Repsol authorised to search for oil off Canaries shores

A Council of Ministers has today (Friday, 16th March 2012) authorised the company Repsol to make ‘spot checks’ in Canary Island waters to search for hydrocarbons (oil and gas). An spokesperson for the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism confirmed that Jose Manuel Soria agreed the authorisations.

The surveys will be conducted over nine ‘grids’ in waters to the east of the islands of Lanzarote and Fuerteventura. The authorisation has been rejected by the Regional Executive and the councils of both islands.

Surveys carried out show that about forty miles from the coast the Canary Islands, near the maritime border with Morocco, there are significant deposits in the neighboring country where exploration has already begun work.

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José Manuel Soria has stressed the desirability of exploring these sites, which serve to reduce energy dependence on Spain and to provide the Canary Islands with ‘additional financial resources’.

Mr. Soria said the government “will not look the other way when opportunities are identified to reduce energy dependence” and “encourage the work of prospecting oil and gas” in Spain. In addition, he claims to have received information from Repsol that in the waters of the Canary Islands there is a “high probability” of finding oil “in quantity”.

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