Virus crisis threatens to set back oil platform decommissioning

By Benoît PELEGRIN: July 12, 2020: LONDON

Oil companies are being forced to cut spending due to a fall in global oil prices, threatening funds earmarked to dismantle dated off-shore rigs, despite environmental risks.

A drastic drop in revenue caused by the coronavirus outbreak has seen majors such as Total, Royal Dutch Shell and BP having to cut or defer expenditure by billions of dollars.

Decommissioning platforms is not “one of their top priorities”, according to Sonya Boodoo, an analyst at Rystad Energy. read more

A worker who has shown symptoms of the coronavirus has been placed into quarantine on Shell’s Brent Charlie platform in the North Sea.

The energy giant said the man has been placed in isolation and that arrangements are being made to fly him back to shore.

A spokesman said: “We can confirm that a colleague on Brent Charlie has been isolated as a precautionary measure, after showing symptoms which may indicate coronavirus.

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North Sea ‘chaos’ as more suspected Covid-19 cases spring up

A trade union official has said the North Sea is firmly in the grip of coronavirus “fear” and lamented a perceived lack of leadership. read more

By Bill Campbell

On 22 January past the Regulator wrote to Shell Australia with a direction, a mandatory notice requiring action by the Owner, because staff on Prelude FLNG were carrying out activities the risks of which were not being reduced to levels as low as reasonably practicable and thus there was a significant risk to the Health and Safety of persons on the facility.

In issuance of this direction, they took cognisance of three previous dangerous occurrences all resulting in a loss of containment, namely read more

By Karin Goodwin Reporter: 19 Jan 2020

A GROUNDBREAKING legal case being taken against oil company Shell could have dramatic consequences for the Dutch company’s Scottish North Sea operations, it has been claimed by environmental organisations.

The legal action, being led by Friends of the Earth (FOE) Netherlands on behalf of more than 30,000 people from 70 countries, aims to compel the company to “cease its destruction of the climate”.

Plaintiffs in the case argue that Shell is violating its duty of care and threatening human rights by knowingly undermining the world’s chances to stay below 1.5C, the level agreed to be critical by the 2018 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report. read more

Undated information published by Scottish Legal News 16 Jan 2020

An oil and gas company has been granted a court order to prohibit environmental campaigners from carrying out protests on four offshore installations in the North Sea.

Shell UK was granted an interdict to prevent Greenpeace activists from boarding or attempting to board the Brent Alpha, Brent Bravo, Brent Charlie and Brent Delta rigs 85 miles north-east of Shetland, after a judge in the Court of Session ruled that the defenders had “no right or title to occupy the installations”. read more

06 JAN 2020

Three members of the group have scaled the Valaris 122 rig as part of 10 days of “solidarity actions”.

Extinction Rebellion said they are prepared to “stay up there for as long as possible to stop the rig leaving the harbour”.

Industry body Oil and Gas UK condemned the action as a “dangerous and short-sighted stunt”.

Forth Ports, owner of the Port of Dundee, said it had deployed a pilot boat to Alexandra Wharf, where the rig is berthed, and will stay on site as a precaution while they liaise with the rig owners and relevant authorities. read more

 by Allister Thomas: 24/12/2019, 7:55 am

A government report has revealed CNOOC was the biggest tax spender in the North Sea last year while energy giant Shell paid the least on balance after a reimbursement. The “extractive industries transparency initiative” (Eiti) report highlights progress in getting UK-based oil, gas and mining companies to disclose their payments and receipts to and from government agencies.

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By John Donovan

This morning I received from a trusted Shell source a United States Senate letter by US Senators Ted Cruz and Ron Johnson which has just been sent to Edward Heerema, CEO of the Allseas Group.

It contains what can only be described as dire threats against the company in relation to Allseas installation of a natural gas pipeline in Russia’s Nord Stream 2 project, in which Royal Dutch Shell is a major partner.

The letter dated 18 Dec 2019 from the US Senators demands that the Captain of the worlds largest vessel, Pioneering Spirit… “that’s right now laying this pipeline… needs to instruct the ship’s captain to set sail for other waters, because if they don’t, they’ll put the company out of business.” read more

Energy giant Shell has won a court order preventing environmentalists from boarding unmanned North Sea installations.

Lawyers acting for the company went to the Court of Session in Edinburgh seeking an interim interdict against Greenpeace.

It comes after protesters boarded platforms in the Brent field off Shetland in October.

Lady Carmichael ruled the activists had no right to enter the installations.

• Shell launches Greenpeace North Sea legal action
• Greenpeace ends occupation of oil platform

Greenpeace had claimed an order would breach its right to protest, and described the ruling as a “setback” – but said a possible appeal would be considered. read more

Royal Dutch Shell is set to plug its last remaining Brent oil wells in the North Sea next year

The world’s most famous oil and gas field—and the backbone of global crude pricing—has dried up. Soon the Brent benchmark will have no Brent oil. Royal Dutch Shell PLC is expected next year to plug the last remaining Brent oil wells, located in the North Sea’s East Shetland Basin, about 115 miles northeast of Scotland’s Shetland Islands. The closures mark the end of an era, as the industry shifts its focus to smaller oil finds near existing infrastructure. read more

Printed below is an English translation of an article published 25 November 2019 by the Dutch FT, Financieele Dagblad. 

Shell is taking Greenpeace to court

From our editor: 25 November 2019

Oil company Shell demands a ban on Greenpeace protests at its Brent oil field.

The step follows earlier actions by the environmental group in the North Sea. In mid-October, protesters climbed the abandoned remains of a drilling platform.

Greenpeace demands that Shell remove these parts. According to Greenpeace, there are still more than 11,000 tonnes of oil in the structures, which will eventually come into the sea if they are left behind. read more

Shell has received the green light to decommission its Goldeneye platform in the North Sea.

by Allister Thomas: 01/11/2019, 11:58 am

The Anglo-Dutch firm submitted plans to the UK Government for the installation, 80 miles north-east of Aberdeen, in November last year.

Plans have been approved to remove the jacket, topsides and decommision the wells and subsea infrastructure.

However a second document for the pipelines will be submitted later as they are hoped to be used as part of a carbon, capture and storage (CCS) project.

In August, Energy Voice revealed that Shell, in partnership with Chrysaor, intended to re-use pipelines for Goldeneye as part of the Acorn CCS project at the St Fergus Gas Terminal in Aberdeenshire. read more

 by Mark Lammey: 31/10/2019, 11:11 am

A boss at Shell insisted today that leaving the huge concrete legs of the Brent platforms at sea was the “right thing to do”.

Chief financial officer Jessica Uhl said she “appreciated the sensitivities” around the issue, but hoped the “strong fundamentals” of Shell’s plans would “come through”.

Earlier this month, Greenpeace activists protested against Shell’s intention not to remove the legs of three of the platforms from the North Sea.

The Anglo-Dutch company submitted its decommissioning programme in 2017, but has yet to receive formal approval from the UK Government, which has the final say on whether to grant a permit for “derogation”. read more

by Tom Baxter: 21 Oct 2019

As someone with a keen interest in decommissioning decision making, I have followed the Brent decommissioning saga with that same keen interest.

A question that keeps coming up for me is why did Shell present such an open goal to Greenpeace, the press and others?

Bearing in mind Shell’s previous experience and reputation hit with Brent Spar, the decision to recommend leaving the concrete cells and their contents is, on the face of it, very perplexing.

Greenpeace’s actions and ensuing headlines were completely predictable.

Shell leave ticking time bomb

Shell ignore international regulations

Shell should clean up its mess

Come on Shell what were you thinking about, why did you make that decision? read more

THEY are the giants of the deep which spent more than four decades pumping billions of pounds worth of oil from the seabed.

But now decommissioned rigs in the North Sea are at the centre of an environmental storm with an oil giant under intense pressure to rethink plans to leave some of the platforms in the sea.

Several hundred oil drilling platforms in the waters o

ff Scotland are due to be decommissioned over the next three decades as they approach the end of their operational lifetime. read more

by Allister Thomas: 18/10/2019, 7:48 am

Germany has said a special meeting on Shell’s Brent decommissioning plans will be the “litmus test” for a convention to protect Europe’s marine environment.

Ospar, an agreement of 15 European countries, made a ruling following Shell’s Brent Spar episode nearly 25 years ago requiring complete removal of oil and gas installations at the end of their production lives.

Shell was forced to abandon plans to sink the Brent Spar, an oil storage buoy, in the North Atlantic following sustained protests from Greenpeace in the 1990s.

Ospar meets in London later to discuss Shell’s plans to leave the concrete legs of the Brent Bravo, Charlie and Delta platforms in the North Sea, which contradicts Ospar rules. read more