Tue Apr 17, 2007 10:54 AM BST
AMSTERDAM, April 17 (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell has signed an agreement to use up to 4 billion cubic metres (bcm) of liquefied natural gas (LNG) capacity at a Dutch import terminal that is due to start operating in 2010, its owners said.
Dutch storage company Vopak and the national gas network operator Gasunie plan to build the LNG import terminal at the port of Rotterdam with annual capacity of between 8 bcm and 12 bcm, as energy demand is growing in Europe.
“Shell Energy Europe B.V. and Gate terminal B.V. have signed an … agreement for capacity rights for a maximum of 4 billion cubic meters of annual throughput in the Gate LNG regasification terminal in Rotterdam,” Gasunie and Vopak said in a statement on Tuesday.
Shell will be the biggest user of capacity at the terminal. German utility RWE and France’s EDF last year secured 3 bcm each, a Vopak spokesman said.
The terminal, which already has eight customers, is now waiting for them to arrange LNG supplies, probably from the Middle East and the Mediterranean region, before taking a final investment decision around mid-2007, the spokesman said.
Vopak and Gasunie could later expand the terminal capacity to 16 bcm a year, depending on demand.
Energy company 4Gas also plans to build an LNG import terminal at Rotterdam, Europe’s biggest port. The terminal will have an initial annual capacity of 9 bcm and is expected to become operational in 2010.
The Netherlands wants to become a major LNG distribution centre in northwestern Europe and maintain its role as a major gas supplier.
The country has shifted its gas policy to increase imports and keep its declining reserves, Europe’s second biggest after Norway, as strategic stocks and an important source of revenue.
LNG is gas cooled to liquid form so it can be transported without the need for building new pipelines.
© Reuters 2007. All rights reserved.
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.
