Now, some of the financial cost to the Corrib Gas Partners, Shell Ireland, Statoil and Vermilion Energy from the odourless gas being pumped into the network can be revealed.

Gordon Deegan: Irish Independent: Wednesday 1 November  2017 

Corrib Gas Partners lost out on estimated natural gas revenues of around €38m in the third quarter of this year as a result of odourless gas getting into the network and a scheduled downtime.

Production ceased at the Bellanaboy gas terminal in Co Mayo on September 9th for a scheduled downtime and a total of 31 days of production were lost.

This was as a result of odourless gas being pumped into the gas network in the west of Ireland after the plant was restarted temporarily. read more

Stop crude focus on oil profits: The Guardian: Article by Sean Farrell: Sunday 29 October 2017

At the start of last year, Britain’s big oil companies, Shell and BP, appeared to be in crisis. A slump in the price of Brent crude – from more than $110 a barrel in 2014 to less than $30 in January 2016 – sent profits tumbling and appeared to threaten dividends. After painful cost cuts and a partial recovery in the oil price to near $60, the pressure has eased and both are expected to report solid first-half results this week.

BP goes first, on Tuesday, with Shell, the stronger of the two, on Thursday. The commotion over the oil slump diverted some attention from their commitments to low-carbon energy. To much fanfare, both companies’ boards supported resolutions at their 2015 annual meetings that required clearer reporting of emissions, business risks and efforts to develop green energy sources. read more

Extracts from the ebook “John Donovan, Shell’s Nightmare” (now available on Amazon websites globally)

From pages 11 and 12.

Extract begins

My Shell insider sources have received threats, including alleged death threats, as reported by The Irish Times in April 2011: Gardaí investigate alleged death threats to Corrib whistleblowers

The last message I received from one Sakhalin2 source advised that they had received a credible serious threat. I never heard from that particular insider again.

A press release issued by Shell UK in March 1995 provides some idea of the degree of acrimony and the wide scope of our campaigning activities. read more

Barry O’Halloran: 14 Oct 2017

The Corrib natural gas field off the west coast lost €140 million last year, according to accounts filed by its operator, Shell E&P Ireland.

Global oil and gas giant, Royal Dutch Shell, is selling its 45 per cent stake in the Corrib operator to a Canadian pension fund for up to €1.08 billion. Accounts for Shell E&P Ireland show that it lost €140 million in 2016 as the cost of running Corrib exceeded the revenues that it earned. The figures show that the company’s sales were €182.2 million, but costs of €359.4 million and a near €10 million interest bill left it with losses of €187 million. A tax credit of €47 million reduced this to €140 million. read more

News Release – Issued by Shell to Sea – Oct 1st, 2017 – For immediate release

— Shell to Sea has cumulative knowledge of the Shell/Corrib project, and is capable and willing to put hard questions to CER and EPA. —

The latest fiasco in the Shell refinery at Bellanaboy resulted in as yet unspecified volumes of un-odourised gas entering the national gas grid and as yet unknown quantities of toxins released to land, sea and air in Erris, north Mayo. Shell to Sea has produced a list of specific questions for CER (recently renamed to the Commission for Regulation of Utilities) and EPA, the two statutory bodies charged with investigating this most recent lapse in Shell’s ‘global technical expertise’. [1, 2] read more

Self-explanatory email sent Sunday 1 October 2017 by the Shell to Sea Campaign to the Irish state regulatory authorities, including the Environmental Protection Agency and the Commission for Energy Regulation. It concerns the latest debacle in the Shell led Corrib Gas project in Ireland that has been undermined by the incompetence, greed and corruption sponsored by Shell. All hallmarks of the oil giant as also witnessed in Nigeria for the last 50 years. This time it is the uncontrolled discharge of unknown quantities of toxins released to land, sea and air in Erris, in north Mayo and unspecified volumes of un-odourised gas entering the national gas grid, with all the public risk that such an incident entails. The project is vastly over-budget and hopelessly delayed. 

From: Shell to Sea <[email protected]>
Date: Sun, Oct 1, 2017 at 12:36 PM
Subject: Shell to Sea questions on Un-Odourised Gas in National Grid
To: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]

To whom it concerns.

Shell to Sea has cumulative knowledge of the Shell/Corrib project and is capable and willing to put hard questions to CER and the EPA.

The latest fiasco in the Shell refinery at Bellanaboy resulted in as yet unspecified volumes of un-odourised gas entering the national gas grid and as yet unknown quantities of toxins released to land, sea and air in Erris, north Mayo. Shell to Sea has produced a list of specific questions for CER and EPA, the two statutory bodies charged with investigating this most recent lapse in Shell’s poor record in north Mayo. read more

A week ago, the Irish Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan warned the corruption-ridden Irish police Force (the Gardaí) that he wants to see “all the skeletons out of all of the cupboards” in terms of Garda scandals and controversies. One such scandal is the “Strange tale of Shell’s pipeline battle, the Gardaí and £30,000 of booze.”

Shell has been a corporate sponsor of police corruption in Ireland aided and abetted by its ”Mr Fixit” company OSSL, who freely admit their involvement in distributing bribes on behalf of Shell to smooth the path of the controversial Corrib Gas Project. Despite the confession, Shell has thus far managed to escape due retribution. read more

(Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L) and Gas Networks Ireland (GNI) are working to remove unodourised gas that entered the network from the country’s Corrib gas field and has curbed output since last week, Shell said.

Due to a technical problem at the Shell-operated Bellanaboy Bridge gas terminal in Ireland, unodourised gas entered the network, forcing GNI to ask local customers to switch off their gas meters on Sept. 22-23, a Shell spokesperson said.

Unodourised gas cannot be easily detected as it cannot be smelt. Normally odourants are added before the gas reaches customers so people can detect gas leaks by scent. Undetected gas can lead to an explosion or fire. read more

Shell, one of the largest oil and gas companies in the world, is going electric. Photos uploaded this week show how the company’s new electric car chargers look in reality — and it looks like something out of a sci-fi film. 

The Shell Recharge stations, as they are branded, are 50 kWh direct current chargers that can recharge a car’s battery to around 80 percent in 30 minutes. The stations will initially be available at 10 service stations this year in the United Kingdom, around the London, Reading and Derby areas. They support Chademo, CCS and AC Type 2 charging connectors, and the company plans to provide Tesla adaptors in the future. read more

Corrib flaring ‘frightening’

CLOSE ENCOUNTER RIGHT: A still of the flare from a video by Rossport resident, Mary Corduff.

By Áine Ryan: 26 Sept 2017

COMPANIES selling ‘potentially dangerous energy products’ are obliged ‘to ensure that there is no risk to the customer’. That was according to Minister Michael Ring in the aftermath of news breaking last Thursday night about the fact that odourless gas from the Corrib refinery had entered the network for Galway and Mayo. The crisis, which involved a 36-hour flaring operation at the Bellanaboy refinery in order to push the odourless gas back out of the network, has since been resolved as two State inquiries continue into the potentially dangerous situation. read more

Lorna Siggins: 22 Sept 2017

Two State investigations are under way into the release of odourless gas into the natural gas supply in the west of Ireland after a “technical fault” at the Corrib gas refinery.

More than 9,000 customers in counties Galway and Mayo were advised to shut down supplies on Thursday until further notice for safety reasons, and the State’s national gas emergency plan was invoked.

Gas Networks Ireland said it had restored a safe supply to 60 per cent of those affected by Friday evening, mainly in Galway city and parts of the county. read more

“Shell has brought their worst practice in Nigeria into the beautiful Barony of Erris – how dare they and how dare this state allow Shell to poison a pristine environment and the health of future generations; this cannot be spun as a spurious health and safety concern – it’s incompetent and negligent; it is our Place and our People who suffer the consequences while unaccountable, faceless functionaries reap their pensions”

News Release – Issued by Shell to Sea – Sept 22nd, 2017 – For immediate release

—   Shell’s  incompetence puts lives in danger all over Mayo and Galway. —

Following Shell’s latest fiasco of putting odourless gas into the Irish gas network, Shell to Sea has again highlighted the lack of regulation and monitoring of Shell in relation to the Corrib Gas project.  [1,2]

Shell to Sea spokesperson Terence Conway stated “During construction of the Corrib project, Shell were a clear danger to lives in this area, but now it is clear that they are a danger to lives further afield also.  We have no confidence in the state to regulate or control Shell.” read more

By John Donovan

My families falling out with Shell took place over two decades ago.

Some indication of the degree of acrimony can be gauged from the content of posters Shell put on public display on 23 September 1998 at the Shell Centre in London, specifically targeting my father and me. I have never heard of a multinational corporation doing anything like this before or since.

This is what the posters said:

YOU MAY BE HANDED A LEAFLET OUTSIDE SHELL CENTRE BY MR ALFRED DONOVAN, FORMALLY OF A COMPANY CALLED DON MARKETING UK LIMITED.  YOU SHOULD BE AWARE THAT JOHN DONOVAN, A DIRECTOR OF DON MARKETING UK LIMITED, MR ALFRED DONOVAN’S SON, HAS ISSUED A WRIT AGAINST SHELL UK CLAIMING THAT HIS COMPANY INVENTED THE SMART LOYALTY CARD PROGRAMME.  MR DONOVAN’S ALLEGATIONS HAVE BEEN VERY CAREFULLY INVESTIGATED BY SHELL UK AND DISCUSSED IN DETAIL WITH MR DONOVAN AND HIS SOLICITORS. THE CLAIM IS BEING VIGOROUSLY DEFENDED.  AS SOME OF YOU MAY KNOW, MR DONOVAN HAS MADE SOME OFFENSIVE STATEMENTS ABOUT SHELL UK COLLEAGUES. WE REJECT SUCH ALLEGATIONS ABSOLUTELY AND ARE WHOLLY CONFIDENT THAT OUR COLLEAGUES HAVE ACTED IN THIS MATTER AT ALL TIMES IN GOOD FAITH AND IN LINE WITH OUR LONG STANDING BUSINESS PRINCIPLES. read more

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

A different perspective from the above recent PR tour by Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf of the construction site for the new US Shell Chemicals Cracker Plant is provided in a letter published by The Beaver County Times. See below. This is how controversy kicked off in Ireland when local people raised legitimate questions over the Corrib Gas Project and were treated with disdain by Shell. Disdain turned to jailing of protesters and Shell sponsored corruption to buy the support of the Irish police before Shell gave up and sold out its stake at a loss. The project was hopelessly over budget and ended up delayed by many years.  read more

Written by Alan Shields – 27/07/2017 7:07 am

The supermajor announced this morning that it had shed assets worth $25billion as part of the reshaping of its portfolio. This included the landmark North Sea deal with Chrysaor earlier this year, worth around $3.8billion. It also comes following the $68.2billion merger with BG Group. The supermajor also recently agreed to sell its stake in Irish gas project Corrib in a deal worth up to 1.23 billion US dollars (£956 million). The firm said adjusted earnings rose from 1.05 billion US dollars (£800 million) to 3.6 billion US dollars (£2.7 billion), an increase of 245%. read more