The British Department for Energy and Climate Change has recently
released information confirming that out of the 4,123 separate oil
spills that have been reported in the North Sea since 2000, only seven
have actually resulted in fines for the offending company.
The seven fines between 2000 and 2011 came to a total of just £74,000. The largest fines of £20,000 were handed out to BP in 2002 for spilling 28,000 tonnes of diesel from its Forties Alpha platform, and to Total in 2003 for spilling six tonnes of diesel from its Alwyn North platform. As you can see the size of the spill seems to have little relation to the size of the fine, especially considering that the lowest fine was for £2,000, given to two companies, Venture North Sea Oil and Knutsen OAS Shipping, for spilling 20 tonnes of crude during a tanker transfer in 2007.
Vicky Wyatt, from Greenpeace, said that “ministers and oil companies can spout all the carefully crafted quotes they like to tell us how safe drilling at sea is. But while they're spouting these words, their rigs are all too often spouting oil into our oceans. The government should hit these companies who pollute the oceans in this way with meaningful fines. A few grand is not even a slap on the wrist for companies who pocket millions of pounds every hour. It's both staggering and wrong that some of these companies are now also drilling in the fragile and pristine Arctic, where a similar oil leak would be catastrophic.”
http://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/0.17-of-Oil-Spills-in-the-North-Sea-End-in-Fine.html
The seven fines between 2000 and 2011 came to a total of just £74,000. The largest fines of £20,000 were handed out to BP in 2002 for spilling 28,000 tonnes of diesel from its Forties Alpha platform, and to Total in 2003 for spilling six tonnes of diesel from its Alwyn North platform. As you can see the size of the spill seems to have little relation to the size of the fine, especially considering that the lowest fine was for £2,000, given to two companies, Venture North Sea Oil and Knutsen OAS Shipping, for spilling 20 tonnes of crude during a tanker transfer in 2007.
Vicky Wyatt, from Greenpeace, said that “ministers and oil companies can spout all the carefully crafted quotes they like to tell us how safe drilling at sea is. But while they're spouting these words, their rigs are all too often spouting oil into our oceans. The government should hit these companies who pollute the oceans in this way with meaningful fines. A few grand is not even a slap on the wrist for companies who pocket millions of pounds every hour. It's both staggering and wrong that some of these companies are now also drilling in the fragile and pristine Arctic, where a similar oil leak would be catastrophic.”
http://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/0.17-of-Oil-Spills-in-the-North-Sea-End-in-Fine.html
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