The expiration of Crogga’s licence over the weekend has sparked a fiery response from former MHK Chris Robertshaw, who has placed the blame squarely on the government.
Robertshaw has accused the Department of Infrastructure of deliberate obstruction and mismanagement.
The Crogga shareholder has accused the government of putting roadblocks in the way of the company being able to drill for gas.
‘Government Are Wrong’
“Well, in a nutshell, the government’s gone wrong,” Mr Robertshaw stated bluntly.
“I’m appalled at what the latest DOI Minister is saying in defence of her department. It’s pretty well all inaccurate and misrepresents the true situation.”
Former MHK Chris Robertshaw
He added: “I don’t know whether she does understand the real situation and isn’t willing to promulgate the truth to the public, or whether actually, she’s just been misled by her department.”
Roadblocks
Mr Robertshaw detailed what he sees as three key ‘roadblocks’ placed in Crogga’s path, effectively dooming the project.
“The first is compensation,” he explained.
“It’s been rumoured recently that somehow Crogga was unwilling to pay compensation to the senior tenant of the Crogga field, which is Orsted. That’s absolute nonsense.
Former MHK Chris Robertshaw
“Crogga has said, yes, okay, we accept there may be a need for some form of compensation, but only under the terms of international or national British best practice.”
“The second major roadblock relates to the provision of drilling regulations,” he continued.
“Crogga signed its license in 2018. Six and a half years later, there’s still no regulations, still no legislation in place. Michelle Haywood doesn’t seem to understand that Crogga cannot move without those regulations being in place.”
Former MHK Chris Robertshaw.
“The third roadblock is connected with timing,” he said, explaining that Orsted requires specific information by December 2026.
“Crogga cannot provide the information Orsted wants unless the regulations are in place, allowing them to act.
“The timing, the timescale of everything now is completely impossible. So Crogga has only had no choice but to say, well, we can’t go forward with this.”
Politics
Mr Robertshaw also suggested that politicians personal stance on fossil fuels, including Dr Haywood’s, may have influenced decisions.
He told Manx.News: “She was well known during the election campaign to be wholly against extraction,” he said.
“I think her behaviour right now is totally disingenuous. She hasn’t got a commercial cell in her body. Otherwise, she’d understand these basic things.”
“We’ve certainly lost Crogga. Possibly, as an outsider looking in, we’re going to lose the wind farm as well,” he said.
Consult the People
Mr Robertshaw has argued that the government should consult the Manx people on whether they want to see fossil fuel exploration pursued.
He said: “I think the government now needs to go out to the public of the Isle of Man in some sort of very well professionally structured poll. What do the people of the Isle of Man want?”
For now, however, he remains pessimistic: “Unless and until DoI removes these roadblocks, there will be no further activity.”
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