It also emerged over the weekend that there was an internal investigation into Shell’s Gannet plaforms in 2003 raising concerns about unapproved repairs and unreliable fire sensors. The claims are made within papers held by Bill Campbell, a former senior Shell employee, who has questioned the company’s environmental and safety record.
Government inspectors are preparing to interview a number of key players involved in Shell’s North Sea oil leak, including staff on the platform, officials at the company’s headquarters and the helicopter pilot who spotted the sheen.
Government investigators are preparing to take a close look at Shell’s physical assets, including the pipeline where the source of the leak was discovered. Photo: Alamy
By Rowena Mason, Energy Correspondent 5:30AM BST 22 Aug 2011
The start of their investigation comes as an analysis of oil and chemical leaks from Shell’s Gannet platforms shows that there have been at least 34 spillages since 2002, ranging from one litre to 590 barrels.
Data from surveys conducted on behalf of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency show that most of these 34 came from Shell’s Gannet Alpha platform, whose pipeline suffered the 10-day leak that ended on Friday.
It also emerged over the weekend that there was an internal investigation into Shell’s Gannet plaforms in 2003 raising concerns about unapproved repairs and unreliable fire sensors. The claims are made within papers held by Bill Campbell, a former senior Shell employee, who has questioned the company’s environmental and safety record.
Government investigators are now preparing to take a close look at Shell’s physical assets, including the underwater pipeline where the source of the leak was discovered.
As they begin to work out what went wrong, officials will this week meet Scotland’s procurator fiscal, who will eventually decide whether to prosecute, to identify the initial scope of the inquiry.
Shell finally managed to seal its leaking pipeline on Friday after a week-long battle to stop the flow. It said yesterday that further monitoring of the well shows that no more oil is leaking into the ocean and the sheen on the surface has now naturally dispersed.
At 1,500 barrels, it is still a tiny fraction of BP’s 4m barrel Gulf of Mexico oil spill. However, it is still the worst environmental lapse in the North Sea for a decade and now that the flow has stopped, Shell will be facing tough questions from regulators.
The oil giant has suffered a series of problems on its North Sea installations this year, in particular on the Brent field.
Since January, the company has seen the death of a maintenance worker, a series of gas “kicks”, equipment collapsing off a platform into the sea and a 15,000-hour backlog of repairs.
All four of the Brent field’s platforms Alpha, Bravo, Charlie and Delta stopped producing oil and gas in January after a chunk of protective railing plunged into the ocean as a result of “metal fatigue”.
Production at Bravo and Alpha only restarted this month, with Delta shortly to follow. However, the Charlie platform remains closed after a rare “prohibition notice” following a series of gas leaks.
The Health and Safety Executive recently warned that only one in 20 of Britain’s North Sea oil platforms was in good condition and expressed concern that companies were neglecting workers’ safety.
More than 96pc of installations in the North Sea were found to require improvements during inspections over the past three years, with one in five showing “major failings”.
Shell has been under pressure to release pipeline inspection reports for the infrastructure where the leak was found.
However, it is understood that the company does not think it appropriate to make these documents public while official investigations are ongoing.
Glen Cayley, Shell’s technical director in Europe, said: “We care about the environment and we regret that the spill has happened. We have taken it very seriously and responded promptly to it.”
Shell has spent $1.2bn (£730m) on upgrading assets in the North Sea since 2004 and this year will pump a further $600m into the region.
Royal Dutch Shell conspired directly with Hitler, financed the Nazi Party, was anti-Semitic and sold out its own Dutch Jewish employees to the Nazis. Shell had a close relationship with the Nazis during and after the reign of Sir Henri Deterding, an ardent Nazi, and the founder and decades long leader of the Royal Dutch Shell Group. His burial ceremony, which had all the trappings of a state funeral, was held at his private estate in Mecklenburg, Germany. The spectacle (photographs below) included a funeral procession led by a horse drawn funeral hearse with senior Nazis officials and senior Royal Dutch Shell directors in attendance, Nazi salutes at the graveside, swastika banners on display and wreaths and personal tributes from Adolf Hitler and Reichsmarschall, Hermann Goring. Deterding was an honored associate and supporter of Hitler and a personal friend of Goring.
Deterding was the guest of Hitler during a four day summit meeting at Berchtesgaden. Sir Henri and Hitler both had ambitions on Russian oil fields. Only an honored personal guest would be rewarded with a private four day meeting at Hitler’s mountain top retreat.
IN JULY 2007, MR BILL CAMPBELL (ABOVE, A RETIRED GROUP AUDITOR OF SHELL INTERNATIONAL SENT AN EMAIL TO EVERY UK MP AND MEMBER OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS: 
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A head-cut image of Alfred Donovan (now deceased) appears courtesy of The Wall Street Journal.
