UK authorities have endorsed plans of Anglo-Dutch energy giant Shell to leave oil rig parts in the North Sea that are set to be decommissioned in the near future, despite German objections, Greenpeace UK’s journalism project Unearthed said.
Hundreds of oil and gas rigs in the North Sea are expected to be decommissioned in the coming years, according to Greenpeace’s investigative journalists. A national audit estimated that taxpayers would have to foot a $31 billion bill as a result.
In a letter to her UK counterpart, German Environment Minister Svenja Schulze said on January 21 she was “concerned to find there are no plans for disposal on land despite the fact that technical possibilities are available.”