News and information on Shell PLC
Videotaped deposition of Dr Roelof Platenkamp, Shell Corporate Vice President of Petroleum Engineering and Development: taken in New York, New York November 14, 2006: 10:06 a.m.
Main Platenkamp Deposition, 200 pages
http://www.shellnews.net/classactiondocs/main_start_platenkamp_dep_362.pdf
Platenkamp Exhibit 253
http://www.shellnews.net/classactiondocs/ex253_362-2.pdf
Platenkamp Exhibit 254
http://www.shellnews.net/classactiondocs/ex254_362_3.pdf
Platenkamp Exhibit 265
Andrew Clark in New York
Wednesday November 21 2007
Victims of BP’s Texas refinery disaster are seeking to overturn the oil firm’s guilty plea agreement with the US government, on the grounds that it is unduly lenient.
A lawyer representing a dozen people injured or bereaved when the refinery blew up in 2005 has filed papers arguing that a $50,000 fine by the US department of justice is a paltry criminal penalty for an explosion which killed 15 people and injured another 170.
Corpus Christi attorney David Perry wants BP to hand over profits of $1bn which, he says, the company made from the plant over six years while maintenance was neglected. “We have a saying that crime does not pay,” he told the Guardian. “To let someone keep $1bn in their pocket made from this illegal conduct – that, we feel, is outrageous.”
Andrew Clark
Wednesday November 21 2007
The price of oil closed above $98 a barrel for the first time yesterday as concerns about tight supply, winter demand and global political instability gripped the commodities market.
On New York’s Nymex energy exchange, the cost of a barrel of oil equalled its intraday record of $98.69 before ending the day up $3.39 at $98.03, pushing up against the $100-a-barrel level which it came close to breaching two weeks ago.
The spike was partly a result of a slump in the value of the dollar, which fell to a record low against the euro.
Wednesday November 21 2007
(Adds details and comment)
(Reuters) – Some operations at Royal Dutch Shell’s huge Scotford refining complex near Edmonton, Alberta, resumed on Tuesday, a day after a fire damaged its oil sands upgrader, the company said.
Shell’s 98,000 barrel per day refinery and its 155,000 bpd upgrader ran at reduced rates while its chemical plant was operating normally, company spokesman Randy Provencal said. Construction of an expansion to the upgrader was also continuing.
Erin Allday, Chronicle Staff Writer
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Mehdi Shahbazi, the owner of several gas stations along the California coast who dedicated the last years of his life to fighting a passionate and at times eccentric battle in the name of consumer rights, has died.
Shahbazi had been on a hunger strike for more than four months to protest rising gas prices, and Shell Oil in particular. He died Nov. 14 at Stanford Medical Center, likely from complications related to the all-liquid diet and a pre-existing liver problem, said friends and family. He was 65.
By John Donovan
In April 2007, Shell offered to settle for $352.6 million plus $47 million in legal fees, non-U.S. shareholder claims relating to the 2004 oil reserves scandal. Shell pledged that it would make a request to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to contribute towards the settlement the $120 million fine imposed on Shell by the SEC in 2004.
Relevant Dutch Court Documents
Petition to Amsterdam Court of Appeal April 2007
http://www.shellnews.net/classactiondocs/dutch_petition.pdf
Proposed European Settlement April 2007
By Upstream staff
US supermajor Chevron said it remained committed to the Gorgon liquefied natural gas project off Australia despite concerns about rising costs at the $20 billion project, local media sources said.
Gorgon general manager Colin Beckett told Australia’s The Age newspaper: “We are ramping up our manpower and investment spend as we speak. We wouldn’t do that if it was not seen to be a robust use of our funds.”
However, Beckett admitted that the project was also feeling the heat from cost increases including higher labour and supplies costs.
20 Nov 2007 | 06:27 AM ET
LAGOS, Nigeria (AP)
For decades, Nigerian governments were content to let international oil companies do the pumping, merely taking taxes, royalties and a cut of profits.
Now with global oil prices surging near US$100 a barrel, Africa’s leading oil exporter wants to review agreements allowing oil companies to recoup their costs before sharing profits from deep water exploration, and consolidate all its joint venture oil assets into one potentially powerful company with a global reach.
By David Elliott
Last Update: 6:35 AM ET Nov 20, 2007
(Updates with background.)
LONDON (MarketWatch) — Anglo-Dutch oil major Royal Dutch Shell PLC said Tuesday an “operational upset” occurred at its 155,000 barrel-a-day Scotford Upgrader in Alberta, Canada, late Monday.
“At approximately 1600 Mountain Standard Time, or MST, today an operational upset occurred at the Scotford Upgrader east of Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, when a leak occurred on the residue hydroconversion unit, which upgrades bitumen into synthetic crude oil,” Shell spokesman in London Saskia Kapinga said.
AN EXPANDED VERSION OF THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ARTICLE PUBLISHED BY THE HOUSTON CHRONICLE
YUZHNO-SAKHALINSK, Russia: Braving a new frontier of oil exploration around Russia’s remote Sakhalin Island means conquering ice-locked seas, frequent earthquakes and muddy swamps fed by melting snow in the rapid springtime thaw.
Executives at the world’s largest oil and gas project, known as Sakhalin-2, say they are nearing the finish line as they aim to open up a vast new energy source for the nearby Asian economic powerhouses of Japan and South Korea along with the U.S. and others.
Associated Press
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
DENVER — Experts have found no additional signs of a World War I-era chemical weapon at a spot on the Rocky Mountain Arsenal where cleanup work is being done.
Crews completed an investigation Monday into a section where lewisite was detected in October during work at the arsenal, once a classified chemical munitions plant 10 miles northeast of Denver.
Over five days, workers used a neutralizing solution on the soil and inspected the trench where the chemical was reported.
A resident fishes near natural gas storage facilities on Sakhalin Island. Environmentalists say alleged violations in the area are more than just an excuse for Moscow to grab oil.
Burt Herman: ASSOCIATED PRESS
Nov. 19, 2007, 7:56PM
By BURT HERMAN
Associated Press
YUZHNO-SAKHALINSK, RUSSIA — Braving a new frontier of oil exploration around Russia’s remote Sakhalin Island means conquering ice-locked seas, frequent earthquakes and muddy swamps fed by melting snow in the rapid springtime thaw.
By William Wallis
Published: November 20 2007 06:27 | Last updated: November 20 2007 06:27
It does not look much like oil. Even in the tropical heat it is about as liquid as beeswax. But that is a problem Fred Khalisa, permanent secretary at Uganda’s ministry of mines and energy, would rather have than not.
Until relatively recently, Mr Khalisa was the Ugandan government’s only oilman. He has spent much of his career seeking to validate the years of training he received, mapping prospective areas and galvanising interest from oil exploration companies.
By JOANNA SLATER and CHIP CUMMINS
November 20, 2007; Page A1
For many years, oil-rich Persian Gulf states have pegged their currencies to the dollar. Now that link is stoking a bad bout of inflation in their red-hot economies and putting policy makers in a dilemma: Break the dollar peg and risk undermining the U.S. currency, or keep it and face growing local discontent.
The dollar peg has “served the economy…very well in the past,” said Sultan Nasser al-Suweidi, the governor of the United Arab Emirates’ central bank, last week. “However, we have reached a crossroads.”
BY KORNEBARI NWIKE
President of the National Union of Ogoni Students (NUOS INTL; USA)
20 November 2007
Nigeria is noted for some of the most interesting and appalling attributes in world arena. It is foremost, the giant of Africa, the foremost corrupt nation on planet earth, the thirtieth poorest nation on earth, the world’s fifth largest producer of crude oil and natural gas and also among the twentieth major flarer of natural gas beside Russia, Iran, Qatar,Venezuala.
To maintain her lead in world oil production, she is now gearing efforts to actualize a production target of 4m barrels per day. There is nothing is wrong such projection though, but Nigeria need to integrate the plights of the poor Niger Delta communities and the environment into short, and long term planning. Increase in daily oil production invariably means increase in daily gas flaring and emission of carbon dioxide. According to the center for Strategic and International Studies, Nigeria accounts for 25% of world’s flaring which is estimated at 115 billion cubic meters per year. This cost Nigeria an estimated loss of $2.5 billion per year.
Tue Nov 20, 2007 2:20am ET
CALGARY, Alberta, Nov 20 (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L: Quote, Profile , Research) oil sands upgrading plant near Edmonton, Alberta, caught fire late on Monday and the company said it was taking units off line after crews extinguished the blaze.
Shell and Alberta’s energy regulator said the fire ignited after a release of light hydrocarbons and hydrogen sulphide at the 155,000 barrel-a-day plant. The upgrader turns tar-like crude from the oil sands into refinery-ready light oil.
Posted: 2007/11/20
From: Mathaba
Ha Noi (VNA) – Shell on November 19 signed an agreement to license its clean coal gasification technology to the Viet Nam National Chemical Group (Vinachem), to be applied at the Ninh Binh Fertiliser Plant about 100km south of Ha Noi.
This is the 20th licence Shell has issued for its coal gasification technology world wide, and is the Netherlands-based firm’s first licence in Viet Nam , as well as in the greater Asia-Pacific region outside of China .
Both sides declined to province information on the value of the agreement.
(Alberta Index, November 20, Tuesday) — The Alberta Energy and Utilities Board (EUB) is investigating two incidents of sour gas release involving Shell Canada facilities near Fort Saskatchewan and Pincher Creek yesterday. No injuries were reported.
A fire accompanied the gas release from a portion of the Shell Canada Scotford Upgrader plant near Fort Saskatchewan, forcing the evacuation of a number of workers. EUB said the gas comprised mostly hydrogen, some light hydrocarbons and 6.5 per cent hydrogen sulphide leaked from within the plant’s residue hydroconversion unit.
Leaking sour gas pipeline causes evacuation of several area residents in southwestern Alberta
By CP
BEAVER MINES, Alta. — Some residents were evacuated from their homes in southwestern Alberta after a pipeline owned by Shell Canada carrying toxic sour gas began to leak this morning.
The number of evacuees wasn’t clear this afternoon, with the provincial regulator saying “several” and Shell Canada reporting “several families.” Other residents were advised to remain in their homes.
THE CANADIAN PRESS
November 20, 2007 at 12:25 AM EST
FORT SASKATCHEWAN, Alta. — About 3,000 workers were sent home Monday from Shell Canada’s Scotford upgrader northeast of Edmonton after a fire released hydrogen and sour gas.
It was the second incident involving sour gas at a Shell facility. Earlier in the day, the highly toxic and flammable gas leaked from a Shell pipeline in southwestern Alberta, forcing 10 people from their homes.
The fire occurred late Monday afternoon in the Shell upgrader’s residue hydro conversion unit in Fort Saskatchewan.
This is not a Shell website. That fact should be abundantly plain from the overall content of this home page and our sister Shell-focussed websites, including shellnazihistory.com. Click on the Disclaimer link at top of this page for more information. You Can Be Sure Shell does not endorse or approve of this website. There are no subscription charges nor do we solicit or accept donations. It is an entirely free to use website drawing attention to the negative side of Shell while also publishing positive news about the company. The Shell logo image with the white text used on this website, as per the above example, is in the public domain because its copyright has expired and its author is anonymous. It can be found on WIKIMEDIA COMMONS. Our shellenergy.website publishes Shell Energy customer complaints posted on Trustpilot where there is an ample supply. Use this link for Shell’s own website.
EBOOK TITLE: “SIR HENRI DETERDING AND THE NAZI HISTORY OF ROYAL DUTCH SHELL” – AVAILABLE ON AMAZON
EBOOK TITLE: “JOHN DONOVAN, SHELL’S NIGHTMARE: MY EPIC FEUD WITH THE UNSCRUPULOUS OIL GIANT ROYAL DUTCH SHELL” – AVAILABLE ON AMAZON.
EBOOK TITLE: “TOXIC FACTS ABOUT SHELL REMOVED FROM WIKIPEDIA – HOW SHELL BECAME THE MOST HATED BRAND IN THE WORLD” – AVAILABLE ON AMAZON.
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: 
MORE DETAILS:
MORE DETAILS: After a solicitor acting for Shell threatened to make the litigation "drawn out and difficult" with the intention of draining the resources of a financially weaker opponent, my late father (Alfred Donovan) and I decided to mount a wide-ranging campaign as a counter-measure. We jointly founded the Shell Corporate Conscience Pressure Group, which nearly 15% of Shell UK retailers joined. We regularly conducted ethical surveys involving up to 1500 Shell petrol stations. All responses were opened and authenticated by an independent solicitor who supplied Affidavits confirming the results. In whole page announcements in trade magazines (examples above) we challenged Shell to commission and publish the resuits of independent research asking the same questions and offering respondents GUARANTEED anonymity. Shell never took up the invitation. Instead it asked the UK Advertising Standards Authority to investigate our Shell surveys. No problems were found. The head-cut image of Alfred Donovan appears courtesy of The Wall Street Journal. 
See our link list of over 500 articles by the FT, Wall Street Journal, Reuters, Bloomberg, Forbes, Dow Jones Newswires, New York Times, CNBC etc, plus UK House of Commons Select Committee Hansard records, information on U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission website etc. all containing references to our Shell focussed websites, or our website founders Alfred and John Donovan. Includes TV documentary features in English and German, newspaper and magazine articles, radio interviews, newsletters etc. Plus academic papers, Stratfor intelligence reports and UK, U.S. and Australian state/parliamentary publications, also citing our Shell websites. Click on this link to see the entire list, all in date order with a link to an index of over 100 books also containing references to our websites and/or our activities.
John Donovan, the website owner
A head-cut image of Alfred Donovan (now deceased) appears courtesy of The Wall Street Journal.
