Greenpeace’s legal action to block production from the Ithaca Energy and BP Vorlich oilfield in the North Sea has been turned down by Scotland’s highest court in a decision strongly welcomed by OGUK, which represents the UK’s offshore oil and gas industry.
Development of the field, estimated to hold about 30m barrels of oil, was approved by the government in 2018. It lies 240km east of Aberdeen in the central North Sea. It was developed by BP in partnership with Ithaca Energy at a cost of £230m and has been producing oil for nine months already.
Greenpeace wanted to halt production, arguing that failures in the public consultation process deprived it of the opportunity to object to the original application.
The judgment, by Lord Carloway, Lord Justice General of Scotland, head of the Scottish judiciary, was hailed by OGUK as a victory for common sense and, more practically, for the UK’s energy security.
The ruling, given in writing, rejected Greenpeace’s claim that a lack of warning about the development application for Vorlich gave it no chance to object. 'As a leading environmental watchdog [Greenpeace] ought to have been well aware of the legal mechanisms available in order to mount a challenge. They did not use these mechanisms.'
Lord Carloway also dismissed Greenpeace’s claims that allowing fields like Vorlich to produce oil and gas would boost consumption and so accelerate climate change. He said: 'It is not maintained that the exploitation of the Vorlich field would increase, or even maintain, the current level of consumption. Unless it did so, it is difficult to argue that it would have any material effect on climate change.'
Source: OGUK
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