Cairn Energy announces £194m losses and renewed interest in the Arctic
Responding to today’s announcement that Cairn Energy reported a financial loss of £194.2m, while showing renewed interest in future Arctic opportunities, Paul Daly, Corporate Accountability Campaigner at Friends of the Earth Scotland, said:
“Cairn is taking a high risk gamble by returning to Arctic drilling in 2014 – a risk that was too high for Shell and Total, who recently pulled out of the Arctic for fear of huge financial and reputational damage. Cairn needs to take note of these strong positions adopted by the more experienced oil companies.
“Cairn Energy’s last failed attempt to find oil in the Arctic cost the company $1.2bn – if they do not find oil again in 2014, the company will be in serious financial strife. Meanwhile Cairn is still expressing interest in new exploration fields off the Coast of Greenland; it is understandable why shareholders are concerned.
“The UK government is calling for a halt to Arctic exploration until safety measures are significantly increased by the creation of a pan-Arctic response plan. Cairn should be pulling out of the Arctic, not increasing the stakes.”
ENDS
For media enquiries, please contact: Per Fischer, Press Office, Friends of the Earth Scotland
t: 0131 243 2719
Notes to Editors
1. Cairn Energy Announce 2012 results:
www.cairnenergy.com/index.asp?pageid=436
2. Cairn Energy have been denounced to UK government as a cowboy outfit by a leading Arctic expert, read more about the Friends of the Earth campaign here: www.foe-scotland.org.uk/cairn
3. Cairn Energy lost $1.2bn in previous Arctic exploration:
www.ft.com/cms/s/0/ac1209c8-8bc8-11e2-8fcf-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2NsuohPCE
4. Friends of the Earth Scotland is * Scotland’s leading environmental campaigning organisation * An independent Scottish charity with a network of thousands of supporters and active local groups across Scotland * Part of the largest grassroots environmental network in the world, uniting over 2 million supporters, 77 national member groups, and some 5,000 local activist groups – covering every continent.
www.foe-scotland.org.uk