THE oil giant Shell has agreed to re-route a controversial oil pipeline off Russia’s east coast, apparently bowing to pressure from environmentalists. But campaigners say it is not the pipeline that is the problem, but the oil platforms.
Campaigners want to protect the feeding grounds of the critically endangered western grey whale near Sakhalin Island, which they say are threatened by the $12 billion Sakhalin II development. On 30 March the Sakhalin Energy Investment Company (SEIC), of which Royal Dutch Shell is the main stakeholder, agreed to re-route the pipeline to avoid the feeding grounds of the 100 remaining whales,…
