Cairn Energy

The Arctic: what's at stake

Posted by jamess — 22 April 2011 at 9:19am - Comments
We must protect the Arctic from dangerous deep water oil drilling
All rights reserved. Credit: Greenpeace / Nick Cobbing
We must protect the Arctic from dangerous deep water oil drilling

As our action against Cairn's Arctic-bound oil rig gets underway, there's no better time to remind us all of what's at stake - watch and share these powerful pictures.

Article tagged as: arctic, BP, cairn energy, climate, climate change, go beyond oil, oil, oil spill

LIVE: we've scaled and occupied Cairn's Arctic rig

Posted by jamess — 22 April 2011 at 7:03am - Comments
by. Credit: Greenpeace

UPDATE: Force 7 gales have forced the activists down from the rig and to safety. But the campaign continues - stay tuned.

It's the only rig on the planet that is destined to begin new deep sea drilling in the Arctic this year.

Cairn Energy's Leiv Eiriksson is on its way to Baffin Bay, Greenland, leading the new oil rush.

This morning at 5.40 local time, a handful of our volunteers intercepted the rig shortly after it left Besiktas near Istanbul in Turkey.

Article tagged as: arctic, cairn, cairn energy, climage change, climate, go beyond oil, oil, oil spill

Why are the oil companies complaining?

Posted by Richardg — 18 April 2011 at 4:41pm - Comments
Cairn's tugs drag icebergs out the way of its Arctic oil drilling rig
All rights reserved. Credit: Will Rose / Greenpeace
Cairn's tugs drag icebergs out the way of its Arctic oil drilling rig

Ever since last month’s Budget, oil companies have been complaining about George Osborne’s tax on North Sea oil and gas. Yet many have just announced record profits - boosted considerably by current sky-high oil prices. What do they take us for?

Article tagged as: budget, cairn, cairn energy, climate change, conservatives, Encore, EnQuest, exxon, george osborne, green investment bank, Nautical Petrolem, politics, renewable energy, shell, Statoil, Valiant Petroleum, Xcite Energy

Place your bets in the Arctic oil casino!

Posted by Richardg — 30 March 2011 at 11:04am - Comments
Melting icebergs in the path of rigs in the Arctic, the latest oil frontier
All rights reserved. Credit: Will Rose / Greenpeace
Melting icebergs in the path of rigs in the Arctic, the latest oil frontier

Drilling in the Arctic is a risky business. So it’s a good thing that the only company with a license to drill in the Arctic isn’t comparing the whole endeavour to hanging out in Vegas and trying your hand at shooting craps.

Oh wait. That’s exactly what they’re doing.

Article tagged as: arctic, cairn energy, climate change, deep water drilling, energy, oil

Cairn fails to find Arctic oil

Posted by jamess — 26 October 2010 at 3:41pm - Comments

One of Cairn's tugs, towing an iceberg out the way of its Arctic oil rig

Bing. Email received. Cairn Energy sent its “Greenland Operational Update” this morning at 7.05am with news to investors of its Arctic drilling. Despite its best efforts to put a positive spin on the news, the important words stood out:

“Plugged”, and “abandoned” for its first two drill sites. “Primary objectives were not reached” for number three, with “further re-entry work depending on the results of further evaluation”.

The media were more blunt, with headlines saying “Cairn Energy fails in Arctic oil drilling”.

Article tagged as: arctic, bill gammell, cairn, cairn energy, go beyond oil, oil spill

It's our birthday and we'll go beyond oil if we want to

Posted by lisavickers — 15 September 2010 at 4:58pm - Comments

The first Greenpeace ship - the Phyllis Cormack - in 1971 © Greenpeace / Robert Keziere

Today is the 39th birthday of Greenpeace and we have just arrived in Aberdeen on the Esperanza. Back in 1971 on September 15th, the first Greenpeace ship set sail to protest against a US nuclear test zone and peacefully prevent the destruction of Amchitka, a pristine island ecosystem off the coast of Alaska. They didn't make it all the way to Amchitka but what followed was a wave of public support that ultimately shut down the US nuclear testing program, won Amchitka designation as a wildlife sanctuary and gave birth to the Greenpeace movement.

Serendipitously, we have just returned to the UK on Greenpeace's birthday from a mission to the Arctic where we peacefully stopped offshore drilling for 40 hours to minimise the chances of an oil strike before drilling stops for the winter. But while Cairn Energy continues dangerous drilling in the Arctic, we're hoping that together with our supporters we've helped to catalyse the movement to go beyond oil. 

Article tagged as: amchitka, arctic, cairn energy, climate change, esperanza, go beyond oil, oil

Behind the scenes of the oil rig action

Posted by jamie — 9 September 2010 at 3:43pm - Comments

Belatedly, here's a video from the Esperanza featuring climbing superstar Sim, one of the four activists who scaled Cairn Energy's rig last week. As well as revealing Sim's personal reasons for wanting to stop the drilling, there are some spectacular shots from the action itself.

Article tagged as: cairn energy, climate change, direct action, energy, go beyond oil, greenland, oil, videos

Leaving the Arctic under northern lights and shooting stars

Posted by lisavickers — 6 September 2010 at 2:40pm - Comments

The Northern Lights above the Esperanza © Will Rose / Greenpeace

We had a fairly quiet weekend on board the Esperanza - especially compared to the "all systems go" mode we were in last week during the action. Yesterday Babu, our wonderful cook, had a well deserved day off and some of us volunteered to prepare brunch and dinner in the galley for the rest of the crew.

Article tagged as: arctic, cairn energy, climate change, esperanza, go beyond oil, northern lights
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