Environmental campaigners reject Shell’s Brent decommissioning plans

Environmental groups have rejected Shell’s plans to decommission the Brent oilfield in the North Sea.

They claim the oil giant’s proposals contain “insufficient information” and could breach international rules.

Shell has lodged plans with the UK Government’s Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy to decommission four of its platforms, and wants to leave the concrete legs of three of the giant structures on the seabed.

The firm said the safety risks associated with trying to remove them outweigh “minimal environmental benefit”. A 60-day consultation on the proposals ended last night.

WWF Scotland, Greenpeace UK, the Marine Conservation Society, Friends of the Earth Scotland, Kimo, Whale and Dolphin Conservation, the Scottish Wildlife Trust and RSPB Scotland submitted a joint response.

WWF Scotland director Lang Banks said: “Despite over 3,000 pages of documentation, it has not been possible to come to a view on Shell’s decommissioning proposal due to insufficient information being provided by the company across several key areas.

“The internationally-agreed Ospar rules set out very clear criteria and procedures for operators to follow in carrying out such assessments, but we do not believe they have not been fully adhered to in this case.

“The material presented cannot be clearly cross-referenced to the Ospar requirements, meaning we cannot assess whether or not there is a solid case for the derogations sought by Shell.

“We are therefore left with no choice but to reject Shell’s plans in their current state and have asked for key further information in order to adequately assess their proposals.”

Ospar is the mechanism by which governments cooperate to protect the marine environment in the north-east Atlantic.

“Shell welcomes the feedback which has been received from stakeholders and members of the public during the 60-day public consultation period for the Brent field,” a Shell spokeswoman said.

“The consultation concludes today and, over the coming weeks, we will continue to review and respond to the comments received.”

One of the Brent structures.