The extent of frequent, smaller-scale ‘chronic oiling’ in the North Sea has been grossly underestimated due to a combination of the oil industry’s failure to provide data and an opaque and misleading reporting system. When these are accounted for, estimates of the volume of oil spilling into UK seas increase by at least 43%, and the true amount is almost certainly much more.
Enforcement is also weak at best, with only two recorded convictions or fines in the last five years, one of which amounted to just £7,000, equivalent to 0.006% of the company’s profit for the year, or 1.5 hours of the CEO’s time. All this puts unique and vulnerable ocean wildlife and marine protected areas at serious risk.
