Greenpeace's resistance to deepwater drilling in Shetland Islands, United Kingdom

Edimburgh court ordered Greenpeace to stop its direct action against the Chevron’s prospect for deepwater drilling. Greenpeace swimmers against a Chevron-chartered ship and expert climbers spent four days hanging off the ship.

Description:

The UK government in summer of 2010 gave permission for new deepwater drilling of the Shetland Islands. [1] US energy giant Chevron welcomed the ruling and was the first in line for permission to explore two prospects, with BP following. The international organization Greenpeace blamed the government "irresponsible", pointing to the BP disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, caused from reckless deep-water drilling. [2] Consequently Greenpeace started a new campaign of direct action using swimmers against a Chevron-chartered ship, Stena Carron, anchored in the Lerwick Harbour, tring to stop it to drill on the Lagavulin area prospect. On September 21, 2010, the campaigners, based on the Greenpeace protest ship Esperanza, attached the Stena Carron's anchors while it was moored in Bressay Sound: two expert climbers spent four days hanging off the ship Stena Carron. [3] One of them said: "Shetland is so beautiful and an oil spill here could devastate this area. It's time to go beyond oil. Our addiction is harming the climate, the natural world and our chances of building a clean energy future." [4] A Chevron spokesman said: "This kind of action is foolhardy and demonstrates that Greenpeace is willing to put its volunteers at risk to carry out such reckless publicity stunts and we are concerned for the safety of those involved.”

Basic Data

Name of conflict:	Greenpeace's resistance to deepwater drilling in Shetland Islands, United Kingdom
Country:	United Kingdom
State or province:	Shetland Island
Location of conflict:	Lagavulin well
Accuracy of location	HIGH (Local level)

Source of Conflict

Type of conflict. 1st level:	Fossil Fuels and Climate Justice/Energy
Type of conflict. 2nd level:	Oil and gas exploration and extraction
Specific commodities:	Crude oil

Project Details and Actors

Project details	The deep-water Lagavulin prospect is 160 miles north of the islands. See more Well 217/15-1z, on the Lagavulin prospect was spudded in October 2010 and drilled in 1,567 metres water depth. Total depth was reached on 10 June 2011. Hydrocarbons and a working petroleum system have been confirmed, however no workable reservoir system was found to be present at this location and the well will be plugged and abandoned. The well was drilled with the Stena Carron drillship. Faroe Petroleum, the independent oil and gas company focusing principally on exploration, appraisal and production opportunities in the Atlantic margin, the North Sea and Norway, announced ( 13-06-2011) that drilling has reached target depth on the Lagavulin exploration well (Faroe 10%), operated by Chevron, in the UK Atlantic Margin to the west of the Shetland Islands.[9] (See less)
Type of population	Unknown
Start of the conflict:	2010
Company names or state enterprises:	Chevron Polska Energy Resources Sp. z o.o. from United States of America Faroe Petroleum from United Kingdom
Relevant government actors:	The UK government; The Court in Edinburgh; Department of Energy and Climate Change (Decc)[1]
Environmental justice organizations (and other supporters) and their websites, if available:	Greenpeace international http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/

Conflict & Mobilization

Intensity	MEDIUM (street protests, visible mobilization)
Reaction stage	PREVENTIVE resistance (precautionary phase)
Groups mobilizing:	International ejos
Forms of mobilization:	Blockades Media based activism/alternative media Public campaigns

Impacts

Environmental Impacts	Potential: Oil spills, Surface water pollution / Decreasing water (physico-chemical, biological) quality, Large-scale disturbance of hydro and geological systems, Global warming, Reduced ecological / hydrological connectivity
Health Impacts	Potential: Accidents, Exposure to unknown or uncertain complex risks (radiation, etc…)

Outcome

Project Status	In operation
Conflict outcome / response:	Court decision (failure for environmental justice)
Do you consider this an environmental justice success? Was environmental justice served?:	No
Briefly explain:	Greenpeace's protest was useless to prevent the project, but they gave media visibility to this situation and following the Chevron's huge vessel on her way to the Lagavulin prospect, their protest delayed the start of the exploration for several days.[5]

Sources & Materials

References to published books, academic articles, movies or published documentaries

Arne Jernelöv , The Threats from Oil Spills: Now, Then, and in the Future, 24 August 2010
[click to view]

[1]Terry Macalister, Shetland deepwater wells likely to be approved in face of Greenpeace action, The Guardian, 27 September 2010
[click to view]

[2]BBC NEWS, Chevron gets Lagavulin drilling clearance off Shetland, 1 October 2010
[click to view]

[3]Greenpeace International, Activists stop Chevron deepwater drilling ship off the Shetland Islands, 21 September, 2010
[click to view]

[4]Press Association, Greenpeace activists tie themselves to anchor of Shetland oil-drilling ship, The Guardian, September 21, 2010
[click to view]

[5]Severin Carrell, Greenpeace claims activists could occupy Shetland oil-drilling ship for up to a month, The Guardian, September 22, 2010.
[click to view]

[6]BBC NEWS, Greenpeace swimmers end drill ship blockade, 29 September 2010
[click to view]

[7]Shetland News, Lagavulin well abandoned, 13 June 2011
[click to view]

[8]STANLEY REED, Chevron and North Sea Rivals Race to Keep an Oil Region Relevant, JUNE 2, 2015
[click to view]

[9]Worldoil, Chevron completes drilling on Lagavulin well, June 13, 2011
[click to view]

BBC News, Faroe Petroleum to abandon Lagavulin well, June 13, 2011
[click to view]

Severin Carrell, Chevron wins court order in bid to end Greenpeace oil protest, The Guardian, 24 September 2010.
[click to view]

Severin Carrell, Greenpeace claims activists could occupy Shetland oil-drilling ship for up to a month, The Guardian, September 22, 2010.
[click to view]

Richard Rogers, Greenpeace forced to end North Sea oil drilling protest, The Guardian, 26 September 2010
[click to view]

Caption contest: Big Ship

Blogpost by JulietteH - 27 September, 2010 at 14:57
[click to view]

We're out of the water, but it's not over

Blogpost by James - 29 September, 2010 at 21
[click to view]

Swimming against the tide - the things people do to stop deepwater drilling

Blogpost by Leila Deen - 28 September, 2010 at 11:30
[click to view]

Related media links to videos, campaigns, social network

Greenpeace UK, Attaching our survival pod to the Stena Carron, September 22, 2010.

"We've stepped up our action against the Chevron-operated drilling ship Stena Carron in the waters off Shetland where - in addition to climbers Victor and Anais on the anchor chain – a custom-built survival pod has been brought into play.

Two metres in diameter and weighing half a tonne, it's also been attached to the anchor chain. The drilling ship was due to leave shortly to drill exploratory deep water wells in the Lagavulin oil field - but now isn't going anywhere.

We're here to stop dangerous deep water drilling in UK waters, which resulted in the Gulf oil disaster earlier in the year. Greenpeace campaigner Leila is on hand to tell you more..."
[click to view]

Meta information

Contributor:	Myriam Bartolucci, EjAtlas internship researcher, [email protected]
Last update	18/08/2019
Conflict ID:	2226