Germany angered by Shell refusal to dismantle old oil rigs

Germany is calling an urgent international meeting on Shell's alleged refusal to dismantle old oil rigs containing thousands of tons of crude in the Northeast Atlantic.

A spokesman for Germany's environment ministry said Wednesday Berlin has taken the unprecedented step of calling a special session of the OSPAR Commission, which oversees a treaty on protecting the Northeast Atlantic.

Stephan Gabriel Haufe said the four Shell platforms contain about 11,000 metric tons (12,125 tons) of crude oil. They are not covered by international rules on the safe dismantling of such old oil platforms.

Haufe said "Germany considers it absolutely unacceptable that this amount of crude oil should remain in these structures."

He said Friday's meeting in London will be attended by European countries adjacent to the Northeast Atlantic and industry representatives.

Source: dailymail.co.uk