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January 8th, 2013:

Oil tanker departs Shell Martinez refinery hits San Francisco Bay Bridge

The oil tanker Overseas Reymar struck “a glancing blow” to a tower of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge after unloading crude at a Royal Dutch Shell refinery the day before.

The collision occurred at 11:20 a.m. local time, the U.S. Coast Guard said in an e-mailed statement. No oil was released, a notice to the California Emergency Management Agency shows.

The tanker was damaged above the waterline, with no breach of the hull, said Captain Peter McIsaac, port agent for the San Francisco Bar Pilots. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Oil Sands Industry in Canada Tied to Higher Carcinogen Level

The development of Alberta’s oil sands has increased levels of cancer-causing compounds in surrounding lakes well beyond natural levels, Canadian researchers reported in a study released on Monday. And they said the contamination covered a wider area than had previously been believed. “Now we have the smoking gun,” Professor Smol said. The study is likely to provide further ammunition to critics of the industry, who already contend that oil extracted from Canada’s oil sands poses environmental hazards like toxic sludge ponds, greenhouse gas emissions and the destruction of boreal forests.

Todd Korol/Reuters: An oil sands mine Fort McMurray, Alberta.

By : A version of this article appeared in print on January 8, 2013, on page A4 of the New York edition

OTTAWA — The development of Alberta’s oil sands has increased levels of cancer-causing compounds in surrounding lakes well beyond natural levels, Canadian researchers reported in a study released on Monday. And they said the contamination covered a wider area than had previously been believed.

For the study, financed by the Canadian government, the researchers set out to develop a historical record of the contamination, analyzing sediment dating back about 50 years from six small and shallow lakes north of Fort McMurray, Alberta, the center of the oil sands industry. Layers of the sediment were tested for deposits of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs, groups of chemicals associated with oil that in many cases have been found to cause cancer in humans after long-term exposure. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Safe harbor, uncertain future for Shell’s Arctic rig

By Jennifer A. Dlouhy | January 7, 2013 | Updated: January 7, 2013 11:01pm

WASHINGTON – A massive campaign to free a grounded Arctic drilling rig that involved more than a dozen ships and some 730 people cleared a big hurdle Monday, as salvagers pulled the vessel to safe harbor in Alaska.

Salvage crews anchored the Kulluk rig in Kodiak Island’s sheltered Kiliuda Bay, where it arrived Monday morning. Three support vessels remained attached to the Kulluk.

For Shell, which owns the 266-foot conical drilling unit and planned to use it to continue a $5 billion quest for Arctic oil this summer, the work is just beginning. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Platform-free oil in Arctic waters within striking distance

Balazs Koranyi Reuters: 9:08 a.m. CST, January 7, 2013

OSLO (Reuters) – Lying at the bottom of a giant water-filled pit in western Norway, a thousand-ton gas compressor is humming along, going through grueling tests as engineers prepare it to change oil and gas production for good.

The compressor, a prototype for Royal Dutch Shell’s massive Ormen Lange natural gas field in the Norwegian Sea, will help make platform-free offshore production, the Holy Grail for oil firms, a reality within a decade.

The new technology will have particular meaning for places such as Alaska, where the grounding of Shell’s Kulluk rig on New Year’s Eve stirred opposition to rigs in environmentally delicate and technologically challenging places. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Kulluk refloated

ANCHORAGE, Alaska, January 7, 2013 – With arrival of favorable high tides at Sikalidak Island, recovery crews refloated the Kulluk shortly after 1:00 AM CST today.  Shortly afterward the anchor handling vessel Aiviq commenced towing the conical drillship toward safe harbor at Kiliuda Bay about 30 miles to the northeast. Once there a detailed damage assessment will begin.  Infrared monitoring equipment on one of the vessels in a flotilla accompanying the tow shows no indication of fuel in the water and onboard tank checks confirm no change in fuel levels.  A crew of eleven remains onboard Kulluk during towing operations. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.
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