Greenland ops resume after Greenpeace protest: Cairn

Four Greenpeace activists had climbed onto the Arctic oil rig on Tuesday and halted drilling for about 40 hours, in a bid to stop Cairn's operations in the area

By Agencies | Sep 02, 2010, 04.17 PM IST

LONDON: Scottish oil exploration group Cairn Energy said Thursday it had resumed operations on a rig off the coast of Greenland after Greenpeace ended a protest.

"Cairn can confirm that operations have started again on the Stena Don (oil rig), where safety remains Cairn's priority in this drilling exploration activity," the group said in a statement.

"The actions taken by Greenpeace remain a matter for the Greenlandic authorities."

Four Greenpeace activists had climbed onto the Arctic oil rig on Tuesday and halted drilling for about 40 hours, in a bid to stop Cairn's operations in the area, which is home to blue whales, polar bears, seals and migratory birds.

However, the activists have now abandoned the protests owing to freezing arctic weather conditions, according to a statement posted on the Greenpeace website.

London-listed Cairn Energy, which is drilling two wells off the west coast of Greenland, said last week that it had discovered gas and oil during its exploration of the region.

The firm has countered environmentalists' concerns by saying its exploration complied with "some of the strictest regulations in the world" that are laid down by the government in Greenland, a semi-autonomous Danish territory.

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