The 'misleading' oil spill map shared by environmental activists which could cost Australia 5,000 jobs and billions of dollars
- Norwegian oil company Equinor publicly released its plans for drilling off SA
- It calculated which areas would be affected in 100 different oil spill scenarios
- Map shows affected region can be anywhere along the length of the south coast
- But supporters of project say it has been misrepresented by green activists
A map showing the predicted result of 100 different oil spills at once has been hijacked by environmental activists in a bid to shut down a new drilling which could bring billions of dollars and thousands of jobs to Australia.
Last month Norwegian oil company Equinor publicly released its plans for exploratory oil drilling 370 kilometres off the South Australian coast.
The company calculated which areas could be affected in 100 different scenarios of an oil spill left unattended for 129 days.
A map in the plans shows the amalgamation of all areas that may be affected by an oil spill. The affected region can be anywhere along the length of the south coast and up the east coast as far as Sydney. Pictured is an edited version of the map shared by Greenpeace
This is the actual map in the plans. It comes with a note saying that the area does not show the result from one spill but the amalgamation of 100 different scenarios
A map in the plans details the amalgamation of all these areas, showing that anywhere along the length of the south coast and up the east coast as far as Sydney may be affected by a spill.
The map was shared by Greenpeace and other environmental activists in a bid to drum up support for stopping the project.
The group tweeted the map with the caption: 'BREAKING: Oil giant Equinor has released its so-called 'Environmental Plan' for oil drilling in the Great Australian Bight.
'This map from Equinor's own prior modelling shows a spill could hit anywhere from SA to NSW.'
This week a right-wing think tank slammed the protesters, insisting they are misleading the public by sharing the map.
An exhausted oil-covered brown pelican tries to climb over an oil containment boom along after a catastrophic oil spill in 2010
Fred Pawle of the Menzies Research Centre wrote an article in the Spectator calling the map an 'illusion'.
He said: 'The response from the perpetually outraged has been to misinterpret a map of the area that would be affected by a spill, share it extensively on social media and invite people to send their objections.
'The illustration looks scary but thankfully it is an illusion,' he added, pointing out that the map did not show one spill but 'areas that could be affected by any one of 100 scenarios.'
Pawle went on to back the drilling project, citing research that oil in the Bight could produce up to six billion barrels by 2060 and create up to 5,000 jobs in Australia.
He said this activity would 'increase Australia's GDP by $6billion to $19billion per year.'
Equinor, which has two permits for exploratory drilling in the Bight, outlined plans to start a large testing operation as early as late 2019.
Drilling the Bight is not new - 13 wells have been drilled since 1972, the most recent in 2006.
The Bight's waters hold 36 species of whales and dolphins, including the world's most important southern right whale nursery, and many humpback, sperm, blue and beak whales (stock image)
But activists are outraged about the prospect of a new project, especially after the Deep Water Horizon disaster (pictured) in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010
But activists are outraged about the prospect of a new project, especially after the Deep Water Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 which pumped 3.19 million barrels of oil into the ocean, killing 10 people and thousands of animals in the world's worst oil spill which had a clean up bill of $25billion.
Greenpeace released a statement outlining which animals could be under threat from an oil spill in the region.
It read: 'The bight's waters hold 36 species of whales and dolphins, including the world's most important southern right whale nursery, and many humpback, sperm, blue and beak whales.
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'Australian sea lions swim freely throughout the Bight, one of the only places in the world they can be found in large communities… Imagine a place so unique that over three-quarters of the species living there existed nowhere else on the planet. That's the Bight.'
It encouraged activists to send objections to the National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority, which is assessing Equinor's application.
Several other groups have also been protesting against the plan, including a group of surfers headed by Aussie legend Mick Fanning who wrote an open letter.
It read: 'Formal plans have been lodged to turn the Great Australian Bight into a deep water oil field. The drilling, planned by Norwegian oil giant Equinor for later this year, would be deep, remote and risky. If it failed, Equinor's own spill modelling shows the potential for oil on beaches across thousands of kilometres.
'An oil spill in the Bight would be catastrophic, and the southern coastline of Australia would never be the same. The Bight is wild and pristine and should remain that way.
'The surfers below stand with the coastal communities of the Bight and beyond and call for the Great Australian Bight to be kept free from all deep water oil drilling.'
Equinor has insisted that 'drilling can be done safely'.
But opponents point out that the 2km depth of the ocean - 750m deeper than the Gulf of Mexico - and notoriously stormy conditions make the project potentially extremely dangerous.
These factors, as well as 'economic reasons' led BP to abandon plans to drill in the Bight in 2013.
A dead dolphin on the shore of Elmer's Island, Louisiana after an disastrous spill in 2010
- The Great Australian Bight - read our environment plan - equinor.com
- Surfers snake Bight oil facts and jobs | The Spectator Australia
- Surfing Icons and World Champs Sign Open Letter to Norwegian Oil Drillers | Coastalwatch.com
- What would happen if there was an oil spill in the Great Australian Bight? | Greenpeace Australia Pacific
- Greenpeace Aus Pac on Twitter: "BREAKING: Oil giant Equinor has released its so-called 'Environmental Plan' for oil drilling in the Great Australian Bight. This map from Equinor's own prior modelling shows a spill could hit anywhere ...
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