Shell Gives In, Won’t Sink Rig Activists Cheer Decision Not To Sink Oil Platform In North Sea; Government Irate

Greenpeace’s commando-style tactics paid off Tuesday as Royal Dutch Shell abandoned its controversial plan to sink an aging oil platform in the North Atlantic, a project that generated a storm of criticism across Europe.

Instead, Shell announced it would seek a license from the British government to dismantle the massive Brent Spar platform on shore, an approach it had previously rejected.

The oil company said it remained convinced that deep-sea disposal was “the best practicable environmental option” but had taken the “strong objections” of others to heart.

The company’s reversal followed an aggressive campaign by the environmental group Greenpeace, which dropped four activists on the platform by helicopter to prevent Shell from sinking it to the seabed 1 1/2 miles below.

The British government, which had backed Shell’s plans to sink the 65,000-ton, 450-foot-tall oil platform, reacted angrily.

“They caved in under pressure,” said Michael Heseltine, chairman of the Board of Trade. “They should have kept their nerve and done what they believed was right.”

Earlier Tuesday, Prime Minister John Major was jeered by opposition lawmakers in Parliament as he dismissed international protests and reiterated his support for the plan.

Energy minister Tim Eggar warned that the government would not automatically grant Shell permission to dismantle the rig onshore, considering it had already agreed with Shell that deep-sea disposal was the best option.

Other European nations had strongly protested that plan, and German Chancellor Helmut Kohl warned Major last week that he was going against world opinion in backing Shell.

Consumers opposed to the plan had boycotted Shell gasoline stations in Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Britain, and some stations in Germany were vandalized by arsonists.

Nonetheless, prior to Tuesday’s announcement, two Shell tugboats had been towing the platform toward its designated burial site 150 miles northwest of the Outer Hebrides, islands off northwest Scotland.

Lord Melchett, executive director of Greenpeace conceded that onshore dismantling would be difficult and dangerous. But he said engineering specialists had assured Greenpeace the work could be done and that it would create jobs, most likely in Scotland.

Heinz Rothermund, managing director of exploration and production for a Shell subsidiary, Shell U.K. Ltd., said the aborted sinking project would cost an estimated $16 million, much of it already spent. He said onshore disposal might cost $65 million to $80 million.