* Exploration can proceed after U.S. drilling expansion
* Shell’s Odum says company can begin exploring in 2010
* Shell spent $2.1 billion for Chukchi Sea leases in 2008
* ConocoPhillips spent $506 million on leases
By Kristen Hays
HOUSTON, March 31 (Reuters) – Oil companies with their sights on drilling for oil off Alaska on Wednesday said President Barack Obama’s offshore oil announcement allows them to press ahead with big projects there.
Two companies — Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L) and ConocoPhillips (COP.N) — have spent large sums to secure drilling rights in the remote Chukchi Sea, only to see their plans put on hold by court challenges.read more
Motorists queue at Shell station to get petrol. Photo/CHRIS OJOW
By ZEDDY SAMBU
Posted Thursday, April 1 2010 at 00:00
Kenya Shell employees on Thursday started a two-day go slow, protesting against lack of formal communication on reports that the firm was leaving the Kenyan market.
The employees, who donned black and red outfits, prompted the firms executives to hold an emergency meeting to try and calm the nerves of the restless staff.
Players in the oil market reckon that OiLibya is the front runner to snap up the assets at an estimated price of $2 billion (about Sh152 billion) for Shells African operations.read more
Los Angeles Times: Shell refineries reach Clean Air Act settlements
By Associated Press
March 31, 2010 | 12:02 p.m
ST. ROSE, La. (AP) Two Shell chemical companies have agreed to install $6 million in pollution reduction equipment at two petroleum refineries in Louisiana and Alabama and upgrade a terminal in Puerto Rico as part of a Clean Air Act settlement with the federal government.read more
HOUSTON, March 31 (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L) on Wednesday started up its new Perdido oil and gas platform in the Gulf of Mexico, the world’s deepest offshore drilling and production facility.
Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L) Perdido, 100,000 barrels of oil per day, 200 million cubic feet per day of gas, the first producing platform in the Lower Tertiary, a frontier area in the deepest waters of the Gulf and furthest from shore; Mars, 160,000 barrels of oil per day, 121 million cubic feet of gas.read more
Royal Dutch Shell, which has spent several billion dollars trying to advance its offshore oil program off Alaska’s northern coast, heralded a decision by President Obama to allow exploration and drilling to continue.
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The decision takes Bristol Bay leases off the table and may not lead to additional Arctic leases. But the decision does allow development of existing leases, including Shell’s in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas.read more
Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSA, RDSA.LN) has agreed to pay $3.5 million in penalties and spend an estimated $6 million to install pollution-reduction equipments at three U.S. refineries to reduce harmful air emissions.
The equipment is intended to cut output of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides by more than 1,450 tons a year at the facilities in Louisiana, Alabama and Puerto Rico.
Assistant Attorney General Ignacia Moreno said the settlement is an example of businesses’ effort to comply with government environmental regulations. “We will continue to work with industry to achieve compliance under the Clean Air Act to remove harmful pollution from the air we breathe,” she added.read more
March 31 (Bloomberg) — Oil companies may struggle to unload their excess refining capacity in Europe this year as profits from turning crude into fuel stay depressed.
Total SA, Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Chevron Corp. are seeking to sell refineries in Europe after the recession reduced demand. Eni SpA Chief Executive Officer Paolo Scaroni said this month its impossible to find buyers after refining profit margins slumped to a 15-year low in December.read more
Peoples heads have been spinning so much from changes in the past 15 years they dont even know what their job scope is anymore!
Series of Shell Blog postings by “Uncle Tom” on Mar 30th, 2010
Shell Management . . . . . .
In years past Shell looked at the long cycles in the business. Staying diversified meant when one part of the business wasnt doing well, the other side of the business was. Being diversified kept the Company afloat.
Todays Management Philosophy is a short term 1 to 2 year focus period, if results are not achieved in that short span of time, make changes quickly and expect better results. Change, change, change, change.read more
MUMBAIIndian conglomerate Essar Group will decide by June whether to move forward with the purchase of three European oil refineries from Royal Dutch Shell PLC as part of its global expansion plans, the company’s chief executive said.
The companies extended their exclusive talks in November without specifying a time frame. Essar Group CEO Prashant Ruia said the company is studying whether the deal makes sense now, given the low refining margins globally in the oil business.read more
Shell’s reputation was besmirched by the conduct of its New Zealand executives, whose court testimony Justice Wild rejected as unreliable.
Last updated 09:32 26/03/2010
By NICK SMITH
OPINION: Shell’s standing as a good New Zealand corporate citizen is on the line.
It will be at least three weeks before Todd Energy’s fascinating $274 million lawsuit against oil multinational Shell finishes at the High Court in Wellington.
Justice Robert Dobson, assisted by economist lay member Professor Martin Richardson, is then likely to reserve his decision on the exemplary damages claim, relating to efforts by Shell and Austrian partner OMV to limit production at the Pohokura gasfield.read more
The Anglo-Dutch oil major Royal Dutch Shell Plc look set to be grilled again by environmental group Greenpeace.
The latest action by Greenpeace would focus on their exploitation of Canadian oil sands, according to local media reports.
Greenpeace reportedly plans to launch more short-term actions to disrupt production in the Canadian oil sands over frustration with government handling of the industry.
Last year, Greenpeace actions temporarily disrupted crude production at Suncor Energy Incs Alberta oil sands operation and production at two of Royal Dutch Shells facilities in the western Canadian province.read more
Shell is obsessed with our online activities, not only in relation to our website, but also my role as a Wikipedian originating and editing articles relating to Shell.
I have noticed a suspicious correlation between Shell’s internal fretting about how to edit my Wikipedia contributions without being caught and editing undertaken during the same time period by Shell partisan contributors hiding behind pseudonyms
Article by John Donovan
As prominent critics of Royal Dutch Shell, it is invaluable for us to know what the company is saying, thinking and plotting about us.
The inside information comes mainly from Shell itself, which is obliged under the UK Data Protection Act to supply us on request with Shell documents and communications in which our names are mentioned.
As a result, despite redaction of some information by Shell lawyers, we have a wealth of evidence, confirming that contrary to the impression it would like to project, Shell is obsessed with our online activities, not only in relation to our website, but also my role as a Wikipedian originating and editing articles relating to Shell.read more
A clear example of what could be done right now is to address the plight of woodland caribou in the oilsands area, which are headed for extinction within 40 years unless a good portion of their habitat is protected and restored
Edmonton Journal: March 29, 2010 2:13 AM
How encouraging to have a former industry CEO, Clive Mather of Shell, speak so clearly the reality of the oilsands development and the need to actually improve performance rather than just the need to improve the messaging.
There is certainly much to improve and being honest about that, and then taking action to show the world Alberta can and will change is the only way to climb out of the tarry pit Alberta is in.
A clear example of what could be done right now is to address the plight of woodland caribou in the oilsands area, which are headed for extinction within 40 years unless a good portion of their habitat is protected and restored.read more
March 29 (Bloomberg) — Royal Dutch Shell Plc is still in talks on a final agreement to develop natural gas in Iraq, the Middle East vice president for new business said.
Iraq will become a regional player in the gas sector and an exporter to the region and the world, Mounir Bouaziz said at a conference in Abu Dhabi today. Iraq is losing $50 a second by flaring gas. The country, which flares more than 1 billion cubic feet a day, has the potential to export 20 billion cubic meters a year of gas, Bouaziz said.read more
March 29 (Bloomberg) — Royal Dutch Shell Plc has agreed to sell its New Zealand downstream assets to Infratil Ltd. and the Guardians of New Zealand Superannuation for NZ$696.5 million ($492 million.)
The purchase, which remains conditional on funding and regulatory approval, will be funded with NZ$420 million of equity and a NZ$600 million banking facility, Wellington-based Infratil said in a statement to the New Zealand stock exchange.
Shell, Europes biggest oil company, is selling its New Zealand fuel retailing and refining interests as part of a global strategy to focus on oil and gas production in expanding markets. It agreed in November to negotiate exclusively with the Infratil-led venture on the sale of the groups 229 filling stations, port terminals and a 17 percent stake in New Zealand Refining Co.read more
Posting by Wilt Staph on Mar 28th, 2010 at 7:10 pm
Britains refinery capacity is around 92 million tonnes which is in the same ballpark as domestic consumption. Arguably, then, Stanlow which can process around 12m tonnes (13% of the UK total) is not surplus to requirements. But rumours abound that if Essar does buy the plant they will seek to close the refining capacity and just use it as a storage and entrepot depot. Around 900 Shell employees will be made redundant and few will have a chance of a job with Essar if they do close the refinery.read more
Bogus Group: I concur with Bonus Group recollection of the tin pot, lacklustre, parvenu outfit. There was no place in BG Group for experienced professionals if they didn’t possess the sycophant tendencies required to stoke the egos of those deluded by corporate grandeur.
Large remuneration packages were not uncommon then too, the chief executive received circa £13mm (published) in bonuses throughout his 12 year tenure. During that period there were 26 fatalities, roughly £500k for each. That was more than distasteful.
Bonus Group: Today is the anniversary date of the agreement on terms of the takeover of BG Group (a tin pot, lacklustre, parvenu outfit) by Royal Dutch Shell plc in 2015. In consequence of BG Group's consistent failures to meet targets and the engineered predatory takeover by Royal Dutch Shell plc the careers and professional lives of many experienced Geoscientists and Engineers were brutally butchered, terminated, and cast aside like so much offal, so it is rather distasteful to see the size of Ben van Beurden's remuneration package being flaunted in the press by Royal Dutch Shell plc.
CEP Problems: It seems to be impossible right now to get any chance of landing a job inside Shell these days. Everytime people apply for jobs unless they have high potential or a diversity point they get rejections. I got told recently that the hiring manager was looking for someone with high potential. Don't these people realise that they also need QUALIFIED people to actually do the work. Ridiculous but it almost getting to age discrimination these days. Rant over.
Shell Canada Insider: SHELL CANADA
...they are wanting to sell their Alberta operations..... because there is no money left in it...they have syphoned it all off.....
I think also on 2010-2011 they had multiple explosions at their Caroline facility supposedly an employee during an explosion at the south compressor station had to be airlifted to hospital and was seriously injured.
The aer/ govt shut it down. it was closed for 6 months and half of the plant was decommissioned when it restarted.
That must have cost them millions of dollars.....there should be government records of this stuff....
The description of the fairleads causing the mooring ropes to chafe to such an extent is almost so ridiculous to render ex-seafarer speechless. The fitting of nylon liners inside the fairleads is something new for me but the idea behind it would may be to reduce the friction of the mooring lines when running through the fairlead thus reduce any temperature potential in a zone 2 area. Fixing one potential risk appears to have created another one of greater risk potential. I am not sure how the nylon liners in the fairleads would have such sharp edges to chafe the mooring lines on their own and perhaps there may have been something else to which the journalist has missed out. The reported leakage of LNG in the manifold area from a flange should not have happened but the liquid transfer areas are all bunded in low-temperature materials and provided with a constant supply of running water during cargo handling activities. Power outages during start-up operations and ongoing are nothing new and others can be expected, hopefully not very often as the restart of such a complicated process system takes a long time and much effort. The problem with firewater deluge over the LNG storage tanks reported is of considerable concern but the journalist does not mention if this was during the period when systems were being tested prior to the introduction of LNG or after. If before then this section of the report is just journalistic license and of no consequence whatsoever. The other issues as reported can be considered minor during the preparation phase before the introduction of hydrocarbons in any form but definitely of concern if these incidents were after the introduction of hydrocarbons. I wish the people who are experiencing the startup of such a complicated and complex plant every success. Take the time that is needed to be successful by being safe, good luck.
John Donovan: Irish Backstop Update
According to a Sunday Times article two days ago, "Ireland continues to dodge difficult questions about how it will protect the single market and also maintain an open border under a no-deal."
IRELAND has been warned it faces the difficult choice between implementing a hard border or being forced out of the EU’s single market in an unprecedented move to protect the bloc from a no-deal Brexit.
Dublin will be forced to make the tough choice if Britain quits the EU without a deal, according to a number of senior EU figures.
The European Commission sparked fury from Ireland after declaring Dublin would have to implement a hard border in the event of a no-deal Brexit. After significant protests from, which involved a heated debate between Leo Varadkar and Jean-Claude Juncker, Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief negotiator, suggested “operational solutions” would have to be found in order to prevent a hardening of the border.
But now high-ranking MEPs have hardened their position, insisting the single market must not be compromised even to maintain peace on the island of Ireland.
Elmar Brok, a German MEP with close ties to Angela Merkel, insisted that if Ireland failed to police its own borders the EU would have to take its own protectionist action.
“We would have to set up a customs border with Ireland,” the German said.
He also warned that if Brussels didn’t make the demands then "we will soon have American chlorine chicken in the EU".
BvB Anti-Brexit: BvB has been quoted in many articles following the outcome of the Brexit vote as expressing negativity about Brexit and the effect it could have on RDS. This can be confirmed by running a Google search on "Ben van Beurden Brexit". The articles today in the Scottish press and Upstreamonline are but the latest publishing his views on the subject. Despite all of the negativity, my own view is that a satisfactory Brexit deal without the backstop will be done. If not, the EU and Ireland will be an international laughing stock when they create a hard border soon after Brexit, the outcome they were supposedly trying to avoid. That development would provide a better example of the consequences of deranged Irish logic than any infantile Paddy joke I can recall. The stupidity of certain Irish politicians is poisoning previously improved relations between the UK and Ireland, which is a great pity.
Brexit: All of the ingredients will be there for a return to violence in the event of the UK being forced into a no deal by Ireland. The current impasse is down to Ireland which may well come to regret its hostility towards the UK. How many of the 17 million Brits who voted for Brexit will wish to holiday in Ireland now?
C16 Inmate: I find it fascinating how so many brainwashed Shell slaves are quick to criticise Mr Donovan for the work he is doing. It is surely his decision and prerogative to do whatever he wants with his own time? Just like you and I choose to work for a slimy, corrupt, evil, fascist, environment destroying company. The only difference is that I actually admit to being a whore that’s sold my soul for money!
As for your defence of Brinded, I find it laughable. That man was an abnoxious individual who was acting more like an SS officer than a senior executive.
Keep up the good work John. Warm wishes and my heartfelt thanks to for keeping us all informed of Shell’s true nature.
REPLY BY JOHN
While I am grateful for the kind words, I do not know of any grounds to support your comment that Shell is a fascist company. With regard to Mr Brinded, despite my many negative comments about him over the years, comparing him with an SS officer is wrong.
PURE POISON: Mr Donovan if it is your twisted objective to poison the Internet for the Shell brand you, unfortunately, seem to be succeeding. Searching for any subject connected with Shell inevitably seems to generate negative news reports, negative information and anti-Shell images, all apparently originated by you. Your allegations about Shell’s alleged Nazi history seem to be spreading across the Internet like a virus. Your Shell-branded counterfeit websites seem to be multiplying almost by the day. I am losing count of them all. This situation is bad for all stakeholders including employees, shareholders and pensioners. I also object to the personal attacks on Shell people, for example on Malcolm Brinded who has never been found guilty of any wrongdoing. Don’t you have any scruples? I am also concerned for your mental health and your bank balance. Is a third party also hostile to Shell funding your pervasive and malicious online activities? What’s the betting that my comments will not appear on your supposedly uncensored Shell Blog? I am also mystified why Shell has not taken action to protect its reputation?
REPLY BY JOHN DONOVAN
Shell has been complaining about my online activities since March 1995 and on occasion has taken legal action, including a three-week high court trial in 1999. There is no possible defamation if what is stated is true.
The most recent proceedings were in 2005 via the World Intellectual Property Organisation. Shell unsuccessfully attempted to seize some of our Shell related domain names including royaldutchshellplc.com and royaldutchshellgroup.com.
All of the litigation cost Shell tons of wasted money in legal fees and attracted negative publicity.
Shell lost every case.
We have sued Shell twice for defamation. Shell settled both cases.
A covert attempt by Shell to close down hosting for our websites failed.
More recently, RDS Company Secretary/Main board member Michel Brandjes threatened legal action over my book about Shell's Nazi history. His emailed threats turned out to be nothing but bluster. Shell will never take legal action on the topic as it would draw attention to the most toxic subject relating to any existing major multinational in the world.
I will continue to publish true facts about Shell and where appropriate corrupt senior management involved in scandals such as the Shell SMART rigged contract tender, the Brent Bravo deaths, the reserves fraud and OPL 245. Mr Brinded has involvement in all four scandals.
BRINDED: ON THE SUBJECT OF BRINDED:
He has such a strange brain, could outthink most people in Shell but rather than concentrate on doing good things for Shell and developing people he became the ultimate micromanager and surrounded himself with sycophants. Until the 2nd half of the eighties he was OK and the driving force of the highly successful SLIM technology. I believe this was what launched his big career. Thereafter he became moody and unpleasant for people who dared to question him or make good suggestions to him. Probably quite insecure and status conscious. Never understood this. He just took himself too seriously.
FG names Shell, Eni executives in $1bn bribery case – The Punch 08 May 2019 11:43 Google ’Femi Asu with agency report
Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Eni SpA face additional corruption allegations over a Nigerian oil deal, after the Federal Government said in a London lawsuit that it believed a handful of executives, including Chief Executive …
FG files fresh charges against Shell executives, JPMorgan over Malabu Oil scandal 08 May 2019 10:01 Herald Sequel to the lawsuit filed last year against Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Eni and JP Morgan for being involved in a $1bn oil block bribery case, the Federal Government has submitted new case documents that indict their top executives.
FG said in the court files …
FG names Shell, Eni executives in $1bn bribery case 08 May 2019 08:09 Punch Newspapers ’Femi Asu with agency report
Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Eni SpA face additional corruption allegations over a Nigerian oil deal, after the Federal Government said in a London lawsuit that it believed a handful of executives, including Chief Executive …
Dutch Prosecutors to Arraign Shell over $1.3 billion Acquisition of OPL 245 02 Mar 2019 10:19 Biz Watch Nigeria Dutch Prosecutors to Arraign Shell over $1.3 billion Acquisition of OPL 245
Dutch prosecutors are preparing criminal charges against Royal Dutch Shell over its $1.3 billion acquisition of Nigerian offshore oilfield OPL 245 in 2011.
Shell said in a …
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EBOOK TITLE: “SIR HENRI DETERDING AND THE NAZI HISTORY OF ROYAL DUTCH SHELL” – AVAILABLE ON AMAZON
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EBOOK TITLE: “TOXIC FACTS ABOUT SHELL REMOVED FROM WIKIPEDIA: HOW SHELL BECAME THE MOST HATED BRAND IN THE WORLD” – AVAILABLE ON AMAZON.