Oil find only 200 kms away from Canaries

Opposition against oil exploration remains strong in the Canary islands despite the latest discovery of oil off Morocco. Island Connections reports:

Moroccan oil find 'changes nothing' in Canaries, says government

News of the discovery of oil off Morocco in no way changes the opposition of the Canarian people to drilling in the waters off the islands, says the regional government. 

Image: Archive Lagomera1.blogspot.com

Canary Islands - 22.10.2014 

- Details emerged yesterday of what appears to be a major find by Genel Energy off Morocco and the news has, unsurprisingly, triggered conflicting views in the Canaries. While supporters of the drilling planned for waters off Lanzarote and Fuerteventura later this year say the find, which still has to be confirmed with further testing of the well, makes the explorations here of even greater interest, opponents say it changes nothing. "This is not the first time we have heard this type of news, which is often put out for stock market interests. The risks involved in the drilling there are not as serious as in the Canaries, which is why we will continue to oppose the plans" said regional president Paulino Rivero, who insisted that the stance taken by the government was "a matter of convictions" and not opportunism. Rivero called on Morocco to take the "strictest measures" to ensure the extraction of any oil found is carried out with full environmental guarantees. 

First oil explorations to last 100 days

The 'Rowan Renaissance' as seen by opponents (click)

The first two oil explorations in waters near the Canary Islands in an exploration area just about 40 miles east of the popular holiday resorts of Lanzarote and Fuerteventura have been allowed by the Madrid government for a duration of 45 days each and the rest of the time of a maximum total of 100 days will be needed for repositioning the rig. These facts came to light when the obligatory enviromental impact study was published a couple of weeks ago. This also revealed that depending on the outcome of the initial sampling further exploratory drilling will be allowed at another site nearby for 180 days as this will be in very deep waters. The vessel to be hired by Spanish oil giant REPSOL to carry out the drilling is called 'Rowan Renaissance'', an exploration vessel which recently had to abandon drilling off Namibia due to problems with ship's the blow-out preventer. 

There is strong opposition to oil drilling in the Canary Islands and 72% of the population are opposed to exploration leading to many thousands taking to the streets in protest recently. About 200.000 have already signed the main petition against oil, which is sponsored by nearly 50 organisations. Many individual celebrities, politicians, entire councils and the Canarian government are also opposed to oil drilling here and all are calling for a referendum on the issue, which the Madrid government insists they're not entitled to hold. The debate is heating up daily...

Anti-oil demonstrations on all Canary Islands tonight

Click to enlarge

Many organisations, trade unions, political parties, local authorities, artists and public figures have called on the public to support the demonstrations against planned oil exploration near the eastern islands and to demand a referendum on the issue. The peaceful demonstrations will take place on all islands including tiny La Graciosa tonight, Saturday June 7th, at 6pm. The demonstrations will call for a referendum on the issue and also for more support for tapping sustainable, renewable clean energy which the islands have in abundance. The mottos of the demonstrations tonight will be 'one single voice against prospecting' and 'Canaries Say No'. Recent opinion polls have shown that more than 70% of the Canarian population are opposed to oil exploration in the vicinity of these islands.
UPDATE Sunday June 8th, 2014:
There was a massive turnout last night and tens of thousands of people took to the streets. Members of the Canarian government such as the president and the vice president joined the protesters.There were secondary demonstrations in mainland Spain and as far away as New York and Berlin in support of the Canarian demand for a referendum on oil exploration. On small La Gomera it is estimated that up to 800 people took part.