Environmentalists protest against the exploitation of the largest oil deposit in the North Sea

On Thursday, the Norwegian-British company Aker BP announced in a stock office about confirming the discovery of another oil and gas deposit under the bottom of the North Sea. The Alfa Omega field is to contain 140 million barrels of oil equivalent and is the largest discovery in a decade.

The announcement coincided with the protest of Extinction Rebellion in the center of Oslo.

The deposit is located in the largest gas extraction zone in the North Sea – Yggdrasil. His existence has already been suspected, and in the 1970s, gas was already mined, but thanks to today's technologies it was possible to confirm the occurrence of hydrocarbons suitable for extraction in this place. Including smaller discoveries made since the beginning of this year, the total potential of the deposit is estimated at 700 million barrels of oil equivalent. This is more than three times more than the field in the vicinity of Świnoujście, of which the discovery was informed by Central European Petroleum a few weeks ago. Aker BP provides for the start of mining in 2027.

“We are looking forward to the use of this rich area,” said AKER President Bishop Karl Johnny Hersvik.

Meanwhile, activists from the Extinction Rebellion organization after the end of the greatest Norwegian refinery of Mongstad, which was carried out from Monday, began the blockade of the most important street in the center of Oslo on Thursday. 300 ecologists from Germany, Italy, Sweden and Dani joined the protestersi. Their demand is Norway's withdrawal from gas extraction and oil.

– The announcement by Aker BP of your discovery today shows that mining corporations are not guided by the opinion of public opinion, but only their interest and similar. They have the strength of money, we have the strength of people – said PAP Milla Haugen from Extinction Rebellion.

In 2024, a record of 124 billion m six was obtained from the Norwegian shelf. natural gas. Last year, Norway earned over 680 billion of crowns (over PLN 240 billion) on the sale of extracted energy raw materials last year.

From Oslo Mieszko Czarnecki (PAP)

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