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. 

Shock news from Madrid on Canarian holiday

While the Canary Islands were celebrating and enjoying the bank holiday weekend of yesterday's Dia de Canarias, the Canarian show of national/regional pride within  a  Spanish state which 'conquista-ed' the archipelago about 500 years ago, there was the shock announcement of the Madrid Ministry for the Environment that they'll have no objections to dangerous oil exploration by the Spanish multi-national company REPSOL. This oil company is one of the very largest in the world and wants to drill for oil just less than 60 kms east off the Canary islands of Lanzarote and Fuerteventura. 

Yesterday's protest 'Canaries Say No' (Source: gomeratoday,com)

There has been massive protest by the Canarian people and their government against such oil drilling and prospecting which the Spanish Ministry for the Environment  now has supported - down to depths of  between 800 and 5.000 metres. Some of the area affected is just 40 miles east of the popular holiday islands of Lanzarote and Fuerteventura. There is massive opposition all over the Canaries against the now possible oil exploration. Further, Morrocco is exploring for oil just east of the area and has been warned-off by Canarian officials. The latest news of a 'carte-blanche' from the  Madrid ministry for the environment for a Spanish multinational oil company on the eve of the  Canaries' national' holiday has met with consternation and anger in the Canarian archipelago. The Canarian people fear that oil drilling will affect tourism, the environment could even further stifle investment in property. There were protests yesterday at the main festive act of the Dia de Canarias adressed the Canarian president and clashes with police  The Canary Islands keep stating that they have endless renewable energy to be developed yet, and neighbouring El Hierro will very soon be the  first island to be totally self-sufficient with 100% renewable energy.

Click  image to go to petition !

Yesterday's protests well attended

The protests against oil exploration between the Canary islands and Morocco were well attended on all the islands yesterday. The largest protest was on Gran Canaria with over 5.000 people forming a chain. Here on La Gomera about 150 people joined hands against oil drilling and for renewable energies, first along the beach of the island's capital San Sebastian. Later on a huge circle was formed around the town's historic Torre del Conde, a symbol of the Spanish conquest of the Canaries:

Yesterday's human chain circle in protest against oil exploration (Image: gomeranoticias.com)

Oil referendum in doubt

The Canarian government and its president Paulino Rivero still want the people of the islands to have the final say in whether oil companies like the Spanish-owned multinational Repsol should be allowed to begin exploration work off Fuerteventura and Lanzarote later this year. Rivero, supported by most local administrations including the government of La Gomera, believes an oil industry would have a serious impact on the environment and adversely affect tourism. The current Spanish government insists that here is no potential harm involved and oil would be of notable economic benefit for the Canary Islands. 

A referendum proposal had been tabled by an MP from the Canaries during last Thursday's meeting of the Energy and Industry Committee but it was rejected by a majority of 24 to 15. The Canarian government must now decide whether to risk legal action against it if it goes ahead as promised with its plans for the oil referendum, which Madrid has repeatedly said it is constitutionally not entitled to hold.

Oil Find Near Canary Islands

Anglo-Turkish oil exploration and production company Genel Energy have confirmed an oil find off the Moroccan coast about 100 km east of Fuerteventura in the Juby Maritime exploration area near Tarfaya. The company is exploring the area in a joint venture with Scottish Cairn Energy with a 25% stake held by the Moroccan state office for hydrocarbons and mines (ONHYM), and they are hoping to have discovered a well with a potential of producing 70 million barrels of oil. However, it is still unclear if this can be exploited as the oil is in depths of more than 3000 metres.

Oil rig passing La Gomera yesterday © GomeraToday

The Canarian government meanwhile wants to keep their promise of holding a referendum on the issue of oil exploration in its waters, despite opposition from the Spanish national government, and have stated today that the announced oil find only makes the referendum more urgent. They are also demanding the highest possible environmental guarantees from the Moroccan neighbours, and a withdrawal of exploration licences for Spanish oil giant Repsol who are planning to start drilling close to the area of the new find. A Canarian spokesman has also said that oil finds were announced several times before over the years without any oil ever having actually been produced. Just two kilometres from the current find Esso discovered a well in 1968, but it never produced any oil.
The issue is being hotly discussed in the Canaries with some hoping for jobs and new prosperity and saying that tourism and oil production could live side by side as was the case in Scotland, Norway and some Mediterranean countries - while many remain opposed, pointing to the grave dangers of oil drilling in such depths and stating that very little economic benefit may be felt in the Canary Islands.

The local government of La Gomera has voted to support a referendum on the issue recently. As if to illustrate the issue a huge oil rig was seen being towed past the coast of La Gomera yesterday.
UPDATE March 15th 2014:
Moroccan state agency ONHYM who hold a 25% share in the exploration have stated that oil has not yet been discovered and that the news of an oil find was due to a 'misunderstanding'. What was discovered was a layer of heavy oil or oil-rich sediment which would prove very difficult to extract however. 
UPDATE March 22nd 2014:
Cairn and Genel stated that they have capped and abandoned the oil well. They are saying that more time is needed to analyse and determine the quality of the discovered oil. Moroccan ONHYM already said that the oil reserves discovered in a band some 100 metres thick in Upper Jurassic deposits was not of good quality, Cairn and Genel will have to determine if or where to explore the area further.

Oil referendum row hots up

IslandConnections.eu reports:

The Canarian government's decision to call a referendum on the controversial plans for an oil industry in the islands is a non-starter, according to Madrid, which says it has no jurisdiction in the matter.

 Deputy prime minister Soraya Saez de Santamaría attacked the announcement by Canarian president Paulino Rivero on Monday that the people of the islands would be consulted over whether oil giant Repsol should be allowed to carry out exploratory drilling off Lanzarote and Fuerteventura later this year. "The Constitution makes clear that the Canarian government can call a referendum only on matters over which it has jursidiction and this is not one of them. Madrid has acted within the law at all times in issuing the licenses, as several court rulings in cases brought by the regional authorities have proven" said the deputy PM yesterday. Here in the Canaries, opponents of Rivero say he is "misleading the population" into believing they have a say in the drilling. However, the government says it fully intends to proceed with the referendum and has followed the correct process to seek leave to hold it.