Arctic oil: it is madness to celebrate a new source of fossil fuels
▻http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/apr/18/oil-arctic-putin-gazprom-fossil-fuels
After months of delays, Russian state-owned oil and gas company Gazprom has announced that the first ever shipment of oil from offshore Arctic waters has begun the journey to Europe.
This is the oil from the rig that the Arctic 30 went to jail for peacefully protesting against. It has been logistically challenging. Extracting even small amounts of oil in extreme Arctic conditions has taken them longer, and cost them more, than the company had planned.
But Gazprom has done it and claims first place in the race to exploit the melting Arctic sea ice for more of the fossil fuels that caused the melting in the first place. It is a defining moment for Vladimir Putin’s Russia, heralded with great fanfare as a new source of power and profit for years to come.
Thankfully, most of us recognise the madness of celebrating a new source of fossil fuels in the Arctic. And, just as importantly, the last few months have shown us just how important it is that we cut our dependence on fossil fuels from Kremlin-controlled companies.
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Yet it’s not only Russian oil, coal and gas companies that play politics; it’s the fossil fuel industry itself. Even as western leaders denounce Gazprom’s actions in threatening to cut off gas supplies to Ukraine, Shell is still committed to supporting Gazprom drill for more Arctic oil. Similarly, BP has a 20% stake in the largest Kremlin-controlled oil company Rosneft. As the Financial Times reported this week, BP is at the forefront of companies lobbying ministers not to penalise Russia over the crisis in Ukraine. As Putin tightens his grip in Russia he inevitably tightens the links with BP as well. Rosneft, along with Gazprom, are the chief sources of finance for his government.
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So the question isn’t how to get off Kremlin controlled energy; it is how to tackle the political dominance of the fossil fuel industry. This decision is more relevant, more crucial, than ever before in our history. Fossil fuels got us into this mess, they won’t get us out of it.