Greenpeace boards Arctic drilling rig

A drilling rig exploring for oil and gas in the Arctic has been boarded by Greenpeace activists.

Greenpeace activists have climbed aboard a Seadrill drilling rig commissioned by Equinor to explore for oil and gas in the Norwegian Arctic, the group has told Reuters.

Four activists climbed aboard the West Hercules rig on Monday, the organisation said.

The vessel is anchored off Hammerfest, continental Europe's northernmost town and the site of an Equinor liquefied natural gas plant, Snoehvit.

"We clearly are in the middle of a climate crisis that cannot take any new oil, so we must show our resistance in any way we can," said Frode Pleym, the head of Greenpeace Norway.

The activists are from Norway, Sweden and Denmark, the group added.

The rig is due to drill a well in the Equinor-operated production licence 859 in the eastern part of the Barents Sea, some 435km northeast of the coast of continental Norway.

Equinor did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The company's partners in the licence are DNO, Petoro, Lundin Petroleum and ConocoPhillips. Norway is western Europe's largest oil producer and Europe's second-largest gas supplier after Russia.


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Source: AAP



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