Greenpeace has won the right to challenge BP’s right to drill for oil in the Vorlich field after claiming the UK Government was wrong to grant the super major’s permit.
The environmental campaign group claims the permit approved by the Oil and Gas Authority in August 2018 is invalid because it was not published for public scrutiny, meaning no one could object to its environmental impact.
Greenpeace itself ended up in court after its activists blocked BP’s rig bound or the Vorlich field, 150 miles off Aberdeen, last June. It was forced to abandon its voyage to the field which is expected to yield up to 20,000 barrels of oil a day.
Rig operator Transocean has accused Greenpeace of being in contempt of court by continuing with its protest after a court interdict ordering it to stop.
The charity’s UK executive director John Sauven said: “All the evidence tells us that if companies like BP keep on hunting for new oil it will drive us deeper into the climate emergency.
“Yet the government still decided to rubber stamp BP’s request to drill for new oil regardless of the consequences and the legality of the process.
“Greenpeace will now seek to get BP’s drilling permit quashed. BP needs to stop fuelling the climate emergency, which is threatening the safety of our planet and putting lives at risk.”
BP and the UK Government have previously declined to comment on the case.
