Cairn’s critics not impressed by company’s plans to deal with any oil spill off Greenland

GREENLAND has published Cairn Energy’s oil spill response plan in a bid to calm fears about Arctic exploration after Greenpeace demanded that it be made public.

The enviromental group, which has tried to disrupt drilling off Greenland, argues that cleaning up a spill in the Arctic waters there would be extremely difficult.

Greenland’s government had initially withheld the oil spill contingency plan drawn up by Edinburgh-based Cairn because it feared activists could launch more action against rigs. But it has now decided to publish the plans, which involves equipment being stored In drilling equipment, vessels and ports for minor spills, with air freighters taking equipment from the UK to deal with major incidents.

Responding to the publication, Greenpeace oil campaigner Ben Ayliffe said there was a “lot of spin” and “very little to allay the concerns of experts”. He added: “Cairn never wanted to release this document; they were forced to by international outrage from tens of thousands of people who bombarded them with e-mails.

“Our experts will now analyse it and fully expect it to confirm what the UK government said in private documents, that an Arctic spill would be ‘near impossible’ to clean up.”

Cairn chief executive Simon Thomson said: “We are focused on safety both in terms of people and the environment.

“In the unlikely event of a serious incident, such as an oil spill, we believe we have put in place a thorough and robust contingency plan.”

JENNY FYALL