New oil rules won’t protect wildlife: WWF

New financial rules on oil and gas exploration come into effect today, with a warning from an environmental group that they will do little to prevent oil spills.

The new insurance conditions, designed to ensure companies can demonstrate “financial responsibility” for drilling, will be meaningless to wildlife caught up in any future accident, WWF Scotland said.

The UK Department of Energy and Climate Change ordered a review of regulations in light of the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010.

The Maitland Review was published in December 2011 with a number of recommendations, including on liability and insurance. Announcing the government’s response last month, UK Energy Minister John Hayes said: “It is vital that our oil and gas activities meet the highest possible standards of safety and environmental protection.”

But Lang Banks, of WWF Scotland, said: “These new rules will do little to prevent future spills. Total’s Elgin and Shell’s Gannet Alpha platforms were all insured but it still didn’t prevent accidents at those facilities.

“Insurance cover is meaningless to the thousands of marine birds, mammals and other wildlife that would be wiped out by a single deepwater oil spill.”