Senators raise concerns on oil sands pipeline

By Ayesha Rascoe

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Nearly a dozen U.S. Senators on Friday raised questions about the need for a proposed $7 billion pipeline that they said will bring “dirty oil” from Canadian oil sands to U.S. refineries and significantly increase the country’s reliance on fossil fuels.

The lawmakers, 10 Democrats and one independent, said the State Department needs to answer several key questions before deciding whether to approve TransCanada’s application to build the 2,000-mile Keystone XL pipeline. read more

Contribution from a former employee of Shell Oil USA

Royal Dutch Shell’s army of attorney’s have obviously found loop holes in these and other statutes that allow Shell to continue to trade with Iran. That trade is of far greater value to Iran than it is to Shell, for it gives Iran the means to continue with their weapons development programs.

Perhaps it is time for the UK Parliament and US Congress to plug some of those loop holes to prevent the kind of conduct Royal Dutch Shell finds so profitable.

RECENT RELATED NEWS ARTICLES

Shell OK with dealing in Iranian crude read more

An analysis of the sequence of events on the 20th April which led to the disaster on Deepwater Horizon

By Bill Campbell, Retired HSE Group Auditor, Royal Dutch Shell.

Operating Blind in Deepwater

Only minutes before the blowout on Deepwater Horizon on 20th April everything was reported as being in order.  The negative pressure test of the integrity of the well had been good and the displacement of seawater after this test was going fine.

But just 25 minutes after this reassuring message was passed to the senior toolpusher, mud started to overflow from the well onto the drill floor.  With only seconds to act and do the right thing mistakes were made which allowed gas to be ingested into areas of the rig where sources of ignition were present.  Actions that could have been taken to prevent the ignition of the gas were not taken and four minutes after the blowout commenced most of the crew, on or near the drill floor, were killed in the first explosion. read more

Canadian oil sands field starts production and projects are planned in the Gulf of Mexico – where BP’s Deepwater disaster has so far cost Shell $115m

Tim Webb: Friday 29 October 2010

Trucks carry loads of oil-laden sand in Alberta, Canada, where Shell has 13 projects scheduled to come on stream. Photograph: Jeff Mcintosh/AP

Shell nearly doubled earnings in the last three months thanks to higher oil prices and production as new ventures came on stream. Excluding write-offs made for accounting purposes, its earnings were $4.9bn (£3.1bn) for the three months to September, compared with $2.6bn the previous year.

During the quarter the company began production at its oil sands mine in Jackpine, northern Alberta, part of its programme to add another 100,000 barrels a day from these operations. Jackpine is the fifth start-up of 13 projects that have been approved and are scheduled to come on stream this year and next. Shell hopes they will allow it to achieve its target of increasing its 2009 production by 11% by 2012. The company has spent $190bn in its operations since 2004 – almost double the capital investment over the preceding five years – which it hopes will reverse several years of falling production. read more

By BARRY MEIER and CLIFFORD KRAUSS

A version of this article appeared in print on October 29, 2010, on page A20 of the New York edition.

Halliburton is back in the spotlight, and once again, in an uncomfortable way.

In recent years, the giant energy services company has found itself under scrutiny over allegations that it performed shoddy, overpriced work for the United States military in Iraq, bribed Nigerian officials to win energy contracts and did brisk business with Iran at time when it faced sanctions.

On Thursday, a government investigation panel said that Halliburton might have played an important role in the April explosion of the Deepwater Horizon platform in the Gulf of Mexico by supplying cement that the company knew was unstable to BP, which used it to seal the well. Halliburton has repeatedly blamed BP, the owner of the well, of failing to test the cement and making other errors that led to the accident, which killed 11 people and spewed millions of barrels of crude oil into the gulf. read more

Comment by Iain Percival on Bloomberg article…

Shell Says Repercussions of U.S. Drilling Moratorium Could Last Into 2012

Messers Pals & Kennedy of Bloomberg really ought to research a topic before writing about it. Just what is meant by “Shell is targeting hard-to-reach rock formations in Australia, the U.S. and China”? Coal seams for CBM in Australia are not in the criteria of hard-to-reach. There are undoubtedly challenges in the optimal exploitation of CBM but the technology / techniques are hardly new or “hard-to-apply”. In any case the geoscience and engineering capability in Shell is more than enough to address the task. My comment applies equally well to the (presumably) tight gas assets in North America and China. The tone of the article implies Shell will have trouble delivering meaningful gas production from these “hard-to-reach” formations. Yes, the technical challenge is greater than with conventional gas, but then Shell has invested serious money in researching the technologies and techniques required. Will Bloomberg reporters write an article in the same vein throwing doubt on the ability of the BG-Group to deliver from similar formations in the same countries? One thing is for sure, the BG-Group do not have recourse to the R&D back up in-house to Shell. read more

Royal Dutch Shell is assigning higher priority to its Carmon Creek in situ project near Peace River and its ongoing expansion at the Athabasca Oil Sands Project near Fort McMurray, said chief financial officer Simon Henry. Photograph by: BEN STANSALL, AFP/Getty Images

CALGARY – Royal Dutch Shell is writing off about $1 billion in oilsands assets, including some bought with BlackRock Ventures of Calgary in 2006, after evaluating and shifting focus to other northern Alberta projects. read more

OCTOBER 28, 2010

By James Herron Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

LONDON (Dow Jones)–Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSB.LN) Thursday beat analysts’ forecasts to post an 88.4% rise in adjusted profit for the third quarter, driven by higher output and greater demand for refined products and chemicals.

The results show how the company is reaping the rewards of a lengthy restructuring focused on cost efficiency and recovering industrial demand, primarily in Asia.

“Our results have rebounded substantially from year-ago levels,” said Shell’s Chief Executive Peter Voser. read more

Published: Oct. 28, 2010

LONDON, Oct. 28 (UPI) — Royal Dutch Shell is still dealing with Iranian crude oil shipments under current contracts, the company’s chief financial officer said Thursday.

Simon Henry, Shell’s top financial official, said his company was still taking delivery of Iranian crude oil under the terms of its existing contracts with the Islamic republic.

The European Union and United States passed new sanctions in July that target Iran’s energy sector, though Henry said the sanctions didn’t deal with trading in Iranian crude. read more

Shell studies oil trade impact of EU Iran sanctions

By Alex Lawler

LONDON | Thu Oct 28, 2010 7:47am EDT

(Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSa.L) said it would assess any impact of European sanctions on its oil trade with Iran and had stopped some activities there following tougher U.S. measures earlier this year.

The European Union sanctions over Iran’s nuclear work, launched in July and which became law this week, seek to block oil and gas investment in the Islamic Republic, the world’s fifth largest oil exporter.

“Our trading business with Iran is carried out under longer-term contracts,” Shell’s chief financial officer, Simon Henry, said on Thursday. “We continue to lift (buy Iranian crude) under those contracts, but we do need to assess any implications of the European legislation.” read more

By Fred Pals and Eduard Gismatullin – Oct 28, 2010 11:53 AM GMT+0100

Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Europe’s largest oil company, warned that the knock-on effects of the temporary ban on new deep-water drilling in the Gulf of Mexico could last for the next two years.

Shell has booked charges of $115 million to date after idling rigs and expects further losses in the fourth quarter, Chief Financial Officer Simon Henry said today. Daily output from the region, which accounts for about a third of Shell’s total production in the Americas, will be 40,000 barrels less than previously expected in 2011. read more

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4XtK6zTpNc&feature=youtube_gdata

By Fred Pals – Oct 28, 2010 7:12 AM GMT+0100

Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Europe’s largest oil company, posted a 7 percent increase in third- quarter profit as a recovery in energy demand lifted oil prices.

Net income rose to $3.46 billion from $3.25 billion a year earlier, The Hague-based Shell said in a statement today. Excluding one-time items and inventory changes, profit beat analyst estimates.

Shell is targeting hard-to-reach rock formations in Australia, the U.S. and China, as well as projects in Qatar, to reverse a seven-year drop in output. Chief Executive Officer Peter Voser plans to invest $40 billion in the Americas through 2014, at the same time close rival BP Plc’s U.S. ambitions have suffered as a result of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. read more

OCTOBER 28, 2010

By JAMES HERRON

LONDON—Royal Dutch Shell PLC on Thursday posted a 6.5% rise in third-quarter net profit, helped by higher oil and gas prices, higher output and greater cost efficiency.

The Anglo-Dutch energy giant said net profit rose totaled $3.46 billion from $3.25 billion a year earlier. The bottom line was affected by a one-time $1.13 billion charge the company took on fair value adjustments to commodity derivatives. Group revenues were $90.71 billion, compared with $75.01 billion in the third quarter of 2009. read more

Basically it seems that there was a queue of Shell directors waiting to enter his office every 30 minutes ready and eager to knife him. He resigned as a result of the cumulative assault, shocked, humiliated and disgusted at the shabby inhuman treatment he received from his colleagues.

It is pointless to speculate what the US government may be up to in this case, but they have confirmed that Shell, et al, were/are under investigation for conspiracy to commit espionage. In that regard I would make the observation that while the wheels of justice often turn slowly, they do turn, and in cases like this they usually, and inevitably, grind the offenders into the dust.

Risteard Ó Domhnaill’s documentary film about the Corrib Natural Gas project in County Mayo Ireland, The Pipe, has been quite a long time in the making – but the wait has been worthwhile. This is a moving, unsentimental and compelling story well told and, particularly, well edited (by Nigel O’Regan) of how ordinary people in a remote community fought with a multinational company, Shell, to protect their community and their livelihoods. The public release of The Pipe is timely in the light of BP’s Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico because, as with BP, the evidence is clear that Shell’s initial handling of Corrib showed a comprehensive failure to match the rhetoric of their public statements with the reality of their actions. BP’s “green” positioning was shown to be a chimera as the world greatest environmental disaster unfolded in all of its horror – and Shell’s stated commitment to Sustainable Development has been shown in The Pipe to be no less of a veneer. read more

Email from John Donovan to Republic of Ireland Chief Police Commissioner Fachtna Murphy

From: John Donovan <[email protected]>
Date: 26 October 2010 21:35:00 GMT+01:00
To: [email protected]
Cc: [email protected]
Subject: Corrib Gas Project Alleged Death Threats

For the Attention of Republic of Ireland Chief Police Commissioner Fachtna Murphy

Dear Commissioner Murphy

For the sake of transparency, I have printed below a copy of my email on this subject to Richard Wiseman at Royal Dutch Shell.

If Shell had said that the internal emails were a hoax, then I would not have contacted you at all. read more

Self-explanatory email sent to Republic of Ireland Chief Police Commissioner Fachtna Murphy reporting alleged death threats against Shell Corrib employees

From: John Donovan <[email protected]>
Date: 26 October 2010 19:15:36 GMT+01:00
To: [email protected]
Subject: Alleged death threats made to Shell Corrib Employees

For the Attention of Republic of Ireland Chief Police Commissioner Fachtna Murphy

Dear Commissioner Murphy

I am writing to draw your attention to alleged death threats made against Shell employees – members of the “CelticTigerFive” – who have leaked information to me concerning the controversial Corrib Gas Project.

With the exception of this paragraph, Royal Dutch Shell has had advance sight of this email and has therefore had the opportunity to deny the authenticity of the latest batch of Corrib project emails leaked to me and deny any knowledge of the associated death threats. The email was sent to Mr Richard Wiseman, Chief Ethics & Compliance Officer of Royal Dutch Shell Plc and to the CEO of the company, Mr Peter Voser. No response has been received. This is apparently another taboo subject for Shell, like for example when I confronted the company with evidence of its key role in the Al-Yamamah oil for arms scandal. read more

By Angus McDowall of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES OCTOBER 26, 2010

LONDON (Dow Jones)–A joint venture between Saudi Arabian Oil Co., known as Saudi Aramco, and Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSB) to drill for natural gas in the kingdom’s empty quarter has extended its exploration license by five years to 2015.

The South Rub al-Khali Co., or SRAK, was one of three ventures launched in 2003-04 that gave international oil companies upstream access to Saudi Arabian energy reserves for the first time since 1980.

“We…requested for a second exploration period, which means a new commitment from the company including drilling wells and collecting seismic data,” a spokesman for SRAK told Dow Jones Newswires Tuesday. “The government officially approved our request of entering a second exploration period for five years.” read more

By Fred Pals and Wael Mahdi – Oct 25, 2010 4:33 PM GMT+0100

A joint venture between Saudi Aramco and Royal Dutch Shell Plc plans to drill three wells in Saudi Arabia’s southern Rub Al Khali desert after completing its first exploration period, the company said today.

South Rub al-Khali Co., or SRAK, as the venture is known, also plans to submit an appraisal plan to the government for the Kidan area of Saudi Arabia, it said in a statement. Kidan lies near the Saudi border with the United Arab Emirates. read more

LONDON, Oct. 25 (UPI) — Royal Dutch Shell announced it was investing in developments in the deep waters off the coast of Brazil in order to enhance its American portfolio.