Ecological violations are the new weapons being used by the Putin regime against Russia’s oil and gas industry. In October, Oleg Mitvol, deputy head of Rosprirodnadzor (Service for Supervision of Natural Resource Usage), flew to Sakhalin to investigate alleged ecological damage at the Sakhalin-2 project. Rumors quickly began to surface that Mitvol was claiming that Shell had caused irreparable ecological damage near Sakhalin, to the tune of some $50 billion.
As we posited earlier in ET and as most observers believe, the ecological claims against Shell at Sakhalin were cooked up to give the Russian government leverage in re-negotiating the production sharing agreement governing Sakhalin. That conclusion gained credence a short time later, when the Rosprirodnadzor tried to divert attention away from Sakhalin and toward Lukoil’s operations in northernmost Russia.
That action took place at Lukoil’s operations in the Komi republic in mid-October. It took a special committee and Oleg Mitvol only two days to conclude that Lukoil violated all of the possible ecological norms. Excessive idle wells, insufficient production levels, contamination of local rivers, unauthorized woodcutting, unlicensed installation of drilling rigs, and bad soil remediation were some of the major offenses. According to Mitvol, that inspection will cause Lukoil to lose 11 field licenses in Komi if the violations are not corrected. Of course, nobody believes that Lukoil is innocent. But the way the news was presented is plainly farcical.
Indeed, most Russian oil producers could be charged with exactly the same violations. According to Russia’s respected Expert magazine, about 20 percent of all Russian oil wells are idle. For Rosneft the number of inactive wells is 16 percent; for YUKOS, 30 percent; Gazpromneft, 15 to 20 percent; Surgutneftegaz, 10 percent; TNK-BP, 40 percent; Tatneft, 18 percent; Slavneft, 20 percent; and Lukoil, 17 percent. In theory, those high percentages would put all these companies at risk of a crackdown by Mitvol and his crew. Most of these inactive wells are undesirable to drill or reactivate because their production rate is insignificant and thus uneconomical.
We believe that Lukoil will not lose its operating licenses in Komi. The state intentionally chose Lukoil in a weak effort to show that it was not picking on Shell. To us, the Lukoil investigation looks like a “Wag the Dog” type of move to placate a few gullible observers. Meanwhile, the state is wielding a new weapon in its effort to corral oil and gas producers.
Posted on Oct. 18, 2006
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 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.
