jobs in Europe.
The UK will have an extremely influential role in the formal progress of the White Paper. Greenpeace believes it critical that the UK Government fully endorses the White Paper at the Energy Council meeting in May and urges other Member States to fully endorse its findings and proposed action plan.