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August 9th, 2011:

Employee safety advice to Shell ‘bean counter’, Peter Voser

COMMENTS FROM RETIRED ROYAL DUTCH SHELL GROUP HSE AUDITOR, BILL CAMPBELL (RIGHT) RELATING TO THE ARTICLE:

HSE feared a ‘catastrophe’ at Brent C platform

Learning after the event is a recipe for Disaster

Maybe its because he is a bean counter but Peter Voser does not seem to understand that risks need to be controlled before the event – not raised to unacceptable levels where loss of containment occurs – it would seem on a regular basis – within Shell North Sea operations and elsewhere around the World in its daily activities.

In general loss of containment, or other circumstances causing flammable atmospheres to exist, when these exist concurrent with a source of ignition causing an explosion,  is the largest cause of industrial deaths and asset damage worldwide. read more

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.

upstreamonline: HSE feared a ‘catastrophe’ at Brent C platform

The UK Health & Safety Executive (HSE) feared “catastrophic consequences” on Shell’s Brent Charlie platform because the scale of a long-running series of gas leaks meant ignition was “almost inevitable”, documents reveal.

ROB WATTS London  05 August 2011 01:39 GMT

Leaked documents and others obtained by Upstream under UK freedom of information (FoI) legislation shed further light on the complex safety problems Shell is battling on the ageing North Sea facility.

One leaked document, dated 18 July, said Shell is facing a 15,000-hour maintenance backlog on mechanical equipment. This is on top of the extensive work it is undertaking to overcome leaks of hydrocarbon gas and hydrogen sulphide — known as glugs — that have led to the shutdown of the platform and 30,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day of output. read more

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.

MOSOP PRESIDENT REFUTES CORRUPTION ALLEGATION

By John Donovan

We have printed below an email we have received purportedly from MOSOP President Dr Goodluck Diigbo replying to corruption allegations made against him.  The”Amaechi”mentioned in the email is a reference to Chibuike Amaechi, Governor of Rivers State in Nigeria.

The email was addressed to fellow Ogonis, Austin Lemea, and refers to Patrick Naagbaaton, another Ogoni activist. We are in possession of email correspondence from both of these individuals relating to Nigerian politics, Shell and the recent UNEP report on Nigerian oil spills.
read more

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.

Nigeria: Oil-polluted Ogoniland could become environmental model

guardian.co.uk home

UN says clean-up operation following two massive oil spills in the Niger Delta could benefit other African countries developing their oil reserves

Crude oil spilled in the Niger Delta swamps of Bodo, a village in Ogoniland. Photograph: Pius Utomi Ekpei/AFP/Getty Images

Ogoniland is one of the most oil-polluted places on earth but it could become a model for other countries wanting to clean up their environments or avoid making the same mistakes, the UN has said.

This could be the world’s biggest oil contamination clean-up,” said Nick Nuttall, spokesman for the UN’s environment programme (UNEP) director, Achim Steiner. “It is up to the government of Nigeria what happens now, but [from talks with President Goodluck Jonathan in Abuja this week] there appears to be a willingness to act,” he said while in London. read more

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.

UN oil devastation report to be taken ‘seriously’: Shell

LAGOS — Shell’s managing director in Nigeria on Monday pledged the oil giant would take “seriously” a UN study on unprecedented pollution, but reiterated that the company was not to blame for most spills.

“It’s important for me to emphasise that we are taking the UNEP report very seriously,” Mutiu Sunmonu told AFP in an interview after the UN Environment Programme released the report last week.

“We are looking at it in greater detail. We are taking a comb through the report to see exactly what necessary follow-up actions will be required of SPDC.” read more

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.

Shell’s Arctic Drilling Plan: Another Disaster Waiting to Happen

POSTED: August 8, 3:10 PM ET | By Tim Dickinson

The Interior Department has greenlighted Royal Dutch Shell’s exploration plans for offshore drilling in the Arctic Ocean after finding “no evidence” that a potential spill larger than the Exxon Valdez will “significantly affect the quality of the human environment.” The decision is premised on the oil company’s fantastical claims that it will be capable of recovering 90 percent of any oil that hits the water after a Gulf-style blowout. read more

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.

A Necessary Condition for Arctic Drilling

EDITORIAL

A version of this editorial appeared in print on August 9, 2011, on page A22 of the New York edition

The Obama administration’s decision on Thursday to give “conditional approval” to Royal Dutch Shell’s plans to begin drilling four shallow-water wells in the Beaufort Sea off Alaska alarmed many environmentalists. Cleaning up an oil spill in the frigid, turbulent waters of the Arctic Ocean is likely to be far more complicated than it was in the comparatively benign waters of the Gulf of Mexico.

We have misgivings about this plan for just that reason. But President Obama, who indicated last year that he would honor Shell’s leases if it passed various environmental reviews, seems determined to proceed. The administration should require that Shell meet basic safeguards before it receives final permits to begin punching holes in the ocean floor. read more

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.