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NL TIMES
Shell: Gas field in Groningen must be completely closed this year, in light of earthquakes
SUNDAY, 26 MARCH 2023
The gas field in Groningen must be completely closed this year, said the CEO of Shell Netherlands, Marjan van Loon. Currently, the gas field is still supplying minimal amounts of gas to keep the wells usable, but she doesn’t think that’s necessary. “It can and must be done, so the field has to be closed,” Van Loon said on the TV program WNL Op Zondag.
DutchNews.nl
Damning report slams state, oil companies for Groningen gas failures
Gas extraction has become an ‘unprecedented system failure’ and both the public and private sector have failed in their duties, Van der Lee said.
Ministers were not properly informed and that meant that MPs could not fulfill their role as guardians of the public interest. The damage, both material and mental, suffered by locals was consistently underestimated and the maximalisation of profit was the guiding force.
“Gas extraction in Groningen was so successful and lucrative for the Dutch government, Shell and Exxon Mobil that they hardly took any notion of the long-term risks and the ever-clearer signs of the detrimental effects for the people in Groningen…” REUTERS
Dutch gov’t, Shell and Exxon ignored Groningen risks for years, inquiry finds
“These are hard and painful conclusions,” Rutte told a news conference. “They make clear there is a lot to do to help the region and to hopefully restore trust.”
The government will take time provide a full response to the report, he said without indicating how long that would take.
A statement from NAM director Johan Atema said: “It is clear that we need to have a better eye for the society in which we work. It is up to us to show that we as a company have learned from this.”
UPDATE 1-Dutch gov’t, Shell and Exxon ignored Groningen risks for years, inquiry finds
AMSTERDAM, Feb 24 (Reuters) – The Dutch government and energy companies Shell and Exxon Mobil ignored the risks of gas production in Groningen for years, to the detriment of people living in the province, a parliamentary inquiry concluded on Friday.
Prime Minister Mark Rutte and others involved “gravely underestimated” the urgency of the problems in Groningen, said the committee set up to investigate the decades of lucrative gas extraction that caused tremors damaging thousands of houses and buildings in the region.
…problems included repeated outages at its Prelude liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility off the western coast of Australia…
REUTERS
Shell CEO creates chief of staff role in management overhaul
By Ron Bousso: February 23, 2023: 4:15 PM GMT
LONDON, Feb 23 (Reuters) – Shell (SHEL.L) Chief Executive Officer Wael Sawan has created a senior role of chief of staff as part of a management overhaul to improve performance after technical problems and other disruption, three company sources said.
GLOBAL WITNESS
Fossil fuel greenwash
15 February 2023
Despite growing pressure to curb greenwashing, oil and gas majors Shell and BP continue to promote environmentally friendly narratives their core business does not back up.
In the wake of a UK government warning in late 2021 to stop making misleading environmental claims, BP has more than doubled the amount spent on purchasing advertisements that greenwash its image on Facebook and Instagram compared to 2021.
Meanwhile Shell has continued to run greenwashing ads on Instagram without disclosing the ads relate to political issues as required by the platform. Meta has allowed Shell to re-publish essentially identical political ads without labelling them as such, and continued to profit from the greenwashing ads of polluting industries.
BBC NEWS
Why are BP, Shell, and other oil giants making so much money right now?
The big oil companies – from the UK-based BP and Shell to international giants such as ExxonMobil and Norway’s Equinor – have been announcing astonishing profit figures.
While they rake in the profits, people around the world are struggling to pay their energy bills and fill up their cars – leading to calls for higher taxes on these companies.
So how are they making so much money, and should the government step in to stop them?
The Guardian
Shell directors personally sued over ‘flawed’ climate strategy
Claimants ClientEarth say the oil company’s plan puts the company at financial risk as the world transitions to clean energy
The directors of oil major Shell are being personally sued over their climate strategy, which the claimants say is inadequate to meet climate targets and puts the company at risk as the world switches to clean energy.
Environmental lawyers ClientEarth have filed the lawsuit against the 11 directors at the high court in England. It is the first case in the world seeking to hold corporate directors liable for failing to properly prepare their company for the net zero transition, ClientEarth said.
Shell threatens Greenpeace protestors with jail and fines: But legal tactics fail as Greenpeace sends second boat and more climbers
Protestors are demanding that the company stops expanding oil and gas production around the world, takes responsibility for fuelling the climate crisis, and pays up for the climate destruction it is causing everywhere.
At around 9am (CET) in the Channel, the Greenpeace France-chartered Merida trimaran and two small boats approached the White Marlin heavy-lift vessel, which is carrying Shell’s 34,000 tonne oil and gas platform to the North Sea.
The Guardian
Shell’s lack of ambition is maddening: it’s time to speed up transition to renewables
Nils Pratley
Thu 2 Feb 2023 19.30 GMT
The chief executive has changed at Shell but the song remains the same. The energy transition will be “balanced” and “we intend to remain disciplined while delivering compelling shareholder returns,” declared Wael Sawan. Translation: the company will not use the sudden arrival of spectacular financial riches to boost spending on renewables.
Being “disciplined” is, of course, an admirable ambition when presented starkly and without context. No chief executive of any company is ever likely to tell investors that the plan is to take wild punts on projects with little prospect of a decent return. But there is a world of nuance between the extremes.
BBC NEWS
Shell reports highest profits in 115 years
Oil and gas giant Shell has reported record annual profits after energy prices surged last year following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Profits hit $39.9bn (£32.2bn) in 2022, double last year’s total and the highest in its 115-year history.
It has heaped pressure on firms to pay more tax as households struggle with rising bills.
Opposition parties said Shell’s profits were “outrageous” and the government was letting energy firms “off the hook”. They also called for the planned increase in the energy price cap due in April to be scrapped.
Greenpeace climate justice activists board and occupy Shell platform en route to major oilfield with message: ‘STOP DRILLING. START PAYING.’
Greenpeace International: 31 Jan 2023
Amsterdam, Netherlands – Greenpeace activists from Argentina, Turkey, the US and the UK have boarded a Shell contracted vessel in the Atlantic Ocean with a banner bearing the message: “Stop Drilling. Start Paying”.
Just two days ahead of Shell’s profits announcement, four Greenpeace International activists boarded the White Marlin vessel at sea north of the Canary Islands in a peaceful protest against the climate devastation around the world caused by Shell and the wider fossil fuel industry, without paying a penny towards loss and damage.
Shell plc announces Executive Committee and Directorate changes
Separately, the Strategy, Sustainability and Corporate Relations (SSCR) Directorate will be discontinued and its Director, Ed Daniels, will step down from the EC effective 1 July 2023, and leave Group service thereafter. Strategy will be brought together with New Business Development and, alongside Sustainability, will report direct to Sinead Gorman, Chief Financial Officer, enabling more streamlined planning and better capital allocation decisions. Corporate Relations will report direct to Wael Sawan, Chief Executive Officer. We thank Ed for his distinguished service over more than 34 years and wish him well for the future.
REUTERS
Shell CEO in first changes combines LNG, upstream operations
The new division, which combines Shell’s most profitable operations, will be headed by current upstream director Zoe Yujnovich, Shell said in a statement on Monday.
Sawan took office on Jan. 1 after heading Shell’s integrated gas division, which included Shell’s LNG and renewables businesses, with a vow to simplify and improve the company’s operations.
Under the internal restructure, renewables operations will be combined with Shell’s oil refining and marketing operations led by current downstream director Huibert Vigeveno, the company said.
OILPRICE.COM
Netherlands To Shut Down Europe’s Largest Gas Field
The Dutch government plans to close the Groningen gas field this year despite Europe’s precarious supply position. Groningen is the largest gas field in Europe.
The field is dangerous, a government official from the Hague told the Financial Times, and the government has no plans to boost production from it.
“We won’t open up more because of the safety issues,” Hans Vijbrief told the FT. “It is politically totally unviable. But apart from that, I’m not going to do it because it means that you increase the chances of earthquakes, which I don’t want to be responsible for.”
The most recent incident happened only a year after a similar fire forced the vessel to go down for nearly five months.
Shell’s Prelude FLNG Restarts First Cargo Since Fire
According to Shell, the fire was promptly put out and the area was declared safe; it also stated that no one was hurt and all of the facility’s workers were safe and well.
Following a small fire at the 3.6M metric tons/year facility, Prelude, the largest floating plant for natural gas liquefaction in the world, had paused its gas production last month due to an ongoing investigation.
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