Six Greenpeace activists have boarded a Russian offshore
oil rig in protest over gas and oil exploration in the Arctic.
The activists, which include the organisation's executive
director, reached the Prirazlomnaya platform by speedboat early on Friday. They
say they have enough supplies to last several days.
The group says drilling plans by Russian energy giant
Gazprom are "dangerous" and should be abandoned. It says the company - which operates the
Prirazlomnaya platform - has an inadequate plan for dealing with any oil spill
in the fragile environment.
The activists travelled by inflatable speedboats from a
nearby Greenpeace vessel and used ropes and ladders to climb up mooring lines,
the group said in a statement seen by CRS.
They are now hanging off the platform on small portable ledges, out of
reach of its workers.
Greenpeace claims they have "interrupted
operations" at the platform.
Speaking on board the platform, Greenpeace International' s Executive
Director Kumi Naidoo said it was "not a question of if an oil spill will
happen, but when. The only way to prevent a catastrophic oil spill from
happening in this unique environment is to permanently ban all drilling
now," he said.
Gazprom is due to be the first company to begin
commercial oil production in the offshore Arctic, with drilling to begin next
year. Earlier this month, Greenpeace
claimed Gazprom's oil spill response plan went out of date in July and says
that - according to the Russian Ministry of Emergency - the company has not
submitted or approved a new one. Gazprom was not immediately available for
comment.
The far North is seen by many oil and gas companies as
the next frontier for fossil fuel exploration.
Last year, the US Geological Survey estimated the Arctic could be home
to 30% of the world's undiscovered natural gas reserves and 13% of its
undiscovered oil. But environmental
campaigners have warned that the harsh conditions in the Arctic could hamper
any emergency response in the case of an oil spill.
Greenpeace has previously occupied vessels operated by
Shell and Cairn Energy over this issue.
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