Greenpeace activists end West Hercules rig protest

Greenpeace activists have ended their protest on the Barents Sea-bound West Hercules offshore drilling rig, currently located near Rypefjord village in the north of Norway, after spending 16 hours on the rig. 

To remind, Greenpeace activists on Monday climbed the West Hercules, which was hired by Norwegian oil giant Equinor to drill in the Barents Sea offshore Norway.

Four climbers, four kayakers, and other activists went on Monday morning to action against West Hercules. After 16 hours on the rig, the activists are now back on land.

Greenpeace said that the protest had ended due to bad weather.

Greenpeace Norway’s leader, Frode Pleym, said: “We always put our own and others’ safety first, and therefore we have decided to leave the rig. But the work to stop new oil drilling continues with full strength, and our climate lawsuit against the state for their uncontrolled oil drilling is just one of the ways we are going to do it.”

West Hercules is a semi-submersible drilling rig owned by offshore drilling contractor Seadrill. The rig is slated to drill the Korpfjell Deep well, designated 7335/3-1, located in the Barents Sea for Norwegian oil giant Equinor in early May. Equinor received the safety consent from the Norwegian safety watchdog to drill this well using the est Hercules rig in late March.

The well is in the far north-east of an opened area in the south-east Barents Sea, around 420 kilometers off the coast of Finnmark in a water depth of 239 meters.

It is also worth mentioning that this latest protest on the West Hercules by Greenpeace is not the first one. Namely, Greenpeace “kayaktivists” in March 2018 boarded the West Hercules rig at the Skipavika yard on the west coast of Norway.

Offshore Energy Today Staff

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