January 19, 2015
Indigenous voice critical in oil protest
A Greenpeace campaigner against deep sea oil drilling says Maori opposition will be an important factor in whether Norway’s Statoil will continue its exploration programme off the Northland coast.
Mike Smith says the current fall in oil prices has oil companies looking for ways to cut costs, and shelving expensive exploration programmes is one way to do that.
He says because Statoil is a state run company, Norwegian public opinion can be a big factor in how it makes those decisions.
" I don’t think neccessarily the oil companies are worried about organisatins like Greenpeace or small groups of communities that oppose them. That's part of the business of being in the oil business. To get oppostition from both sectors. But what they are very vulnerable to is opposition from indigenous peoples. Indigenous peoples around the world have led campaigns, very successful campaigns against the exploitation of their natural resources and the associated pollution that comes with that " he says.
Mike Smith says a Norwegian film crew is expected in the next few weeks to cover protests at Waitangi against the oil drilling.
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