NZ deep water oil drilling should be placed on hold

The Greens are calling on the Government to place on hold the proposed deep water oil drilling program in the Great South Basin until the oil industry identifies the exact cause of the US oil catastrophe, explains how it can be prevented from happening again, and demonstrates that it can plug oil wells in deep water.

“The disaster in the United States shows that the deep water oil drilling industry has not solved the environmental and safety issues involved. Yet we are rushing to drill in deep water to the south of New Zealand,” Green Party Co-leader Dr Russel Norman said.

Six weeks after the environmental catastrophe began, President Obama is warning the American public that the Deepwater Horizon oil leak may continue for another three months. The White House has described the ongoing oil spill as the biggest environmental disaster the US has ever faced.

The New Zealand Government has initiated an oil drilling exploration programme in the deep waters of the Great South Basin.

“The Great South Basin is home to marine mammals and sensitive marine ecosystems that would be damaged by a ‘Deepwater Horizon’ type oil catastrophe. We can’t put that environment at risk with a headlong rush into deep water oil drilling,” Dr Norman said.

“The Government needs to put the deep water oil drilling program on hold until the oil companies can show that:

• They know exactly what went wrong with Deepwater Horizon;
• They can ensure that it won’t happen again; and
• That if it does ever happen again, they have the ability to plug the well.

“It is environmentally reckless to start a deep water oil drilling program in one of the most important ecological regions on the planet when the oil companies don’t know how to plug deep water oil wells if anything goes wrong,” Dr Norman said.