tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-913034329739494798.post829351075391956770..comments2024-03-28T07:13:18.810+00:00Comments on Farne Islands Uncovered: Off!Farneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15439476632001809170noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-913034329739494798.post-82533323454595236722011-02-04T13:39:34.923+00:002011-02-04T13:39:34.923+00:00Report in The Times this morning:
More than 180 m...Report in The Times this morning:<br /><br />More than 180 million gallons of oil could spill into the sea off Shetland and spread as far as the Norfolk coast after a blowout, according to an American company seeking to drill one of Britain’s deepest wells.<br /><br />A spill could last for more than ten weeks and involve almost as much oil as was lost from the BP Deepwater Horizon well in the Gulf Of Mexico last year. Hess, an oil exploration company based in New York, applied last month to the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) to drill a well called Cambo 4 west of Shetland.<br /><br />With supplies running out from the North Sea’s shallow oil and gas fields, prospectors are targeting deeper, rougher waters where it would be harder to cap and contain spills. Oil would also take longer to break down in the cold North Atlantic than in the Gulf of Mexico.<br /><br />The Times has obtained a copy of the environmental statement that Hess was obliged to produce with its application. The company said that its computer modelling system was unable to assess the consequences of a spill lasting more than ten days. The BP spill lasted 86 days.<br /><br />Hess suggested that even a ten-day spill of 37 million gallons could destroy seabird colonies across Shetland, Orkney and the Faeroes and pollute some of Scotland’s most important fisheries. It said that attempts to contain the slick “are unlikely to be effective” because of the heavy seas and high winds common in the area.<br /><br />The spill could even reach the coasts of Ireland, Norway, Germany and the Netherlands and spread down the North Sea into the Wash. The document said that the well would be protected by several systems, including a blowout preventer, the device that failed in the Gulf of Mexico disaster.<br /><br />Hess said the Shetland Islands and their colonies of seabirds, which are protected under the European Birds Directive, would bear the brunt of a spill.The DECC is expected to make a decision in the next few weeks and Chevron, Hess’s partner, is due to start drilling in May. The House of Commons energy and climate change select committee expressed concern last month that inadequate equipment and poor planning could delay attempts to cap a leaking well off Shetland. The DECC gave Chevron permission last September to drill a well west of Shetland and is considering two more applications for deep-water wells: Cambo 4 and another Chevron well called Aberlour. A department spokesman said that a review into Britain’s offshore oil and gas industry would begin “once the findings of the US Presidential Commission report [into the BP disaster] have been thoroughly analysed”.<br /><br />A Hess spokeswoman said: “The environmental statement allows experts, the DECC and the general public know the risks and understand the commitment we have to be prepared to respond to these risks.”Adrian Brocklesshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17495387348063798173noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-913034329739494798.post-51344294413212092932010-12-07T18:05:04.612+00:002010-12-07T18:05:04.612+00:00lovely pictures , aaaaw bought a tear to my eye , ...lovely pictures , aaaaw bought a tear to my eye , as you say LONG LIVE THE FARNES , so glad you have made it off and I wish you all a wonderful break , noone deserves it more and I do not think people realise just how hard it is out there , even I dont !!! you have my full admiration . Snow in Seahouses a first and I know you have been warden a few years David , so another first to add to the year along with sea eagles etc !!! Take care all and have a really wonderful fully deserved rest if that is possible . See you all 2011 xxkeziahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09441755345226504165noreply@blogger.com