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May, 2010:

BP Skimped on Safety Before Blast

May 27th, 2010
by John Donovan.
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BP Used Riskier Method to Seal Oil Well Before Blast

By IAN URBINA: Published May 26, 2010

WASHINGTON — Several days before the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, BP officials chose, partly for financial reasons, to use a type of casing for the well that the company knew was the riskier of two options, according to a BP document.

The concern with the method BP chose, the document said, was that if the cement around the casing pipe did not seal properly, gases could leak all the way to the wellhead, where only a single seal would serve as a barrier. read more

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Democrats and environmentalists push to kill Shell’s Arctic drilling project

May 27th, 2010
by John Donovan.
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guardian.co.uk home

Interior secretary due to give final approvals to Alaska exploration despite intense pressure from Congress and environmental groups

Suzanne Goldenberg 26 May 2010 23.12 BST

Shell is planning a drilling project in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas off the northern coast of Alaska. Photograph: Delphine Star/Getty Images

The Obama administration is coming under intense pressure from Democrats in Congress and environmentalists to shelve a Shell offshore drilling project in the Arctic.

The interior secretary, Ken Salazar, is due to give final approvals this week to a Shell exploration project in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas off the northern coast of Alaska. He told Congress today that new regulations would help assure greater safety. “We need to move forward with oil and gas development,” he said. “Nothing in life is risk-free … How do you create a program that does in fact minimize those risks?” read more

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Shell Arctic Drilling Leases to Be Reviewed by U.S.

May 26th, 2010
by John Donovan.
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“There are 1,700 employees within the Minerals Management Service” Salazar said. “Most of the employees at MMS are good public servants. There are bad apples within the organization. People have been reprimanded. People have been turned over for prosecution. We will have zero tolerance with respect to ethical lapses.”

BusinessWeek Logo

26, 2010, 2:17 PM EDT

By Jim Efstathiou Jr.

May 26 (Bloomberg) — The U.S. will review Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s plans to explore for oil and natural gas off Alaska’s coast and take steps to increase safety on all offshore rigs, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said today.

Shell’s application to drill exploratory wells in the Arctic Ocean faces new scrutiny because of the spill from BP Plc’s well in the Gulf of Mexico, Salazar told a House panel probing the spill. Shell’s plans were conditionally approved last year by Salazar, and drilling could begin within months in Alaska’s Beaufort and Chukchi seas. read more

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In the Arctic, another oil spill looming

May 26th, 2010
by John Donovan.
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Published: May 26, 2010 at 3:08 PM
By STEFAN NICOLA, UPI Europe Correspondent

BERLIN, May 26 (UPI) — Will Royal Dutch Shell do to the Arctic what BP did to the Gulf of Mexico?

That’s the question troubling environmental experts across the globe ever since the Dutch minerals giant Shell announced its plan to begin exploratory oil drilling this summer in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas, two of the most pristine ecosystems on the planet.

The seas near the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge are home to endangered bowhead whales and threatened polar bears, Beluga whales, walruses, various kinds of seals and numerous bird and fish species — right down to the krill, the tiny shrimp-like invertebrates that form the basis of the marine food chain. Moreover, millions of sea mammals and birds head there to calve and nest each year. read more

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U.S. Makes Case for Drilling, But With Tougher Rules

May 26th, 2010
by John Donovan.
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THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

BY SIOBHAN HUGHES MAY 26, 2010

WASHINGTON—U.S. House lawmakers applied pressure to the Interior Department from all sides Wednesday over a Gulf of Mexico oil spill, as the Obama administration maintained that tighter regulation would allow offshore energy development to remain part of the country’s mix.

The lobbying, in a House Natural Resources Committee hearing, came as BP PLC began to pour heavy drilling fluids into a damaged well on the sea floor in an attempt to plug a leak.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar defended the administration’s handling of the oil spill before leaving the hearing in order to watch the “top kill” attempt to plug … read more

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Shell drilling Alaska offshore: Much older drilling equipment than BP and less scruples

May 26th, 2010
by John Donovan.
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EMAIL TO THE O’REILLY FACTOR, AT FOX NEWS, FROM JOHN DONOVAN

Dear Bill

Shell, another foreign owned oil company, is pushing hard to commence drilling for oil in offshore Alaska.

Your American viewers will be alarmed to know that the oil rig in question, the The Frontier Discoverer, is an ancient vessel overdue at the breakers yard.

Shell may also import its infamous“Touch F*** All” safety culture from North Sea platforms that cost the lives of Shell workers in an avoidable accident – a huge explosion on Shell Brent Bravo.

Shell’s alleged corrupt relationship with the UK safety regulator is still the subject of a criminal investigation by Scottish legal authorities. The investigation started after Bill Campbell, the Health & Safety Executive, Group Auditor of Shell International, exposed misdeeds reaching right to the top of Shell senior management. read more

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James Carville On Obama’s Response to Oil Spill

May 26th, 2010
by John Donovan.
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httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQuXxlyAo74

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The Arctic After the Gulf

May 26th, 2010
by John Donovan.
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THE NEW YORK TIMES

EDITORIAL

There is an important way for President Obama and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar to show they are absorbing the lessons of the gulf oil spill and to reaffirm their pledge to proceed cautiously with offshore drilling in the future. That is to withhold the permits Shell Oil needs to proceed with a highly controversial drilling project in the Arctic Ocean.

The company owns two leases in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas — two of the most remote and frigid waters in North America. It hopes to begin exploratory drilling there as early as July. But it does not have final permits, which Mr. Salazar has the authority to deny. read more

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Shell Arctic Drill Rig The Frontier Discoverer Overdue for Breakers Yard

May 26th, 2010
by John Donovan.
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“45 year old vessels were not built to the same standards as current vessels, and do not incorporate the same safety or environmental features. 45 year old equipment is not as reliable as current equipment. Most rigs of this age have long since gone to the breaker’s yard.”

COMMENT ON SHELL BLOG  ON THE REASSURANCE LETTER SENT BY SHELL OIL PRESIDENT MARVIN ODUM TO THE U.S. MINERALS MANAGEMENT SERVICE

BY “Outsider” on 26 May, 2010

Odum’s letter to Birnbaum fails to mention that the rig being used in Alaska (Frontier Discoverer) was built in 1965 as a log carrier, and was converted to a drillship in 1975. The Frontier Discoverer is one of the oldest offshore rigs still operating in the world.

In spite of being patched up over time, it is still a 45 year old vessel being operated long after the end of its design life. read more

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Letter from: Shell Oil Company, Marvin E. Odum, President, One Shell Plaza, P.O. Box 2463, Houston, TX

May 26th, 2010
by John Donovan.
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From: Shell Oil Company, Marvin E. Odum, President, One Shell Plaza, P.O. Box 2463, Houston, TX 772522463

May 14, 2010

To: S. Elizabeth Birnbaum, 1849 C Street, NW, United States Department of the Interior, Minerals Management Service, Washington, DC 20240

Dear Director Birnbaum,

I am writing in response to your letter of May 6, 2010 regarding Shell’s proposed exploratory drilling activity in the Chukchi Sea and Beaufort Sea. You requested information that may be pertinent to the review of Shell’s Applications to Drill (APDs) that Minerals Management Service (MMS) will undertake in light of the Deepwater Horizon incident; and information about additional safety procedures that Shell plans to undertake in light of that incident. 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 Faces Bleaker Prospects If ‘Top Kill’ Fails to Stanch Spill

May 26th, 2010
by John Donovan.
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Partly thanks to fears about the size of the final bill, BP now trades at a 20% discount to its rival, Royal Dutch Shell PLC.

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.

Inspector General’s Inquiry Faults Regulators

May 25th, 2010
by John Donovan.
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NEW YORK TIMES

A version of this article appeared in print on May 25, 2010, on page A16 of the New York edition.

By IAN URBINA

WASHINGTON — Federal regulators responsible for oversight of drilling in the Gulf of Mexico allowed industry officials several years ago to fill in their own inspection reports in pencil — and then turned them over to the regulators, who traced over them in pen before submitting the reports to the agency, according to an inspector general’s report to be released this week.

The report, which describes inappropriate behavior by the staff at the Minerals Management Service from 2005 to 2007, also found that inspectors had accepted meals, tickets to sporting events and gifts from at least one oil company while they were overseeing the industry. read more

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Regulators Accepted Gifts From Oil Industry, Report Says

May 25th, 2010
by John Donovan.
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THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

By STEPHEN POWER

WASHINGTON—Employees of a federal agency that regulates offshore drilling—including some whose duties included inspecting offshore oil rigs—accepted sporting-event tickets, lunches and other gifts from oil- and natural-gas companies and used government computers to view pornography, according to a new report by the Interior Department’s inspector general.

The report—which hasn’t been made public by the inspector general but was described Tuesday in an email from Interior Secretary Ken Salazar—notes “a number of violations” of federal regulations and agency ethics rules by staffers assigned to the Lake Charles, La., office of the Minerals Management Service, a unit of Interior that manages the nation’s offshore oil and gas resources, Mr. Salazar said in his statement. read more

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Offshore drilling here to stay, but changes coming

May 25th, 2010
by John Donovan.
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FILE – In this March 29, 2010 file photo, a drill pipe extends through the moon pool at the center of the Discoverer Inspiration where Chevron is drilling an exploration well into Moccasin Prospect in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. Regulators are likely to make permitting, inspections and equipment requirements for rigs more stringent. Lawmakers want to extract more money from the industry to help pay for any future cleanups. And insurers are bound to raise rates for underwriting this risky business.(AP Photo/Houston Chronicle, Melissa Phillip, file ) 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.

Greenpeace Targets Shell Contracted-Ship For Anti-Drilling Act

May 25th, 2010
by John Donovan.
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By Isabel Ordonez Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES May 24, 2010 17:54 ET (21:54 GMT)

HOUSTON -(Dow Jones)- Greenpeace activists on Monday staged an anti-drilling protest at a Louisiana-based ship contracted by Royal Dutch Shell (RDSA) to help look for oil in Alaska, the environmental organization said.

Environmental activists painted a message against drilling in the Arctic on the bridge of the Harvey Explorer, which is scheduled to depart for Alaska to support drilling operations in July, according a statement in Greenpeace’s Web site. 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.

U.S. House Proposes Penalty on Firms With Iran Oil Deals

May 24th, 2010
by John Donovan.
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THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

By SPENCER SWARTZ And STEVE STECKLOW

A U.S. House committee has proposed barring the Pentagon from buying fuel from companies that do business with Iran’s energy industry—a stance that is a long shot for becoming law but that underscores U.S. lawmakers’ ongoing dissatisfaction with international efforts to slap tough sanctions on the nuclear ambitions of Tehran.

An amendment to a defense-spending bill, co-sponsored by a Republican and a Democrat and passed with full support in the House Armed Services Committee, would cost some European oil firms billions of dollars in Pentagon contracts if they buy Iranian oil, and would dramatically escalate U.S. sanctions against Tehran. “The Secretary of Defense may not enter into any contract with an entity that engages in commercial activity in the energy sector of Iran,” the amendment says, according to a copy reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. read more

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