5 February, 2008

SHETLAND MSP Tavish Scott yesterday (Monday) called on the UK government to tighten regulations so that oil had to be piped ashore rather than loaded offshore.

His comments came in the wake of the announcement of new oil discoveries west of the isles and Forth Ports’ decision last Friday not to pursue plans to allow ship to ship oil transfers in the Firth of Forth.

"Forth Ports made the right decision. The transfer of oil between tankers in the open water is too risky. Ship to ship transfers should take place in sheltered harbours, such as Sullom Voe, where the risks of spillages are much less and where there is the infrastructure needed to react quickly to any minor problem,” he said.

"The same principle should apply when bringing oil ashore from offshore fields. Pipelines should be used rather than shuttle tankers loaded offshore. As more oil is found to the west of Shetland, the case for a prohibition of offshore loading strengthens.

"The more oil that there is to extract, the greater the risk of an offshore loading accident. And, the more oil there is, the harder it is for the oil companies to argue that they cannot afford to provide pipelines to the shore.”