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Landowner Can Sue Shell Over Fracking Hazards

May 3rd, 2012
by John Donovan.
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Courthouse News Service
Landowner Can Sue Shell Over Fracking Hazards

Thursday, May 3, 2012

WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. (CN) – Shell Energy cannot dismiss claims that the controversial fracking technique to extract natural gas is an “ultra hazardous activity,” a federal judge ruled.

The claim stems from a lawsuit Edward Kamuck filed against Shell Energy Holdings GP in August 2011.

Kamuck says the energy giant’s fracking operation on land neighboring his 93-acre tract in rural Pennsylvania constitutes “an abnormally dangerous and ultra hazardous activity,” and that Shell should be subjected to strict liability for “the contamination and pollution caused by … releases, spills, sprays, emissions, discharges and flowback of hazardous chemicals and combustible gases.” read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Concerns over ‘insanity’ of Shell South Africa fracking plans

Mar 24th, 2012
by John Donovan.
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Western Cape, South Africa (CNN) — South Africa has an energy deficit on its hands. Too many people want fuel for their cars and electricity for their homes, and the country is struggling to keep up with demand.

To help ease this perceived crisis the big companies want to start drilling for natural gas using a controversial drilling technique called fracking. Under the plans the drilling will be done in one of the most remote and beautiful places in South Africa, the Karoo. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Natural Gas Fracking Boom Turns Sour

Mar 10th, 2012
by John Donovan.
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Shell, which by energy output is now approaching 60% gas, has already backtracked and downsized its shale gas and oil programs…

By: Andrew_McKillop Mar 09, 2012 – 09:51 AM

Exxon, which by energy output is now 49% gas,  failed in its first two efforts to crack gas-rich shale fields in Poland…

Shell, which by energy output is now approaching 60% gas, has already backtracked and downsized its shale gas and oil programs. Initially intending to spend about $5 bn on drilling shale field this year, its CEO Marvin Odum now places spending at $3 billion to $5 billion, Odum adding: “We’re at the lower end of that right now because of where natural-gas prices are”. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Shell-Commissioned Report on South Africa Gas Flawed, Group Says

Mar 3rd, 2012
by John Donovan.
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By Andres R. Martinez – Mar 3, 2012 12:57 PM GMT

A study commissioned by Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA) about the potential of shale gas in South Africa doesn’t consider the risks related to developing the deposits, according to an environmental group.

“The findings are lacking in balance to the extent that one must call the objectivity and credibility of the analysis into question,” Jonathan Deal, chairman of Treasure the Karoo Action Group, said in an e-mailed statement today. The study doesn’t include costs related to “damaged road infrastructure, health remediation costs, pollution remediation and environmental monitoring and enforcement of standards.” read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Rock-Heating for Oil Pits Shell Against Environmentalists

Feb 27th, 2012
by John Donovan.
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A proposal to tap the world’s largest oil-shale deposits in the western U.S. by heating rocks until petroleum sweats out has become the latest election-year conflict over energy policy.

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Europe is too emotional about fracking, says Shell chief

Feb 3rd, 2012
by John Donovan.
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Tom Bawden: Friday 03 February 2012

Shell’s chief executive, Peter Voser, called on Europe for a less “emotional” response to fracking, as he outlined plans to accelerate the oil giant’s use of the controversial technology used to release hydrocarbons from rocks.

Mr Voser said Shell would invest $6bn (£3.8bn) to appraise, explore and develop gas and oil reserves contained in rocks this year, as it looked to significantly expand the volume of hydrocarbons it produces. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Fracking Earthquakes?

Jan 5th, 2012
by John Donovan.
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Ohio Officials Putting In Place Earthquake Preparedness Plans

January 4, 2012 5:11 PM

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — There were 11 earthquakes in eastern Ohio in 2011.

Most of them were not very powerful and caused little damage, but some people are asking about emergency plans if a major quake hits the area.

The new phenomenon of earthquakes in eastern Ohio is puzzling many people.

Some geologists say that discarded brine used while drilling for natural gas is being injected near fault lines. It acts as a lubricant, inducing the earthquakes.

Emergency management officials in and near Youngstown say they have a general plan that covers any and all emergencies. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Hunt for Gas Hits Fragile Soil, and South Africans Fear Risks

Dec 31st, 2011
by John Donovan.
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In July, the Advertising Standards Authority of South Africa, an independent agency that sets guidelines for media companies, ruled that several of Shell’s advertised claims — including one that said fracking had never led to groundwater contamination — were misleading or unsubstantiated and should be withdrawn.

Chris Hayward, a South African farmer, says, “If our government lets these companies touch even a drop of our water, we’re ruined.”: Photo Credit: Liaan Pretorius for The New York Times

A version of this article appeared in print on December 31, 2011, on page A1 of the New York edition

By

KAROO, South Africa — When a drought dried up their wells last year, hundreds of farmers and their families flocked to local fairgrounds here to pray for rain, and a call went out on the regional radio station imploring South Africans to donate bottled water.

Covering much of the roughly 800 miles between Johannesburg and Cape Town, this arid expanse — its name means “thirsty land” — sees less rain in some parts than the Mojave Desert. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Cuadrilla admits drilling caused Blackpool earthquakes

Dec 13th, 2011
by John Donovan.
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Private company Cuadrilla Resources has admitted that its activities probably caused two “seismic events” that occured in Blackpool earlier this year.

By 12:36PM GMT 02 Nov 2011

In April, a tremor measuring 2.3 on the Richter scale was felt in the Lancashire seaside resort, followed by an event in May that measured 1.5 on the scale.

“It is highly probable that the hydraulic fracturing of Cuadrilla’s Preese Hall-1 well did trigger a number of minor seismic events,” Cuadrilla admitted. The report also said there was no threat to people and property in the local area caused by the drilling.

Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, involved pumping a solution at high pressure through shale to crack the rock formation. This allows trapped gas to be released and collected. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Add Quakes to Rumblings Over Gas Rush

Dec 13th, 2011
by John Donovan.
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By

A version of this article appeared in print on December 13, 2011, on page D1 of the New York edition

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — Until this year, this Rust Belt city and surrounding Mahoning County had been about as dead, seismically, as a place can be, without even a hint of an earthquake since Scots-Irish settlers arrived in the 18th century.

But on March 17, two minor quakes briefly shook the city. And in the following eight months there have been seven more — like the first two, too weak to cause damage or even be felt by many people, but strong enough to rattle some nerves.

“It felt like someone was kicking in the front door. It scared the stuffing out of me,” said Steve Moritz, a cook who lives on the city’s west side, describing the seventh quake, which occurred in late September. It was the strongest one, with a magnitude of 2.7. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Big Oil sees energy bonanza ahead

Dec 6th, 2011
by John Donovan.
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Oil industry executives appearing Tuesday at the World Petroleum Congress in Doha, Qatar.

DOHA, Qatar (CNNMoney) — Just three years after fears of an energy supply shortage, executives of the world’s leading oil companies now foresee a bonanza of oil and natural gas on the horizon.

In 2008, concern that a rapidly developing world was eating through all its energy supplies helped push prices to record levels, with oil hitting $147 a barrel and natural gas topping $15 per million cubic feet. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Overuse and waste of invaluable water resources within the oil and gas sector

Nov 14th, 2011
by John Donovan.
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EXTRACTS FROM THE RepRisk WATER SCARCITY REPORT

RepRisk is the leading provider of dynamic business intelligence on environmental social and governance risks.

In 2010, access to clean water received recognition as a basic human right through a majority vote of the United Nations General Assembly. According to the UN, nearly 900 million people have no access to clean drinkable water, almost 1.8 billion live in areas where water is scarce, and a further 1.6 billion live in countries, which lack the infrastructure to extract water from natural sources. The World Bank calculates that by 2030, water demand will exceed supply by 40 percent, as a growing world population demands more water for agricultural, industrial and personal use. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

We Found Oil! Is That Good?

Nov 7th, 2011
by John Donovan.
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New ways to extract oil and natural gas could buy the U.S. some time to develop renewable energy. Or they could keep us addicted to dirty fuels.

INTRODUCTION

For renewable energy, even the successes can reveal how much work remains to be done: huge amounts of hydroelectric and wind power in the Pacific Northwest sometimes threaten to overwhelm the grid. So is it good news that recent approaches to drilling have created a boom for fossil fuels?

Companies can now extract oil and natural gas from the high Arctic, shale, oil sands and deepwater wells. These fossil fuels are still finite and dwindling, but tapping the new sources pushes back the date of “peak oil.” Does that give the United States necessary time to develop sustainable energy sources, or will it keep Americans needlessly addicted to dirty fuels by keeping them cheap — and eroding the “energy security” argument? read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Gas Fracking Probably Caused Earthquakes in U.K.

Nov 2nd, 2011
by John Donovan.
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Two small earthquakes near Blackpool in northwest England earlier this year were probably caused by hydraulic fracturing, a technique of grinding underground rocks to extract natural gas.

It is “highly probable” that fracking, as the process is known, at the Preese Hall-1 site caused the seismic events, Cuadrilla Resources Ltd., a U.K.-based shale explorer, said in a report published today. The combination of geological factors that led to the events were rare and the strongest possible tremor, of a magnitude of 3, would not be a risk to safety or property on the surface, the report said. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Economic benefits will likely win Keystone XL approval: Shell

Oct 25th, 2011
by John Donovan.
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Oct 24, 2011 – 5:41 PM ET

TORONTO — The U.S. government is likely to approve the Keystone XL pipeline in part because of the economic benefits that would come along with the controversial US$7-billion project, the head of Royal Dutch Shell’s North American operations, predicted Monday.

In fact, the economic benefits attendant on the energy industries in North America in general are even more important than energy independence, Marvin Odum, president of Shell Oil Co. and upstream director of Royal Dutch Shell’s subsidiary company in the Americas, said at a Toronto conference. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Is fracking set to transform the oil market?

Oct 13th, 2011
by John Donovan.
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COLUMN-Is fracking set to transform the oil market? John Kemp

(John Kemp is a Reuters market analyst. The views expressed are his own)

By John Kemp

Oct 12 (Reuters) – Hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling revolutionised the natural gas market, unlocking huge quantities of previous unrecoverable reserves trapped in tight rock formations.

The question is whether they are about to do the same for oil — unlocking billions of barrels of crude trapped in similar rock forms, and thereby upending forecasts about increasing oil scarcity and steeply rising prices.

WHY MALTHUS WAS WRONG

In the short term, prices for commodities are determined by the usual forces of supply and demand. In the medium and long term, however, technology is the main determinant of price and availability. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.
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