As soon as the error was established, Greenpeace set the record straight and Lord Melchett wrote to the chief executive of ShellUK with an apology and immediately retracted the allegation.
The Brent Spar platform was obsolete and after evaluating options and conferring with the UK government, Shell announced the company would blow a hole in it and sink it to the bottom of the ocean.
These include some of the world's leading companies, such as BMW, Lloyds, Nestle, Philips and Shell, as well as US government departments and the UK's Parliament.