Article by Bill Campbell, retired HSE Group Auditor, Shell International

Subject: Unethical, unwarranted reporting by the Independent and Guardian on the risks of leaving concrete gravity-based structures in situ

Anyone who cares to get at the truth, who spends 30 minutes looking through reports, many of which are independent and supported by authorities in UK and also Norway et al will come quickly to the conclusion that the alarming headlines that these structures are full and brimming with crude oil and chemicals, and represent a ticking time bomb are not only fake news but patently untrue.

The alarming articles in question

The Guardian: UK facing EU outrage over ‘timebomb’ of North Sea oil rigs: 4 Sept 2019

The Independent: North Sea oil rigs set to be abandoned while still full of crude oil and chemicals: 4 Sept 2019

In fact, the studies conducted to date suggest a high risk of failure in attempting to raise these structures with the individual risk of fatality of one per structure which in itself may if anything be an underestimate and does not include the potential loss of life of breaking up the structures at some land-based site.

No one is suggesting that cost, mainly the cost to you and I as taxpayers is high, with the total cost of lifting and removal included in the grand total of some 20 billion for all its North Sea facilities with the 14 billion of this being paid by our Government from your taxes. But cost does not appear to be the driver in the decision-making process. read more

Shell requires UK government permission to leave sub-aquatic structures in place

Shell’s Brent Delta Topside offshore oil drilling rig platform is towed by tug boats up the River Tees to Able Seaton Port for decommissioning in England ( Getty )

Thousands of tonnes of hazardous waste including crude oil could be abandoned in decaying North Sea rigs by Shell with the permission of the UK government, prompting growing concerns among other European countries.

Due to the cost and difficulty of dismantling the structures, the oil giant has proposed leaving the vast concrete legs from three oil rigs standing in the waters. read more

Germany leads complaint against plan to leave polluted remains of Shell rigs in place…

Philip Oltermann in Berlin and Jillian Ambrose

Wed 4 Sep 2019 05.00 BST

The British government is facing growing outrage from the European commission and five EU member states over its plans to leave some decommissioned oil rigs in the North Sea, with one senior German official describing the UK’s proposal as a “grotesque idea” that amounts to a “ticking timebomb”.

Disassembling the enormous pieces of infrastructure, each of which can be as tall as the Eiffel Tower, is a costly undertaking, and this year the UK government is intending to endorse plans by Shell to leave behind one steel jacket and the concrete bases beneath three of the platforms of its Brent oilfield installation. read more

The Shell Brent Bravo Platform and Allseas’ Pioneering Spirit vessel featured in this article both have a controversial history. Workers died in an avoidable accident on Brent Bravo after Shell management ignored the dire warnings and revelations of a “Touch F*** All” safety culture findings arising from a safety audit. Pioneering Spirit was originally named after a Nazi SS Officer, Pieter Schelte, the father of the owner of Allseas.

Allseas’ Pioneering Spirit has completed its second platform topsides removal in the North Sea in the last week, as the heavy lift and pipelay vessel removed the 25,000-ton Brent Bravo topsides. Allseas said in a statement that the operation took approximately four hours, from positioning the vessel around the platform to the moment of the lift.

The Brent field started production in 1976. At its peak in 1982, the four platforms in the field were producing more than 500,000 BOPD. The field has produced approximately 3 billion boe since 1976. Shell announced its plans to decommission parts of the field in 2015. read more

Shell CEO Ben van Beurden

CITY PEOPLE: APRIL 19 2019, 12:01 am

Patrick Hosking: The feuds,  the faces, the farcical

It’s not always much fun on a North Sea oil rig: shifts as long as three weeks with no grog allowed and restrictions on smoking. At least homesick platform workers can seek solace this Easter in roast lamb and apple crumble with cream. But for how much longer? Carys Bennett of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has written to Ben van Beurden, chief executive of Shell, urging him to ban meat and dairy products from its rigs to offset environmental damage by the oil company. “In addition to offsetting some of your gigantic carbon footprint, providing vegan meals would help workers eat with a clear conscience,” she wrote. No response yet from Shell. Too busy preparing the mint sauce perhaps.

Want to read more?

 RELATED ARTICLE

Aberdeen EveningExpress

Animal rights group calls for Shell to provide vegan-only meals on North Sea platforms

Despite his sleazy record, Malcolm Brinded (above) remains President of the Energy Institute

By John Donovan

The Shell cover-up surrounding the deaths of two workers on the Shell Brent Bravo North Sea platform is coming under active scrutiny again as a result of an initiative by retired Shell *safety guru Bill Campbell. Bill is acting on behalf of the family of one of the deceased platform workers, Keith Moncrieff.

For over a decade, the truly extraordinary story about what happened was withheld from the families of the deceased and from investigating authorities by Shell and those parties over whom Shell had influence. read more

Ben van Beurden Photographer: Aaron M. Sprecher/Bloomberg

The boss of oil giant Shell has admitted he is “still unhappy” with the firm’s safety performance, despite pledging a redoubling of efforts in 2018.

Written by David McPhee – 07/01/2019 1:03 pm

Chief executive, Ben van Beurden, raised a call to redouble the firm’s focus on safety last year after a number of serious incidents in 2017.

An overturned tanker spill and explosion in Pakistan caused the tragic death of 200 people, while there were also fatalities in Canada and Nigeria.

Mr van Beurden added he is also focusing on restoring trust in the oil firm.

He said: “I’m still unhappy with our safety performance.

“In 2018, sadly two people died on our watch – one at a refinery in Germany and another at an onshore well in the USA.

“More broadly, the safety performance at our facilities has improved, but our performance on personal safety is worse than the previous year.

“We have to step up our efforts to keep people safe.”

Mr van Beurden also said that he can see that trust has noticed an “eroding” or trust in the UK, the Netherlands and the USA.

Shell came under heavy criticism from climate groups in 2018, with high profile opposition coming from investor group Follow This.

The firm also faced widespread shareholder opposition over chief executive pay last year.

Mr van Beurden said: “I feel an attack on Shell as an attack on my personal integrity. It’s something I feel deeply, probably at least once a day. If I can reduce that to once every other day, I’ll know that we are making progress.

“Of our three strategic ambitions – to become a world-class investment case, to thrive through the transition to lower-carbon energy and to have a strong societal licence to operate – I’m confident that we can achieve the first two.

“But I can’t see a sure path towards strengthening our societal licence to operate just yet.

“We need to change people’s perceptions through better performance and behaviours. And we need to have a better dialogue with civil society in some parts of the world.”

SOURCE

Marissa Luck, Houston Chronicle: Monday, Jan 7, 2019

The Gulf Coast has become home of one the largest producers of a common plastic: Shell fired up its fourth alpha olefins unit at its chemical plant in Geismar, Louisiana, the company said Monday.

The multi-billion dollar expansion adds 425,000 metric tons per a year in capacity to the chemical manufacturing site, bringing its total alpha olefin production up at Geismar to more than 1.3 million metric tons per a year. That makes it the largest alpha olefins producing site in the world, the company said. read more

Malcolm Brinded, standing trial for Corruption in Italy over Nigerian OPL 245 oil deal, a key figure in many Shell scandals, including the tragic deaths on Brent Bravo.

EMAIL TO ALL MP’s: ON 1st OCT, ROYAL DUTCH SHELL CEO BEN VAN BEURDEN HAD ADVANCE SIGHT OF THE TOXIC FACTS SET OUT HEREIN. NO LEGAL ACTION HAS BEEN TAKEN TO STOP YOU SEEING THIS. 

Although I am not one of your constituents, I hope you agree that the safety of UK offshore workers is a matter of importance to ALL MP’s. Some unfortunate Royal Dutch Shell workers have already lost their lives. More lives are at stake. Please at least glance through the information below, which includes my name and address. 

SHELL NORTH SEA PLATFORM WORKER DEATHS DESERVING A FULLY INFORMED PUBLIC INQUIRY

Just how bad does has a company have to be before the Church of England withdraws investment on ethical grounds?

You may have seen the email I recently sent to over around 1,000 parliamentarians, including senior clergy and the former Scottish Energy Minister Baroness Liddell, who, as you will see, has a Shell connection. The email was about the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby and the Church of England’s significant investment in Royal Dutch Shell Plc.

Many thanks for all the responses received.

I would like to bring to your attention just one of the many scandals rattling around in Shell’s corporate cupboard. read more

Brinded’s reaction to the devastating findings and recommendations of the Campbell led review was to shoot the messenger, namely, Bill Campbell. Brinded chose to ignore the stunning findings by the audit team and the recommendations made by its leader Mr. Campbell in relation to the Asset Manager. Instead, Brinded supported the mentally unhinged “foaming at the mouth” Asset Manager who was able to return to his tyrannical TFA regime shortly thereafter, despite his instability. Compared with him, Captain Bligh was a sweetie. The inevitable fatal outcome accurately foretold in the review, resulted from the ruthless, unprincipled criminal decision by Brinded to put production before safety. Astonishing stuff bearing in mind that the Asset Manager repeatedly blamed “his master” Brinded, who he colourfully described as a “bastard”

SHELL HAD ADVANCE SIGHT OF THIS ARTICLE AND ATTACHMENT, AND THEREFORE THE OPPORTUNITY TO TAKE LEGAL ACTION TO PREVENT PUBLICATION. THE SAME APPLIES TO BARONESS HELEN LIDDELL 

LINK: THE PLATFORM SAFETY MANAGEMENT “STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL” REVIEW NOTES IN WHICH ALL OF THE INFORMATION BELOW, AND MUCH MORE, CAN BE SEEN IN JAW-DROPPING CONTEXT

By John Donovan

In November last year the brother of Keith Moncrieff, one of two workers who in 2003 tragically died in an accident on the Shell Brent Bravo North Sea oil platform, sent a heart-rending letter to Royal Dutch Shell Plc Chairman Charles Holliday.

He pleaded for help in bringing “these evil men to justice” – a reference to the Shell executives and officials he now knows were responsible for what the Scottish courts determined were “avoidable deaths“.  As far as I am aware, no reply was forthcoming. Not even the courtesy of an acknowledgment. (UPDATED 3 Oct 2018 PM: IN FACT MR HOLLIDAY DID REPLY AND DID OFFER HIS CONDOLENCES – SEE THE BOLD BLUE TEXT FURTHER DOWN) read more

In spite of everything hurled by the North Sea and global market conditions across half a century, and despite predictions to the contrary, Shell remains a big player on the UK Continental Shelf.

Energy Voice interviewed Shell UK upstream vice president Steve Phimister aboard the Shearwater platform.

Written by Jeremy Cresswell – 15/08/2018 6:00 am

A characteristic throughout has been a quest to lead.

Driving Shell forward is VP Upstream President Steve Phimister who, by coincidence, was born the same year as Shell’s UKCS odyssey began 50 years ago.

The super-major has lived through boom times followed by harsh periods when commodity prices were in the basement and, from the late 1990s, speculation grew as to whether such companies had a future in the North Sea. read more