The latest target for anti-oil activists is the East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline, which is a $3.5billion project, involving the governments of Uganda, Tanzania, plus CNOOC and Total Oil, the State owned French firm. As many drivers in the UK know, there is a concerted campaign to disrupt the use of oil and diesel in the UK by a hard-left activist alliance, which is funded by unknown parties.
Insurers are in the crosshairs of these groups, as without cover, major carbon fuels infrastructure projects cannot proceed. As most insurers now follow the ESG/sustainability rules from the FCA, they have little choice in the matter, and so one by one, they are pulling out of the CNOOC East Africa project.
Here’s the word from the Stop EACOP Popular Peoples Front;
Allianz, one of the world’s largest oil and gas insurers, is the seventh insurer to commit not to insure the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP), following recent statements from Munich Re, Hannover Re and SCOR. In an email to campaigners from, #StopEACOP, Inclusive Development International and Insure Our Future, Allianz stated:
“Allianz is not providing direct insurance to the East African Crude Oil Pipeline project, as it neither meets our climate ambition nor falls within our ESG risk profile.”
Omar Elmawi, Coordinator of the #StopEACOP campaign, says “It is now official, 7 out of the 15 (re)insurers we have approached have concluded that EACOP is a huge risk for them to underwrite. What are Lloyd’s of London and the others waiting for? Insurers must not be accomplices to climate-wrecking fossil fuel projects like EACOP which is mired in human rights violations, unprecedented climate consequences and social and environmental harms.”
UK INSURERS DECLINE TO QUOTE, CHINA HAS NO SUCH INTENTIONS
Refusing to insure oil pipelines sounds so virtuous and good. But while the UK/EU insurance industry sits in their offices polishing their collective halo, China’s insurers will be only to happy to scoop up the business here.
In fact CNOOC has its own insurance company, so it won’t be difficult to replace any coverage that big EU based insurers decline to quote upon. China also has Sinosure, a State-backed enterprise which underwrites all kinds of gas and oil exploration, refinery and transport. The idea that Stop EACOP isn’t aware of China’s underwriting and insurance capacity is ludicrous, they know the project will go ahead, fully insured.
They cannot stop it because China is busy colonising most of Africa’s resources and very few European politicians are bothered about it, or dare to criticise China’s activities across Africa. Same goes for EU based left-wing activists, they are seemingly very relaxed about China’s 19th century style colonisation of Africa.
In reality, the alliance of anti-oil activists know they are utterly powerless aganst China; its endless bank loans, deep influence within African politics, plus the Belt & Road Initiative – no political campaign can defeat that long term objective. They are also scared to take on the world’s only real superpower, as they know retribution would be swift and brutal against those who dared to disrupt China’s oil industry or its Belt & Road Initiative.
So the only card that left wing activists can play is to stop UK and EU companies from insuring things they don’t like.
IE has no doubt that China will provide the necessary insurance cover, the oil will flow to Tanzania and the French – given Total’s investment – will get the best price on the docks when filling up from the refinery in Tanzania. That’s the real world of economic supply and demand, the cut and thrust of competition for resources like food, energy and fuel. The supreme irony in all this is that if the UK decided to frack, or expand North Sea oil production and refining capacity, we would probably have to get Chinese insurers to cover the risk.
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