Legal threat over oil drilling move

Environmental campaigners have said they are threatening the Government with legal action because of oil drilling in UK waters.

Greenpeace accused ministers of granting licences for deep-sea drilling off the UK coast before the causes of the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico had been properly established.

Lawyers for the environmental group have written to the Government calling for it to stop the UK licensing process for new offshore oil exploration and production and to consult on a new environmental assessment of deep-water drilling.

Greenpeace said the Government's actions in continuing with licensing for new offshore drilling without a new environmental assessment breaks European and UK law, and is "irrational".

If the Government does not give an undertaking within 14 days that it will stop the licensing and consult on a new environmental assessment, Greenpeace said it will apply for a judicial review of the decision.

Four Greenpeace climbers have just spent nearly 48 hours protesting on an Arctic oil rig operated by a British company. They ended their occupation because of strong winds and freezing conditions.

The campaigners said they hope their protest on the rig, which stopped drilling for two days, will mean Cairn Energy will struggle to meet the deadline to complete exploration in the area off Greenland before winter ice forces an end to work until next year.

John Sauven, Greenpeace executive director, said: "Our climbers have stopped this rig from drilling in the fragile Arctic for two days and this is just the start of a long campaign. The world needs to go beyond oil but here in the UK the Government is waving through applications for for new drilling as if the Deepwater Horizon explosion never happened.

"The Gulf of Mexico disaster was a game-changer, so ministers should suspend new deep-water licences and companies like Cairn Energy must stop dangerous drilling in the Arctic and start investing in clean alternatives instead."

A spokeswoman for the Department of Energy and Climate Change said: "We are carefully considering the points made by Greenpeace. However, we believe we have a robust regulatory regime and, for the 26th licensing round, we have complied and will continue to comply with all the required environmental processes."