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May 26th, 2010:

Shell Arctic Drilling Leases to Be Reviewed by U.S.

“There are 1,700 employees within the Minerals Management Service” Salazar said. “Most of the employees at MMS are good public servants. There are bad apples within the organization. People have been reprimanded. People have been turned over for prosecution. We will have zero tolerance with respect to ethical lapses.”

BusinessWeek Logo

26, 2010, 2:17 PM EDT

By Jim Efstathiou Jr.

May 26 (Bloomberg) — The U.S. will review Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s plans to explore for oil and natural gas off Alaska’s coast and take steps to increase safety on all offshore rigs, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said today.

Shell’s application to drill exploratory wells in the Arctic Ocean faces new scrutiny because of the spill from BP Plc’s well in the Gulf of Mexico, Salazar told a House panel probing the spill. Shell’s plans were conditionally approved last year by Salazar, and drilling could begin within months in Alaska’s Beaufort and Chukchi seas. read more

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

In the Arctic, another oil spill looming

Published: May 26, 2010 at 3:08 PM
By STEFAN NICOLA, UPI Europe Correspondent

BERLIN, May 26 (UPI) — Will Royal Dutch Shell do to the Arctic what BP did to the Gulf of Mexico?

That’s the question troubling environmental experts across the globe ever since the Dutch minerals giant Shell announced its plan to begin exploratory oil drilling this summer in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas, two of the most pristine ecosystems on the planet.

The seas near the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge are home to endangered bowhead whales and threatened polar bears, Beluga whales, walruses, various kinds of seals and numerous bird and fish species — right down to the krill, the tiny shrimp-like invertebrates that form the basis of the marine food chain. Moreover, millions of sea mammals and birds head there to calve and nest each year. read more

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

U.S. Makes Case for Drilling, But With Tougher Rules

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

BY SIOBHAN HUGHES MAY 26, 2010

WASHINGTON—U.S. House lawmakers applied pressure to the Interior Department from all sides Wednesday over a Gulf of Mexico oil spill, as the Obama administration maintained that tighter regulation would allow offshore energy development to remain part of the country’s mix.

The lobbying, in a House Natural Resources Committee hearing, came as BP PLC began to pour heavy drilling fluids into a damaged well on the sea floor in an attempt to plug a leak.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar defended the administration’s handling of the oil spill before leaving the hearing in order to watch the “top kill” attempt to plug … read more

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

Shell drilling Alaska offshore: Much older drilling equipment than BP and less scruples

EMAIL TO THE O’REILLY FACTOR, AT FOX NEWS, FROM JOHN DONOVAN

Dear Bill

Shell, another foreign owned oil company, is pushing hard to commence drilling for oil in offshore Alaska.

Your American viewers will be alarmed to know that the oil rig in question, the The Frontier Discoverer, is an ancient vessel overdue at the breakers yard.

Shell may also import its infamous“Touch F*** All” safety culture from North Sea platforms that cost the lives of Shell workers in an avoidable accident – a huge explosion on Shell Brent Bravo.

Shell’s alleged corrupt relationship with the UK safety regulator is still the subject of a criminal investigation by Scottish legal authorities. The investigation started after Bill Campbell, the Health & Safety Executive, Group Auditor of Shell International, exposed misdeeds reaching right to the top of Shell senior management. read more

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

James Carville On Obama’s Response to Oil Spill

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQuXxlyAo74

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

The Arctic After the Gulf

THE NEW YORK TIMES

EDITORIAL

There is an important way for President Obama and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar to show they are absorbing the lessons of the gulf oil spill and to reaffirm their pledge to proceed cautiously with offshore drilling in the future. That is to withhold the permits Shell Oil needs to proceed with a highly controversial drilling project in the Arctic Ocean.

The company owns two leases in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas — two of the most remote and frigid waters in North America. It hopes to begin exploratory drilling there as early as July. But it does not have final permits, which Mr. Salazar has the authority to deny. read more

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

Shell Arctic Drill Rig The Frontier Discoverer Overdue for Breakers Yard

“45 year old vessels were not built to the same standards as current vessels, and do not incorporate the same safety or environmental features. 45 year old equipment is not as reliable as current equipment. Most rigs of this age have long since gone to the breaker’s yard.”

COMMENT ON SHELL BLOG  ON THE REASSURANCE LETTER SENT BY SHELL OIL PRESIDENT MARVIN ODUM TO THE U.S. MINERALS MANAGEMENT SERVICE

BY “Outsider” on 26 May, 2010

Odum’s letter to Birnbaum fails to mention that the rig being used in Alaska (Frontier Discoverer) was built in 1965 as a log carrier, and was converted to a drillship in 1975. The Frontier Discoverer is one of the oldest offshore rigs still operating in the world.

In spite of being patched up over time, it is still a 45 year old vessel being operated long after the end of its design life. read more

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

Letter from: Shell Oil Company, Marvin E. Odum, President, One Shell Plaza, P.O. Box 2463, Houston, TX

From: Shell Oil Company, Marvin E. Odum, President, One Shell Plaza, P.O. Box 2463, Houston, TX 772522463

May 14, 2010

To: S. Elizabeth Birnbaum, 1849 C Street, NW, United States Department of the Interior, Minerals Management Service, Washington, DC 20240

Dear Director Birnbaum,

I am writing in response to your letter of May 6, 2010 regarding Shell’s proposed exploratory drilling activity in the Chukchi Sea and Beaufort Sea. You requested information that may be pertinent to the review of Shell’s Applications to Drill (APDs) that Minerals Management Service (MMS) will undertake in light of the Deepwater Horizon incident; and information about additional safety procedures that Shell plans to undertake in light of that incident. read more

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

BP Faces Bleaker Prospects If ‘Top Kill’ Fails to Stanch Spill

Partly thanks to fears about the size of the final bill, BP now trades at a 20% discount to its rival, Royal Dutch Shell PLC.

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