REUTERS
* Shell plans no expansions in oil sands
* Expects to boost output from existing ops (In U.S. dollars unless noted)
CALGARY, Alberta, April 29 (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSa.L) has no plans to quickly expand its oil sands operations, focusing instead on tweaking output from its existing investments, the head of Shell’s U.S. arm told a Canadian newspaper.
In an interview with the Globe and Mail’s editorial board, Marvin Odum, president of Shell Oil Co, said the company was unlikely to launch a major expansion of its 60 percent-owned Athabasca oil sands project because new projects in the region, which contains the largest crude reserves outside the Middle East, are too expensive.
Shell’s chief executive, Peter Voser, has also said the company has no near-term plans to expand its oil sands project.
Shell has nearly completed a 100,000 barrel per day expansion of the Athabasca project, which currently produces 155,000 bpd. The costs of the project was last pegged at $14.3 billion ($14.2 billion), well ahead of the original estimate of between C$10 billion and C$12.8 billion.
Rising costs and falling oil prices forced the delay or cancellation of about C$90 billion of oil sands projects during the recession. However the lower number of projects freed up skilled labor and improved productivity, lowering construction costs.
Over the past year, Shell’s rivals in the region, including Imperial Oil Ltd (IMO.TO), Total SA (TOTF.PA), Suncor Energy Inc (SU.TO) and others have said they will go ahead with their planned projects.
However Odum told the Globe that Shell would instead look to boost output from its existing operations, which could add another 30,000 to 80,000 bpd of production.
The Athabasca project includes an oil sands mine near Fort McMurray, Alberta, and an upgrader to convert the mined bitumen into refinery-ready synthetic crude. Marathon Oil Corp (MRO.N) and Chevron Corp (CVX.N) each hold 20 percent stakes in the project.
($1=$1.01 Canadian) (Reporting by Scott Haggett; editing by Rob Wilson)
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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.
