Oslo-based environmental NGO Bellona and NGO Nature and Youth are going out hard against the plans of German oil and gas player Wintershall DEA for exploration drilling at Trænarevet, outside Lofoten, in the Norwegian Sea.
In July, the German oil company Wintershall DEA got a green light from the environmental agency to begin drilling at the exploration well “Toutatis”, a block in the Norwegian Sea outside the coast of Nordland, 83 km south of Røst and 50 km north of Træna.
Last week, the Bellona leader Frederic Hauge met with the Norwegian Ministry of Climate and Environment to discuss the issue, hoping to grant suspensory effect and delay the decision on the start-date of the drilling operation which is set in late October or early November.
According to Nature and Youth, the Institute of Marine Research, the Coastal Fisheries Team, the Seafood companies and the Lofoten Council have all expressed concerns over the drilling.
The drilling site is in the northern Norwegian Sea, around 110 kilometres northwest of Sandnessjøen, 160 kilometres southwest of Bodø and 150 kilometres northeast of the Norne field.
The well will be drilled by the West Hercules mobile drilling facility.
See also:
- 2019’s drilling will show Norway’s ability to sustain exploration levels
- Norway’s drilling activity to hit all-time high, says Rystad
