Shetlanders send short film protesting oil field plans in Norway

By Leila Nezirevic

LONDON (AA)- Shetlanders have sent a short film pleading for Norway to resist the development of a controversial oil field, media reports said Friday.

The film, Dear Norway, urges their “siblings across the sea” to “do the right thing and leave the oil in the ground.” In other words: stop the Rosebank oil field development 129 kilometers (80 miles) off Shetland’s coast.

Rosebank is considered the largest undeveloped oil and gas field in the North Sea because of its ability to produce more than 70,000 barrels of oil per day and is thought to be able to hold the equivalent of 500 million barrels.

The oil field would be operated by Norwegian state-owned oil company Equinor, and the UK government is set to decide if the project will go ahead.

The film shot around Shetland highlights the strong historical and cultural ties between the islands and Norway and it warns about the “uncomfortable truth that binds us together: fossil fuels.”

Dear Norway campaigners said Rosebank’s oil and gas reserves would produce more carbon dioxide than the yearly emissions of all 28 low-income countries in the world put together.

A boy from Shetland who is featured in the film sends a message in a bottle about environmental damage to Norway.

“Dear Norway, this is Shetland, your sibling across the sea. We need to talk,” it said.

Campaigners urged the Nordic country to lead the transformation from oil and gas and instead supply clean energy across Europe.

“We all know that climate breakdown is threatening our future, yet still we continue to burn fossil fuels,” said Alex Armitage, a Green councilor on Shetland, who also appears in the film.

He pointed out in Dear Norway that the world needs leadership on climate and that the UK and Norway must take a stand and make the choice to “leave our fossil fuels in the ground and lead the global energy transition.”

Another climate campaigner in the film, Laura Bisset, said “drilling at Rosebank is another step backward in a race against the climate crisis which we are already losing.” Urging the world to take action “before it is too late.”

“Our little Island is more than a vessel for oil, and it is important for others to know we are being affected by Rosebank and that we care about the impact,” she said.

Due to the potential installation of a pipe through the protected area of the Faroe-Shetland Sponge Belt, marine life would also be affected by the Rosebank oil field, according to activists.

Equinor expects a final investment decision in 2023 and it claims to have established “good relations” with suppliers on Shetland, according to British news outlet, STV News.

The first Rosebank oil is expected in late 2026.

According to the news outlet, the UK government said no decision has yet been made regarding the proposed Rosebank field and “development proposals for oil fields under existing licenses are a matter for the regulators.”

“We aim to develop and operate Rosebank with the lowest possible carbon footprint while bringing the maximum value to society in the shape of UK investment, local jobs and energy security,” a UK government spokesperson was quoted by STV News.

Campaigners and organizations opposing the oil field plans have urged the UK to halt the development of Rosebank.

Scottish Greens energy and environment spokesperson, Mark Ruskell, described Rosebank as “a climate disaster waiting to happen,” according to Scottish media outlet, The National.

“We are already way past the point when we should have been moving away from oil and gas, yet Westminster is doubling down on it,” he said.