Shell may have to write off an investment of more than £3billion in a major Russian gas project after Vladimir Putin moved to seize control of the site.
The Kremlin has drawn up plans to transfer ownership of the Sakhalin-2 plant, located in the far east of the country, to a new Russian firm citing national and economic security interests.
Putin has given the project’s backers a month to decide whether they will take a holding in the new company, meaning those that refuse could lose all their money. Shell owns nearly 28 per cent of the Sakhalin-2 plant worth around £3.4billion.read more
From pages 8 & 9 covering an energy news media interview with my Russian government minister contact Oleg Mitvol, memorably described by the Guardian newspaper as a “Kremlin Attack Dog” (“On one side was Oleg Mitvol, 6ft 2in and dressed in a black coat, the Kremlin’s attack dog leading the charge against the vast Sakhalin-2 oil and gas development off Russia’s far east coast.”)
Extract from the ebook:
An English language version of the German TV documentary segment was then broadcast across Europe by the European Journal under the title: “Shell’s Enemy No. 1” Greenpeace might take issue with the No. 1 ranking bearing in mind that its activities have achieved greater visibility.
However, in terms of financial impact, the confidential Shell internal information that I supplied to the Russian government concerning the Sakhalin2 gas project in Russia, did, in fact, cost Shell billions of dollars, as has been widely reported.read more
At one point the largest foreign investor in Russia, Shell declined to comment on whether its business would be affected after the downing of the plane. The company lost four employees in the incident, it said yesterday.
BloombergBusinessweek article by Celeste Perri, Maud van Gaal and Fred Pals published 22 July 2014
For centuries, the fortunes of the Netherlands, the wind-swept country carved out of North Sea wetlands, have relied on preserving the peace with its global trading partners. Last week’s downing of an airliner carrying 193 Dutch nationals is testing one of its most important relationships, involving companies from Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA) to Heineken NV. (HEIA)
The Netherlands was Russia’s third-biggest trading partner last year, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The Dutch, home to the busiest container port in Europe and the region’s biggest energy company, send dairy products, meat and machinery to Russia, which the U.S. says is complicit in the attack.read more
Extracts from a Motley Fool article by Arjun Sreekumar published 17 May 2014
Shell clearly has significant exposure to Russia. The worst-case scenario for the company, as well as for BP and other companies operating in the nation, would be if the U.S. and European Union sanctioned Russia’s energy sector. Such economic penalties would make it problematic for Shell to maintain relations with Gazprom… As I understand it, such a sanction, if imposed, would not impact Shell’s existing projects. However, it would affect new projects and expansion plans, including perhaps the proposed expansion of Sakhalin-2. It could also hamper Shell’s 50/50 joint venture with Gazprom in western Siberia’s Salym fields… I remain cautious about Shell’s exposure to Russia.read more
Extract from an article by Nick Webb published Sunday 02 March 2014 by Independent.ie
THE controversial Corrib gas field is expected to come onstream by “mid 2015.” Gas was originally expected to flow from the Mayo field back in 2003. The project is now likely to be 12 years behind the original schedule. The cost of developing the field could be four times the initial estimate of €800m at over €3bn.
ADDED BY JOHN DONOVAN: “The Bad News” slide appeared in a 62 page Royal Dutch Shell internal PowerPoint presentation prepared in June 2000: “Excom Early Look Business Plan 2000″. Turned out to be chillingly accurate in relation to many Shell projects, including Sakhalin2 and the Alaska debacle.read more
As the detention of Greenpeace’s ‘Arctic 30’ by Russian security services approaches its second month, a shift of campaign tactics is taking place. Now Shell, Gazprom’s partner in developing oil and gas on the Arctic Shelf, is in the firing line.
The Ecologist: 13th November 2013
As the detention of Greenpeace’s ‘Arctic 30’ by Russian security services approaches its second month, a shift of campaign tactics is taking place. Now Shell, Gazprom’s partner in developing oil and gas on the Arctic Shelf, is in the firing line.
Greenpeace is targetting Shell in a new round of protests aimed at securing the release of the Arctic 30 protestors arrested on a Russian oil platform owned by oil and gas giant Gazprom in the Arctic Ocean 56 days ago.read more
Gazprom Expansion of Sakhalin-2 LNG Plant May Cost $7 Billion
January 30, 2012, 5:20 AM EST
By Jake Rudnitsky
Jan. 30 (Bloomberg) — OAO Gazprom and its partners in the Sakhalin-2 project may decide on expanding their liquefied natural gas plant this year, to add supplies by 2018, said Andrey Galaev, the ventures chief executive officer.
An expansion may cost $5 billion to $7 billion based on preliminary estimates, Galaev told reporters today in Moscow. Depending on changes in oil and gas prices, the construction cost may drop as low as $3 billion or climb as high as $8 billion, he said.read more
Royal Dutch Shell is interested in taking part in development of Sakhalin 3 project conjointly with Russian Gazprom, the spokesman for the Shell’s office in Russia said. Besides, he noted, that the company is also holding negotiations on cooperation in the number of projects with Rosneft.
Earlier Gazprom’s spokesman reported that licenses for exploration and development of three blocks of Sakhalin 3 project were at the preparatory stage. Both, Gazprom and Shell have experience of collaboration within Sakhalin 2 project. read more
Mr. Mitvol, 42 years old, sprang to global prominence in 2006 when he accused Royal Dutch Shell of a string of environmental failings at its giant Sakhalin II oil and gas project in Russia's Far East. Under pressure from Mr. Mitvol and other Russian officials, Shell, which had a 55% stake in the project, sold control to state-controlled OAO Gazprom. Shell now owns a 27.5% stake in the project.
Mitvol, deputy head of environment watchdog RosPrirodNadzor, led a 2006 attack on the Sakhalin-2 energy project that ended only after Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L) ceded control of the project to state-controlled gas giant Gazprom (GAZP.MM)
Oil prices are lower, and may continue to stay low for a period, and that will ease access to reserves, Shell Chief Executive Officer Jeroen van der Veer told Bloomberg News in an interview in London on March 4. It is not happening now, but it will happen.
Oil and natural gas development off the coast of Sakhalin Island in Russia's Far East could have forced endangered whales to leave their habitat in the area, a local WWF spokesperson said on Thursday.
In yet another example of Kremlin energy politics that so unsettle Western investors, in late 2006 Gazprom wrested control of the huge oil and gas field from Shell after it was accused of breaking environmental laws. Gazprom then became the majority owner.
Gazprom bought control of the $22 billion Sakhalin-2 project after a prolonged crisis that forced Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L), the project's former leader, and its partners to reduce their holdings. Analysts had expected the battle would lead to delays. Shell is now a minority shareholder, along with Japan's Mitsubishi (8058.T) and Mitsui (8031.T).
Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, 18 February 2009: President Dmitry Medvedev today opened Russia's first liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant built by Sakhalin Energy Investment Company Limited (Sakhalin Energy).
Listen and read proof in audio and transcript form of Shell CEO Ben van Beurden’s cover-up tactics in the OPL 245 Nigerian corruption scandal. The instruction given by him in the covertly recorded call to CFO Simon Henry was at odds with Shell’s claimed core business principles. Cover-up and obstruction, instead of transparency and integrity, says Shell critic John Donovan
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SHELL EXECUTIVES AT THE CENTER OF A SCHEME TO STEAL $1.3 BILLION FROM NIGERIA’S PEOPLE
SHELL ADMITS DEALING WITH NIGERIAN MONEY LAUNDERER – BBC NEWS
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DUTCH EARTHQUAKES CAUSED BY SHELL/EXXON
SHELL KILLS FOR OIL IN NIGERIA
ESTHER KIOBEL: EVIL OIL GIANT SHELL COLLUDED IN THE EXECUTION OF MY INNOCENT HUSBAND
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SHELL KNEW ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE DECADES AGO
ROYAL DUTCH SHELL FOUNDER SIR HENRI DETERDING, NAZI FINANCIER
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