By Dinakar Sethuraman
April 4 (Bloomberg) — Exxon Mobil Corp., Royal Dutch Shell Plc and other oil companies may increase spending on exploration in deep water 44 percent to $18 billion by 2011, a report by Douglas-Westwood Ltd. said.
Drilling expenditure in shallow water, depths less than 400 feet, are likely to decline slightly from $46 billion last year, the U.K.-based consultant said in a report dated March 30, titled The World Offshore Drilling Spend Forecast 2007-11. Companies spent $12 billion on deep water exploration last year from a total of $58 billion on offshore drilling .
“Increases in deep water drilling spends relative to shallow water remain substantial,” said Michael R. Smith, who wrote the report for Douglas-Westwood.
Explorers are pushing further offshore as technology improves and fields onshore and in shallow water run dry. Oil companies are expected to boost exploration spending by 9 percent worldwide this year, according to Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.
West Africa, Brazil, Barents Sea, Gulf of Mexico and the eastern Mediterranean are areas where deep water drilling will be concentrated, the report said. Traditional exploration areas in shallower waters may attract less capital.
Rigs made up a third of the offshore drilling costs in 2006 and well engineering accounted for 39 percent, the report said.
Rigs are the biggest single cost and their share of total drilling expenditure has grown substantially as rig rates climbed and wells became difficult to drill, the report said.
To contact the reporter on this story: Dinakar Sethuraman in Singapore at [email protected] .
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.
