Protest event in Ireland during “Shell to Sea” campaign

Joe Brennan: 4 Sept 2017: Extracts from article: “Vayu warns of volatile prices for winter gas”

Ireland imports much of its gas needs through the UK, even though the Corrib field off the Mayo coast, which started production in late 2015, has the potential to meet up to 60 per cent of the country’s gas needs and is expected to supply fuel for up to 20 years. Discovered 21 years ago, the field was dogged by years of opposition before natural gas started flowing almost two years ago. FULL ARTICLE read more

By John Donovan

US local newspaper, The Beaver County Times has published several enthusiastic articles welcoming “Shell Chemicals’ $6 billion ethane cracker plant on the banks of the Ohio River” and all of the jobs that will be created.

Shell’s Corrib gas project in Ireland was welcomed on the same understandable basis by most of the Irish population.

There is another similarity; opposition on health and safety grounds to the laying of necessary pipelines.

Shell’s aggressive approach to the relatively few protestors at the beginning of the Corrib project built up resentment and significant determined opposition. Costs escalated out of control  and construction was delayed by a decade. Shell has just  cut its losses by exiting the entire project. read more

By John Donovan

An article we published on 3rd July 2005 warned in relation to the Corrib Gas project in Ireland: “Do we spy another PR disaster on Shell’s horizon…”

I went on to warn:

..there appears to be all of the ingredients present for another Shell PR disaster…

At the 2005 Shell AGM, the then Chairman of Shell Transport and Trading Company Lord Oxburgh, was gung-ho about  jailing land owner opponents of the Corrib gas pipeline, who became known as the Rossport Five. read more

By John Donovan

A Reuters article published today reports that a collapse in the benchmark price of gas has hit Shell’s “long-delayed $12.6 billion Prelude project off northwest Australia”.  Citing Shell Prelude, it says that FLNG projects are being relegated to the backburner.

Shell executive VP Steve Hill is quoted as admitting: “There was maybe an expectation when Prelude was being conceived that this was the future and every LNG project would look like that. I think that got kind of superseded by the U.S. being the primary source of new LNG supply ..” read more

By:  Danny Fortson – The Sunday Times

The Australian investment giant nicknamed the “vampire kangaroo” is hoping to sink its teeth into Ireland’s £3bn Corrib gas field.

Macquarie, one of the largest owners of British infrastructure, is understood to have approached Shell over a deal that could value the FTSE 100 giant’s 45% stake in the project at more than £1bn. It is unclear whether the Australians have tabled a formal bid.

Corrib started producing a year ago after years of delays and protests from fishermen, environmentalists and locals. read more

By John Donovan

Printed below are extracts from a communication received from a Shell Civil Engineer who, until recently, worked on the construction of the ill-fated Kashagan oil field.

He says his dire warnings in regard to construction issues were escalated to Shell top management, including Andy Brown, but were ignored.

He has also raised the subject of Shell depriving sacked workers tax breaks on redundancy pay. A policy he describes as theft.

The same source supplied related, apparently authentic, Shell emails. read more

Kashagan AKA “Cash All Gone”

Forgot the initial cost estimate, probably around $8-10 billion. Now 10+ years too late and ballooned to $50 billion. Most normal companies would have gone bust long ago.

Shell inherited some beauties from the boys of the roaring 90s. I hope someone will write a book one day on this era. 

Reserve crisis, Pearl, Sakhalin, Kashagan, Alaska, tarsands, and I must have forgotten a few. Repeated over-promise and under-delivery. All many billions over budget, extreme overruns in startup, loss in AAA status, removal of operational and technical expertise. I find the silence on Prelude ominous. Probably goes the same way as the others. read more

Links to over 265 articles by a host of publishers including the FT, Wall Street Journal, Reuters, Dow Jones Newswires, Bloomberg, New York Times etc., containing references to this website, or its founders Alfred and John Donovan (photo right).

Includes newspaper and magazine articles, and newsletters. All in date order.

WALL STREET JOURNAL ARTICLE: “Shell Wages Legal Fight Over Web Domain Name”: 2 June 2005

BLOOMBERG ARTICLE: “Shell in Legal Battle Over Name of Web Site, Journal Reports“: 2 June 2005 read more

Gordon Deegan: Thursday, March 31, 2016

Shell Ireland has received a further €50m cash injection from oil giant Shell, as the Irish firm finally generates revenues from the long-delayed and controversial €3.6bn Corrib Gas field.

The increase of €50m in capital at Shell E&P Ireland Ltd is confirmed in new documents lodged with the Companies Office, which show that the authorised share capital at the firm now stands at €1.4bn.

Shell and its Corrib Partners over 2015 and 2014 spent €580m, made up of an investment of €260m last year and €320m in 2014 to bring gas ashore. read more

Shell Corrib firm gets €70m cash injection

Gas began flowing from the field only in the past few weeks – 11 years behind schedule.

By John Mulligan: 4 FEB 2016

Oil giant Shell injected €70m into its Irish unit that’s behind the Corrib gas project in recent months as the field prepared to begin delivering gas, new filings show.

The Corrib gas field is located 83km off Ireland’s west coast in depths of almost 350 metres.

Gas began flowing from the field only in the past few weeks – 11 years behind schedule.

Shell owns a 45pc stake in the Corrib field, with Norway’s Statoil owning 36.5pc. Canadian firm Vermilion owns 18.5pc. read more

Lorna Siggins: 24 JAN 2016

The €3.5 billion Corrib gas development is due to be opened by Minister of State for Natural Resources Joe McHugh on Monday, almost 20 years after the gas discovery was reported off the north Mayo coast.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny had been earmarked for the invitation-only event, but will be at Downing Street in London. Corrib shareholders Shell, Statoil and Vermillion are hosting a plaque unveiling and lunch in Belmullet, almost 15km from the gas refinery.

While much of the town’s focus is currently on sale of the €13.7 million winning Lotto ticket in Carey’s newsagent, the project opening represents a significant milestone. read more

…many of those involved have been ridiculed, slandered, spied on, harassed, beaten and jailed – all for upholding their democratic right to peaceful dissent. Incidents included the 2005 jailing of the Rossport Five, who spent 94 days in prison at the behest of Shell.

Ruairí McKiernan

As gas is flared into the skies above north Mayo, it is worth reflecting on a project that has been one of modern Ireland’s greatest scandals, a stunning fiasco in planning, economics, environmental protection and the abuse of civil liberties.

Far from it being just about energy supply, jobs and development, the Corrib gas project cuts to the core of this republic and asks big questions about how the country is run.

For more than 10 years now, campaigners have attempted to highlight the project’s many flaws. read more

Peter Murtagh: 30 Dec 2015

Natural gas is flowing into the national supply grid from the Corrib gas field off Co Mayo for the first time since it was discovered in 1996.

One of six wellheads, drilled in 350m of water 84km off the west coast, was opened on Wednesday by the field developer, Shell E&P Ireland.

This started gas flowing through a 20 inch diameter off-shore pipeline to an 8.3km-long on-shore pipeline, which includes a 4.9km tunnel beneath Sruwaddacon Bay, the longest in Ireland.

It continues from there into the company’s reception terminal at Ballanaboy, near Belmullet in Co Mayo. read more

New Release – Issued by Shell to Sea – December 30th 2015 – For immediate release

—  Minister White slips consent to Shell during Christmas period —

Shell to Sea have called the granting by Alex White of consent to operate the Corrib Gas pipeline – desperate and disgraceful. Permission was granted despite Shell’s EPA consent to operate the Corrib Gas refinery currently being admitted for hearing before the High Court. [1]

Shell to Sea is of the view that Shell possibly had contractual obligations which required that Corrib gas flow before end 2015 so they once again snapped their fingers at government to do the needful – in this instance the government of ‘law and order’ has shown itself no different to Fianna Fáil. read more

Four local residents have initiated a legal challenge to the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision granting Shell E&P Ireland an INDUSTRIAL EMISSIONS LICENCE P0738-03 for the Corrib gas refinery in Co Mayo.

THIS IS THE FINAL DECISION TO PUMP THE GAS

In proceedings before the High Court, four residents argue THAT the decision to grant the license is flawed and should be set aside.

The action, against the EPA and the State, has been brought by Martin and Maura Harrington, and Monica Muller and Peter Sweetman.  read more

The projected spend of €250m on the controversial project this year will lead to the overall costs exceeding €3.6bn. This is more than four times the original estimate of €800m for the project, which is 12 years behind its original projected completion time of 2003.

Áine Ryan: TUESDAY, 13 OCTOBER 2015

Penultimate permission granted by EPA

ALMOST two decades after its discovery, the Corrib Gas field  has been given its penultimate permission, an industrial emissions licence, by the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency). The final statutory permission for the €3.6bn project is expected to be issued very soon by the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Alex White, clearing the way for the gas to flow from the Bellanaboy refinery.   read more