The Advertiser, 18 January 2015 |
BP p.l.c. is a British multinational oil and
gas company headquartered in London, UK.
It operates
in this country as BP Australia and Chevron.
On 11 October
2016 this multinational corporation announced it was not proceeding with its
exploration drilling programme in the Great
Australian Bight (GAB), offshore South Australia, in the foreseeable future.
It still owns
two oil/gas exploration leases in the GAB.
The Norwegian
multinational Equinor formerly Statoil Petroleum also holds two leases
in the same area and intends to drill an exploratory well in one of them by
October this year.
Last year in
October the Morrison Coalition Government
offered a new GAB acreage S18-1
for lease, with bids closing on 21 March 2019.
So it is well
to remember how Big Oil views Australia…….
Coastal towns would
benefit from an oil spill in the pristine Great Australian Bight because the
clean up would boost their economies, energy giant BP has claimed as part of
its controversial bid to drill in the sensitive marine zone.
BP, which has since withdrawn
the drilling plan, also told a federal government agency that a diesel spill
would be considered “socially acceptable”.
BP made the statements
in an environment plan submitted to the National Offshore Petroleum Safety and
Environmental Management Authority in March 2016.
The company had been
seeking to drill two wells off the South Australian coast, raising fears of an
environmental disaster akin to BP's 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in
the Gulf of Mexico.
Documents obtained under
Freedom of Information laws, first
published by London-based website Climate Home News, showed the
government authority had identified serious shortcomings with BPs environment
plan.
In a letter to BP, the
authority said a number of statements should be removed or supported by
analysis. They included BP's claim that “in most instances, the increased
activity associated with cleanup operations will be a welcome boost to local
economies”.
BP also claimed it had
not identified any social impacts arising from the event of a diesel spill and
“since there are no unresolved stakeholder concerns ... BP interprets this
event to be socially acceptable”.
In 2016, BP released
modelling showing a spill could hit land as far away as New South
Wales. The letters revealed that BP’s “worst case shoreline oiling scenario
predicts oiling of 650km coastline at 125 days after the spill, increasing to
750km after 300 days”. Nopsema had raised concerns over BP’s ability to
mobilise the people and equipment needed to clean up such a vast expanse of
coast.
BACKGROUND
Greenpeace, Crude Intentions: Exposing the risks of drilling and spilling in the Great Australian Bight [48 page PDF]
ABC
News, 14
November 2018:
If an oil spill happened
in the Great Australian Bight, it could reach as far east as Port Macquarie's
beaches, two thirds of the way up the New South Wales coast, according to a
leaked draft environment plan obtained by the ABC.
Under a "worst
credible case discharge" scenario, more than 10 grams of oil per square
metre could wash up on some of Australia's coasts, according to the document
authored by Norwegian oil company Equinor.
Maps show coastal areas
that could potentially be impacted, from above Sydney to Albany in Western
Australia.
Environmental group
Greenpeace, which obtained the leaked draft Oil Pollution Emergency Plan, said
it was the first time modelling had shown an oil spill could reach so far....
BACKGROUND
Greenpeace, Crude Intentions: Exposing the risks of drilling and spilling in the Great Australian Bight [48 page PDF]
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