Press release – 6 October, 2016Today’s announcement of a new oil exploration permit off South Australia – and the prospect of several other oilfields opening up – heightens the debate over BP’s controversial 2016 drilling plans in the Great Australian Bight.“If Karoon goes ahead, an oil spill from their permit area would pollute the coasts of Kangaroo Island and Port Lincoln even faster than a spill from BP’s proposed rig. Unbelievably, the permit area also overlaps with marine reserves.”
“The Great Australian Bight should not be for sale. Yet BP, Statoil, Chevron, Murphy, Santos, Bight Petroleum and now Karoon are gearing up to turn precious natural heritage on our doorstep into the next Gulf of Mexico. Any of the 15 or more planned oil rigs could be the next Deepwater Horizon.”
He concluded: “The Great Australian Bight cannot become the next Gulf of Mexico or the Niger Delta. The regulators don’t seem to be accounting for this, or the cumulative effects of a fully developed oil province.”
“We have to stop this lunatic oil grab now, starting with the first offenders: BP.”
Download Karoon Gas’ own press release here.