BP serves Greenpeace with injunction over oil rig protest

British oil major BP has served an injunction to Greenpeace in an attempt to stop the actions of the environmentalist group’s activists aboard a rig currently under contract with the company.

Greenpeace UK said via its social media accounts on Tuesday that the injunction was served to stop the protest on the Transocean-owned Paul B. Lloyd, Jr. rig.

This announcement came shortly after Greenpeace stated that its activists were still on the rig and that they brought in fresh supplies along with new climbers.

BP have just served an injunction on Greenpeace to try to stop our action on their oil rig. They want to silence us but we won’t be gagged.

Let’s take a minute to remember all of BP’s crimes shall we? #ClimateEmergency #BPShutdown pic.twitter.com/egqZggG89e

— Greenpeace UK (@GreenpeaceUK) June 11, 2019

Other media outlets have reported that rig workers lowered the legal papers down to two activists using a bucket and a rope. The injunction means that the activists aboard the rig must cease and desist from the action.

The initial two climbers boarded the rig on Sunday, June 9, in an effort to stop BP’s drilling plans offshore Scotland.

The Paul B. Loyd, Jr. is owned by Transocean and is scheduled to start drilling for BP in the UK sector of the North Sea.

Transocean’s latest fleet status report, published in April 2019, shows that the 1990-built rig started its contract with BP in May. The deal is scheduled to end in November 2019 unless BP exercises its options under the contract, which would see the rig working for the oil major well into next year.

The rig’s contract with BP was announced last October, and it was initially planned to start in March this year.

Greenpeace activists have also recently blocked entrances to BP’s headquarters in London as part of its “Climate Emergency” campaign. The activists set up camp inside specially designed containers, blocking the entrance to the building. They were subsequently removed by police, and ten people were arrested as a result.