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March, 2014:

‘Orphan’ oil wells warning for fracking

Mar 25th, 2014
by John Donovan.
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By James Morgan Science reporter, BBC News 24 March 2014

Plans to expand shale gas “fracking” in the UK must learn from leaks and poor monitoring at existing onshore oil and gas sites, scientists say.

A review of 2,152 wells drilled from 1902-2013 found up to 100 “orphaned” wells for which no firm is responsible.

fracking graphic

The use of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) to recover shale gas has raised fears of earthquakes and contamination of drinking water by chemicals pumped into wells. But scientists say there is another pollution risk – from structural failure of the well casing – and this risk is not particular to shale gas. It is common to all hydrocarbon drilling sites. 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.

ROYAL DUTCH SHELL ALLEGED €2 MILLION BRIBERY SLUSH FUND

Mar 25th, 2014
by John Donovan.
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Screen Shot 2014-03-26 at 14.56.22

I have today been in email correspondence with Johan Groenewald, Senior Investigating Officer of the Garda Ombudsman Commission. Mr. Groenewald is currently investigating police corruption allegations made by whisleblower OSSL against Shell EP Ireland. I have supplied Mr. Groenewald with emails sent to a third party major company alleged to have held a €2 million slush fund on behalf of Shell to fund sweetener payments to landowners and gifts/bribes given to Irish police officers.

By John Donovan

I have today been in email correspondence with Johan Groenewald, Senior Investigating Officer of the Garda Ombudsman Commission.

Mr. Groenewald is currently investigating police corruption allegations made by whisleblower OSSL against Shell EP Ireland.

I have supplied Mr. Groenewald with emails sent to a third party major company alleged to have held a €2 million slush fund on behalf of Shell to fund sweetener payments to landowners and gifts/bribes given to Irish police officers.

I put these allegations directly to the third party company in August 2013 and again on 21 March 2014. 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.

Peter Rees reappears but mystery remains over his exit from Shell

Mar 25th, 2014
by John Donovan.
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Peter Rees QC

Peter Rees QC

“Rees’ departure from Shell prompted much speculation in the City, given the company’s recent profit warnings, the on-going European Commission investigation into oil price-rigging and the arrival of new CEO Ben van Beurden.”Mr Rees has refused to comment on the circumstances of his unexpected and unexplained departure from Royal Dutch Shell during a financial crisis. 

By John Donovan

Peter Rees, until January Legal Director of Royal Dutch Shell Plc and an executive director of the company, has resurfaced at London Chambers “Thirty Nine Essex Street” as a counsel and commercial arbitrator. A considerable fall in prestige. He led a 1,000 strong legal department at Shell.

The reason for his sudden department from Shell days before the company issued a profits warning that shook the markets was said to be known by only three people other than Rees- Peter Voser, the retiring CEO, Ben van Beurden, the incoming CEO, and HR boss, Hugh Mitchell. 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.

There are still some cards left to be played against Russia

Mar 25th, 2014
by John Donovan.
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Extract from a letter by Mr Lorne Stockman published on 24 March 2014 by the Financial Times

“While there is a lot of bluster about cutting off exports or the west looking for new supplies, a more credible threat could be sanctioning the relationships between international oil companies and Russian oil and gas companies.”

ENTIRE LETTER

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 Oil Co blasted by City Officials and Law Firm

Mar 25th, 2014
by John Donovan.
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City officials and a law firm representing homeowners in the Carousel housing tract in Carson on Monday blasted Shell Oil Co.’s proposed plan to clean up petroleum-contaminated soil in the neighborhood. “It’s a joke,” said Tom Girardi, whose firm is suing Shell on behalf of hundreds of Carousel tract residents and the city. “We know positively without a doubt that all the benzene and oil products go down to 28 feet. “They’re disgusting. Despicable. There will be no settlement. We want a jury to look at this.”

Extracts from an article by Sandy Mazza published on 24 March 2014 by  DailyBreeze.com

City officials and a law firm representing homeowners in the Carousel housing tract in Carson on Monday blasted Shell Oil Co.’s proposed plan to clean up petroleum-contaminated soil in the neighborhood.

Shell has proposed cleaning the top three feet of soil across most of the 50-acre site over a two-year period, ignoring a directive from the county’s oversight agency — in its Regional Action Plan released March 10 — to clean the top 10 feet.

“It’s a joke,” said Tom Girardi, whose firm is suing Shell on behalf of hundreds of Carousel tract residents and the city. “We know positively without a doubt that all the benzene and oil products go down to 28 feet. I think they already took three feet off when they developed the property. 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 sees no major impact on higher US gas export to Europe

Mar 25th, 2014
by John Donovan.
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Screen Shot 2014-02-10 at 16.29.29Extract from a Reuters article published 25 March 2014 by The Peninsula

Tension over the future of Ukraine is prompting the European Union and United States to look at deepening their economic ties. Europe is hoping to tap the abundant energy resources of its key ally to reduce dependence on Russia, which feeds a bulk of the region’s gas demand.  Liquefied natural gas (LNG) will in the meantime remain tight due to Japan’s post-Fukushima demand, until new supply comes onstream from Australia, Angola and Papua New Guinea, Maarten Wetselaar, executive vice president of Royal Dutch Shell’s integrated gas division, said in an interview. 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 Gas to Focus on Larger Projects as It Cuts Spending

Mar 25th, 2014
by John Donovan.
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Screen Shot 2013-12-22 at 19.09.52Extract from an article by Eric Yep published 25 March 2014 by The Wall Street Journal

SEOUL— Royal Dutch Shell PLC’s global gas division will focus on large ventures where it has more control while it is likely to continue trimming some holdings and unprofitable investments as part of a program of cost-cutting and asset sales, a senior gas executive with the company said. “We typically like projects that we have a bigger position in that we can influence more,” Maarten Wetselaar, executive vice president, Integrated Gas, said in an interview… The London-listed oil major issued its first profit warning in a decade in January… 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 undergoing massive sell off to fix its balance sheet

Mar 24th, 2014
by John Donovan.
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Screen Shot 2014-02-18 at 18.34.00Extracts from an article poublished Monday 24 March 2014 by MarketWatch under the headline: Ghana’s Jubilee Points to Best Offshore Acreage in the World

LONDON / ACCESSWIRE / March 24, 2014 / The oil industry hasn’t started off 2014 with a bang. The oil majors – ExxonMobil, Royal Dutch Shell, Chevron, BP – all posted disappointing fourth quarter numbers. Shell in particular is undergoing a massive sell off to fix its balance sheet. Why are these companies struggling, and why all the gloom in the oil sector? Higher costs are the major reason. The oil majors are not looking all that great in terms of an investment opportunity. 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.

BP and Shell peril on the Russian front

Mar 24th, 2014
by John Donovan.
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Screen Shot 2014-01-30 at 00.47.49“While BP is the biggest of Britain’s oil giants exposed to Russia, it is not alone. Royal Dutch Shell has a stake in the huge Sakhalin-2 liquefied natural gas (LNG) project off the Psacific coast of Russia, and is also working with gas giant Gazprom to drill for oil in the Russian Arttic shelf. The ulimate fear is that Russia will repatriate western companies’ assets…”

By John Donovan

The Sunday Times published an article yesterday by John Collingridge under the headline: “BP’s peril on the Russian front”

The article is focused on BP and warns of the risk to its Russian investments arising from Putin’s annexation of Crimea – principally BP’s tie-up with Rosneft.

However, the article points out that Royal Dutch Shell also has grounds  for concern – in Shell’s case over its reduced stake in the Sakhalin 2 project and its joint plans with Gazprom oil exploration in the Russian Arctic shelf. 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.

Exxon’s ‘Bromance’ With The Kremlin

Mar 24th, 2014
by John Donovan.
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Screen Shot 2014-03-10 at 23.56.16Extracts from a Forbes article by Christopher Helman published on 20 March 2014 under the headline:Will Exxon’s ‘Bromance’ With The Kremlin Help Keep Putin In Check?

ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson has a good relationship with Vladimir Putin. If you do a Google image search for the two men, you’ll see a dozen shots of them together, looking in each others’ eyes, smiling, laughing, shaking hands. They have a lot in common. Both men run autocratic, secretive, oil-based, global operations. And they like each other enough that they’ve joined forces in perhaps the biggest joint venture in the global oil industry. Exxon’s landmark 2011 joint venture with Kremlin-controlled Rosneft calls for upwards of $500 billion in investment over the coming decades. The companies are planning an offshore drilling campaign in Russia’s frozen Chukchi Sea… 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 disastrous tax dodge

Mar 24th, 2014
by John Donovan.
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Screen Shot 2014-03-24 at 09.17.21

Photo Courtesy Mark Meyer / Greenpeace

Extracts from an article by Jim Paulin, Dutch Harbor Fisherman, published 23 March 2014 by AlaskaDispatch under the headline: Southwest Alaska municipalities want bigger share of oil royalties 

Impacts are already being felt from the arrival of Royal Dutch Shell in Alaska. The arctic-class oil rig Kulluk grounded in the Kodiak archipelago New Year’s Eve, as the rig left on a schedule designed to avoid a potential tax bill of $6 million in Unalaska, raising serious concerns of damage to the environment. None of those fears were realized in that incident, though it clearly showed the potential for harm. The cost to Shell in responding to the near-disaster makes $6 million seem small by comparison. In addition, Alaska’s government says the rig is exempt from local taxes because it wasn’t drilling in state waters, which extend up to three miles from shore. Shell has suspended exploration this year, to give it time to fix its drill rigs. 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 sees ‘minor’ impact in higher U.S. gas exports to Europe

Mar 24th, 2014
by John Donovan.
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Screen Shot 2014-02-10 at 16.29.29Extract from a Reuters article by Meeyoung Cho published Monday 24 March 2014

GOYANG, South Korea (Reuters) – Growing interest in sending more U.S. natural gas to Europe does not hold a big threat for Asian gas markets, although such exports would help improve spot market liquidity for the super-chilled form of the fuel, a Shell executive said on Monday. Tension over the future of Ukraine is prompting the European Union and United States to look at deepening their economic ties. Europe is hoping to tap the abundant energy resources of its key ally to reduce dependence on Russia, which feeds a bulk of the region’s gas demand. 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.

Will an Emboldened Russia Hurt Shell and Chevron?

Mar 24th, 2014
by John Donovan.
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Screen Shot 2014-03-04 at 17.39.57Extracts from an article by Reuben Brewer published on 23 March 2014 by The Motley Fool under the headline: Will an Emboldened Russia Hurt This Major Industry?

Russia is a complex beast and is often hard for Western nations to understand. The latest bit of world drama that the country has caused is, effectively, making Crimea part of Mother Russia again. It’s a move that could lead to sanctions against this giant, natural resource-rich nation. This whole event could cause more pain than you may expect in the international oil and gas space. Chevron inked a $10 billion deal with Ukraine to explore for shale gas in late 2013. Royal Dutch Shell made a similarly sized agreement with the country in early 2013. Both deals have 50-year terms. Clearly, Russia taking over part of Ukraine is a less than auspicious start to these deals, which have another five decades or so left to go. Shell isn’t sitting pat; the company pulled out of talks over an offshore gas drilling deal early this year. While that helps to reduce the company’s exposure to a region in turmoil, the 50 year shale drilling contract keeps Shell on the firing line. 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.

Exxon Valdez oil spill, 25 years later, offers lessons

Mar 24th, 2014
by John Donovan.
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Screen Shot 2013-11-01 at 09.31.18Extracts from an article published 22 March 2014 by USA Today

(USA TODAY) – Twenty-five years ago Monday, the oil tanker Exxon Valdez struck Bligh Reef in Alaska, causing what was then the largest U.S. oil spill in history. Its accident is refocusing questions about the risks of new Arctic oil drilling efforts by several countries, notably Russia. U.S. companies, notably Shell in 2012, have encountered technical setbacks in their forays into offshore drilling in the Arctic, but that’s not stopping other countries from moving forward. 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.

Shattering weekend for Alan Shatter, Irish Justice Minister

Mar 23rd, 2014
by John Donovan.
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In the past few days, there have calls for the resignation of the Irish Justice Minister, Mr. Alan Shatter, who dealt with the OSSL corruption allegations against Shell EP Ireland raised in the Irish Parliament on my behalf and engaged in correspondence with me on the subject. I reached the conclusion that he was incompetent and useless. Many Irish people might even think that he has been part of an establishment cover-up.

Screen Shot 2014-03-23 at 20.19.13

By John Donovan

Chaos reigns in Ireland, with a scandal engulfing the Irish government, the Irish Police (the Garda), The Police Commissioner and the Irish Police Ombudsman –  the Garda Siochána Ombudsman Commission (GSOC). This follows news relating to police whistleblowers and the discovery that an unknown party apparently bugged the offices of the Police Ombudsman offices.

A retired judge has been appointed to conduct an inquiry to establish the facts about the controversy.

In the past few days there have calls for the resignation of the Irish Justice Minister, Mr. Alan Shatter, who dealt with the OSSL corruption allegations against Shell EP Ireland raised in the Irish Parliament on my behalf and engaged in correspondence with me on the subject. I reached the conclusion that he was incompetent and useless. Many Irish people might even think that he has been part of an establishment cover-up. 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.

Illicit activities of Royal Dutch Shell snared in NSA surveillance programs?

Mar 23rd, 2014
by John Donovan.
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It would be ironic if Shell, a company that was publicly exposed for engaging in spying, undercover activities and dirty tricks operations against its perceived enemies, such as Greenpeace and John Donovan, are exposed again, this time by government secret surveillance programs.

By Washington Observer

Over the last year or so there have been a number of revelations about the telecom data collection capabilities of the National Security Agency and how those capabilities have been used – see informative Washington Post article index facility: “NSA Secrets.”

We shall presume that given the treaty arrangements between the US and the UK (and Canada, New Zealand, and Australia) that the British Secret Service is also involved in similar activities and that there is a great deal of cooperation between the agencies. 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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