January 25, 2008, 3:32 pm
Posted by Keith Johnson
Has the peak oil crowd added a new member?
An email written by Royal Dutch Shell CEO Jeroen van der Veer has sparked the latest round of debate over the state of oil supplies. In the email, which Mr. van der Veer told his employees to spread around, he says (HT to the Oil Drum. Here’s the whole spiel.):
Shell estimates that after 2015 supplies of easy-to-access oil and gas will no longer keep up with demand. As a result, society has no choice but to add other sources of energy – renewables, yes, but also more nuclear power and unconventional fossil fuels such as oil sands. Using more energy inevitably means emitting more CO2 at a time when climate change has become a critical global issue.
Other big energy companies, from France’s Total to Texas’s ConocoPhillips, have already painted a less-than-rosy outlook for world oil supplies. Even the National Petroleum Council, a proxy for the Big Oil fraternity, recently said that conventional oil and natural-gas supplies aren’t likely to keep pace with demand.
The crux of the debate: How fast are existing fields actually declining, and how fast and economically can oil companies get new finds to replace that output?
Shell outlined two main scenarios for the energy future: a free-for-all for energy resources around the world, or growing international cooperation to soothe energy friction. Shell leans toward the latter:
Against the backdrop of these two equally plausible scenarios, we will only know in a few years whether December’s Bali declaration on climate change was just rhetoric or the beginning of a global effort to counter it.
Another interesting twist to the idea that oil and natural gas will become harder and more expensive to find and get out of the ground: It’s making coal pricier, because coal is still the go-to fuel source in the absence of a big nuclear build-out.
So the question is: Does Shell adding its voice to the growing chorus of naysayers mean anything for the viability of other energy sources?
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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.
