A U.K. High Court judge has scheduled for Sept. 23-24, 1997, a judicial review of the government's oil exploration policy in the Atlantic Frontier offshore area.
This follows an application on July 24 by environmental lobby group Greenpeace to halt exploration work in the West of Shetland region, in the wake of what it claims was a recent illegal licensing round (OGJ, Apr. 14, 1997, p. 30).
Justice Tucker said the case represented a number of points of great legal and public interest and was a matter of some urgency. The September hearing will decide whether government has a case to answer.
A Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) official said it is hard to predict whether proceedings will carry on beyond the September review but noted that the case is of great significance.
A spokesman for U.K. Offshore Operators Association (Ukooa) said that while DTI is the defendant and not offshore operators, petroleum companies would become involved in the case by giving evidence. While the court case proceeds, said the spokesman, Ukooa hopes that Greenpeace will curtail its direct actions against companies working West of Shetland and wait for the court to decide on the legality of exploration there.
Meanwhile, Greenpeace Campaign Director Sarah Burton criticized the new Labour government for "...using Tory-style tactics to block and delay proceedings, because they are desperate to stop us."
Copyright 1997 Oil & Gas Journal. All Rights Reserved.
