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

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

How Europe’s Monster Gas Field Turned Into a Monster Headache: Bloomberg: 13 July 2017

Judge to consider demands to close Europe’s largest gas field; Groningen has contributed almost 300 billion euros to budget; What was once a blessing is now an expensive curse; Officials are also considering criminal charges against NAM executives READ MORE

Corrib gas timeline: 20 years of protests and controversy: The Irish Times: 13 July 2017

June 2005 – High Court jails five men who became known as the “Rossport Five” for contempt of court over their continued protests over the pipeline route. READ MORE

Trump administration approves Eni plan to drill offshore Alaska: Reuters: 13 July 2017

Royal Dutch Shell Plc quit its exploration quest offshore Alaska in 2015 after a ship it had leased suffered a gash in mostly uncharted waters… READ MORE read more

Shell unloads its stake in Corrib: The Times: 13 July 2017

Royal Dutch Shell has sold its stake in the contentious Corrib gas project off the Republic of Ireland to a Canadian pension fund for up to $1.23 billion. READ MORE

Shell’s Corrib exit leaves energy giants up to €2.5bn in the red: 13 July 2017

Energy groups behind the controversial Corrib gas field off the Mayo coast are as much €2.5 billion in the red on their investment, as Shell’s move to sell a stake to a Canadian state pension fund has left it with loss of up to €1 billion. READ MORE

Losses on Corrib near €2bn as Shell sells up: The Irish Times: 13 July 2017

It had been beset by more than a decade of delays and rows with protesters before production began. READ MORE read more