Shell Convent, Louisiana, refinery workers get severance package details – sources

By Erwin Seba: Fri, 27 November 2020, 10:49 pm GMT

HOUSTON (Reuters) – Hourly employees at Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s Convent, Louisiana, refinery, scheduled for permanent closure as early as next week, received details this week of the severance package negotiated by their union and Shell, three people familiar with the agreement said on Friday.

Shell said on Nov. 5 it was closing the refinery after failing to find a buyer for the plant, which has been hit hard by crushed demand in the COVID-19 pandemic. A spokesman did not immediately reply to a request for comment on the agreement. read more

Dow Chemical, Shell Oil Sued Over Dirty Well Water Near Yosemite

Maeve Allsup Legal Reporter: Nov. 11, 2020, 12:00 AM The Dow Chemical Co. and Shell Oil Co. manufactured and sold soil additives containing a cancer-causing chemical without proper research and precautionary measures, which led to the contamination of certain wells in a county near California’s Yosemite National Park, a lawsuit filed Tuesday in San Francisco alleges.

Madera County seeks to recover costs to restore drinking water supply wells that it alleges are contaminated with 1,2,3-Trichloropropane, a chemical found in certain soil fumigants used to control worms that infest plant roots, the suit says.

TCP is an ingredient in products that were manufactured, marketed, and sold by the companies in…

FULL ARTICLE (PayWall)

COURT: Cal. Super. Ct.

COMPANY: The Dow Chemical Co., Shell Oil Co. (Bloomberg Law Subscription) read more

Shutdown of Shell refinery in Convent: Negotiations for job transfers and severance begin

By the end of 2022, Shell told investors it wants to cut up to 9,000 jobs in a corporate restructuring to save roughly $2.5 billion. It had 83,000 employees worldwide as of December 2019. So far, only 1,500 workers agreed to voluntary buyouts…

• BY KRISTEN MOSBRUCKER | STAFF WRITER
• PUBLISHED NOV 8, 2020 AT 4:30 PM | UPDATED NOV 8, 2020 AT 6:37 PM

About 1,100 workers at the Convent oil refinery, a combination of company and contract workers ranging from plant operators to maintenance crews, will be looking for new jobs as rolling layoffs are expected in the coming months, but only about one-third of those workers are unionized. read more

Louisiana Refinery Set to Close, 700 Jobs Will Go With it

BRANDON MICHAEL

Published: November 5, 2020

European petroleum giant Dutch Royal Shell dropped a bombshell on the oil and gas industries in Louisiana.  The company has announced that it will be closing the refinery located in Convent in the near future.  According to KATC, this shutdown will also mean the loss of 700 jobs. Shell claims that this closure is part of a larger strategy to reduce to the company’s carbon footprint. read more

Shell Convent, LA, refinery will close amid to pandemic

by Laura Sanicola: NOVEMBER 5, 2020

(Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell RDSa.L said on Thursday it will shut down its refinery in Convent, Louisiana, the largest U.S. facility to close since the coronavirus pandemic first hit and devastated economic demand worldwide.

The shutdown, to occur this month, comes after Shell failed to find a buyer.

The refinery is the ninth in North America either to announce a shutdown or to be idled since the pandemic, which has delivered a heavy blow to fuel demand globally. The United States is the world’s largest fuel consumer. read more

Stephanie Kirchgaessner and Emily Holden in Washington

Sat 24 Oct 2020 09.15 BSTLast

Amy Coney Barrett is poised to make critical rulings on whether oil and gas companies will be held accountable for the effects of the climate crisis once she is confirmed to the supreme court, even though she has acknowledged in the past that she has a conflict of interest in cases involving Royal Dutch Shell.

As an appellate court judge, Barrett – who is expected to be confirmed to the supreme court on Monday – recused herself from cases involving four Shell entities because her father worked at Shell Oil Company as a lawyer. read more

US Firm Funding Nigeria Litigation Against Eni and Shell

Shell and Eni have been on trial in Milan since 2018.

by Bloomberg | William Clowes & Alberto Brambilla | Wednesday, October 14, 2020

(Bloomberg) — Eni SpA is seeking documents from a U.S. investment firm helping Nigeria sue it and Royal Dutch Shell Plc for more than $1 billion over an energy deal at the center of a criminal corruption trial.

Eni claims that “undisclosed interests” are driving the Nigerian government’s litigation strategy “at the expense of Eni’s contractual rights and the national interest of Nigeria.” The Italian oil company wants permission to subpoena information from the investment firm, Drumcliffe Partners LLC, to help its defense in the corruption trial in Milan, which Nigeria has joined as a civil party. read more

Nigerian farmers take on Shell in landmark oil spill case

OCT 9, 2020 10:15 AM PHT: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

THE HAGUE, NETHERLANDS

Anglo-Dutch oil giant Shell faces a case over 3 spills which occurred in the 2000s around the southeastern Nigerian villages of Goi, Oruma, and Ikot Ada Udo

Lawyers for 4 Nigerian farmers accused Anglo-Dutch oil giant Shell on Thursday, October 8, of causing widespread pollution in a landmark court case filed in the Netherlands.

The farmers first filed suit in 2008, demanding Shell clean up devastating oil spills in 3 villages in the Niger Delta, prevent further pollution, and pay compensation. read more

Climate Suit Against Shell Oil Can Proceed in R.I., Judge Rules

• Suit against Shell alleged it ignored climate change
• Company had defended operations and infrastructure

Adrianne Appel Staff Correspondent Sept. 28, 2020, 6:57 PM: 

An environmental group’s lawsuit can go forward alleging that a Shell Oil Products U.S. oil terminal is vulnerable to climate change’s effects, a federal judge in Rhode Island ruled Monday.

The parties will now pursue the discovery process, marking the first time a private fossil fuel entity will need to fully answer for its knowledge of climate change and the risks it presents in a case involving climate adaptation, according to the Conservation Law Foundation, which filed the lawsuit. read more

Shell Offshore files plans to return to Alaska’s North Slope

Author: Elwood Brehmer: Alaska Journal of Commerce

A supermajor oil company is looking to advance its position on Alaska’s North Slope.

Shell Offshore Inc. has applied to form the West Harrison Bay Unit in state waters just offshore from the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska with plans to drill the area in search of oil in the coming years, according to documents submitted to the state Division of Oil and Gas.

If the Dutch oil industry giant can secure a partner to share in the costs and risks of remote offshore North Slope exploration, it expects to drill exploration wells in the West Harrison Bay Unit with at least one sidetrack each in 2023 and 2024, Shell’s initial unit plan of exploration states. read more

Why the World Worries About Russia’s Natural Gas Pipeline By Anna Shiryaevskaya and Dina Khrennikova | Bloomberg September 4, 2020 at 3:26 p.m. GMT+1

A natural gas pipeline being built under the Baltic Sea from Russia to the German coast is shaking up geopolitics. Nord Stream 2, as it’s called, fuels worries in the U.S. and other countries that the link could give the Kremlin new leverage over Germany and other NATO allies. As the project neared completion, U.S. sanctions and calls for European restrictions have left the construction in limbo as political tensions with Moscow mounted.

1. What is Nord Stream 2?

It’s a 1,230-kilometer (764-mile) gas pipeline that will double the capacity of the existing undersea route from Russian fields to Europe — the original Nord Stream — which opened in 2011. Russia’s Gazprom PJSC owns the joint Russian-European venture, with Royal Dutch Shell Plc and four other investors contributing half of the 9.5 billion-euro ($11.2 billion) cost. Initially expected to come online by the end of 2019, the link has been delayed by U.S. sanctions that forced Swiss contractor Allseas Group SA to withdraw its pipelaying vessels. The pipeline operator is looking for solutions to lay the remaining 6% of the pipe, which includes construction work in Denmark’s waters. read more

POSTED BY CONTRIBUTING EDITOR ON AUGUST 26, 2020 

Dow Chemical and Shell Oil were hit with a lawsuit Wednesday by South Pasadena accusing the companies of contaminating the city’s water supply with a toxic chemical found in pesticides the companies once made.

The suit filed in Los Angeles federal court alleges the companies knew or should have known that the chemical, known as 1,2,3-trichloropropane, or TCP, is toxic and renders drinking water unsafe. The companies manufactured and marketed agricultural pesticides containing the chemical for years — and it was used on land in the vicinity of South Pasadena’s wells. read more

Big Oil’s Petrochemical Bet Is A Risky One

By Tsvetana Paraskova – Aug 19, 2020, 5:00 PM CDT

Petrochemicals are expected to underpin global oil demand growth in the future as growth in transportation fuels demand is set to slow with the increased use of electric vehicles, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in March in its annual Oil 2020 report with projections until 2025. But are petrochemicals really profitable?

“Petrochemical feedstocks LPG/ethane and naphtha will drive around half of all oil products demand growth, helped by continued rising plastics demand and cheap natural gas liquids in North America,” the IEA said in March when the COVID-19 pandemic was already upending global oil demand growth projections for this year. read more

Shell: 17 new COVID cases at cracker plant, 14 active

By Chrissy Suttles: Posted Aug 4, 2020 at 5:28 PM

The site has seen 35 confirmed COVID-19 cases since March — 14 active and 21 recovered. More than 1,000 tests have been conducted at Shell’s on-site lab, with approximately 1 percent coming back positive.

POTTER TWP. — The number of COVID-19 cases at Beaver County’s ethane cracker plant has nearly doubled in less than three weeks.

Another 17 employees at the Shell Chemicals complex have tested positive for the novel coronavirus since mid-July, and 35 people have been infected since the pandemic hit Pennsylvania in March. read more

Report: Oil and gas companies have extensive ties to police groups

BY RACHEL FRAZIN – 07/27/20 02:17 PM EDT

Major fossil fuel and utility companies as well as financial institutions have contributed to law enforcement organizations for years, according to a report published Monday.

The report from the left-leaning Public Accountability Initiative and its research arm LittleSis highlight contributions to police organizations in big cities from oil giants including Chevron, Marathon and Shell. read more

THE GUARDIAN: Big corporations accused of driving environmental and health inequalities in black and brown communities through toxic and climate-changing pollution are also funding powerful police groups in major US cities, according to a new investigation.

Some of America’s largest oil and gas companies, private utilities, and financial institutions that bankroll fossil fuels also back police foundations…

Shell is one of the biggest fossil fuel companies in the world, and is currently building a huge ethane cracker plant near Pittsburgh, which advocates warn could turn Appalachia into the next so-called Cancer Alley – a corridor of Louisiana refineries, where Shell is also a major polluter. Shell is a “featured partner” of the New Orleans police foundation and a sponsor of the Houston police’s mounted patrol. read more