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August 5th, 2011:

Shell’s appalling record of pollution in Ogoniland

In the last 48 hours, oil giant Shell’s appalling record of pollution in the Ogoni region of the Niger Delta has come under intense scrutiny. Below are some of the key stories, links and videos on this urgent issue. Please share them widely with everyone you know.

· BBC World News: live interview with PLATFORM

This top story on BBC World News exposes the shocking extent of Shell’s 50 years of oil spills in Ogoni. A UN report released yesterday accuses Shell of failing to maintain leaking pipelines and covering up the pollution by certifying heavily contaminated sites as “clean”. PLATFORM’s Ben Amunwa provided the analysis. 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.

MOSOP challenges integrity of UNEP Report


Press Statement issued by Dr. Goodluck Diigbo MOSOP President/Spokesman

AUGUST 5, 2011

At a MOSOP Emergency General Meeting in Bori, headquarters of Ogoniland on August 4, 2011, MOSOP welcomes the increased awareness the UNEP report on Ogoniland is likely to create about the continued threat of possible extinction to the Ogoni people arising from oil operations in the past 55 years. However, MOSOP resolves to dispute the integrity of the UNEP Report on Ogoniland, which was paid for with $9.5 million by the polluters, including Royal-Dutch/Shell.

MOSOP President/Spokesman, Dr. Goodluck Diigbo, says MOSOP is challenging the integrity of the report, recalling an earlier confession by UNEP team leader Mike Cowing that the report has been informed by data and information solely supplied by Shell and the government, without actual study on the ground. The purported UNEP meeting with 23,000 Ogonis is only on paper, and there is no evidence to prove who attended, what review was done, agreements reached, if any and Ogonis who signed such agreements as proof of public participation as part of the Environmental Impact Assessment Study, EIAS due process. 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.

Ogonis divided over Shell compensation

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Friday 5 August 2011

Shell’s admission of responsibility for two major oil spills in the Niger Delta region has provoked reactions ranging from jubilation to cynicism. The Bodo fishing community had taken the Anglo-Dutch oil giant to court in the UK, claiming oil pollution has left the environment, and their livelihood, in ruins.

By Emmanuel Mayah, Lagos

Previously Shell has always maintained that oil spills in the Niger Delta were largely caused by sabotage by crude oil thieves and pipeline vandals. However the company finally admitted that two devastating spills in 2008 and 2009 were a result of equipment failure. 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.

MOSOP Feels Vindicated by Shell Company’s Spill Admission

MOSOP president Ledum Mitee says the admission proves MOSOP’s non-violent agitation over the years can yield positive results

James Butty: August 05, 2011

The president of the movement for the survival of the ogoni people (MOSOP) said Shell Oil’s acceptance of responsibility for two oil spills in 2008 and 2009 vindicates the ogoni people’s claims that the company had been responsible for environmental degradation in the region.

Ledum Mitee said shell oil’s mea culpa and Thursday’s United Nations report on the magnitude and impact of oil spills in the Niger Delta prove that MOSOP’S non-violent agitation over the years can yield positive results. 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 end of Big Oil? Not so fast.

BP’s Wytch Farm oil well in Poole, England

August 5, 2011: 5:00 AM ET

Splitting up energy giants may make sense while oil prices are as high as they are today, but it may not be worth the organizational headache for Big Oil to break apart.

By Shelley DuBois, writer-reporter

FORTUNE — Big Oil may be going out of style, but it is certainly not going away.

With major players like ConocoPhillips (COP) and Marathon (MRO) splitting up, industry leaders and the market are starting to question the model of the huge, integrated oil company that handles every portion of the business, from plumbing crude out of the ground to selling it at the gas tank.

But just because the Big Oil’s big business model is being questioned — and rightfully so — doesn’t mean it’s going anywhere. 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.

Amnesty condemns Shell’s decades of denial

The Irish Times – Friday, August 5, 2011

LORNA SIGGINS

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL has described as shocking the scientific findings of a United Nations Environment Programme report which found extensive oil pollution in Ogoniland in the Niger Delta.

The human rights group has called on Royal Dutch Shell, as lead oil company in the area, to focus on the “truth, rather than protecting its corporate image” if the problem is to be addressed.

The UN study published yesterday found carcinogens up to 900 times above World Health Organisation levels in drinking water in one area. 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.

Arctic oil spill could prove tough to clean

latimes.com Shell Exploration’s plan for exploratory oil and gas drilling in the Beaufort Sea won conditional approval from the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement. One of the big questions now is what happens if there’s an oil spill.Agency officials are expected as early as next week to act on Shell’s oil spill response plan, which conservationists say falls short of the mark for responding to an accident in icy waters, often shrouded in darkness, hundreds of miles from the nearest deep-water port.

Earlier this month, Canada looked at the same issue: How hard would it be to clean up an oil spill in the Beaufort Sea, which straddles the border between the two countries. The answer? Really hard.

Even in the “summer” season between July and October, when Arctic drilling normally occurs, true open water without ice occurs only 54% to 88% of the time, even close to shore, according to the report, prepared for the National Energy Board by S.L. Ross Environmental Research Ltd. of Ottawa. 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 agency approves Shell Arctic oil drilling plan

(Reuters) - Royal Dutch Shell's long-stymied Arctic drilling program inched ahead on Thursday, as the U.S. offshore drilling regulator approved the company's oil exploration plan for Alaska's Beaufort Sea.

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 Admits Liability in U.K. Court for Niger Oil Spill

Corporate Counsel: August 05, 2011

Sue Reisinger

In the first Nigerian oil spill case to be brought in the United Kingdom, a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell plc has accepted its liability and conceded to the jurisdiction of the U.K. High Court. The lawyer representing the claimants, Martyn Day from London-based Leigh Day & Co., announced the agreement Tuesday.

In return, the parent company will be dropped from the case, which continues against the Nigerian subsidiary, Shell Petroleum Development Company ltd.

The claim was brought on behalf of some 69,000 Nigerians after two massive oil leaks in 2008 and 2009 contaminated the waterways of the Bodo fishing community in the Niger Delta. David Williams, a London spokesman for the subsidiary, said it “has always acknowledged that the two spills which affected the Bodo community, and which are the subject of this legal action, were operational. As such, [the subsidiary] will pay compensation in accordance with Nigerian law.” 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 Receives Approval To Drill At Gulf Of Mexico Europa Field

Aug 4, 2011

HOUSTON -(Dow Jones)- Royal Dutch Shell (RDSA) said Thursday it has received approval from federal regulators to drill a new well at its Gulf of Mexico Europa field.

The permit will allow Shell, one of the largest producers in the Gulf, to return all of its five contracted drilling rigs to work, a company spokeswoman wrote in an email.

Shell and other companies slowed the pace of drilling in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico after the federal government imposed a nine-month drilling moratorium in the area following last year’s BP PLC’s (BP) Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The government resumed issuing permits in late February. 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.