Profits of the UK’s largest gas supplier, Equinor, have sparked multiple protests around the UK.
Equinor, which is majority-owned by the Norwegian government, provides more than a quarter of the UK’s gas demand.(1) It is expected to announce record annual profits on Wednesday (8th Feb), following announcements by BP (Tues 7th) and Shell (Thurs 2nd).
Climate campaigners will hold a candle-lit ‘vigil’ on Tuesday evening from 7pm outside the Norwegian Embassy in central London to highlight Equinor’s role in both the climate and cost of living crises. Further protests will be held on Wednesday morning outside Equinor’s offices in London and Aberdeen.
Campaigners are highlighting the huge climate impact from Equinor’s proposed development of the Rosebank oil field off the coast of Shetland – as well as the vast public subsidies the company and its partners in the project will receive from the UK government.
Rosebank is the UK’s largest undeveloped oil field. Burning Rosebank’s oil and gas would create more CO2 than the combined emissions of all 28 low-income countries in the world.(2) Thanks to the deliberate loophole introduced in the windfall tax by Rishi Sunak, which gives energy companies a 91% tax relief for new oil and gas investments, Equinor and its partners in the project are set to receive more than £500 million in tax breaks to develop Rosebank.(3)
A major gas producer, Equinor has received huge windfall profits from the soaring price of energy: in just three months at the end of last year (Q3) it recorded profits of £21 billion (compared to Shell: £8bn and BP: £7bn). Last month, Equinor’s CEO, Anders Opedal, said that UK consumers should expect energy bills to stay high for years to come.(4)
The vigil outside the Norwegian embassy is being attended by multiple faith groups including the Young Christian Climate Network, as well as Stop Rosebank campaigners.
Chris Manktelow, campaigns lead for Young Christian Climate Network, said: “The Norwegian government, as majority owners, bear a huge responsibility over Equinor’s actions. We’re asking Norway to think again about its support for new fossil fuel developments, like the Rosebank oil field off the Shetland coast, when we’re in the middle of not just a climate crisis but a cost of living crisis driven by burning fossil fuels. Millions of people are now really struggling with the soaring cost of energy. We’re praying that Norway pays attention to the climate scientists, the UN and others that say new oil and gas projects risk taking us beyond safe climate limits, and stops expanding fossil fuels and pulls out of Rosebank.”
Cameron Conant, communications officer at Operation Noah, said: "Fossil fuel companies like Equinor continue to make extraordinary profits while people and the planet pay in the form of high energy prices and environmental degradation. For Equinor to pursue a field like Rosebank – and for the UK Government to give Equinor and other fossil fuel companies millions of pounds in public money to extract more climate-destroying oil and gas when clean alternatives are available – is unacceptable.
"This is a moral issue, which means faith leaders and campaigners have a crucial role to play in standing up to the companies and politicians who are prepared to sacrifice our collective future while a small number of people profit. Last year, over 500 UK Church leaders – including 68 Anglican and Catholic bishops – called on the UK Government to stop all new oil and gas projects and to invest in climate solutions instead. Rosebank isn’t ethical, won’t lower energy bills and won’t increase the UK's energy security. It must be stopped.”
Lauren MacDonald from the Stop Rosebank campaign said: “Equinor is literally making billions while vulnerable people in the UK, struggling with soaring energy costs, are being forced into debt or worse, having their energy supply cut off in winter. And yet this government is effectively handing Equinor more than half a billion pounds in taxpayers money to develop Rosebank, an oil field which will do nothing to lower our bills. Our energy system and these kinds of profits are completely immoral. Governments need to start acting in the interests of the public, not the oil and gas giants. That means, at the very least, the UK getting rid of these huge subsidies and the Norwegian government forcing Equinor to pull out of Rosebank.”
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