Greenpeace Blog

The end of 2012 and first months of 2013 have seen a remarkable change in the fight to protect the Arctic from risky and dangerous oil exploration.    Three oil “majors” –  Total, Statoil and Conoco-Phillips - have withdrawn from drilling projects in the far North.   

Yesterday morning, two polar bears scaled the Statoil oil rig West Hercules bound for the world’s northernmost drilling sites in the Arctic. Just a few hours later the Norwegian state-owned oil company announced that these frontier drillings will not take place this year. And just now, ConocoPhillips announced that they too will be cancelling 2014 drilling plans north of Alaska due to 'regulatory uncertainties.'

Good news! Fracking doesn’t cause earthquakes. Or, to be more precise, hydraulic fracturing for gas is not a significant cause of felt seismic activity. Or, to be even more precise, it does cause earthquakes, but it’s not one of the biggest man-made causes of large (that is, noticeable at the surface) earthquakes. A new study shows that fracking can reactivate dormant faults, but if frackers use 3D seismic imaging, then according to Richard Davies, director of the Durham Energy Institute and study leader, they ‘can avoid faults that are critically stressed and already near breaking point”.

A closer look at the capsule containing the names of 2.7 million Arctic defenders that will be lowered onto the seabed at the North Pole.