With David Knott from London
DISPOSAL TRAP STILL SET AFTER SPAR BATTLE
Shell U.K. Exploration & Production's decision to dispose of the derelict Brent spar loading buoy onshore has made every U.K. offshore operator look to its own abandonment plans.
Shell bowed to environmentalists' pressure against its plan to dump the structure offshore (OGJ, June 26, p. 21).
A typically cautious public reaction is that of John Browne, chief executive designate of British Petroleum Co. plc, who said his company needed time to think over its position on platform disposal.
"BP has some deepwater platforms in the North Sea," Browne said, "but for us the abandonment issue doesn't arise until the next century. Meanwhile we will keep the issues in mind as platform abandonments come forward."
Despite criticism from mainland European governments, the U.K. Department of Trade & Industry has decided not to change its policy on abandonment and says it will continue to consider cases on their individual merits.
This leaves Britain's operators, three fourths of whom are expected to have to abandon installations during the next 10 years, to negotiate the same treacherous waters as Shell on the way to disposal (OGJ, Mar. 20, P. 31).
SHELL'S VIEW
Shell's battles with Greenpeace and the U.K. government have generated the largest amount of general media coverage on an oil industry issue since the Exxon Valdez oil spill of 1989.
This coverage has seen Shell accused of everything from naivety to environmental negligence. Boycotts of Shell service stations have significantly, hit Shell revenues in Europe.
Having digested the various views of its critics, Shell said that, perversely, reversal of its decision in the face of mounting violence and lack of European political support has at last generated public interest in its scientific case.
"Previously," Shell said, "it has been a struggle to have this heard against an emotional and inaccurate campaign packaged in ready to use soundbites. Support for deepwater disposal has now had a far better hearing. There is more widespread acceptance of our view that such difficult decisions require a careful balance of all factors, including safety, health, costs, and engineering complexity, and cannot be based only on the single issue of emotive environmentalism."
AFTERMATH
Shell also said issues that will remain for some time are whether:
- European businesses have the agreed European political framework, a prerequisite for all their operations.
- Extreme tactics adopted by single-issue pressure groups are truly a valuable contribution to the democratic process.
"These will remain fundamental questions for everyone, long after the spar is disposed of," the company said.
Michael Cloughley, executive secretary of London's Oil Industry International Exploration & Production Forum, believes one effect of the Brent spar battle is to make disposal an international issue.
"Industry's concern is that there are conventions that allow offshore disposals, but a number of countries are saying something different," Cloughley said.
