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Shell’s Arctic Machinations

Screen Shot 2014-08-06 at 09.25.26The environmental group Oceana has obtained a copy of a letter from Shell to the U.S. Dept of the Interior revealing that the oil giant is seeking to pause Shell’s leases for five years. Approval would effectively extend the current drilling deadlines.  Shell’s plans to drill off the Alaska coast have already been heavily delayed by a series of avoidable mishaps, initially caused by negligence and incompetence, and subsequently by a desire to evade tax.

Extracts from a related Bloomberg article:

Shell Seeks 5 More Years for Arctic Oil Drilling Drive

Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA) is asking the Obama administration for five more years to explore for oil off Alaska’s coast, saying set backs and legal delays may push the start of drilling past the 2017 expiration of some leases.

Shell, which has spent eight years and $6 billion to explore the Arctic’s Beaufort and Chukchi seas, said in letter to the Interior Department that “prudent” exploration before leases expire is now “severely challenged.”

“Despite Shell’s best efforts and demonstrated diligence, circumstances beyond Shell’s control have prevented, and are continuing to prevent, Shell from completing even the first exploration well in either area,” Peter Slaiby, vice president of Shell Alaska, wrote to the regional office of the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement.

Shell’s plans to produce oil in the Arctic were set back in late 2012 by mishaps involving a drilling rig and spill containment system, and the company has been sued by environmental groups seeking to block the Arctic exploration. The Hague-based company halted operations in 2012 to repair equipment and hasn’t resumed its maritime operations.

The July 10 letter from the company, released today by the environmental group Oceana that got it after a records request, seeks to pause Shell’s leases for five years, in effect extending the deadline to drill on its Beaufort and Chukchi leases.

While Shell cited events outside its control, it’s efforts have been beset by its own missteps, including the grounding in rough seas of one of its drilling rigs on the last day of 2012.

The U.S. Coast Guard said in April that a desire to avoid millions of dollars in Alaska state taxes played a role in Shell’s decision to move the rig in rough seas.

In its letter, Shell said it needed certainty from the U.S. before investing beyond the $6 billion it’s already spent.

FULL ARTICLE

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One Comment

  1. Riccardo di Guevara Fabbri says:

    Excuse me but how can Shell sell to Pan Ocean Oil Company if Pan Ocean is in the middle of dispute over ownership!?! Festus Aleni Fadeyi is a big thief and has taken Pan Ocean from me and my family when my late father Vittorio di Guevara Fabbri passed away in 1998! Pan Ocean Oil Company belongs to me and my brother as heirs to my late fathers estate! We have the only and real shares in our lawyers offices in Geneva Switzerland and the fraudulent shares which Festus Aleni Fadeyi issued in Abuja must be nuled and VOID! He must be put in jail for the rest of his life! He not only stole our company from us but also causes us internal damages to my family and my self for 17 years and for all that there must be justice!
    Shell nor anyone else has the right to be doing business with Festus Fadeyi or anything to do wit Pan Ocean Oil Company Nigeria!

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