Big Oil Big Bight
In a dry dock in South Korea, the world’s most expensive off-shore oil rig is about to set sail for Australia. The massive ‘Ocean Great White’ cost $755 million and was purpose built to drill deep into the earth’s crust while floating more than 2 km above the sea floor. This is ultra-deep well drilling and while the technology to keep the rig in place has advanced astronomically in the past 40 years, the technology for cleaning up the oil spills that regularly result from these high-risk activities, is still in the dark ages.
BP’s plans to drill for oil in the Great Australian Bight continue to proceed despite the assessment of their Environment Plan being stalled.
The company is required by regulation to consult with interested parties about the details of their project but the information stipulated under the act, that needs to be presented, is severely limited and some say insufficient for proper consultation.
Peter Owen has been directing the Wilderness Society’s campaign in South Australia to get information from the company and the regulator about the details of the project. He’s concerned that the whole process of consultation becomes meaningless when the company refuses to disclose what he says are vital details bout their project, without which the community cannot make informed decisions about the risks to the environment and their livelihoods.
Peter Owen, Director, The Wilderness Society South Australia.
