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North Sea Oil

Shell plans North Sea sell-off as falling crude price makes many of its sites less profitable

Mar 27th, 2016
by John Donovan.
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By CITY & FINANCE REPORTER FOR THE DAILY MAIL: PUBLISHED: 27 March 2016

Shell has hired advisers to sell some of its North Sea oil operations as the falling price of crude makes sites less profitable.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Lazard and Morgan Stanley have held talks with a number of suitors, including Neptune Oil and Gas, the investment firm set up by former Centrica boss Sam Laidlaw.

The oil industry has been scaling back investments in the North Sea because of the tumbling price of crude. Shell has said it would make disposals worth £21billion. read more

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Decline of North Sea Oil Fields Forces Political Shifts in Britain

Jun 3rd, 2015
by John Donovan.
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Article by STANLEY REED published JUNE 2, 2015 by The New York Times

Decline of North Sea Oil Fields Forces Political Shifts in Britain

ABERDEEN, Scotland — For the oil industry, the decline of the North Sea fields is part of a global challenge.

But for Britain, it is also a political problem.

The British government, which has long treated the oil industry as a cash cow, was forced to confront the threat to jobs and taxes during the run-up to last year’s referendum on independence for Scotland, which claims a big portion of waters where the North Sea oil and natural gas are.

The Scottish National Party, which supported independence in the referendum, accused the central government in London of mismanaging Britain’s oil and gas resources. Oil officials including Bob Dudley, BP’s chief executive, said during the referendum campaign that the uncertainty and legal problems a Scottish victory would bring could discourage future investment in the North Sea. read more

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Shell signals it will accelerate retreat from the North Sea

May 2nd, 2015
by John Donovan.
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Simon Henry, CFO, Royal Dutch Shell Plc

Simon Henry, CFO, Royal Dutch Shell Plc

Article by Mark Williamson published Friday 1 May 2015

Shell signals it will accelerate retreat from the North Sea

THE finance chief of Royal Dutch Shell has signalled the oil and gas giant will accelerate its retreat from the North Sea, saying the area faces a difficult future unless costs and uncertainties are reduced.

Simon Henry said: “Shell is not necessarily a natural owner of assets in the North Sea. Going forward there are other companies who may well have more expertise but also more incentive to squeeze the value from mature assets.”

He added: “The way Shell typically creates value is earlier in the maturity of the life cycle, we helped to develop the North Sea.”

Indicating that Shell will look to sell off more mature assets, Mr Henry said the company could still create value by transferring them to other operators. read more

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Shell’s Draugen field at risk of being scrapped

Feb 2nd, 2015
by John Donovan.
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Screen Shot 2015-01-12 at 08.45.23Bloomberg article by Dinesh Nair and Jillian Ward published 2 Feb 2015 under the headline:

“North Sea Oil Turns Buyer’s Market as Apache, BG Group Want Out”

(Bloomberg) — Want to buy an oil well in U.K.’s North Sea? There are plenty available as some of the industry’s largest names try to sell aging, costly wells that have become even less profitable with the plunge in crude prices.

BG Group Plc, Apache Corp. and Marathon Oil Corp. are among companies that have explored a sale of their North Sea assets, according to people familiar with the processes. In all, assets worth as much as 20 billion pounds ($30 billion) are currently for sale in the North Sea, said Dave Blackwood, senior adviser to investment bank Evercore Partners Inc. read more

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New infrastructure players to help UK North Sea in twilight years

Jul 2nd, 2014
by John Donovan.
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Screen Shot 2014-06-23 at 11.37.41Extract from a Reuters article by CLAIRE MILHENCH published 1 July 2014 read more

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Royal Dutch Shell Fooling About With Numbers

Apr 20th, 2014
by John Donovan.
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Screen Shot 2014-02-10 at 16.29.29So a 5 minute look inside the reported numbers paints a different picture, certainly a clearer picture and a picture that despite the hot air,  from a risk analysis viewpoint clarifies that there has been no significant reduction in risk despite the credit being taken by the industry and the Regulator.

Screen Shot 2014-04-10 at 20.41.26ARTICLE BY BILL CAMPBELL (RIGHT), RETIRED SHELL INTERNATIONAL HSE GROUP AUDITOR

Fooling about with numbers.

As a shareholder I received a letter from Shell UK Country Chairman recently.  Under Health and Safety he takes credit for an important milestone achieved in April 2013 when he states our upstream business in the North Sea achieved an important milestone in a 50 per cent reduction in the number of hydrocarbon releases over the last three years in line with the industry commitment made in 2009.  In 2008 there were 83 major and significant releases and this reduced to 72 in 2009.  The Energy Minister and the HSE pronounced this at the time as a significant reduction but actually it only reduced mean time between releases from circa every 4 days to circa every 5 days, hardly a significant reduction. From formal risk analysis a significant risk reduction could only be claimed by an order of magnitude reduction that is from 83 to 8.  However, the politics of any reduction is to blow your trumpet whether the reduction is actually reducing risk or not. read more

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Shell warns Scotland over independence

Mar 6th, 2014
by John Donovan.
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Extracts from an article by  and James Quinn, published on 5 March 2014 at 10.14PM by The Telegraph

Screen Shot 2014-02-10 at 16.29.29Ben van Beurden, chief executive of the Anglo-Dutch oil giant, said: “We’d like to see Scotland remain part of the United Kingdom. “Shell has a long history of involvement in the North Sea – and therefore in Scotland – and we have continued to invest heavily there.” In a speech to a reception in London on Wednesday night , Mr Van Burden said that one of the many things his company values about the UK “is the continuity and stability it offers”. read more

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Fresh fears over North Sea safety after Elgin leak

Sep 5th, 2013
by John Donovan.
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Patrice de Vivies, chairman of Total UK, told Reuters he had already warned Royal Dutch Shell, which operates the neighbouring Shearwater field, that its operations could also be at risk from the problem.

An extensive programme of repairs could be needed across North Sea oil and gas operations in light of emerging evidence of causes of last year’s Elgin gas leak, experts have warned.

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Oil & Gas UK has warned there could be a record slump in production in 2013 because of increased downtime for maintenance. Photo: Alamy

Emily Gosden

By , Energy Correspondent: 9:14PM BST 05 Sep 2013

A corrosive drilling fluid may have been to blame for the leak at the Total-operated platform, which went on for a month and a half before being stopped and contributed to a slump in North Sea production last year .

The French energy giant is planning to “kill” and replace 10 other wells in the area in light of the lessons learnt from the Elgin accident.

Patrice de Vivies, chairman of Total UK, told Reuters he had already warned Royal Dutch Shell, which operates the neighbouring Shearwater field, that its operations could also be at risk from the problem. Shearwater, like Elgin, produces gas at high pressure and high temperatures. read more

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Shell pumps £3m into research centre at Heriot-Watt

Aug 6th, 2013
by John Donovan.
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6 August 2013

Oil giant Shell is to invest £3 million in a scheme to boost exploration research at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh.

The group said the five-year deal to create the Shell Centre for Exploration Geoscience aims to help meet the world’s growing energy demand by combining industry insights with cutting-edge research.

Professor John Underhill, holder of the Shell chair of exploration geoscience, will head up the centre. He said: “The results will help further our understanding of the development, evolution and deformation of sedimentary basins and complement existing strengths within the [university’s] Institute of Petroleum Engineering.” read more

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Shell pledges long-term commitment to North Sea oil

Aug 5th, 2013
by John Donovan.
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Oil and gas production will continue in the North Sea for decades, the chairman of Shell UK has forecast.

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Ed Daniels wants to set something straight. “There’s a misperception that oil majors, Shell included, are not particularly interested in the North Sea,” says the chairman of Shell UK. Photo: Ralph Hodgson

By Andrew Cave: 5 August 2013

Ed Daniels says in an interview in The Daily Telegraph that the UK arm of Royal Dutch Shell, will continue to have a major presence in North Sea production, despite suggestions by commentators that the larger companies will wind down their activities, leaving the area’s mature oil and gas fields to niche specialist players and sovereign wealth funds.

“There’s a misperception that oil majors, Shell included, are not particularly interested in the North Sea,” Mr Daniels said. “Actually, that’s just not true. We at Shell are a big North Sea producer today, representing 14pc of UK oil. read more

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Shell’s Forecasts for North Sea Field Are Blown Off Course

Feb 27th, 2013
by John Donovan.
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By Steve Rosenbush, Deputy Editor: February 27, 2013

Royal Dutch Shell plc’s analytic tools may have led it to overestimate the potential resources of an oil and gas field in the North Sea—a reminder that the latest in algorithms and visualization tools, as powerful as they might be, aren’t always right.

The company said late last Thursday it was reassessing its development plan for the Fram oil and gas field in the North Sea following “unexpected” initial drilling results. The original development plan forecasted that the field, located between the U.K. and Norway, would  produce an average of 35,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day. read more

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Cormorant Alpha leak shuts down up to 27 UK oil fields

Jan 16th, 2013
by John Donovan.
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16 January 2013 Last updated at 07:31

A pipeline system servicing up to 27 oil fields has been shut down after a leak on the Cormorant Alpha platform, north-east of Shetland.

The fields affected, and another eight associated platforms, produce up to 6% of the UK’s oil and gas output.

Hydrocarbons were detected inside a leg of the Cormorant Alpha platform.

Its operator, Taqa Bratani, has removed non-essential workers as a precaution and said the leak had been contained.

Shutting down the platform, which is about 100 miles from Shetland, affects the whole Brent pipeline system. 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.

North Sea helicopter ditching: ‘All safe’

Oct 22nd, 2012
by John Donovan.
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22 October 2012 Last updated at 17:37

All 19 people on board a helicopter which ditched in the North Sea are reported to be safe.

The incident happened in an area 32 miles south of Shetland, off Fair Isle. The alarm was raised at about 15:30.

CHC Helicopter confirmed one of its aircraft was involved, but the exact details were not yet known.

It is understood the Super Puma EC 225 had been heading to the West Phoenix drilling rig.

The 19 people were being taken to Kirkwall on Orkney.

A CHC spokesperson said: “The appropriate authorities have been informed and the company’s incident management team has been mobilised.” read more

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Shell Gets Fram Field Consent

Oct 22nd, 2012
by John Donovan.
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by  Jon Mainwaring: Rigzone Staff: Monday, October 22, 2012

The UK government announced Monday it has given consent to Royal Dutch Shell for it to develop the Fram oil and gas field, offshore UK.

The Fram field, located 135 miles east of Aberdeen in around 330 feet of water, is expected to produce an average of 35,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, according to the Department of Energy and Climate Change.

In a statement, UK Energy Minister John Hayes commented:

“The durability of oil production in the North Sea constantly confounds expectation. It is a tribute to the high-tech advances and expertise of British industry, which has constantly pushed the boundaries of what can be produced. read more

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Shell recovers oil from North Sea spill

Sep 26th, 2012
by John Donovan.
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Published: Sept. 26, 2012 at 7:22 AM

LONDON, Sept. 26 (UPI) — Royal Dutch Shell said it completed the first part of a cleanup operation related to an oil spill at its Gannet platform in the North Sea last year.

Oil leaked from the Gannet platform in the North Sea in August 2011. The release totaled around 1,300 barrels of oil, making it the largest oil spill in the region in more than a decade.

The British Secretary of State’s Representative for Maritime Salvage and Intervention said it approved Shell’s plans to extract the residual oil left in a pipeline. read more

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Shell looks to North Sea as European investment cut

Oct 28th, 2011
by John Donovan.
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MARK WILLIAMSON

28 Oct 2011

ROYAL Dutch Shell said it would curb investment in Europe where it expects the economy to stagnate, but made clear it would still spend in the North Sea.

Announcing bumper profits driven by high oil prices, the oil and gas giant said it will shift a growing share of its investment to places like Qatar, where the launch of huge projects will underpin growth for years.

Noting that Shell only devotes 15% of its investment to Europe, chief financial officer Simon Henry said the continent’s share will shrink amid concerns about the fallout from the debt crisis. read more

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