UK oil firm Cairn Energy is betting big on new riches pouring forth from the Arctic, but campaigners see the venture as a dangerous gamble with the environment

Following BP’s Gulf of Mexico oil spill, environmental campaigners have made Arctic drilling a key battleground – with the west coast of Greenland the frontline in a fight to turn public opinion against British oil and gas firm Cairn Energy.

Twice this year Greenpeace protesters have tried to delay drilling off the Greenland coast by boarding Cairn vessels, prompting the company to obtain a court injunction imposing whopping £1.76m-a-day fines.

Commentators are questioning the tactic, however, noting a history of bad publicity backfiring against extractive companies perceived to be squashing individuals and organisations trying to express their views. At issue is not whether Cairn has the right to pursue a court remedy, says Dan Litvin, of the sustainability consulting company Critical Resource.

These sorts of injunctions could make it difficult for activists to do a lot of direct protests, Litvin says. “But the main point is there’s a bigger picture here which is the long-term debate about drilling in Greenland and the Arctic.” He argues that the only thing that will solve that is engagement and – wherever possible – taking on board the legitimate points made by some of the activists.

One of the activists’ demands – the publication of the company’s spill response plan – is a legitimate area for discourse given the distrust that will arise if information of this sort is kept private, Litvin argues.

Cairn says Greenland authorities require the plan to be kept confidential, citing Greenland’s Bureau of Minerals and Petroleum website.

“If you did publish a response plan for the Arctic, it would be immediately revealed that there is no way you could clean up a spill that would not result in enormous environmental damage,” counters Greenpeace’s Charlie Kronick.

Cairn’s response plan includes the hiring of two state-of-the-art drilling vessels and some of the world’s leading iceberg and ice management operators. Cairn’s Ellie Goss says the plan mirrors those of the most stringent regulations required of Norwegian North Sea operators, but specifics on how Cairn would actually attempt a cleanup in the event of an oil spill are not available.

Cairn is thought to be paying $500,000 a day to hire the Leiv Eiriksson, one of the largest oil platforms in the world, and is reported to have invested about $1bn in drilling operations to be performed over the next two years. 

And then more drilling?

The stakes could not be higher – for Cairn and the industry as a whole. This is the first such venture in years and if the operation proves successful, others will soon follow. Though a 2008 US Geological Survey projects a mammoth 52bn barrels of oil equivalent, only a fraction of that is likely to be exploited at economically viable costs.

Moreover, the BP Macondo disaster has rightly focused attention on the risks of deepwater drilling in the Arctic – a region with extreme climates that make the Gulf of Mexico look like a walk in the park.

For now, at least, the time for dialogue seems over. “I did this because Arctic oil drilling is one of the defining environmental battles of our age,” said Greenpeace executive director Kumi Naidoo, moments after his arrest for scaling yet another Cairn oil rig.

The action came exactly one week after the injunction, a legal move that – at least for now – seems not to have accomplished its objective.

 



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November 2012, New Orleans

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