Posts Tagged ‘Gas’

Paul Hunt: Senior Journalist: Oil & Gas, Policy. 07 August 2020

Currently FIFO staff work three weeks on, four weeks off, then three weeks on and five weeks off but under the new proposed agreement, employees would simply do a four week on, four week off roster.

In a power-point presentation leaked to Energy News this week, Shell Australia said a new roster was needed due to interstate travel restrictions, and the combined impact of a 14-day quarantine requirement for FIFO staff.

“This is placing significant pressure and strain on Prelude FLNG production team resourcing, as well as work-life balance for all personnel,” Shell said in its proposal to its employees. read more

Featured below are extracts from negative customer reviews about Shell Energy posted during the last several days on Trustpilot.  Visit the Shell Energy page on Trustpilot to view all reviews in their entirety, positive and negative (and Shell Energy responses). Watch out for any fake reviews. Note the reoccurring themes in the negative reviews, including difficulty in communicating with the company. This article posted on 03 August 2020.

I think the CEO’s surname is quite…

I think the CEO’s surname is quite fitting with how this bogus company operates. Mr Crooks! How ironic. Stop chasing people for money you are not owed, making up sums and ruining peoples lives. You should be ashamed of yourselves!

SLOWEST BROADBAND SPEEDS EVER! DIAL UP IS FASTER!

We moved to shell energy with just the basic plan but their “fast broadband” is a joke! If I used a dongle or dial up it could not be any slower! It can take my laptop from 45 minutes to over an hour to load up. I thought it might be my laptop but I went and bought a new one but no difference! They sent us anew modem but again no difference, still taking up to an hour to load up on a morning! When it does load it it is constantly freezing. Apparently although it says you are getting the right speeds going in, it depends on what actually comes into our house and they might not be the same! In our case they are not! The phone rang once the other day then rang off. Then they email a couple of day later and say we tried to contact you but to no avail!!!! WHAAT! I am still waiting for them to actually contact me and sort out the issue! had I known they were the same as TALK TALK I would never have signed up with them! read more

Nam calls for Groningen gas field closure in 2022

31 JULY 2020

The Netherlands’ Groningen low-calorie gas field could be closed completely in 2022, while keeping it on stand-by afterwards would require substantial production to be maintained, operator Nam has said.

There will be “no role for Groningen after 2022” as it is highly unlikely that it would be needed to guarantee security of supply then, Nam said in response to a consultation on the field’s draft output plan for the 2020-21 gas year.

The Dutch economy ministry’s plan foresees that Groningen output would halt from about mid-2022 when a new quality conversion facility in Zuidbroek is expected to become operational, significantly increasing the scope to convert high-calorie gas into low-calorie supply. The field is to remain on stand-by afterwards until at least about mid-2025 to serve as a back-up that could help meet northwest European low-calorie demand in situations of exceptionally strong consumption or disruptions to other sources of supply. read more

Energy venture NAM says it does not want to use Groningen gas field in 2022

AMSTERDAM, July 30 (Reuters) – NAM, a venture of Royal Dutch Shell and ExxonMobil that operates gas fields in the Netherlands, said on Thursday it did not want to use the Groningen gas field in 2022 and had asked the government to approve this.

The government, which has been ordering production cuts at the field due to seismic risks in the region, had asked NAM to keep the field available as a resource in 2022 in case of a cold snap, NAM said, adding that it was opposing this request. read more

Shell CEO Ben van Beurden has said the energy giant will “resize as appropriate” as it moves to become a “simpler and leaner” organisation.

by Allister Thomas: 30/07/2020, 12:20 pm

Speaking on a conference call, Mr van Beurden said designs to restructure and streamline the firm are now being drawn up, meaning it “will end up, probably, with fewer people”.

Shell, which posted second quarter losses of $18.1billion, currently employs around 83,000 people worldwide, with “really difficult decisions” already being made such as voluntary severance programmes and freezing bonuses to reduce costs. read more

Sodexo to chopper ‘scabs’ in preparation for union strike

28 July 2020

Lego model of the Prelude FLNG at Shell House on Wellington Street, Perth.

CONTRACTOR Sodexo has made a last-ditch effort to prevent the impact of a union strike across Shell Australia’s Prelude floating LNG vessel offshore Western Australia, by helicoptering in alternative staff ahead of the protected action set to commence on Thursday.

The Australian Workers Union and Maritime Union of Australia, in a coalition known as the Offshore Alliance, have organised a strike, more commonly known as a ‘protected action’ when undertaken as part of enterprise bargaining, from this Thursday, of more than 60 caters, cooks, and cleaners across the Prelude FLNG. 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

By Stanley Reed and Lara Jakes: July 24, 2020, 4:38 a.m. ET

A hulking Russian pipe-laying vessel called the Akademik Cherskiy can be seen off Germany’s Baltic coast these days, marine tracking sites say, apparently waiting for the chance to complete the final stretches of a massive undersea pipeline that will carry natural gas directly to Germany from Russia.

The Trump administration, though, is trying to keep the pipeline, known as Nord Stream 2, on ice. Last week, the State Department moved to potentially impose economic penalties on investors and other business participants in the project, an expansion of existing sanctions. read more

Russia’s Gazprom Neft and Shell launch JV for hydrocarbon development

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian oil producer Gazprom Neft on Tuesday said it had signed an agreement with Shell to establish a joint venture to develop a large-scale hydrocarbon cluster on the Gydan peninsula in Siberia.

The deal is scheduled to close in 2020, Gazprom Neft said, after which both partners will have a 50% share in the venture.

Reporting by Maxim Rodionov and Anton Kolodyazhnyy; Writing by Alexander Marrow; editing by Louise Heavens read more

Workforce strike at Shell’s Prelude confirmed

Paul Hunt: Senior Journalist: Oil & Gas, Policy. 21 July 2020

In a statement provided to Energy News today, union officials said that members had voted unanimously to take protected action at the giant FLNG after negotiations with a key contractor turned sour.

Protected action allows the union members to strike without legal consequences and is often a ‘last resort’ effort to negotiating worker rights.

Union members will not work between 4am and 7am or between 4pm and 7pm. Further to this no hot food will be cooked and no meat will be prepared. There will also be no baking and no laundry services “until further notice”. read more

The third small earthquake in a week struck the province of Groningen early Sunday morning. The quake registered a magnitude of 2.3, and its epicenter was in Startenhuizen, meteorological agency KNMI said.

It struck seconds before 4:08 a.m., and was followed by an aftershock registering 0.9 about four minutes later, data from the agency showed. The earthquake was determined to be induced by human activity, a fairly common occurrence in the region due to decades of natural gas extraction. read more

Despite a growing number of cases, Shell says it has no plans to halt construction on the multi-billion-dollar plant.

BEAVER COUNTY, Pa. (KDKA) — Five workers at the Shell cracker plant in Beaver County have recently tested positive for coronavirus.

On Thursday, Shell said 18 workers have tested positive since the beginning of the pandemic.

Earlier this month, KDKA’s Paul Martino reported that Beaver County Commissioner Daniel Camp was concerned after a ninth employee at the plant tested positive. read more

Pompeo Warns Energy Majors Over New Russian Gas Pipelines

“Get out now or risk the consequences,” Secretary of State Michael Pompeo said at the State Department on Wednesday.

Maarten Wetselaar, Klaus Schaefer, Mario Mehren, Alexey Miller, Gerhard Schroeder, Isabelle Kocher, Gerard Mestrallet, Rainer Seele, and Matthias Warnig after signing of financing agreements for Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project on April 24, 2017

By Nick Wadhams Lars Paulsson Jul 15 2020, 8:16 PM Jul 16 2020, 10:19 PM

(Bloomberg)— The U.S. is moving toward sanctions against energy companies involved in Russian pipelines to Europe and Turkey, escalating a threat to punish allies for pursuing projects that the U.S. argues will only benefit Russia.

As Europe’s domestic gas supplies decline, the region is becoming more dependent on imported fuel. The almost 10 billion-euro ($11 billion) Nord Stream 2 project from Russia to Germany is being financed by companies including Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Germany’s Uniper SE and Wintershall AG and France’s Engie SA. Allseas Group SA is helping to expand the Turk Stream link. read more

There was an earthquake in Loppersum in Groningen on Tuesday afternoon. The quake measured 2.7 on the Richter scale, making it the strongest earthquake to hit the province so far this year. The municipality of Loppersum called residents to report damage to the Groningen Mining Damage Institute.

The earthquake happened at around 5:15 p.m., according to meteorological institute KNMI. People reported feeling the quake in Loppersum, the city of Groningen, Leermens, Middelstum and Zeerijp, according to RTV Nooord. Before Wednesday, the strongest earthquake of the year measured 2.5 at Zijldijk on May 2. The strongest earthquake ever to hit Groningen was in Huizinge in 2012 and measured 3.6, according to NOS. read more

Royal Dutch Shell CEO Discusses Getting to Net-Zero Emissions in 2050; the Importance of Being “In Step” with Society; the “Knock” on Future Demand and on Maintaining “Financial Resilience” in a Crisis

Ben van Beurden speaks with IHS Markit Vice Chairman Daniel Yergin for the latest CERAWeek Conversations – available at www.ceraweek.com/conversations

WASHINGTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Royal Dutch Shell CEO Ben van Beurden talks about the company’s pending announcement on an up to $22 billion asset write down; the historic decision to cut what had been the world’s largest dividend for the first time since World War II; getting to net-zero emissions in 2050 and the future makeup of the company in latest edition of CERAWeek Conversations. read more