A new oil and gas production from the Hejre field in the Danish North Sea has now been approved. On Friday, the Danish Energy Agency granted permission for the oil company Ineos to begin extracting oil and gas from the subsoil. However, this decision has been criticized by the climate organization Greenpeace.
- It is against all climate science, common sense, and what Denmark is working against internationally to grant a new permit to search for new oil at this time in history, says Helene Hagel, climate policy leader at Greenpeace.
The original license for oil and gas production was granted in 1998. However, it took years before the project was moved forward. In 2011, the Danish Energy Agency approved a plan for the field, but errors and delays caused the project to be shelved again in 2016. Now, however, Ineos is ready to try again.
The fact that the permit is decades old is not a defense for carrying out the production, Greenpeace believes. It was granted in a different political and climate situation, it says.
- It is true that it is an old license, but that is why you can stop a new production plan when climate change and extreme weather are an everyday occurrence all over the world, says Helene Hagel.
She also points out that the new extraction may conflict with Denmark being a co-founder of the international alliance Beyond Oil and Gas (BOGA) for countries that have ended the hunt for new oil and gas.
Climate Minister Lars Aagaard (M) refuses to comment on the approval, as according to the ministry it is an administrative decision made by the Danish Energy Agency.
However, the minister has previously explained that new oil and gas production in Denmark can contribute to making Denmark independent of Russian fuels.
/ritzau/
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