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Opposition to oil and gas proposal near west Wales coast

Applications by companies to explore for oil and gas close to the west Wales coast have been condemned by environmentalists.

Earlier this year, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) invited companies to apply for offshore oil and gas licences in numerous areas around the British coast.[1] As a result, three applications have been received to drill in an area that extends from Strumble Head northwards into the Irish Sea and eastwards almost to the Cardiganshire coast.[2]

Friends of the Earth Cymru spokesperson, Gordon James, said:

"It's unbelievable that an area that is so important for wildlife and tourism could even be considered by the government for this sort of damaging activity. The Irish Sea and Cardigan Bay are renowned for their dolphin, porpoise, seal and seabird populations.

"Part of the area being offered has been designated as a Special Area of Conservation under the Habitats Directive in recognition of its environmental importance. As such, it is meant to be legally protected but it appears that the DTI has scant regard for such considerations.

"And with climate change, which is caused mainly by the burning of oil, coal and gas, now being recognised as such a serious problem we should be developing cleaner forms of energy rather than threatening important wildlife areas by trying to extract more of these fuels from under the sea bed.

"Many people will be shocked that, in this age of growing environmental awareness, the government seems to be encouraging this unnecessary and damaging activity so close to the magnificent west Wales coastline.

The Special Area of Conservation status of the area means that the applications will now be subject to an Appropriate Assessment of the environmental impacts by the DTI before licences for exploration and extraction can be granted. Friends of the Earth Cymru, however, are sceptical of this process.

Gordon James continued:

"A thorough assessment of environmental impacts should have been done before licence applications were offered. If the DTI now turns around and says that drilling would be unacceptable, the companies could claim that they have wasted valuable time and effort submitting the applications. We fear that these internal assessments, which will not necessarily be made available for public consultation, will merely rubber stamp the applications.

"We fought a major campaign on this issue over a decade ago. This culminated in the British government being forced to comply with EC legislation relating to offshore oil and gas operations as a result of a complaint being made jointly by Friends of the Earth Cymru and Friends of Cardigan Bay."

Notes

[1] 24th Seaward Licensing Round for oil and gas exploration and extraction - see http://www.og.dti.gov.uk/upstream/licensing/24_rnd/index.htm

[2] The areas are Blocks 107/21, 107/22 and 106/30. A map of these can be found at: http://www.og.dti.gov.uk/upstream/licensing/24_rnd/24_offerWOB.pdf