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September, 2010:

Shell sells Norwegian field for $225 million

17 September 2010

AMSTERDAM — Royal Dutch Shell PLC says it has agreed to sell its stake in the Statfjord oil field in the Norwegian North Sea and several related assets to Centrica Resources AS for $225 million.

Shell said Friday its share in the mature field, 9.4 percent, produced 13,300 barrels of oil a day last year. Other major owners include Statoil, ExxonMobil and ConocoPhilips.

Shell said it was selling the asset as part of a plan to raise at least $7 billion by 2011 to reinvest in growth projects. read more

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Shell expects pipeline protest to escalate

The Irish Times – Friday, September 17, 2010

ÁINE RYAN in Belmullet

SHELL EP Ireland has said if permission is given for the last section of the controversial Corrib gas pipeline, it expects local resistance to escalate.

The resumed An Bord Pleanála hearing into the project, which opened three weeks ago, has been extended for another week due to lengthy questioning by objectors.

At yesterday’s hearing in Belmullet, Co Mayo, Shell expert witnesses addressed questions put by locals about design, stability and safety of the project. 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 refinery can be dismantled, Quebec court rules

THE CANADIAN PRESS

Thursday, September 16, 2010 | 7:58 PM ET

A Quebec Superior Court ruled in favour of Shell Canada on Thursday, allowing the company to go ahead with the dismantling of its oldest Canadian refinery in Montreal.

Shell had been complying with an interim injunction since July that has prevented it from carrying out its planned conversion of the Montreal East refinery into a distribution terminal.

The company has been under political pressure to make every effort to keep using the plant as a refinery, which would save the 800 existing jobs there, instead of converting it to a terminal, which would retain only about 30 jobs. read more

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Shell, BP May Reap `Serious Profit’ by Using CO2 in Oil Fields

Bloomberg

By Catherine Airlie – Sep 16, 2010 12:00 AM GMT+0100

Royal Dutch Shell Plc and BP Plc stand to make “serious profit” by pumping carbon dioxide from European power plants into North Sea oil fields, according to Petroleum and Renewable Energy Company Ltd.

Putting carbon dioxide into old oil wells may yield profits of as much as $40 a metric ton in the next decade, Stewart Whiteley, managing director at the consultant known as Petrenel, said today at a seminar at London’s Geological Society. 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 starts mining second oil sands project

THE GLOBE AND MAIL

Wednesday, September 15, 2010 6:02 PM

Tim Kiladze

For the past five years, Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDS.B-N56.810.611.09%) has been digging its Jackpike Mine and building infrastructure around it, such as cooling towers and crushers, all as part of its Athabasca Oil Sands Project that has a current productoin capacity of 155,000 barrels of oil a day.

The new mine is now ready to start digging up oil sands bitumen and will eventually add another 100,000 barrels of oil a day to Shell’s capacity. By bringing the new project on stream, Shell predicts its global oil and gas production will rise by 11 per cent from 2009 to 2012. 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.

Utilities circle Exxon, Shell gas storage sites-sources

REUTERS

AMSTERDAM/STUTTGART, Sept 15 (Reuters) – At least two utilities are eyeing the German gas storage assets of Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N) and Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSa.L), valued at up to 1 billion euros ($1.30 billion), people familiar with the matter said Wednesday.

German power utility EnBW (EBKG.DE) is one of the contenders and is in talks with Antin Infrastructure Partners, a fund backed by BNP Paribas (BNPP.PA), about submitting a joint offer, sources familiar with the negotiations said.

“EnBW is interested. They are checking and exploring the offer as other interested buyers are,” said one of the sources close to EnBW. read more

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Shell: oil sands project adds 100,000 barrels/day

BusinessWeek Logo

AMSTERDAM

Royal Dutch Shell PLC said Wednesday a major oil sands project in Canada is now producing 100,000 barrels per day, nearly doubling the company’s production from the unconventional source.

The Jackpine Mine project has been five years in the building and cost an estimated $2 billion. With it on line, total production by the Shell-operated Athabasca Oil Sands Project has increased to a quarter of a million barrels per day. Shell’s total production was 3.11 million barrels of oil and equvalents per day in the second quarter. read more

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Shell Starts Output at Canadian Oil-Sand Expansion

Bloomberg

By Fred Pals – Sep 15, 2010 10:03 AM GMT+0100

Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Europe’s largest oil company, started production at the 100,000 barrel-a- day expansion of its oil sands development in Canada.

The company completed the Jackpine Mine at the project in northern Alberta, adding capacity to the existing Muskeg River Mine’s 155,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day, Shell said today in a statement. Output will rise toward capacity in 2011 once the Scotford upgrader is ready, Shell said.

Canada’s oil sands, a mixture of sand, clay, water and a heavy oil called bitumen, contain the world’s second-largest proven concentration of crude at about 170 billion barrels. Higher oil prices and advances in technology have prompted companies including Shell and BP Plc to invest in tapping Canada’s oil sands. 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 lacked ‘basic safety’ in North Sea before Gulf of Mexico oil spill, HSE investigation finds

DAILY TELEGRAPH

BP was subject to an investigation in the North Sea which found new staff were not trained to “basic safety standards” – six months before its Gulf of Mexico accident.

By Rowena Mason
Published: 10:40PM BST 14 Sep 2010

The blaze after the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) began its inquiry after a complaint by a worker on the Clair rig off the Shetlands, near to where BP is about to begin deepwater drilling.

The conclusions, sent to BP executives in a letter in October last year, found “training of some new personnel to basic safety standards was ineffective”.

The letter, obtained by The Daily Telegraph under Freedom of Information laws, added there was “evidence of a culture among your contractors, Seawell (up to senior levels of management), of working outside of procedures, permit or permit conditions”. read more

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Nokia Chairman Jorma Ollila to Step Down in 2012

Jorma Ollila, chairman of Nokia, speaks during a news conference at the company's headquarters in Espoo, Finland, on Sept. 10. Ollila is also non executive Chairman of 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.

Shell May Invest $1 Billion a Year in China, CFO Says

Bloomberg

Royal Dutch Shell Chief Financial Officer Simon Henry (said the Hague-based oil producer is looking at jointly expanding its gas acreage in mainland China with PetroChina Co. Photographer: Jock Fistick/Bloomberg

By Bloomberg News – Sep 14, 2010 12:07 PM GMT+0100

Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Europe’s biggest oil company, may invest $1 billion a year in China should two wells in Sichuan province show potential for commercial gas production, its chief financial officer said.

“With successful exploration, we could easily invest $1 billion a year in the following five to seven years,” Simon Henry said in an interview today in Tianjin, China. “The geology could be as attractive as the U.S.”

Shell expects the share of gas in China’s total energy use to rise to 10 percent in a decade’s time from 4 percent now, according to Henry on April 28. The Hague-based oil producer is looking at jointly expanding its gas acreage in mainland China with PetroChina Co., he said today. 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.

Energy source of the future won’t be a fossil fuel

IS THIS A HOAX?

Comment by Arend Lammertink, MSc. (right) on “Shell CEO: Nat Gas To Play Prominent Global Energy Role”

Posted on Sep 14th, 2010 at 12:27 pm

I think these guys may be in for a little surprise about what will be the energy source of the future. It won’t be a fossil fuel. It will be the electric field, available for free all across the universe.

Let me first mention that I hold a Masters degree in Electrical Engineering. I never believed any claims that there would be such thing as “free energy”. Energy that is basically free for the taking for virtually nuts. Sure, you have solar energy, but solar panels are that expensive to make that they are not interesting from an economic point of view. 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.

Gulf May Avoid Direst Predictions After Oil Spill

THE NEW YORK TIMES

A version of this article appeared in print on September 14, 2010, on page D1 of the New York edition.

By LESLIE KAUFMAN and SHAILA DEWAN

NEW ORLEANS — Marsh grasses matted by oil are still a common sight on the gulf coast here, but so are green shoots springing up beneath them.

In nearby bird colonies, carcasses are still being discovered, but they number in the thousands, not the tens of thousands that have died in other oil spills.

And at the mouth of the Mississippi River, the zone of severely oxygen-depleted water that forms every summer has reappeared, but its size does not seem to have been affected by the Deepwater Horizon spill. 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.

CEO of Royal Dutch Shell Confronted by Protestors During World Energy Congress

Sept. 13, 2010, 6:13 p.m. EDT press release

ForestEthics: CEO of Royal Dutch Shell Confronted by Protestors During World Energy Congress


photo-credit: ForestEthics (click on photo to view high resolution image)

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, Sep 13, 2010 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX)

Before his keynote address today at the World Energy Congress in Montreal, CEO of global energy giant Royal Dutch Shell, Peter Voser was confronted by environmentalists to “get the Shell out” of Sacred Headwaters.

A brochure, mocked up as a Shell publication, was handed out to Voser and 1000 Congress attendees, ridiculing Shell’s activities to drill coalbed methane in the Sacred Headwaters. 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 CEO keeps oil sands options open, touts gas

Reuters Africa

* Says faster expansion in oil sands still possible

* Costs remain a concern

* Sees growing gas demand from emerging economies (In U.S. dollars)

MONTREAL, Quebec, Sept 13 (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSa.L: Quote) could switch away from its slow-growth strategy in Canada’s oil sands but costs in the region remain a concern, the company’s chief executive said on Monday.

Shell, which operates the 155,000 barrel-per-day Athabasca oil sands mine and upgrader in northern Alberta, has nearly wrapped up a 100,000 bpd expansion of the project.

However it stepped back from plans for a further series of big expansions of its oil sands holdings after a squeezed labor pool in northern Alberta inflated construction costs and oil prices fell following the economic crisis.

Instead of big-ticket expansions, Shell Chief Executive Peter Voser steered the European oil major to smaller projects, looking to increase output in 30,000 bpd increments by tweaking operations at its two oil sands mines. 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 Exec: Sale Of Brazil Oil Blocks Part Of Broad Review

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

By Jeff Fick and Diana Kinch Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

RIO DE JANEIRO (Dow Jones)–Plans by Anglo-Dutch oil giant Royal Dutch Shell (RDSA, RDSA.LN) to sell the company’s stakes in four offshore oil blocks in Brazil is part of a broader portfolio review, and not a reaction to new oil laws, the new president of Shell’s local unit told Dow Jones Newswires in an exclusive interview Monday.

Andre Araujo, who took over as president of Shell do Brasil three weeks ago, said on the sidelines of the Rio Oil & Gas 2010 conference that despite the sale, Brazil remains “strategic” for the company. read more

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Variety Review: The Pipe

(Docu – Ireland)

By JOHN ANDERSON

A Scannain Inbhear Teoranta presentation in association with Underground Films, Riverside Television and TG4 with the participation of the Irish Film Board. (International sales: Cinetic Media, New York.) Produced by Rachel Lysaght, Risteard O Domhnaill. Directed by Risteard O Domhnaill.

With: Pat O’Donnell, Maura Harrington, Willie Corduff, Mary Corduff.

What do people do, when the law prevents them from protecting themselves? That’s the question at the heart of “The Pipe,” a stirring, character-rich docu from Irish helmer Risteard O Domhnaill about Shell vs. Rossport, Ireland, where the oil company decided to run a gas line, and the community decided otherwise. The Irish don’t harbor a lot of affection toward things British, but those behind “The Pipe” might think fondly of BP, whose recent gulf disaster will add currency and urgency to this charismatic David-Goliath tale. Look for some theatrical gas and a secure on-air berth. 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 CEO: Nat Gas To Play Prominent Global Energy Role

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

SEPTEMBER 13, 2010

By Angel Gonzalez and Mark Peters Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

MONTREAL (Dow Jones)–Natural gas, boosted by recent breakthroughs in its production and its relatively small carbon footprint, will play a prominent role in the world’s energy future, as long as global energy policies allow it to fill an increasing share of demand, Royal Dutch Shell PLC’s (RDSA, RDSB) Chief Executive Peter Voser said Monday.

“If we create space for natural gas to grow, natural gas will change the world’s energy landscape for the better,” Voser said at the World Energy Congress in Montreal. 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.

US oil moratorium could reduce global supply: Shell CEO

13 September 2010

(AFP) MONTREAL — Prolonging the US government’s freeze on new deepwater oil drilling in the aftermath of the BP spill in the Gulf of Mexico could dent global oil supplies as early as 2015, Royal Dutch Shell said Monday.

US President Barack Obama’s order to block new deepwater drilling after a deadly explosion ripped through a BP-leased rig in April has only had a “rather small” effect on oil supply so far due to Saudi Arabia’s huge oil capacity, chief executive Peter Voser said. read more

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Drilling on the cheap

“..BP threw a lot of money away by trying to drill that well ‘on the cheap’. One now has to wonder how Shell plans to drill their wells in the Arctic given the very ‘cheap’ drilling rig they are using.”

COMMENT ON THE BP/TRAN OCEAN DISASTER BY A FORMER SHELL EMPLOYEE

I have worked in the oil industry for several decades and have worked on many dozens of exploration wells, domestic US and overseas. Shallow wells, deep wells, straight hole and deviated, normally pressured and geopressured. So, I have been there and done that.

I have noticed in many articles and commentaries that Halliburton has come in for some serious pummeling for the design of the cement job for that particular well. Questions have been raised about whether they used the appropriate type of cement, and whether the proper number of stabilizers were attached to the casing, etc. And then there has been mention of the fact that BP did not run a cement bond log afterwards to determine the quality of the cement job. read more

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CORRIB GAS ORAL HEARING – WEEK TWO

“Given the enormous power wielded by this behemoth [Shell] in the case of Ireland, at any rate, a whistleblowers’ charter is essential if a modicum of trust is to be generated between the industry and the state establishment on one side and the citizen on the other”

The Mayo News

Tuesday, 07 September 2010

CORRIB GAS ORAL HEARING – WEEK TWO
A divided community
Aine Ryan
NEWS REPORTER

TENSIONS are palpable as the Bord Pleanála oral hearing into Shell E&P Ireland’s application for the last section of the Corrib high-pressure gas pipeline continues. Here, The Mayo News provides exclusive coverage of the complex issues that last week led board Inspector Martin Nolan to remark on the “significant social issues and tensions involved”, and, moreover, make a commitment to allow time to address these matters later during the hearing. 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 Pakistan business ethics under attack

Junior employees of Shell Pakistan are scared, as their fate is unclear, as was the case of Shell Ethiopia, Sudan and Djibouti in 2008 and they may also end up being left to protest against being SOLD like slaves.

Dear John Donovan,

I joined Pakistan Burma Shell almost 30 years ago as a fitter. I used to repair dispensers installed at petrol pumps of Pakistan Burma Shell. When Burma Shell was purchased by, Shell Pakistan, all the technicians like me were removed from service without proper benefits, (some cases of which are still pending in court).

Because of that experience, I launched a small firm of my own and started doing repair and minor repair work projects as a contractor at Shell petrol pumps in city of Sargodha Pakistan. 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.

Who said natural gas pipelines are safe? Inquiry Sifting Cause of Blast in the Bay Area

As of late Friday, besides the 4 people confirmed dead, 52 people were injured and 3 suffered third-degree burns, Mr. Maldonado said. A total of 37 structures had burned, and 7 more were damaged…

Vijay Duggal, 60, was watching a football game. “I thought we’d been attacked by a missile,” he said. “Everything was shaking. I thought, This is the end.”

THE NEW YORK TIMES

A version of this article appeared in print on September 11, 2010, on page A1 of the New York edition.

By ADAM NAGOURNEY and MALIA WOLLAN

SAN BRUNO, Calif. — For weeks, residents in this community of trim suburban homes in the hills near San Francisco International Airport had reported catching the occasional whiff of natural gas in the bay breezes. Utility repair crews were regularly seen driving around the neighborhood.

And on Thursday night, just around dinner, a 30-inch natural gas pipe running three feet under ground erupted and fueled a devastating explosion and towering walls of wind-whipped fire, killing at least four people and consuming dozens of homes with a blaze that moved so quickly that residents barely had time to gather their belongings and run. 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.

International Premere tonight of Corrib Gas documentary ‘The Pipe’

The award winning documentary “The Pipe” has become an International hit  and is having its International Premiere tonight at the Toronto Int Film Festival at AMC 2, 9:45 pm.

The festival page is..

http://tiff.net/filmsandschedules/tiff/2010/pipe

..with trailer, ticket info and everything else displayed on it.

YouTube Video Clip of “The Pipe”

Related article:

Shell Corrib pipeline documentary an International hit

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.

Alaska politicians mouthpieces for the oil and gas industry

The economic status of Alaska is identical to that of an undeveloped third world country. And their State politics and politicians are not much different either. They are mouthpieces for the oil and gas industry, bought and paid for by the oil industry through the vast royalties paid to the state.

Comment on Alaska and the oil and gas industry from a former employee of Shell Oil Company USA

John,

I have a few comments about Alaska and the oil and gas industry.

Thirty odd years ago the mainstay industries of Alaska, if you can call them that, were fishing, logging and mining. There was some oil production from Cook Inlet, but it was not a significant contributor to the states economy. Then along came Prudhoe Bay and the North Slope. Suddenly, the State of Alaska was awash in royalty revenues.

That gravy train has chugged along for thirty years, but it is beginning to run out of steam. If significant new reserves of oil and gas not discovered in the National Petroleum Reserve and if development of known oil and gas reserves in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge are not permitted, and if it is not possible to produce the known oil and gas reserves, and undiscovered reserves from the Arctic Continental Shelf, which is a real possibility, then Alaska and Alaskans have a serious problem. They will have to fund their State government like every other state in the continental US. Through sales, income and property taxes. And State services will have to be curtailed dramatically. 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.

Alaska seeks to overturn delay in Arctic drilling

REUTERS

Thu Sep 9, 2010 8:57pm EDT

* US Interior Department says no formal moratorium exists

* Says go-slow Arctic policy separate from deepwater ban

* Royal Dutch Shell has been denied drilling permits

By Yereth Rosen

ANCHORAGE, Alaska, Sept 9 (Reuters) – The state of Alaska on Thursday filed a petition in federal court to overturn the Obama administration’s moratorium on drilling in federal waters of the Arctic, even though Interior Department officials insist that no such formal moratorium exists.

The state’s legal petition, filed in U.S. District Court in Anchorage, says the Interior Department “arbitrarily and capriciously imposed” a moratorium on drilling in federal waters off Alaska after the Deepwater Horizon disaster “without considering and weighing the potential effects on Alaska, including economic harm to the State of Alaska and Alaska residents.” read more

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Oil Rig Safety Expert Bill Campbell comments on the BP Report

Bill Campbell, former HSE Group Auditor of Shell International, answers questions put to him concerning the BP Report published on 8 September 2010.

(Extracts from Bill’s response)

I was asked by both BBC TV and Channel 4 to comment on the BP report in last night news features but couldn’t manage due to other constraints.

What do you think of the timing of BP’s report into Deepwater Horizon?

Given the limitations put on them I think it looks reasonable.  Cannot understand the open hostility to BP with comments like BP share the blame.  The fact is ref my article A Can of Worms there is a lot of blame to be shared around.  In the ambulance chasing Society that is the U.S. you seek out the guys with the deepest pockets.  The report is at least an opportunity away from the face to face confrontation for BP to state their case and I think they do that well.  Whether they are right or not remains to be seen. read more

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The case for the defence

The Economist

Sep 8th 2010, 19:29 by The Economist online


THERE is plenty of blame to go around, at least according to BP. The company’s report on September 8th into the causes of the accident that led to the loss of the oil rig Deepwater Horizon, the death of 11 of its crew and the biggest oil spill in American history contains a litany of mistakes, many of which, if they had been caught, might have averted the catastrophe. Some of those errors, the report concludes, were BP’s. But its finger also points at Halliburton, which worked on the cement seal at the bottom of the well and Transocean, which owned and ran the rig, and maintained the crucial blowout preventer which so signally failed to live up to its name. 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.

Allegation of death threats surrounding leaked Shell emails

By John Donovan

As prominent Internet based critics of Shell senior management, we have received a large number of Shell internal emails over several years. Some have been leaked to us by our network of Shell insiders while countless others, spanning several years, have been obtained from Shell after we made applications to the company as provided under the UK Data Protection Act.

I would now reveal for the first time that our Shell insider sources of leaked internal emails have over the years received alleged threats, including alleged death threats. I have evidence from our sources confirming alleged threats. One such threat for example relates to the Sakhalin2 project. Evidence I provided to the Russian government supplied to me by an insider, cost Shell billions of dollars and also resulted in the resignation of a Shell Managing Director David Greer, who was Project Director of Sakhalin2 and Deputy Chairman of Sakhalin Energy Investment Company Limited. The last message received from the source informed me that they had received a credible serious threat. The source disappeared without trace. read more

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BP report shares out the blame for Gulf of Mexico oil spill tragedy

BP blamed a poor cement job and mistakes by contractors for the worst oil spill in US history, in an internal report into the Deepwater Hiorzon disaster.

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 Says Oil, Gas Resources Off the Coast of Norway Remain Considerable

Shell has suffered setbacks this year in Norway, including a 24 percent cut in the estimated reserves at its Ormen Lange gas field, Europe’s third largest.

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Shell casts net wide for Prelude staff

Ms Pickard also made an offhand comment that Shell was not preparing to take over LNG-focused Woodside Petroleum Ltd, which is 34 per cent held by the Dutch company.

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 in talks to sell Finnish, Swedish operations

LONDON, Sept 6 (Reuters) - Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L: Quote) has been in exclusive talks with Finnish fuel distributor St1 to sell its downstream business in Finland and Sweden, the oil major said on Monday.

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.

Case against Shell dismissed

LATEST: There was no evidence anyone was actually misled when Shell claimed its petrol was "designed to take you further" despite only increasing efficiency by less than 1 percent, the judge who dismissed the case against the oil company said.

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.

Fears rise as EU nations aim to raise borrowing

The eurozone debt crisis is about to enter a critical phase as governments prepare to step up borrowing in the capital markets to fund their faltering economies.

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.

Royal Dutch Shell and the dark arts

UPDATED 8 SEPT & 14 SEPT 2010 (NEW INFORMATION IN RED TEXT)

Threats, including death threats, have allegedly been made against conscience driven Shell whistleblowers leaking information and/or Shell internal documents to John Donovan

By John Donovan

Andy Coulson resigned as editor of the News of the World in January 2007 over a phone hacking scandal at the newspaper. He is now media adviser to UK Prime Minister David Cameron.

Journalists hacked into mobile-phones to hear voice mail messages left for UK royalty, government ministers and celebrities.

An investigation by Scotland Yard focused almost exclusively on the hacking targeting Prince William and Prince Harry. It resulted in the imprisonment of a News of the World reporter and a private investigator. 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.

Parish priest heckled over support for Shell

The Irish Times – Thursday, September 2, 2010

ÁINE RYAN

THE CONTROVERSIAL Corrib gas project is arguably the most forensically examined project in the 88-year history of the State, a northwest Mayo parish priest said in support of the project yesterday.

Fr Kevin Hegarty of Kilmore-Erris was the first of two parish priests to address the An Bord Pleanála hearing, in Belmullet, Co Mayo, into Shell’s revised application.

His diocesan colleague, Fr Michael Nallen, the parish priest of Kilcommon, where the project is located, is scheduled to address the hearing today and express the concerns and fears of his parishioners. 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 criticised over gifts to schools

Responding, Esmonde Keane, senior counsel for Shell, said he “absolutely rejected” that it was manipulating the community. He argued the company’s grants and schemes were established to “give back to the community”.

The Irish Times – Friday, September 3, 2010

ÁINE RYAN

A RETIRED Department of Education psychologist has criticised Shell’s public relations strategy of targeting schools with Corrib Natural Gas “baubles and trinkets”.

He also claimed the company “was manipulating the community in a shameless way in order to achieve their own ends”.

Former educational psychologist Tom McAndrew told the resumed planning appeals board hearing on Shell’s revised gas pipeline it was hard to blame schools and boards of management – desperately short of funds – for being tempted by such obvious generosity. 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 sees projects in Qatar help end drop in output

GULF TIMES

Sunday 5 September, 2010

Bloomberg/Amsterdam

Royal Dutch Shell, Europe’s largest oil company, is set to reverse its decline in production after projects in Qatar come on stream, Sanford C Bernstein & Co said.

“After a decade of declining production, Shell is finally entering a sweet spot for production growth,” Oswald Clint, a London-based analyst at Bernstein, said in a note to investors yesterday.

Shell also has “probably the best portfolio” of pre- final-investment-decision projects around, “and a strategy refocused on the exploration and production business, with plenty of interesting exploration options to add to reserves”. read more

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Inquiry into Deepwater Horizon continues to open up a can of worms

Expert comment from Bill Campbell (right), retired HSE Group Auditor, Shell International

John

The attachment ( A Can of Worms) is a reaction to the BBC News/Robert Peston article posted on your website. Please publish all or part as you see fit or otherwise file for reference.

Yesterday’s event in context

The explosion yesterday in the Gulf of Mexico again highlights the dangers of having an explosive gas air mixture concurrent with a source of ignition.  It seems a miracle that 13 men apparently blown into the sea survived. Ironically many such accidents happen when facilities are shutdown and vessels are opened up. read more

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Salazar still not sure if Shell can drill offshore in Alaska’s Arctic

AlaskaDispatch

Jill Burke | Sep 3, 2010

Calling his visit a “whirlwind trip through Alaska,” U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar stood before reporters in Anchorage on Friday — dressed in cowboy boots, jeans with notes tucked in a back pocket, a blue collared shirt and a baseball cap  — explaining the mission of his two-day visit to Alaska this week as a chance to see key regions of the state first-hand before making decisions about oil and gas development.

Salazar held a town hall meeting in Barrow and flew over the Beaufort Sea coast for a look at current and proposed oil and gas sites. He also toured the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. He held briefings with the Alyeska Pipeline Services Co. about the trans-Alaska oil pipeline, ConocoPhillips about a proposed drilling project in NPR-A, and with Shell Alaska about proposed offshore exploration projects in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas. read more

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Blaze Shakes Oil Industry

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

SEPTEMBER 3, 2010

Accident Intensifies Debate on Drilling in the Gulf; All Aboard Are Rescued

By LESLIE EATON, JEFFREY BALL And STEPHEN POWER

Times-Picayune /Landov

Crew boats pump water Thursday onto the oil-and-gas production platform Vermilion 380-A, after an explosion in the Gulf of Mexico off the Louisiana coast, 93 nautical miles south of Vermilion Bay.

HOUMA, La.—The fire that engulfed an oil and gas platform Thursday in the Gulf of Mexico heightened pressure on the energy industry, which is battling greater regulation and a deep-water drilling ban.

The accident on Mariner Energy Inc.’s shallow-water platform sent 13 workers tumbling into the ocean, but there were no casualties and little or no oil appears to have been spilled. 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.

How guilty is BP?

BBC NEWS

Robert Peston12:15 UK time, Friday, 3 September 2010

How important will be BP’s report into the causes of the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster, which is due to be published in the coming week or so?

Well it certainly won’t be the last word on the subject: BP faces official investigations and court cases galore on how 11 rig workers lost their lives in April and why so much oil leaked into the Gulf of Mexico.

And some will refuse to believe any analysis by BP, on the basis that it can’t help but be tendentious. 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 says oil spill cost up to $8bn

BBC NEWS

3 September 2010 BP says the cost of its Gulf of Mexico oil spill has risen to $8bn (£5.2bn) – a rise of more than $2bn in the last month alone.

The company said it had paid out about $399m in claims to those affected by the spill.

Last week, responsibilty for the claims was transfered to the Gulf Coast Claims Facility (GCCF), which has so far paid out a total of $38.5m.

Plans to permanently seal the well were also progressing well, BP said.

The final sealing of the well is now expected to be completed later this month.

BP said the capping stack placed on top of the well in July was removed on Thursday.

This will allow the failed blow-out preventer from the Deep Water Horizon rig to be removed, and a new blow-out preventer put in place. 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.

Canadians find common cause with Rossport

September 3rd, 2010

Dublin/Los Angeles—An Irish documentary film, in competition at the 2010 Toronto Film Festival, has a surprising life-imitating-art-imitating-life quality to it in the wake of the Canadian oil sands pipeline spill in Michigan, late July 2010.

THE PIPE, from Galway based Director Risteard Ó Domhnailland Producer Rachel Lysaght, premieres on Friday, September 10th (AMC 2, 09:45pm), and repeats again on September 11th(AMC 2, 09:00am) and 19th (AMC 9, 12:15pm) at the Toronto Film Festival (www.tiff.org). read more

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BP Says Limits on Drilling Imperil Oil Spill Payouts

THE NEW YORK TIMES

By CLIFFORD KRAUSS and JOHN M. BRODER

A version of this article appeared in print on September 3, 2010, on page A1 of the New York edition.

BP is warning Congress that if lawmakers pass legislation that bars the company from getting new offshore drilling permits, it may not have the money to pay for all the damages caused by its oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

The company says a ban would also imperil the ambitious Gulf Coast restoration efforts that officials want the company to voluntarily support. read more

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ANOTHER OIL RIG EXPLODES IN GULF OF MEXICO

FOX NEWS IS REPORTING THAT AN OIL RIG HAS EXPLODED IN THE GULF OF MEXICO WEST OF THE BP OIL SPILL SITE

An oil rig has exploded in the Gulf of Louisiana, WDSU reports. Thirteen workers aboard the rig were reportedly thrown into the water, but have been accounted for.

Update at 11:35 a.m. ET: MSNBC quotes a Coast Guard spokesman as saying all of the workers were wearing protective gear.

Update at 11:38 a.m. ET: MSNBC quotes Coast Guard Petty Officer John Edwards as saying one worker has been injured, but he did not know the extent of the injuries. Edwards says 9 helicopters and some fixed-wing aircraft as well as four Coast Guard cutters have been sent to the site. 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.

The dark arts

The extraordinary New York Times article below is focused on the “dark arts” allegedly practiced by the News of the World, a UK Sunday tabloid owned by Rupert Murdoch. We will shortly be publishing an article about the “dark arts” as practiced by an unscrupulous predatory oil giant: Royal Dutch Shell.

THE NEW YORK TIMES

Tabloid Hack Attack on Royals, and Beyond

By DON VAN NATTA Jr., JO BECKER and GRAHAM BOWLEY

IN NOVEMBER 2005, three senior aides to Britain’s royal family noticed odd things happening on their mobile phones. Messages they had never listened to were somehow appearing in their mailboxes as if heard and saved. Equally peculiar were stories that began appearing about Prince William in one of the country’s biggest tabloids, News of the World.

The stories were banal enough (Prince William pulled a tendon in his knee, one revealed). But the royal aides were puzzled as to how News of the World had gotten the information, which was known among only a small, discreet circle. They began to suspect that someone was eavesdropping on their private conversations. 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.

New Shell chief makes switch from The Hague

Press & Journal

Cayley replaces Gallagher in Aberdeen

By Ian Forsyth Published: 01/09/2010

The new boss of oil giant Shell in Aberdeen officially starts in the post today.

Previously, Glen Cayley (right) – who has 30 years’ experience in the industry – was based with the company in The Hague.

The new technical vice-president for Shell Upstream Europe is no stranger to the Granite City, however.

He gained a post-graduate degree in petroleum geology from Aberdeen University after graduating from Liverpool University with a BSc in geology. read more

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An Bord Pleanala Decision on Shell Corrib Gas Project

Comment by member of Celtic Tiger 5 – a dissident group of Shell employees working within the Corrib Gas Project in Ireland.

An Bord Pleanala (ABP) on June 1st 2006 ruled that three work activities in connection with the Corrib Gas onshore pipeline were not considered as exempted development and therefore required planning permission.

Mayo County Council in September 2005 had deemed these activities exempted developments and it was understood that planning permission was not required as it came within exemptions in the Planning & Development Regulations Act (Class 16, Section 2).

In the original Board decision published on June 1st, ABP stated that the valve station did require planning permission. On June 2nd the Board informed that there was a typographical error in their decision as published and will be amended to state that the proposed valve station does not require planning permission. 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.