By Bernard Simonin Toronto
Published: January 25 2007 02:00 | Last updated: January 25 2007 02:00
Shell Canada, 78 per cent owned by Royal Dutch Shell, unveiled plans yesterday for a vast multi-billion-dollar expansion of the Athabasca oil sands project in north-east Alberta.
Shell has a 60 per cent stake in Athabasca, with the remainder split between Chevron, the US energy group, and Western Oil Sands of Calgary.
The cost and precise timing of the proposed expansion were not disclosed. Shell said that the timing would hinge on “market conditions, key economic indicators, the ability to meet our sustainable development criteria and the outcome of the regulatory process”. Regulatory approval is expected by the end of 2009.
The latest plan would raise mine production to 770,000 barrels of bitumen a day, compared with current capacity of about 155,000 b/d. An initial expansion of 100,000 barrels was approved late last year, with a planned start-up in 2010.
Capacity to upgrade the bitumen to heavy oil would be raised to about 700,000 barrels a day. Some of the upgrading capacity may be located in Ontario, Canada’s main industrial region.
The announcement came a day after Royal Dutch Shell raised its offer for the 22 per cent of the Canadian company it does not own to C$45 a share, or a total of C$8.7bn (US$7.3bn), from the C$40 proposed last October.
The Anglo-Dutch company wants to buy out the minority holdings to consolidate and restructure Shell Canada’s management.
Shell Canada reported yesterday that its oil sands earnings fell to C$718m last year from C$783m in 2005, with higher oil prices offset by lower production caused by a mechanical problem.
The company’s total earnings dropped to C$1.74bn from C$2bn, with lower natural gas prices also contributing to the drop.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007
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.
