Posts Tagged ‘Oil Shale’

Wed Jul 25, 2012

* State-backed Asian groups rival big Western firms

* Nimble specialists trouble U.S., European majors

* Resource nationalism a rising challenge

* Majors remain strong in tough environments

By Andrew Callus

LONDON, July 25 (Reuters) – It happens every time.

Oil prices fall and the industry turns cannibal: big energy companies hunt out bargains among overstretched producers and promising explorers. It’s the season for takeovers and asset deals again.

Only this time, there are no easy pickings for the U.S. and European heavyweights such as Exxon, BP, Shell and Chevron. The oil “majors”, which report second quarter results in the next few days, have rarely looked so threatened. read more

May 17,2012

LONDON -(Dow Jones)- Shale rock formations that contain liquid hydrocarbons as well as natural gas could have a ” significant” impact on world energy supplies but it is too early to say for sure, a senior Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSB) executive said Thursday.

“It is too early to predict the impact if liquid rich shales. It could be significant,” said Ruth Cairnie, Shell executive vice president for strategy and planning. read more

I’ve recently learned that a Kate Smith is about to become Director of the Americas Department at the FCO.  Would this by any chance be the same Kate Smith who moved from the FCO to Shell in 2008 as head of UK government relations?   Is there any word of that Kate Smith (for it must surely be she?) taking a sideways move back to the FCO?  This kind of revolving door move from diplomatic service to Shell and back surely, if that is the case, deserves some comment?

3 May 2012

By John Donovan

Printed below is an email I sent to Mr Michiel Brandjes on 1 May, which I also copied to Kate Smith, Shell UK Head of UK Government Relations. Mr Brandjes is Company Secretary & General Counsel Corporate of Royal Dutch Shell Plc.

There has been no response thus far. Any response received will be added to this article.

Reminds me of a revolving door controversy in America also involving Shell.

As US Interior Secretary, Gale Norton was responsible for the 2006 decision to award valuable oil shale leases in Colorado to a Royal Dutch Shell subsidiary. Months later she became General Counsel of Shell Oil. We were approached and supplied Shell internal documents to a U.S. government agency investigating related allegations of corruption, of which Norton was eventually cleared. read more

The Wall Street Journal: Shell shares traded down nearly 4% after the company reports a “light sheen” in U.S. Gulf

FEBRUARY 2, 2012

— Shell aiming to exploit difference in price between U.S. gas and LNG, GTL

— Investment in U.S. gas exploration to be at lower end of planned spending

— Company to make further moves into oil-rich shales

By Alexis Flynn

Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

LONDON (Dow Jones)–Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSA) is actively looking at ways to improve the profits it gets from U.S. natural gas, including seeking out land for a potential gas-to-diesel plant, the company said Thursday. read more

OCTOBER 5, 2011, 8:26 A.M. ET

By Hassan Hafidh

Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

AMMAN (Dow Jones)–Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSA) has drilled more than 100 wells in Jordan in the two years since it a concession agreement to explore for oil from the country’s vast oil shale reserves, a person familiar with the project said.

Shell signed a production-sharing agreement with Jordan in May 2009 and pledged to spend some $500 million for exploration, assessment and designs on the project.

The project aims at exploring for and, if successful, developing and producing oil from Jordan’s vast oil shale resources that are estimated at 40 billion metric tons. read more

July 4, 2011 by Bob Berwyn

State approves 14,000-foot-deep fracking operation without public hearing

SUMMIT COUNTY — Shell Oil & Gas has been cleared to drill deep into a unique geological formation near the Spanish Peaks, in southern Colorado, to explore new natural gas resources.

Huerfano County planning and elected officials gave the exploratory fracking project a conditional green light last week, to the dismay of many local residents who are clamoring for more upfront research and better safeguards against environmental impacts.

The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission last month denied a citizen request for a public hearing because the request didn’t come from a local government entry. read more

By Roger Harrabin Environment analyst, BBC News

Gas is a natural by-product of shale rock

A Commons committee has urged ministers to support plans for controversial shale gas drilling in the UK.

The energy select committee said environmental problems associated with it in the US could be overcome by tight regulation and good industry practice.

But the MPs said the UK government would need to be vigilant to ensure the technology did not pollute water or produce excessive greenhouse emissions.

Environmentalists said MPs should have called for a moratorium on shale gas. read more

Rising prices has led to a sharp increase in shale gas extraction schemes

By Mark Kinver Science and environment reporter, BBC News

Shale gas drilling operations increase the risk of nearby drinking water becoming contaminated with methane, a study has suggested.

Researchers found, on average, methane concentrations 17 times above normal in samples taken near drilling sites.

Growing demand for energy has led to a sharp increase in shale gas extraction around the globe, prompting concerns about the impact of the technology.

The findings appear in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. read more

By Catherine Tsai
The Associated Press: 05/05/2011