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Greenpeace shuts down BP filling stations

27/07/2010

Environmental activists have closed down forecourts in central London in an attempt to stop beleaguered oil giant BP from selling petrol in the capital.

Greenpeace said that volunteers were aiming to shut all 50 BP filling stations in central London from 5.30am this morning, using shut-off switches to prevent the flow of fuel, then removing the devices to prevent stations reopening. Signs were displayed by protesters, claiming that BP is "moving beyond petroleum", a slogan used by the company.

The campaign group, which has ran a competition to 're-brand' BP's logo in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, hung a new emblem for the company at a petrol station in Camden.

Speaking from the site, Greenpeace executive director John Sauven said: "The moment has come for BP to move beyond oil.

"They're desperate for us to believe they're going 'beyond petroleum'. Well now's the time to prove it."

The action comes as BP announced one of the largest corporate losses in UK history, at US $17 billion ( £11 billion) for the second quarter, saying that it has set aside $32.2 billion ( £20.7 billion) to cover the cost of the spill arising from the April explosion of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig. This figure includes the $20 billion ( £12.9 billion) escrow compensation fund agreed last month.

In addition, the company said that group chief executive Tony Hayward - who has been the subject of intense pressure from politicians and media in the US - will step down in October. He will be replaced by executive director Robert Dudley, who is currently running BP's clean-up operations and compensation programmes in the Gulf of Mexico.

Greenpeace called on Dudley - a former vice-president of BP's renewables alternative energy operations - to put a stop to further offshore drilling, end "all high-risk, unconventional oil sources" and "massively scale up" investment in alternative energy.

"Under Tony Hayward the company went backwards, squeezing the last drops of oil from places like the Gulf of Mexico, the tar sands of Canada and even the fragile Arctic wilderness," Sauven added.

"Now the board desperately needs a rethink. The age of oil is coming to an end and companies like BP will be left behind unless they begin to adapt now."

Expressing sadness over the "tragedy" of the disaster - and its effect on his legacy with the company - Hayward said that his stepping down was "consistent with the responsibility BP has shown throughout these terrible events".

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