'Oily' people greet Petroleum Summit diners

Thursday, 2 October 2014, 9:49 am
Press Release: Greenpeace New Zealand

‘Oily’ people greet Petroleum Summit diners

Auckland, 01 October 2104 – Greenpeace activists smeared in fake oil have greeted guests arriving at the part-Statoil sponsored Petroleum Summit dinner this evening.

Twenty-six activists, looking like they had swum through an oil spill, lined up outside the entrance to the Auckland Museum Event Centre and called on the Statoil to abandon its plans to drill for deep sea oil off the coast of New Zealand.

The Norwegian oil giant has been granted a 15-year exploration permit (1) for the Northland basin which lies off the coast of Ahipara beach. It will be looking to drill between 1,000 and 2,000 metres below the ocean surface.

“Kiwis don't want Statoil drilling off our coastlines risking our beaches and economy,” says Greenpeace NZ Chief Political Advisor Nathan Argent.

A computer oil spill modelling report (2), carried out by data scientists using industry standard data and released by Greenpeace last year, shows a deep-sea blowout could have devastating impacts on New Zealand's coastal waters and significant economic consequences.

“The Government does not have a mandate to open up our oceans and drill for oil. A majority of Kiwis want to see the government invest in cleaner, smarter energy.

Earlier today seven Greenpeace activists disrupted a speech by Energy and Resources Minister Simon Bridges at the start of the conference.

Seven activists displaying banners reading ‘No deep sea oil’ and ‘Stop Statoil’ and creating noise with alarms forced a delay as Mr Bridges was speaking to about 400 oil industry representatives.

Ends

1. http://www.statoil.com/en/about/worldwide/newzealand/Pages/default.aspx

2. http://www.greenpeace.org/new-zealand/en/press/Deep-sea-oil-blowout-could-decimate-favourite-kiwi-beaches/

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