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Shell Project Overruns

Petition to Sign – Minister White: Don’t reward Shell abuses in Ireland

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Screen Shot 2015-09-22 at 08.19.41Dear John,

Interesting to read the two recent articles about Shell/Corrib on your site – Shell’s arrogance, plus their presumption of statutory and ministerial subservient compliance still reign supreme!

Shell could at least have made a cursory acknowledgement of a person’s right to recourse to law by way of Judicial Review of the two presumed consents but, once again, they would appear to know something the rest of us don’t.

I would much appreciate if you could draw your reader’s attention to a Shell to Sea petition addressed to the line Minister Alex White which asks/demands that he refuse Shell consent to operate their ‘Space Shuttle syndrome’ refinery at Ballinaboy. As this is of local, national and global significance, I hope many readers will sign it over the next two days. 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.

Logistics and Lizards Disrupt Chevron’s Project Off Australia

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Screen Shot 2015-07-04 at 13.26.18Chevron agreed to share the cost with Exxon Mobil, Shell and three Japanese power companies, Osaka Gas, Tokyo Gas and Chubu Electric Power. “This is probably the last of the megaprojects for the oil companies for a while…”

By A. ODYSSEUS PATRICK: JULY 3, 2015

SYDNEY, Australia — Getting anything to Chevron’s gas-processing plant on Barrow Island is a bit of a trick.

Some supplies travel 15 hours from Perth to a supply base for shipping. En route, trucks cannot stop under trees, to avoid picking up bugs and bird droppings. When people and cargo finally make it to the island, an army of 300 enforces a quarantine: Every Velcro strap on clothing and bags is checked for seed pods, boots are scrubbed free of dirt and pants with cuffs never even make it ashore. 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.

The lessons for all from the Corrib Gas project in North Mayo

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Screen Shot 2015-07-01 at 10.01.13The lessons for all from the Corrib Gas project in North Mayo

Major infrastructure that is years behind schedule and massively over budget

Wednesday, 1 July 2015

The Corrib Gas project represents a cautionary example of how large industrial developments should not be handled by governments or multinational companies. A lack of consultation and sensitivity to local concerns in the initial stages led gradually to resistance and confrontation. Smouldering resentment over what objectors regarded as unqualified state support for the developer caught fire when five protesters, concerned about the safety of a gas pipeline and its proximity to their homes, were jailed on an application from Shell. From there, there was no going back. 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.

Corrib gas cost overruns deprive State of €600m in tax

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Corrib gas cost overruns deprive State of €600m in tax

The €2.4 billion cost overrun is largely as a consequence of opposition to the project, which was stimulated in part by poor management of it at its outset.

Peter Murtagh: Tuesday 30 June 2015

The huge cost overrun on Corrib gas, the single most expensive energy infrastructure project in Ireland and the largest since the Ardnacrusha hydroelectric scheme on the Shannon in the 1920s, will deprive the Government of an estimated €600 million in tax revenue.

The €600 million represents 25 per cent of the project’s likely cost overrun of €2.4 billion, much of which was incurred because of changes made to the project since it began.

Had this additional €2.4 billion not been spent on development costs, an extra €600 million would have been paid to the exchequer as tax on profit, which for exploration companies is levied at 25 per cent. However, like all companies, Shell Exploration and Production Ireland, which is a partner with Statoil of Norway and Vermilion Energy of Canada, can write off capital development costs against taxation. 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.

The Corrib legacy: what the protests achieved

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Screen Shot 2015-06-11 at 19.31.15The Corrib legacy: what the protests achieved

A rerouting of the pipeline and greater public awareness of how Ireland treats its natural resources were among the positive outcomes of the Shell to Sea, campaigners say

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Bríd McGarry, a Mayo landowner, and Mary Corduff, wife of jailed farmer Willie Corduff, after five Mayo farmers were jailed in 2005 for refusing to give an undertaking not to obstruct the construction of the Corrib gas pipe line. Photograph: Alan Betson/The Irish Times

Lorna Siggins: Monday June 29, 2015

“You’ve gone very quiet up there.” North Mayo resident Mary Corduff reckons that if she had a euro for every time she heard this remark over the past few months, her purse could be pretty full. “People think because they don’t see us on protesting on the television that we have accepted this, but we haven’t,” Corduff says, looking out of her farmhouse window towards the Corrib gas refinery several miles away. 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 Heads for Alaska While Awaiting Final Drilling Permits

Screen Shot 2015-06-16 at 09.05.39Shell Heads for Alaska While Awaiting Final Drilling Permits

Screen Shot 2015-06-13 at 09.26.53ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Jun 26, 2015, 3:42 PM ET

By DAN JOLING Associated Press

One Royal Dutch Shell offshore drill rig is headed to Alaska and a second is poised to leave, despite lacking final federal permits that would allow exploratory drilling and possible confirmation of rich oil reserves under the Chukchi Sea.

A spokesman for Royal Dutch Shell PLC said that’s routine. But an attorney for Oceana, one of dozens of groups objecting to Arctic offshore drilling, said seeing Shell’s flotilla sail north puts pressure on federal agencies to sign off on the permits. 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 plans may hit permitting snag

Screen Shot 2015-06-13 at 22.02.09Screen Shot 2015-06-13 at 09.26.53Shell’s Arctic drilling plans may hit permitting snag

June 23, 2015 | By Jennifer A. Dlouhy

WASHINGTON — Shell’s plans to bore two wells in the Arctic Ocean this summer may be jeopardized by an obscure permitting requirement that effectively bars drilling operations close to each other in waters off Alaska.

The restriction highlighted by environmentalists opposed to Shell’s Arctic drilling campaign could be a major stumbling block for the company, which has spent $7 billion and seven years pursuing oil in the region.

The provision is embedded in the government’s rules for obtaining a “letter of authorization” allowing companies to disturb walruses, seals and other animals in the region — among the last permits Shell needs to launch activities in the Chukchi Sea next month. Under a 2013 Fish and Wildlife Service regulation, those authorizations are precluded for drilling activities happening within 15 miles of each other. 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.

Arctic blowout clean-up costs could exceed Shell’s financial resources

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Screen Shot 2015-05-29 at 13.13.19From a regular contributor 

THE BEAR FACTS -EMERGENCY RESPONSE MAY TAKE TWO OR THREE MONTHS TO ARRIVE!

“The risk of a blowout or spill is always present when a well is drilled. The US government estimates the probability of such an event in Alaska at 75%. In many cases a relief well is the only way in which a blowout can be brought under control, especially if the well casing is breached. There is no “new technology” in existence that eliminates the risk of a blowout, or provides a guarantee that a blowout can be quickly brought under control if it occurs. 

The requirement for “same season” relief well capabilities is intended to avoid a situation where a blowout occurs late in the season and continues unabated until the weather improves sufficiently to undertake well control operations in the following year. The time required to mobilise a second rig, drill a relief well, and kill a blowout may be 2-3 months or more. The “same season” relief well requirement therefore effectively shortens the summer drilling season to just a few weeks. If this requirement is enforced, exploration and development of the Arctic will be almost impossible. If this requirement is not enforced and Shell has a blowout which continues through the winter, the clean-up costs may far exceed Shell’s financial resources.  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 to drill in Alaskan Arctic with protesters in pursuit

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Ten years after it first started acquiring new leases in the Arctic, and having spent almost $7bn, Shell has still not yet drilled a single well into oil-bearing rocks. A series of law suits, regulatory objections and its own mistakes have held it up.

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FULL FT ARTICLE WITH WORKING LINKS. SETS OUT SHELL’S 2012 DEBACLE IN SOME DETAIL

RELATED FT ARTICLES

  • Shell Arctic oil project to take decades
  • Shell hits back at fossil fuel critics
  • Shell secures Arctic drilling plan approval
  • 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 hunt raises risk of climate disaster

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    By Peter Husk: Saturday May 23, 2015

    There’s an Alice-in-Wonderland quality about Royal Dutch Shell’s attitude towards the risks involved in its plan to drill for oil in the US Arctic.

    The decision has sparked protests in Seattle, where the Polar Pioneer, one of two rigs the Anglo-Dutch oil giant intends to use, is berthed.

    Shell sees the risks in its plan as financial. Critics see a far worse threat to the world’s climate.

    Another rig, the Noble Discoverer, is docked along the coast at Everett. Both vessels are expected to sail north to Alaska next month and start exploratory drilling in the Chukchi prospect, between the United States and Russia, in late July. 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 CLUELESS IN SEATTLE

    Screen Shot 2015-05-19 at 18.01.34SHELL DOESN’T HAVE A CLUE ABOUT THE ENERGY OF THE FUTURE, NOT A CLUE!!

    SOLAR IS THE ENERGY OF THE FUTURE.

    PRODUCING ENERGY FROM OIL IS STONE AGE TECHNOLOGY. A SOLAR ENERGY REVOLUTION IS WELL UNDER WAY NOW.  YOU ARE RUNNING OUT OF TIME. INVEST NOW IN SOLAR AND WIND ENERGY PRODUCTION. OH, AND GET YOUR RIG THE HELL OUT OF SEATTLE. YOU ARE NOT WANTED THERE!!

    AND ONE MORE THING, IF SHELL HAD ANY BRAINS, YOU WOULD AT LEAST BE BUYING STOCKS IN THE TESLA CORPORATION. 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 rig on move to Seattle, protesters expected

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    Screen Shot 2015-05-04 at 08.30.03Heather Graf, KING-TV, SeattleMay 14, 2015

    Oil rig on move to Seattle, protesters expected

    SEATTLE — A massive offshore drilling rig left Port Angeles, Wash., early Thursday and is expected here later in the day.

    The 400-foot long Polar Pioneer began moving out of Port Angeles at about 1:40 a.m. PT. The rig is expected to arrive here around 5 p.m. PT, traveling about 120 miles, the Coast Guard said.

    The Polar Pioneer is one of the rigs that Netherlands-based Royal Dutch Shell petroleum plans to use as it moves ahead with plans to use leased space at the Port of Seattle to load drilling rigs and other vessels with supplies and personnel. It is preparing to explore for oil this summer in the Chukchi Sea off Alaska’s northwest coast. 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.

    Groups Want Review of Shell’s Arctic Regulatory Filings

    Screen Shot 2015-04-02 at 14.53.31Article by Dan Joling of Associated Press published 28 April 2015 by ABC News

    Groups Want Review of Shell’s Arctic Regulatory Filings

    Two groups petitioned the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday for an investigation of Royal Dutch Shell PLC and what the groups call misstatements in regulatory filings regarding the risk of a catastrophic oil spill from Arctic offshore drilling.

    The petition was filed Monday by Oceana and the Abrams Environmental Law Clinic at the University of Chicago Law School.

    Mike LeVine, an attorney for Oceana, argued that Shell has not disclosed to investors that its response measures to a major or catastrophic spill are unlikely to work. 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 lease approved, but hurdles remain

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    Shell’s 2008 purchase of a licence to drill in Alaskan waters has been approved. Now it waits to be granted permission to do so

    April 1, 2015 – 8:53pm – By Kevin McGwin

    With the decision yesterday by the US federal government not to throw out the 2008 sale of drilling licences off Alaska’s northern coast, it is looking increasingly likely that Shell, an oil firm, will be able to resume its Alaska drilling campaign this year.

    The decision, though widely bemoaned on social media by opponents, should have come as little surprise. After first being foreseen by The Guardian, a left-leaning British media outlet, last week, the National Petroleum Council, a federal advisory board led by industry executives, indicated what the outcome would be when it, perhaps not unsurprisingly, recommended on Friday that Arctic exploration not be delayed. 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 will resume drilling off Alaska coast: U.S. Arctic envoy

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    Screen Shot 2015-03-11 at 08.56.29By David Ljunggren

    OTTAWA (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell will resume drilling off Alaska after suspending operations for two years in the wake of an accident, the special U.S. envoy to the Arctic said on Monday, but gave no details as to when.

    Shell has been moving oil rigs to Alaska as it awaits the green light from U.S. authorities. It froze operations in 2013 after the grounding of a rig in Alaska prompted protests from environmental groups.

    “Clearly Shell and others will resume drilling and exploration up off the North Slope of Alaska,” Admiral Robert Papp said in an interview during a visit to Canada.

    Papp, noting the accident had happened in December 2012 after that year’s drilling season had ended, said the Anglo-Dutch oil major understood the importance of taking all the necessary precautions. 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.

    CAN SHELL SAFELY DRILL IN THE ARCTIC?

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    By: MICHEAL KAUFMAN
    Published: Mar 30, 2015 at 10:40 am EST

    Shell Oil Company, subsidiary of multinational oil giant Royal Dutch Shell Plc (ADR) (NYSE:RDS), is conducting drilling tests in Bellingham, Washington, ahead of potential regulatory approval for drilling in the Arctic.

    According to media reports, government officials in Washington are observing Shell’s oil spill response system, which is to be deployed in the Arctic. The testing comes two years after the oil company’s previous venture ended abruptly in 2012, after it failed a deployment test because of damage to its emergency containment system. The failure led to heightened concerns over environmental safety. However, the system, which was deployed on a barge, has since been certified after repairs were carried out. 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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