Portugal’s League for the Protection of Nature issued a position statement today which unsurprisingly allied itself to the anti-oil exploration and extraction lobby based in the Algarve.
The League started off by congratulating the Government for its recent decision not to proceed with the public tenders for granting seven new licenses for exploration and production of oil and natural gas.
The League's statement issued to media today, warned that it is vital to stop the current oil concession contracts which allow companies to prospect, explore, develop and extract oil and gas in Portugal's offshore areas and on land across the Algarve.
The League is concerned that people may not have read the information on the National Authority for the Fuel Market’s website, including,
"the initial period, or research (geological, geochemical and geophysical, prospecting and exploration drilling) has a normal duration of eight years. If a company announces a commercial discovery during the initial period, the oilfield goes into a production period that has a duration of 25 years, extendable where appropriate to 40 years.”
The League for the Protection of Nature states that "oil and gas, two of the most valuable fossil fuels are largely responsible for a significant portion of global warming and the destruction of natural habitats and species they harbour. The health of ecosystems and the sustainability of economic activities that depend on them are still in question if the concession agreements already signed by the previous government are not terminated."
The League dismisses the claim by the oil companies that harmless technology is being used during the current exploration phase,
"It is not only the extraction activity that has repercussions in terms of ecosystems. There are potential impacts at the current exploration phase.
“One of the methods used to find oil deposits consists of sending seismic waves to the seabed, with significant impacts on marine species."
The League notes the clear anti-oil position taken by the Algarve’s mayors and is pleased that the Secretary of State for Energy has committed to looking in detail at the current concession contracts to see what the implications are if they are cancelled.
Tito Rosa, President of the National Directorate of the League for the Protection of nature, added:
"We believe that the path to economic growth in the long-term has to be based on innovation and the development of effective strategies for clean and renewable energy. This also is the way to preserve social, cultural and environmental values that constitute the wealth of our country. “
Rosa recalls that the Portuguese Government made commitments at the international level in Paris "that are entirely incompatible with the current focus on the exploitation of fossil fuels."
The League for the Protection of nature joins, Quercus, Almargem, and Spea among other nature organisations in their condemnation of the government's plan that the Algarve's on and offshore should be turned into an oil or gas production area.
League for the Protection of Nature:
http://www.lpn.pt/Homepage/default.aspx?tabid=2164&code=en