By Eric Lidji
[email protected]
Published September 12, 2007
Shell Oil announced Tuesday that it plans to start laying off personnel from its offshore drilling program in Alaska in response to delays brought about by a lawsuit undergoing review by a federal appeals court.
While the company could not provide a detailed breakdown of how many people might be affected by the decision or when the lay-offs might begin, it did say the measure would take effect “gradually” and could effect hundreds of workers.
Shell hired around 700 workers, about half of whom are from Alaska, to work on its 2007 exploration program in Beaufort Sea off the northern coast of Alaska near the edge of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
Shell received permits to work in the federal waters off the North Slope earlier this year, but immediately faced legal challenges from environmental and Alaska Natives groups, who argued that the industrial activity could endanger subsistence resources and wildlife in the area. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals suspended Shell’s drilling operations in July, and indefinitely postponed the program in August.
Shell said the proposed personnel cuts could be averted if the court reverses the decision.
The August court order effectively ended Shell’s hope for drilling this year. When the arctic waters off the North Slope freeze over for the winter, the drill ship contracted for the exploration work is set to leave for Australia and won’t return until next year. The company also has a special arctic drill rig staged in Canada that is “readily available” if the company gets permission to drill again.
Even if the delays continue, Shell said it expects to continue with certain elements of its operations, including a seismic program not included in the court order. The proposed cuts are also not likely to affect certain personnel like cooks and engineers, according to company spokesman Curtis Smith.
The company said it plans to continue discussions with North Slope Borough Mayor Edward Itta, who has publicly questioned the offshore drilling project.
Shell was an important player in the Alaska oil industry until it sold its leases and left the state in the mid-1990s. The company returned to Alaska in 2005.
Contact staff writer Eric Lidji at 459-7504.
http://newsminer.com/2007/09/12/8835
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.
