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Posts from ‘October, 2010’

Saudi Aramco, Shell Venture to Drill in Saudi Arabia

Bloomberg

By Fred Pals and Wael Mahdi – Oct 25, 2010 4:33 PM GMT+0100

A joint venture between Saudi Aramco and Royal Dutch Shell Plc plans to drill three wells in Saudi Arabia’s southern Rub Al Khali desert after completing its first exploration period, the company said today.

South Rub al-Khali Co., or SRAK, as the venture is known, also plans to submit an appraisal plan to the government for the Kidan area of Saudi Arabia, it said in a statement. Kidan lies near the Saudi border with the United Arab Emirates.

SRAK said it achieved “good” results from the seven wells it drilled over the past three years in the Rub Al Khali area. The three new wells will be part of the company’s second exploration period, which started on July 26.

SRAK is one of four ventures exploring for natural gas in Saudi Arabia, which holds the fifth-largest gas reserves in the world. Chevron Corp., the second-largest U.S. energy company, said it will soon start looking for gas near the Saudi-Kuwaiti border.

To contact the reporters responsible for this story: Fred Pals at fpals@bloomberg.net; Wael Mahdi in Khobar at wmahdi@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Stephen Voss on sev@bloomberg.net.

SOURCE

Shell wants more from Brazilian waters


LONDON, Oct. 25 (UPI) — Royal Dutch Shell announced it was investing in developments in the deep waters off the coast of Brazil in order to enhance its American portfolio.

Shell said it was investing an undisclosed sum to support a second phase of development of the Parque das Conchas basin about 62 miles off the coast of Brazil.

Shell began operating in the region in 2009. The second phase envisions drilling to roughly 3,600 feet below the sea bed, 6,000 feet below the surface of the water.

The entire offshore project is expected to yield about 100,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, the company said.

“This is another important milestone in our delivery of substantial growth in the Americas,” said Marvin Odum, upstream director for Shell, in a statement.

The company added that production for the first phase at Parque das Conchas was above expectations.

© 2010 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

SOURCE

Shell slashes $18bn from Kashagan costs

DAILY TELEGRAPH: Royal Dutch Shell has radically simplified the design of the Kashagan oil development, slashing $18bn (£11.5bn) from the cost of the second phase of development as it strives to make the project economically viable.

By Richard Orange in Almaty
Published: 11:38AM BST 25 Oct 2010

The milestone report from Shell’s Kashagan Cost Reduction Team reduces the cost estimate for the second phase of the project from $68bn to $50bn, a senior Kazakh official told The Daily Telegraph.

Shell took control of the planning of the second phase from Italy’s Eni at the start of last year. The Anglo-Dutch company has been working to turn around the economics of the project, which will take production capacity to 1m barrels per day, from the first phase’s production capacity of 450,000.

Even with the reduced cost estimate, the second phase only offers a return on investment of 9.3pc, the Kazakh source said.

“We are culling costs by any type of innovative thinking we can,” Pierre Offant, managing director of North Caspian Operating Company (NCOC), which oversees the overall project, said at this month’s Kazenergy Eurasian Energy Forum in Astana.

When Kashagan was discovered in 2000, it was the biggest oil discovery in more than 30 years, with commercial reserves of some 9bn-13bn barrels of oil.

Italy’s ENI, which was chosen to operate the field in 2001, was forced into a succession of cost increases, and the start date for production has already been pushed back seven years from the initial target of 2005. Control was passed to NCOC, a joint venture of all the partners, in 2009.

The total development costs are estimated at $136bn, making it the world’s costliest project, according to data from the Project Management Institute.

TELEGRAPH ARTICLE

Alleged death threats against whistleblower Shell Corrib employees

By John Donovan

Earlier today I sent an email to Richard Wiseman, Chief Ethics & Compliance Officer of Royal Dutch Shell Plc advising him of alleged death threats made against Shell Corrib employees, who for some months have been leaking Shell internal emails to us, which we have published.

I supplied to Mr Wiseman the latest batch of leaked emails together with a draft email we intend to send to the Irish Police Commissioner reporting a Shell espionage operation against Shell Corrib employees and alleged related death threats.

My email to Mr Wiseman was also sent to Shell CEO Peter Voser and Lorna Siggins at The Irish Times who has been reporting on the Corrib story from the outset and is the author of the recently published book “Once Upon a Time in the West: The Corrib Gas Controversy“. It seems that the Wild West theme of the title may be more appropriate than the author anticipated. The hired guns in this story are 170-strong.

I await a response from Shell as to the authenticity of the Shell internal emails and any comment on the related alleged death threats.

In the meantime, visitors to this website will have noticed that by co-incidence or otherwise, the website was down again today. This could be due to a cyber attack by an unknown party, perhaps Shell’s counter-measures team? Either the site is becoming even more popular, or it is being maliciously flooded by requests designed to overwhelm the dedicated server. Looks like we will have to ramp up security again.

City eyes third-quarter growth from Shell

Daily Telegraph: Royal Dutch Shell’s results beat market expectations in the first half.

25 October 2010

The City is expecting profits at Royal Dutch Shell to have risen 50pc to $4.3bn when it reports its results on Thursday Photo: Johnny Greig / Alamy

When it posts third-quarter figures on Thursday, investors will be watching to see whether Peter Voser, its chief executive, unveils solid results again, as arch-rival BP struggles to recover from its Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

Shell’s restructuring programme and a higher oil price helped it to second-quarter profits of around $4.5bn (£2.87bn). The oil giant had slashed its spending by $3.5bn over the previous 18 months by shedding 7,000 staff and making operational savings. At the time, Shell said its radical restructuring programme had come to an end earlier than planned.

Oil prices are still high at around $80 per barrel and its refining and marketing division is doing better than last year. The City is therefore expecting profits on a cost of supply basis (stripping out inventory effects) to rise by 50pc on last year to $4.3bn.

Analysts at BNP Paribas said: “We expect earnings per share growth to be sector-leading as new mega-projects come on stream.”

Shell’s alleged secret reactor

COMMENT FROM A FORMER EMPLOYEE OF SHELL OIL USA

I read your article about the so-called ‘secret reactor’ that was possibly buried at a location that is now a residential home site. I doubt that is the case, but one cannot expect Shell to tell the truth about such matters

However, the ownership, operation and disposal of civilian reactors in the UK is a highly regulated business. Therefore, appropriate UK governmental agencies should have records of any nuclear reactor owned and/or operated by Shell, including who built it, the model type, date of commissioning, its location of operation, its size, the type of fuel, and its purpose (medical research, isotope production, etc.).

There should also be records of when it was decommissioned, and when, where and how it was disposed of. It is normal practice to bury old reactors after they have been ‘scrubbed down’.  My guess is that the UK operates some sort of ‘old reactor graveyard’, where decommissioned reactors are buried, literally.

However, the spent fuel assemblies are NOT buried with a reactor. That must be dealt with separately. I do know that there is a spent fuel reprocessing facility in the UK and that any such fuel from a Shell reactor would probably have been sent to that facility for the removal of ‘fissionable’ elements, like uranium, plutonium, and neptunium. Most people don’t realize that neptunium 237, which is produced in a nuclear reactor, is fissionable, and that it can be used to fabricate nuclear weapons.

As it happens to be, it was not uncommon in the 1950′s and 1960′s for research reactors to be fueled with weapons grade uranium cores. In fact, and you will find this interesting, in the days of the Shah the US supplied Iran with research reactors that were fueled with weapons grade uranium, but that is another story. The UK government would have mandated that the spent fuel from such a reactor be reprocessed, of that I have no doubt.

Now, with regard to the supposedly contaminated homesite in your article. FYI -- plutonium is NOT a naturally occurring element. It is ALL man-made and it is a fission product of a nuclear reactor. It comes from the bombardment of U 238 by neutrons and alpha particles. PU 239, 240, and 241 are all common isotopes made in a nuclear reactor’s core.

If there is indeed plutonium in the soil of this fellow home, as well as uranium, that is proof of the presence of material from the fuel core of a nuclear reactor. Furthermore, the plutonium indicates that the material came from the fuel core of a once operational nuclear reactor. A detailed soil analysis should also pick up other elements that are radiation decay by-products of the nuclear fission process in a reactor fuel core. Neptunium, cobalt, strontium, etc., should all be found on location, and they should be radioactive isotopes. The decay element profile of spent fuel is well known so determining whether traces of spent reactor fuel are indeed found in the soil will not be a problem.

In the US spent fuel cores from civilian reactors are normally stored in a concrete cooling pool. This is just a pool of water that dissipates heat from the spent core and provides a radiation shield. Spent reactor cores are still highly radioactive and they generate a great deal of heat from the continued decay of all the fission products (radioactive elements) produced in a fuel core.

The elements and isotopes found in spent reactor cores should not be found in uncontaminated soil. The presence of these elements in the soil indicates that there may have been an ‘accident’ and spent nuclear fuel material was ‘spilled’ at that location. This location would then be a bono-fide nuclear accident cite that would require cleanup.

What I find interesting is the lack of interest or involvement of the appropriate UK governmental authorities. It this were indeed such an accident site then the whole area should be under government control for cleanup purposes and the public prohibited from access.

Elements like plutonium are not only highly radioactive they are also highly toxic. Plutonium is one of the best ‘rat killers’ around because of it toxicity.

To allow homes to be built over such a disposal site would be absolutely criminal because these highly toxic and radioactive elements would contaminate the soil, lawns, gardens, etc., surrounding these home. People would ingest and breath in the radioactive dust. PLants also take up heavy elements quickly, particularly uranium. So, if people were eating the vegetables from a garden they would be ingesting these elements.

If the soil analysis from the location you mention are indeed correct and accurate, then it appears that someone (apparently Shell) did something that was probably very highly illegal, and perhaps criminal, at that particular location. They may very well have indeed buried a deactivated reactor without public disclosure, but I doubt that would be the case. Governmental records should solve that mystery.

It appears that however, that at the very least there may have been an ‘accident’ that involved spent radioactive fuel core material. If so, then it is also apparent that they (whom ever THEY are) did not ‘clean up’ this ‘accident’ site.

It is doubtful that a governmental agency would do such a thing, so the source is probably from a private corporation, i.e., Shell.

There is a story here. When, where and how was Shell’s reactor disposed of, and when, where and how was the spent fuel disposed of. This should be a matter of governmental record and therefore accessible by the public.

If this information is missing, or ‘sealed’, or otherwise unavailable to the public, then someone is hiding something. Shell was NOT involved in the nuclear defense industry, so withholding this information would NOT be a matter of national security.

The UK government should have records on every aspect of Shell’s ‘alleged’ nuclear reactor. I have seen where Shell acknowledged having a test facility that used cobalt 60 to study radiation effects on oils. That is interesting. That information may have been interest to both military and civilian reactor operators.

Shell’s ‘reactor’, whatever it was, had to have been licensed by the UK government. The design had to have been approved by the government. Someone manufactured that ‘reactor’, and it is doubtful that this ‘someone’ was Shell.

Shell had to have obtained permits for the radioactive material, whether it was fuel or cobalt 60. There have to records of how much Shell acquired and ‘used’. And the spent fuel had to have been turned over to the UK government for reprocessing.

I think that all you people need to quit mucking around with Shell, because they are not going to tell you a thing about their ‘reactor’, whatever it was.  Go to the government archives. The information should be there and it should be available.

Now, if Shell had any accidents, then those would have to have been reported as well.

This information all exists in government archives somewhere. That is where you will get the information you need for a real story.

It exists in Shell’s archives as well, but you won’t get access to those.

I found this article. The important point here is that all civilian research and power ‘reactors’ are licensed by the government. Shell’s ‘reactor’ had to have an operating license.

http://www.niauk.org/industry-link/issue-5/the-future-of-the-uks-last-civilian-nuclear-research-reactor--1964-to-.html

This article talks about the problem of how small research reactors of the 1960′s and 1970′s were fueled with weapons grade uranium fuel, although not much of it.

http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/inf61.htm

I actually suspect that Shell may have had a small research reactor that they don’t want people to know about. Shell may have had to close it because they could not operate it competently, or they had an ‘accident’, or it was simply not cost effective to continue to operate. At this point who knows.

Once again, there will be records of Shell’s reactor in government archives.

Shell’s retreat from Nigeria

From a Shell retiree…

Shell will be reducing activities in Nigeria and appears to be selling off below market price due to all the hassle there. John Browne leading a consortium. All in Sunday Times.

If true, this will be a major blow in the face of Shell, they give up. Precisely what you can expect from beancounters who have never worked in bad places like Nigeria… I see it as reducing value. Bunch of cowards.

And what happened to the promises of Brinded? By 2013 or 2014 he ‘hoped’ to realise 6-6.5 mln boe/d. And this ‘promise’ was as recent as 2005 or thereabouts. I would like to know where the deliverable is?

Browne Leads Group Bidding for Shell Nigeria Fields, Times Says

Bloomberg

BP Plc’s former Chief executive Officer John Browne is leading a group of bidders for $4 billion of Nigerian oil fields being sold by Royal Dutch Shell Plc, the Sunday Times said.

Browne’s Riverstone Management Ltd. is interested in bidding, as is KKR & Co. and Blackstone Group LP, the Times said. Another bid group includes Perenco SA, Addax & Oryx Group Ltd. and Oando Plc, the newspaper said. Any bidder will have to have a local partner to meet government requirements, it said.

Partners ENI SpA and Total SA have the right to buy Shell’s 30 percent stake in the fields, and Nigeria’s majority holding national oil company must approve any deal, the Times said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Abigail Moses in London at Amoses5@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Paul Armstrong at Parmstrong10@bloomberg.net

SOURCE

Carson residents protest Shell Oil over soil contamination

More than 200 people — led by environmental activist Erin Brockovich — marched to the company’s oil refinery…

latimes.com

October 23, 2010

Residents, activists and city leaders in Carson took to the streets Saturday to protest of Shell Oil Co.’s refusal to take responsibility for the contamination of a tract in the Carousel neighborhood, where high levels of benzene and methane have been found in the ground.

More than 200 people — led by environmental activist Erin Brockovich — marched to the company’s oil refinery at the intersection of Wilmington Avenue and Dominguez Street. Council members Lulu Davis-Holmes and Mike Gipson joined residents at the protest.

Standing at the entrance of the refinery, residents used a bullhorn to call on the company to accept responsibility for contaminating their neighborhood. Other protestors held up signs that read “Shame on Shell” and banners that read “Carousel contaminated.”

Organizers say the oil company is trying to avoid responsibility for contamination of the Carousel neighborhood by claiming statute of repose, a law that cuts off certain legal rights after a set amount of time has passed.

But Shell spokeswoman Alison Chassin said the company was not claiming statute of repose. “We are conducting an environmental investigation, and our actions clearly indicate something else,” she said.

Chassin clarified her earlier remarks, saying that the company was not dragging its feet in response to the concerns of the residents of the affected neighborhood and that she could not comment on the statute of repose because of ongoing litigation.

The company has taken 190 soil and vapor soil samples at the 285 affected homes, Chassin said. “None of the regulatory agencies overseeing the investigation have suggested that there’s imminent health risks to the residents at this point.”

Shell’s environmental investigation is being overseen by government agencies including the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board, the state Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment and the state Department of Toxic Substances Control.

“It’s important to also note that in the historical documents, we sold the property as is to the developer,” Chassin said. “The developer at the time took responsibility to demolish and clean up the site.”

A homeowner lawsuit was filed against Shell about a year ago, said Barbara Post, 74, a longtime resident and organizer of Saturday’s march and rally.

The suit alleges that Shell found significant levels of benzene at 66 of 73 locations it drilled, mostly streets and other public areas. According to the homeowners’ lawyer, the cancer risk exceeds the federal Environmental Protection Agency’s level of a risk by a factor of 1,400. At the high level, he said in a letter to the water board, the concentration of benzene in soil gas would be estimated to cause one additional cancer case for each 10 people who breathed it for 30 years of a 70-year lifetime.

The contamination at the Carousel neighborhood tract was discovered more than two years ago, when the state Department of Toxic Substances Control was investigating the site of an old chemical plant west of the small neighborhood. Workers there found benzene and petroleum in the soil and groundwater but concluded that they were coming from somewhere else. The chemicals were then traced to the 50-acre site, where the neighborhood sits.

That land was owned and operated by Shell from 1924 to 1966 and hosted three crude oil reservoirs. The reservoirs were demolished and the land was sold around the mid-1960s, records show. It was developed into a single-family residential neighborhood around 1970.

“Shell is not cooperating. They won’t take responsibility,” she said. “They’re playing a chess game with our lives.”

Post said that until recently, most residents were unaware that their neighborhood was sitting on top of a former crude oil reservoir.

She said they feel trapped because their homes no longer have value and therefore they cannot sell them. “We would all like to pick up and leave, but we can’t,” Post said. “We’re in fear. We don’t know who’s going to be next, who’s going to be sick, or dead.”

-- Ruben Vives

SOURCE

AND THE SAME THING HAS HAPPENED IN THE UK…

Channel 4 TV “Mark Thomas’ Secret Map of Britain”:

“Welcome to the most polluted house in Britain…”

The dramatic introduction in a Channel 4 TV programme “Mark Thomas’ Secret Map of Britain” about Ray Fox and the most polluted house in Britain. The house in Wokingham Road, Earley, Reading, is next door to an alleged buried secret nuclear reactor on a former Shell petrochemical terminal. The package includes an interview with toxicologist Dr Dick Van Steenis (who says Ray has symptoms and effects of radioactive poisoning) and with Dr Chris Busby BSc, PhD, C.Chem, MRSC, a radiation scientist. Mark Thomas states that soil tests carried out by Dr Busby at the house revealed some of the highest levels of plutonium and uranium contamination ever recorded in Britain. Busby says in the report that the unique footprint of the uranium came from a nuclear reactor. Shell was quoted as stating that no nuclear material was ever stored or processed at the site which Shell sold for a housing development without disclosing ANY nuclear history of the site.

For more information visit the Ray Fox website

SHELL’S STAR RISES ON STRONG EARNINGS GROWTH

Express.co.uk - Home of the Daily and Sunday Express Express - Breaking news, sport and showbiz from the World's Greatest Newspaper

Shell will report estimated earnings of $4.4 billion (£2.8 billion)

Sunday October 24,2010

By Tracey Boles

OIL giant Royal Dutch Shell will confirm its star is rising this week by reporting estimated earnings of $4.4 billion (£2.8 billion) for the third quarter, up almost 70 per cent on last year.

The earnings haul for the Anglo-Dutch company compares to $2.6 billion (£1.6 billion) in the third quarter of 2009 and has been driven by its exploration and production arm, much of it from gas revenues.

Analysts at Citigroup said Shell’s expected earnings growth represented “the strongest momentum in its peer group’. It added 2011 could be the “year of project delivery” for the oil group as two massive projects in Qatar come onstream and the firm ramps up its Canadian oil sands project.

Shell’s troubled arch-rival BP will report third-quarter earnings on November 2. Despite the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, underlying profits are forecast to be $4.8billion (£3 billion), slightly up from $4.7 billion (£2.9 billion) reported a year ago.

However, the figure does not include any write offs due to the Gulf spill and resulting environmental disaster. At the time of the spill BP was Britain’s biggest company. The disaster wiped billions off the value of the company and cost chief executive Tony Hayward his job. It also led to a $17 billion (£10.8 billion) loss in the second quarter due to a massive write off for the spill.

SOURCE