After a sustained four-year campaign by locals and celebrities alike, the Scottish company Cairn Energy said it is to abandon its plan to prospect for oil 30 miles off the coast.
Approval had been granted in 2011 by Madrid which has been eager to reduce Spain’s 80% reliance on imported oil. Locals, however, were resolutely opposed, concerned that the work would harm the environment and tourism.
Cairn had been waiting for the environmental impact assessment before it started seismic surveys. Local campaigners have said that the assessment has not been made public which they would have preferred.
This week Cairn said it was dropping the Ibiza plan in order to focus on its offshore work in Senegal. It said local opposition had little impact and that it would not be correct to assume that the environmental assessments were negative.
Cairn has other Spanish projects in the pipeline, such as in the Bay of Biscay and off the coast of Catalonia. A spokesperson said the company believes there is potential to unlock in Spain.
The Spanish company Repsol abandoned its plans for the Canary Islands in January this year when after two months of exploration there it uncovered just small deposits.
Meanwhile the Algarve is threatened with the same problem with oil companies drilling test wells only 9 kilometres from the coastline with the full support of the government.
See also:
http://www.algarvedailynews.com/news/5762-faro-anti-oil-group-meets-in-faro
