The Sierra Club of Canada is calling on the Canadian government to issue “an immediate rejection” of BP’s proposal to drill an exploration well in deep water near the Orphan Basin.

Oil analysts are calling the well one of the top five wells to watch and the company is bringing the Stena Ice Max rig over from Norway to start drilling in the spring.

National Programs Director with the Sierra Club Foundation, Gretchen Fitzgerald says international scientists have been clear that the world cannot afford any new oil projects.

She says exploratory drilling in deep water 400 km from shore is dangerous to ocean life and she says doing so given the climate emergency “is beyond reckless.”