PUERTO DEL CARMEN (NNA) – Test drilling by the Spanish oil corporation Repsol off the coast of the Canaries, which provoked massive protests among the islands’ inhabitants, has been discontinued.

Neither the volume nor the quality of the hydrocarbons found were sufficiently high to “consider future extraction”, Repsol said in a press release. The well had been sealed and the drillship Rowan Renaissance would return to Angola to continue exploration there, the company said.

Reprieve

The Spanish government had given in to pressure from the oil lobby to permit Repsol to drill off the Canaries against the express will of the islands’ people and political bodies, the Centro de Terapia Antroposófica in Puerto del Carmen reminded its readers in its latest newsletter. Drilling at precisely the depth which had brought about the disastrous oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico had represented an existential threat to the popular holiday destination.

The “Petroleo NO!” movement, which had the support of the whole population, fought against the exploratory drilling with signature campaigns and petitions: “So the all-clear has been given for the time being and we can breathe again,” the newsletter says, “but we must stay alert because if the oil price rises this investment could well turn out to be ‘profitable’ again,” the newsletter adds.

END/nna/ung/cva

Item: 150219-02EN Date: 19 February 2015

Copyright 2015 News Network Anthroposophy Limited. All rights reserved.