Sand beats land in Canadian sales
For the first time in any three-month period, oil sands edged out conventional properties in Western Canada government auctions of exploration rights.
The northern Alberta swamps attracted spending of C$860.15 million on 428,868 hectares (1.06 million acres) in the opening quarter — 10 times greater than in the same period of 2005 — just over half the C$1.69 billion spent by companies across Canada.
The deciding factor was the C$467.7 million spent by Sure Northern Energy, a subsidiary of Shell Exploration & Production of the Americas, on 10 parcels in a new bitumen play.
Fort Hills Energy, created by UTS Energy to develop the Fort Hills asset in partnership with Petro-Canada and Teck Cominco, was a distant second, investing C$48 million for one parcel.
But Fort Hills distinguished itself by forking over an average C$22,091 per hectare, compared with the three-month average of C$2,006, although even then the premium prices easily outstripped first quarter averages for oil sands rights of C$318 in 2005 and C$107 in 2003.
It wasn’t all oil sands in Alberta, where the combined average of C$1,182 per hectare more than doubled last year’s C$512.
As usual, Alberta led the pack, pumping C$1.53 billion into government revenues, followed by British Columbia at C$125.13 million, Saskatchewan at C$35.9 million and Manitoba at C$983,640.
—Gary Park
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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.
