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August 19th, 2011:

Royal Dutch Shell closes oil valve after 12 day North Sea battle

Royal Dutch Shell has finally managed to stop oil from spilling into the North Sea after a 12-day battle with the Gannet field leak.

Shell’s work is not over as it will have to remove oil trapped in the pipeline between the sealed off well and the platform. The Marine Coastguard’s latest estimate is that the sheen currently covers an area of 6.7 square kms and 26 barrels by volume. Photo: REUTERS

By , Energy Correspondent 6:41PM BST 19 Aug 2011

Divers switched off a valve from which just one barrel per day was trickling over the last couple of days, but in total around 1,600 barrels has made its way into the ocean over the course of the spill.

Shell’s work is not over as it will have to remove oil trapped in the pipeline between the sealed off well and the platform. The Marine Coastguard’s latest estimate is that the sheen currently covers an area of 6.7 square kms and 26 barrels by volume.

“Closing the valve is a key step,” said Glen Cayley, technical director of Shell in Europe. “ It was a careful and complex operation conducted by skilled divers, with support from our technical teams onshore. But we will be watching the line closely over the next 24 hours and beyond.” read more

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Shell stops North Sea leak after 10 days

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Scottish government launches investigation into safety procedures after worst oil spill in UK waters for a decade

The Shell oil spill in the North Sea. The marine coastguard has estimated that the oil on the sea surface covers about 6.7 sq km. Photograph: Marine Scotland

Shell has finally stopped the leak from its faulty oil pipeline in the North Sea, ending the flow of oil undersea after 10 days of the worst oil spill in UK waters for a decade.

Divers closed a relief valve which was the source of a small secondary leak, discovered after the first major leak in the pipeline at the Gannet Alpha platform had been plugged last week. Government officials are now opening an investigation into how the leak occurred and whether the correct procedures were followed. They will also have to decide whether Shell should pay for government expenses incurred in the clean-up operation. 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 spill: What happened and why it matters to Shell

By Damian Kahya Business reporter, BBC News 19 August 2011

Environmental groups are furious that the largest North Sea spill in a decade was not revealed to the public for three days.

Why did it happen and will Shell’s recent environmental problems affect the company’s ambitious plans?

On 10 August, a routine helicopter flight over the North Sea spotted a “sheen” on the sea’s surface near Royal Dutch Shell’s Gannet Alpha platform.

The oily sheen covered just 0.5 sq km to begin with, according to figures provided to the BBC by Shell.

But it was an indication that below the surface, something was leaking.

Shell immediately informed regulatory bodies, including the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) and the government’s Joint Nature Conservation Commitee. 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.

US oil sanctions send strong signal to Syria

Extracts from the Financial Times

By Anna Fifield in Washington, Alex Barker in Brussels, James Blitz in London and Daniel Dombey in Istanbul: 18 August 2011

With the sweeping sanctions it has imposed on Syria’s energy sector, the Obama administration has stepped up its efforts to isolate Bashar al-Assad’s regime, which earns as much as one-third of its income from oil exports.

The measures certainly look punitive – Washington has prohibited any Syrian petrol products from being imported into the US, and has forbidden any US citizens and companies from involvement in Syria’s oil sector or exporting any products to Syria. 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.

EU Urges Syria’s Assad To Quit, Mulls Energy Sanctions

Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSA) has interests in three production licences in Syria covering some 40 oil fields, with its share of production in 2010 approximately 20,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day. It also has exploration interests in the south of the country.

By Laurence Norman

Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

BRUSSELS (Dow Jones)–The European Union for the first time Thursday called on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down as EU leaders threatened strong new sanctions, which could include an embargo on imports of Syrian crude oil and a ban on refined product sales to the country, a person familiar with the situation said.

In a statement promising further sanctions, the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs Catherine Ashton condemned the continued crackdown on protesters. 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.