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Anadarko
starts drilling in the early morning
Deep
sea exploration oil drilling off the Waikato coast by Texas-based oil
company Anadarko began early today.
26
November, 2013
The
deep sea drilling of an oil well, more than 1500 metres deep,
commenced at 2.30am by the oil exploration vessel Noble Bob Douglas,
Anadarko New Zealand spokesman Alan Seay said.
"It's
a process that's known in the industry as 'spudding' - it's the first
step in the actual drilling protest - getting things set up on the
sea floor and beginning the well."
It
was estimated to take 70 days to drill down to Anadarko's target
depth of 4600 metres, including a water depth of 1500 metres, Mr Seay
said.
The
Greenpeace sailing vessel Vega, one of six boats from the Oil Free
Seas protest flotilla, had remained within the 500m safety zone in
protest against the drilling, he said.
However,
the Vega had not disrupted the drilling process, Mr Seay said.
"We've
had to keep an extra eye out for them which we'd rather not have to
do and whenever you've got somebody in close proximity in a safety
zone, the safety risks are heightened, so we've had to take extra
precautions to mitigate that."
Anadarko
had not asked government authorities for any assistance to remove the
protest vessels, however they had informed them of their presence, he
said.
"We've
notified the authorities, we did that last week, of the fact that the
Vega's been inside that safety zone, but we're not seeking any
particular intervention as such, that's always a call for them to
make and so far they've seen fit to not actually go out there."
After
finishing drilling in the deep-water Taranaki basin, the Noble Bob
Douglas would move down to the Canterbury basin, off the Otago coast
to drill there early next year, Mr Seay said.
Prime
Minister John Key told 3 News this morning that it was not up to the
Government to disrupt the Oil Free Seas protest flotilla.
"It's
the police actually and Maritime New Zealand that have responsibility
for whatever actions they may or may not take.
"Our
concerns are just simply that in this case, this company Anadarko can
carry out the work that they've been legally granted authority to do
so by the Government.
"At
the end of the day, those protesters have a legal right to be there,
providing they abide by the law.
"One
of those vessels is not abiding by the law and that'll be a matter
for the police to decide whether they take action."
Mr
Key described last weekend's 'banners on the beach' protest against
the exploratory drilling as "rent-a-crowd".
Piha
hosted more than 1000 people last weekend to listen to speeches and
watch a haka. Around 400 people joined the protest at Muriwai, 500 at
Bethells Beach, and almost 750 at Raglan.
"There
was a few hundred people wandering around," Mr Key said.
"It's
just Greenpeace ringing up its members and getting them to come
along, the Green Party had a few [people] there, fair enough, it's
not tens and tens of thousands of people.
"Most
New Zealanders were going about their business actually enjoying some
of the things that the Government provides like roading and the
likes."
The
Green Party made up the protest numbers and "put the worst
possible spin they can on everything", Mr Key said.
Key
dismisses Anadarko
protesters as 'rent-a-crowd'
protesters as 'rent-a-crowd'
26
November, 2013
Prime
Minister John Key has labelled Kiwis who took to the beaches on the
weekend to protest against oil drilling a Greenpeace "rent-a-crowd".
US
oil company Anadarko began exploratory drilling off the coast of
Raglan overnight, ignoring protest boat the Vega, inside the 500m
exclusion zone and getting closer.
Vega
co-skipper Jeanette Fitzsimons says they're now only 100m from the
Noble Bob Douglas, which began drilling at 2:30am.
"Nothing
out here has changed, and none of the normal signs of starting
drilling are actually in place, but if that's what they say, then
that's what they say," she said on Firstline this morning.
Anadarko
NZ manager Alan Seay says the Vega's presence is a "nuisance",
but won't stop them getting on with the job.
"It's
always a concern if you've got somebody in close proximity, and you
know, the Vega's been there pretty much since this all started a week
or so ago. It requires us to keep an extra lookout for them as a way
of mitigating that risk, but there's no direct interference with our
work, so we're carrying on in complete safety.
"I
liken it to somebody wandering onto a construction site – you don't
want them there, it raises the safety stakes, but there's no direct
interference and no reason to actually stop work."
Mr
Key says police are aware of the situation, and it will be their call
whether to intervene or not.
"At
the end of the day those protesters have a legal right to be there,
providing they abide by the law," he said on Firstline this
morning. "One of those vessels is not abiding by the law, and
that'll be a matter for police to decide whether they'll take
action."
Mr
Key says any police operation would involve Maritime New Zealand, who
have the ability to call on the Navy for assistance.
Meanwhile,
Greenpeace has today
filed papers in the High Court at Wellington
seeking a judicial review to stop Anadarko.
It
says the Environmental Protection Agency was remiss in allowing the
drilling to proceed without looking at several "key documents".
On
the weekend several thousand New Zealanders protested against
Anadarko's exploratory drilling, which will be the deepest well ever
drilled in New Zealand. Ms Fitzsimons said there were between 7000
and 10,000 people at demonstrations, held across the country.
But
Mr Key says he was "quite surprised" the protests were so
"modest". When Firstline host Simon Shepherd suggested
while each individual protest may have been small, but together they
added up to thousands, Mr Key replied "yeah, whatever", and
said they were a "rent-a-crowd".
"It's
just Greenpeace ringing up its members and get them to come along,
and the Green Party had a few people there, I mean okay, fair enough.
But you know, it's not tens and tens of thousands of people.
"Most
New Zealanders were going about their business, actually enjoying
some of the things that the Government provides, like roading."
Ms
Fitzsimons, a former co-leader of the Green Party, said calling
protesters a "rent-a-crowd" was a "standard response"
of politicians.
"If
you think that Greenpeace can ring that many people in a few days and
get them to come to the beach, then you're rather overestimating
their capacity on the phone," she says. "This is a
spontaneous outpouring of concern by New Zealanders, and it's going
to go on."
"They
just add in the worst case scenario of absolutely everything to try
and frighten people."
Mr
Seay says the final depth of the well will be around 4600m, and
they're expecting it to take 70 days to find out if it's going to be
worth setting up a permanent well in the area.
"You
don't know what's down there until you've done the drilling."
Jeanette
Fitzsimons, on the Greenpeace vessel, interviewed
Greenpeace
sees no sign of
drilling as Anadarko says it begins
drilling as Anadarko says it begins
