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January 12th, 2013:

For all but Shell, Alaska risks outweighed the benefits

In an April document entitled “-48° C,” Lloyd’s of London – a British insurance giant – claimed that “cleaning up any oil spill in the Arctic, particularly in ice-covered areas, would present multiple obstacles which together constitute a unique and hard-to-manage risk.” In July, British Petroleum – which had run the Deepwater Horizon platform – withdrew its own bid to drill in the arctic due to incalculable “costs” of any accidents there. In February 2012, the US Government Accountability Office issued a warning. “Oil and gas exploration and production off the coast of Alaska is likely to encounter environmental and logistical risks that differ from those in the Gulf of Mexico because of the region’s cold and icy conditions.” Statoil suspended its own plans for drilling in the Alaskan Arctic in August.

“Once-in-a-generation” oil and natural gas fields apparently lured the Royal Dutch Shell company into ignoring clear dangers about drilling in the Alaskan Arctic. It could soon be paying the price.

While environmentalists might be breathing a sigh of relief that the Kulluk oil rig didn’t spill a drop of its 150,000 gallons of oil after running aground off the coast of Alaska late last December, the Royal Dutch Shell company is likely still holding its breath.

On January 3, a group of 45 Democratic congressmen from the Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition called for a formal investigation of the Kulluk incident in order to determine whether Shell should be allowed to continue drilling for oil in Alaskan waters – into which Shell has invested $5 billion (3.75 billion euros). 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.

Evidence Shell Tax Dodging was Behind Kulluk debacle

By John Donovan

The Alaska Dispatch has quoted from an email that Shell Alaska spokesperson Curtis Smith (right) sent on 27 December 2012.

Curtis said in his email:

“it’s fair to say the current tax structure related to vessels of this type influenced the timing of our departure.”

He also said it could cost “multiple millions” if the Kulluk was still in Alaska waters Jan. 1.

I think we can safely assume that Mr Curtis will have earned a big black mark against his name at Shell PR for telling the truth. That is not a quality that Shell management is looking for in a spokesperson. 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.

Investors howl for Shell’s blood

By John Donovan

The current news about Shell’s Alaskan debacle is chilling, but not as bad as the news about the Shell reserves scandal exactly 9 years ago today.

Monday, January 12, 2004

The Australian: Shell chief faces the axe

Daily Mail: Heat is on Watts after Shell shock

The West Australian: Investors howl for Shell’s blood  

London Evening Standard: Shell pledges faith in Gorgon

The Times: Investors demand changes at Shell

The Guardian: Shell debacle leads to call for outside audits

Sydney Morning Herald: Shell rubs out 4bn barrels

Financial Times: Life of Shell reserves cut by 3 years

Financial Times: Call for oil giants to detail fields 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.

Shell’s Arctic Drilling Experiment an Epic Failure

By Brooke Jarvis January 11, 2013 10:37 AM ET EXTRACT

In December of 2011, Royal Dutch Shell produced a series of videos advertising the company’s plans to drill for oil in the Arctic Ocean. Their tagline: “It’s time to explore, and Shell is Arctic Ready.”

That slogan sounds rather different after 2012, a year in which little went as the company planned – this week prompting U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar to announce an urgent, high-level review of what went wrong. (FULL ARTICLE) EXTRACT

I reached out to Shell in both Houston and Alaska to gauge the company’s willingness to absorb costs incurred by public entities. Neither location made a representative available to answer questions by deadline. [See update at bottom.] The company did clear up one gauzy point, albeit to other outlets. As we reported earlier this week, Shell was motivated to move the Kulluk when it did to avoid paying tax to Alaska on the rig in the new year. From United Press International: 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.

Shell faces fresh scrutiny over Alaskan drilling

The pressure is mounting on Shell to abandon its quest for Arctic oil after the US government ordered two reviews into the company’s activities off the Alaskan coast… after a series of accidents in the area involving its ships, rigs and equipment that culminated in the grounding of the rig Kulluk… The US Coastguard…opened an investigation… which could lead to civil or criminal penalties for Shell or its staff.

The pressure is mounting on Shell to abandon its quest for Arctic oil after the US government ordered two reviews into the company’s activities off the Alaskan coast that could halt its planned drilling campaign.

The Obama administration has ordered a sweeping review of Shell’s plans to drill in the Arctic after a series of accidents in the area involving its ships, rigs and equipment that culminated in the grounding of the rig Kulluk near an Alaskan island on New Year’s Eve. 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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