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March 26th, 2013:

Shell Oil Axes Exec For Alaska Drilling Fiasco. Will More Heads Roll?

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Screen Shot 2013-03-26 at 18.26.52Christopher Helman, Forbes Staff: I’m based in Houston, Texas. Energy capital of the world.

David Lawrence, the executive vice president directly responsible for Alaskan operations has left the company. A Shell spokesman says that “Mr. Lawrence’s departure from Shell is by mutual consent.” Lawrence had been with Shell since 1984. His departure was first reported on the site started by longtime Shell gadfly Alfred Donovan. So will David Lawrence be enough of a sacrificial lamb for Shell to satisfy investors that it’s learned its lessons? Or should the buck stop higher up the pecking order, perhaps with Marvin Odum, president of the entire Americas division…; If Odum can be this disingenuous about a certified “screw up” then you have to wonder: what else at Shell is subject to subterfuge?

Published 3/26/2013 @ 1:20PM

David Lawrence, the executive vice president directly responsible for Alaskan operations has left the company. A Shell spokesman says that “Mr. Lawrence’s departure from Shell is by mutual consent.” Lawrence had been with Shell since 1984. His departure was first reported on the site started by longtime Shell gadfly Alfred Donovan.

A year ago Lawrence had said that Shell’s planned Arctic drilling “is relatively easy.” So it’s fitting that he was made to answer for the disastrous Alaskan campaign which was marred by a host of delays, accidents and mishaps. The misadventure resulted in a couple of wells being started, then abandoned, and one of Shell’s rigs, the Kulluk, being damaged in a grounding near Kodiak Island. “ Shell screwed up in 2012,” said Interior Secretary Ken Salazar earlier this month. 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 exec leaves by ‘mutual consent’ after Arctic mishaps

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Posted on March 26, 2013 at 2:28 pm by Jennifer A. Dlouhy: Covers energy policy and other issues for The Houston Chronicle and other Hearst Newspapers from Washington, D.C.

A Shell executive in charge of oil exploration across the Americas has stepped down from his post after 29 years with the company.

Shell said the move by David Lawrence, the executive vice president of exploration and commercial for upstream Americas “was made by mutual consent” and that he was not fired. But skeptics have fostered a different view: that Lawrence was fired and made the scapegoat for Shell’s problem-plagued 2012 Arctic drilling season. 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 Plans to Spend $1 Billion on China Shale Gas Development

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By Bloomberg News – Mar 26, 2013 8:09 AM GMT

Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA) will spend $1 billion developing China’s shale gas reserves, according to Peter Voser, the company’s chief executive.

Shell has won government approval for its production sharing contract with China National Petroleum Corp., the nation’s biggest oil and gas company, Voser said in an interview in Beijing today. He didn’t specify a timeline or other details for the $1 billion investment.

China is working with overseas partners to introduce hydraulic fracturing, the technology known as fracking that breaks open underground shale rocks to release natural gas, as it seeks to boost domestic consumption of the cleaner-burning fuel. Shell and CNPC had drilled 24 wells by November and planned a further 14 this year, Maarten Wetselaar, executive vice president of Shell Upstream International, said Nov. 15. 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 ‘bet the farm’ on backing drill ship novice – Huisman’s

POSTING BY “OUTSIDER”

Screen Shot 2013-01-11 at 20.09.51Shell appear to have “bet the farm” on backing Huisman’s “introduction to the drilling industry.” Four deepwater rigs dependent on new technology from a company with no track record in building drilling equipment….and the rigs are operated by Noble, who also played a starring role in Shell’s Arctic meltdown. Deepwater rigs are not widely available, so the potential impact on Shell’s Exploration and Production activities and long term viability if these rigs are not capable of operating as required is enormous. Four rigs recently ordered from Transocean as apparent replacements for the Bully and Globetrotter rigs will not be available for another 2-3 years…

See Huisman’s website:

Drill Ships

Screen Shot 2013-03-26 at 08.34.49The first orders by Noble/Shell for the drilling equipment sets onboard their “Bully drill ships” and by Noble Drilling for the “Globetrotter” drill ships now also confirm our strong introduction to the drilling industry.

At Huisman, we continuously research and develop new concepts, engineering solutions and techniques which we believe add value to the market’s existing technologies. Our drilling equipment and our vessel layouts are typical examples of in-house designed concepts to provide our clients with the best possible technical solutions. 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.

MARVIN ODUM DESCRIBES KULLUK SHIPWRECK AS A ‘MARINE TRANSPORT ISSUE’

Screen Shot 2013-03-25 at 22.55.30EMAIL SENT 25 MARCH 2013 BY BILL CAMPBELL TO MICHIEL BRANDJES, ROYAL DUTCH SHELL PLC COMPANY SECRETARY & GENERAL COUNSEL CORPORATE. MR CAMPBELL IS A RETIRED HSE GROUP AUDITOR OF SHELL INTERNATIONAL. EMAIL CONCERNS LAUGHABLE STATEMENT MADE BY MARVIN ODUM (RIGHT) DESCRIBING THE KULLUK HITTING THE ROCKS AND CONSEQUENTIAL ABANDONMENT OF SHIP AS A ‘MARINE TRANSPORT ISSUE’

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Screen Shot 2013-03-25 at 22.49.50With the Kulluk now safely recovered, we’ll carry out a detailed assessment of the vessel to understand what those impacts might be.For now, it’s important to note that this was a marine transit issue that occurred after completion of our exploration program and well outside our theater of operations. It did not involve drilling operations.

Marvin Odum, President, Shell Oil Company

THE EMAIL

Subject: Public Statements by Royal Dutch Shell Alaska

The following is an observation, perhaps RDS find it acceptable to mislead the public but misleading employees is another issue, whether this was by accident or intent it’s for RDS to judge. You will be glad to know it is not my intention to continue with this bombardment. Mr Donovan is free to publish or amend as he sees fit. 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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