Greenland to Canada: don''t worry, our offshore drilling rules best in world (Offshore-Drilling-Gre)
Greenlandic officials say exploration wells the territory plans for this summer in the Davis Strait will be drilled under some of the best regulations in the world _ rules that some say are significantly better than Canada´s.
"It´s far more onerous than what we have in Canada," said Craig Stewart of the World Wildlife Fund.
A Scottish oil company plans to drill four wells west of Greenland´s Disko Island and right next to Canadian waters and those are only the beginning. Greenland has sold exploration leases down almost the entire maritime border.
Federal Environment Minister Jim Prentice has said he plans to raise Canadian concerns at a meeting of Arctic environment ministers in Ilulisat, Greenland, next month.
But Mininnguaq Kleist, head of foreign affairs for Greenland´s self-rule government, said Canada has no cause for concern.
"We are also following and monitoring what is going on in the Gulf of Mexico and are very concerned about this," said Kleist, who was in Edmonton for an international conference on the Arctic.
"The way we will try to prevent such a thing from happening in our area _ if we find oil _ is to have the standards of the Nordic countries, where you have very high standards on the environment and the technology used."
Greenland´s drilling regulations are based on Norway´s, which has some of the highest standards in the world, Kleist said.
"(There) are two things that we have as a demand for companies that want to explore and exploit oil in Greenland _ that is to use the best available technology and (to) use the highest international standards."
Greenland´s rules are tough, said Stewart. Even before energy companies are allowed to bid on an offshore exploration lease, a thorough environmental assessment is done into what the possible consequences might be. The area being drilled this summer is already the subject of a 192-page public report.
That allows regulators to decide if development is appropriate at all, Stewart said.
In Canada, bureaucrats at the Northern Affairs Department decide which leases to put up for bids, usually at the suggestion of industry. Successful bidders promise to drill within five years.
Environmental assessments don´t come until after the bidding. Stewart said that means it´s assumed drilling will go ahead and the only thing left to consider are the conditions under which it happens.
"The discussion of what to lease and where to lease is done behind closed doors. It´s completely an industry-driven process."
As well, Stewart said, requirements for public hearings on environmental assessments have recently been watered down.
Kleist said that while support is strong in Greenland for offshore drilling, the Gulf of Mexico disaster has raised debate over the issue.
"We´re just as concerned as you are," he said. "We have no interest in an oil spill. We know it will destroy our environment and we don´t want that to happen."
He suggested politely that Canada look to its own backyard.
"Canada also has its activities on mineral resources and oil and gas, and there can be concerns there, too. We have to look at all the activities that all the nations have in our area and secure that a thing like the incident in the Gulf of Mexico does not happen in the Arctic region."
Read more: http://www.oilweek.com/news.asp?ID=28103#ixzz0pJsC3nkl
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