Words by Smiley Team
Environmental campaigners are celebrating after oil company Shell withdrew its support for the controversial Cambo oil field development off the coast of Scotland on Friday.
The company held 30% stakes in the development, which it dropped following mounting criticism from environmental groups supported by major charities such as Oxfam.
Shell claimed it withdrew because the financial case for investing in the North Atlantic project was "not strong enough".
However, Tessa Khan, the director of Uplift, which is coordinating the Stop Cambo campaign, rejected these claims, saying: "Its statement makes it clear that the economics are against new oil and gas developments. But the widespread public and political pressure are what made Cambo untenable.
“There is now a broad understanding that there can be no new oil and gas projects anywhere if we’re going to maintain a safe climate.”
She added: “This is the end for Cambo. Shell has seen the writing on the wall.”
Supported by 15 organisations including Oxfam, Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace, the Stop Cambo campaign is run by anti-fossil fuel group Uplift and backed by individuals, grassroots groups and organisations across Scotland.
While they welcome Shell’s withdrawal from the Cambo field, their campaign is not over yet. Originally licensed for exploration in 2001, the site remains vulnerable to exploitation.
The development’s majority stakeholder, Siccar Point Energy, said it will continue discussing oil exploitation there with the UK government.
Jamie Livingstone, Head of Oxfam Scotland said: "This is a positive step but not the end of the road and it is now incumbent on the Oil & Gas Authority and the UK Government to do the right thing and veto production at Cambo and other oil fields in the UK. The COP26 summit saw some welcome signals that the world must phase out oil and gas production, but giving Cambo the green light would send entirely the opposite message.
“The last thing the world needs in a climate crisis is drilling for more oil. This must be a step towards the end of this and every other new oil field."
Additionally, Cambo is just one of many North Sea oil and gas projects awaiting government approval and the campaign will persist till it prevents all new oil and gas extraction across the UK.
Support Stop Cambo’s campaign for a safer climate on its website.
