News and information on Shell Plc
October 18, 2013
An environmental group opposed to drilling in the sub-Arctic says that Sakhalin Energy has pulled back on plans for two new oil drilling platforms off Sakhalin Island. Pacific Environment says Royal Dutch Shell and Gazprom decided not to move ahead with a new mobile platform in 2014 and delayed a decision on a permanent platform until 2017. Pacific Environment says that the platforms would threaten the survival of the Western Gray Whale, of which there are only about 150 alive.
According to its developers, the Sakhalin-2 project is the world’s largest integrated oil and gas project. The capital expenditure for this project amounted to USD 21.3 billion from 2001 through 2009, while total costs exceeded USD 24 billion.
The project is about extracting gas and oil offshore Sakhalin Island, in the Russian Far East. The fields are called Lunskoye (mostly gas) and Piltun-Astokhskoye (mostly oil). The company Sakhalin Energy Investment Company Ltd. (Sakhalin Energy) is the operator of the project. Royal Dutch Shell is a partner and lead technical adviser to the operator. Under the shareholding structure of Sakhalin Energy, Gazprom holds 50% (plus one share), Shell 27.5% (minus one share), Mitsui 12.5% and Mitsubishi 10%.
12 July 2011
Oil and gas exploration in the Russian Far East continues to threaten whales, delegates at the International Whaling Commission (IWC) meeting have warned.
The critically endangered western population of gray whales spends its summer feeding around Sakhalin island.
Companies using seismic guns to find oil and gas in the area do take steps to reduce the impact; but scientists with the IWC say they need to do more.
Surprising new evidence has also emerged on the whales’ migration.
Posted on 31 March 2011
The coalition, which includes WWF, International Fund for Animal Welfare, Pacific Environment and Sakhalin Environment Watch, will submit a Statement of Concern to the Russian Inter-departmental Working Group on the Conservation of Western Gray Whales, a group of oil industry representatives and Russian government officials meeting Friday to discuss off-shore oil exploration near the feeding grounds of the critically endangered Western gray whale.
The project may have a potentially devastating impact on the critically endangered Western gray whales, the statement says. Sakhalin Energy has a legal, social and ethical responsibility to ensure the project does not have unacceptable levels of damage to the marine environment, and the fragile species that live within it.
TOKYO Jan 18 (Reuters Life!) – Plans for an oil platform off Sakhalin in Russia’s Far East poses a major threat to an endangered whale population already on the brink of disappearing, a wildlife protection group said.
Sakhalin Energy Investment Company, which is partly owned by Shell as well as several Japanese companies, has announced plans for a major oil platform near the feeding grounds of the Western North Pacific gray whale population, of which only about 130 exist, said WWF-International.
The construction of a third oil platform for the Shell-led Sakhalin II energy project may threaten a critically endangered population of gray whales off Russia’s eastern coast, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) said on Monday.
The company, which already has two platforms in the Russian Far East, announced in December its plans to build another one near the crucial feeding habitat of the gray whale population.
“The construction and operation of an additional off-shore platform could have numerous negative impacts on the whales, potentially disrupting feeding behavior and increasing the chance of fatal ship strikes,” WWF said in a statement. “Also, a third platform heightens the risk of an environmentally catastrophic oil spill in this sensitive habitat.”
Postponing seismic work may help the whales recover, say scientists
Oil exploration plans in eastern Russia are a serious threat to gray whales in the area, say scientists with the International Whaling Commission (IWC).
The Rosneft company is due to begin a seismic survey around Sakhalin island within the next few weeks.
The IWC’s Scientific Committee is “extremely concerned” about the plans and is calling for a postponement.
The gray whale population is critically endangered, with only about 130 animals left and only 20 breeding females.
During a meeting of the Western Gray Whale Advisory Panel (WGWAP), Sakhalin Energy - a partnership between Shell, Gasprom and other shareholders - agreed to cancel its proposed 2009 seismic activities, despite having already put plans in place for the work.
“In his resignation letter to the chief executive of Shell, Jeroen van der Veer, Professor Richard Steiner of the University of Alaska marine advisory programme urged other members of the scientific panel to “opt out of this project”, describing Shell as “clever, stubborn rascals”.Sunday 11 September 2005
By Jonathan Brown in Siberia
The chairman of an eminent scientific panel appointed to oversee Shell’s controversial gas development in the far-eastern Russian island of Sakhalin has resigned, accusing the oil giant of being “clever, stubborn rascals”.
The embattled company will return to court in Sakhalin tomorrow as environmental campaigners mount a last-ditch effort to stop the Anglo-Dutch giant from completing the world’s most expensive oil and gas project.
14 May 2005
Shell wants the oil from the Russian Seas. Environmentalists denounce the risk of extinction regarding the Pacific Gray Whales
By Tiago Soares
Sakhalin Island is located in Western Russia. It is closer to Tokyo than to Moscow. This small island has been a reason of dispute between Russians and Japanese for centuries. Every year, between May and October, when the water is not frozen, gray whales go there seeking for food. In this part of the ocean there is not only a lot of fish- there are also natural oil deposits only comparable to the ones in the Middle East. Although the oil is not important to the gray whales, it does attract other terrible “predators” like Royal Dutch/Shell.
THE LONDON TIMES: Shell to build pipeline despite threat to whales: “SHELL has vowed to press on with the construction of a $12 billion gas facility off Russia’s Far East coast, in spite of fears that it could endanger the world’s 100 grey whales. An independent scientific panel yesterday called for the company to suspend construction on Sakhalin II, until completion of further studies.” (ShellNews.net) 17 Feb 05
SWITZERLAND: August 30, 2004
GENEVA – A top environmental group said last week it had agreed to probe an oil and gas project led by Royal Dutch/Shell off the Russian far east coast because of fears it threatens endangered whales.
The World Conservation Union said the Sakhalin Energy Investment Company had requested an independent study into its plans to expand production around Russia’s Sakhalin Island near feeding grounds of the Western Gray Whale. The independent scientific panel is expected to complete the review by the end of November. “Until then, Sakhalin Energy has postponed certain development work,” said the Swiss-based inter-governmental organization.
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