NEW SCIENTIST: Oil vs whales: “THE oil giant Shell has agreed to re-route a controversial oil pipeline off Russia's east coast, apparently bowing to pressure from environmentalists. But campaigners say it is not the pipeline that is the problem, but the oil platforms.” (ShellNews.net) Posted 10 April 05

9 April 05 edition

THE oil giant Shell has agreed to re-route a controversial oil pipeline off Russia's east coast, apparently bowing to pressure from environmentalists. But campaigners say it is not the pipeline that is the problem, but the oil platforms.

Campaigners want to protect the feeding grounds of the critically endangered western grey whale near Sakhalin Island, which they say are threatened by the $12 billion Sakhalin II development. On 30 March the Sakhalin Energy Investment Company (SEIC), of which Royal Dutch Shell is the main stakeholder, agreed to re-route the pipeline to avoid the feeding grounds of the 100 remaining whales, adding 20 kilometres to its length.

But Nick Rau of Friends of the Earth says the real issue is the siting of the platforms, which was chosen prior to any spill trajectory analysis. In February an independent panel of whale experts criticised the SEIC for providing insufficient information about alternative locations, and recommended that the platforms should be placed as far from shore as possible (New Scientist, 26 February, p 14). "Every kilometre further from shore will be an additional reduction of risk - both for noise and for oil spills," agrees Rau.

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