Environmental campaign group Greenpeace has threatened the U.K. government with legal action if further exploration and production licenses are issued in the Atlantic frontier area. Greenpeace said it considers the granting of licenses unlawful according to European Commission (EC) legislation.
The U.K.'s Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is preparing for the country's 19th offshore licensing round and expects to announce details "within the next few months." DTI said the new round would include acreage to the north and west of Scotland, where the Atlantic frontier region and the recently opened West of Shetland play lie.
Greenpeace said the EC habitats directive requires member states to protect species and habitats within their territorial waters, and that further exploration and production activity would threaten cetacean and coral species in the Atlantic frontier area.
DTI said the government is confident it has implemented the habitats directive correctly in U.K. law, and that its petroleum licensing regime takes full account of it.
A U.K. Offshore Operators Association official told OGJ that sound environmental management is not incompatible with offshore E&P activity: "Any oil industry activity along the Atlantic margin is subject to strict environmental controls under U.K. legislation and international conventions.
"Each stage of a development is dependent on an environmental assessment. This became law on Apr. 1, 1998, but environmental assessments were routinely carried out by operators before then."
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