Safety fears lead to a climb down

Greenpeace campaigners have ended their protest of oil and gas structures in the North Sea's Brent field.

Protesters occupied the Brent Alpha platform, which is undergoing decommissioning, as well as the decommissioned Bravo platform.

The campaigners are protesting against how the oil platforms are being decommissioned.

However worsening weather conditions have led the campaigners to abandon the protest.

Some countries have lodged objections to Shell’s plans to leave the legs of three of the Brent platforms – Bravo, Charlie and Delta – in the sea, with concerns around the contents of concrete oil storage cells within them deteriorating.

Shell highlighted that very few fields have these concrete oil storage cells, arguing the decision would not set a lasting precedent.

Greenpeace has, however, described the plans as “outrageous”, with there being 64 concrete cells across the three platforms.

Joris Thijssen, director of Greenpeace Netherlands, said: “The 11,000 tons of oil that is still stored in the foundation of the platforms will sooner or later end up in the sea.

“That is unacceptable. The North Sea is not a garbage dump. Shell has to clean up its mess.

“Greenpeace urges all governments to protect the sea and not to give in to the pressure of a major polluter.”