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August, 2011:

Shell’s appalling record of pollution in Ogoniland

In the last 48 hours, oil giant Shell’s appalling record of pollution in the Ogoni region of the Niger Delta has come under intense scrutiny. Below are some of the key stories, links and videos on this urgent issue. Please share them widely with everyone you know.

· BBC World News: live interview with PLATFORM

This top story on BBC World News exposes the shocking extent of Shell’s 50 years of oil spills in Ogoni. A UN report released yesterday accuses Shell of failing to maintain leaking pipelines and covering up the pollution by certifying heavily contaminated sites as “clean”. PLATFORM’s Ben Amunwa provided the analysis. read more

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MOSOP challenges integrity of UNEP Report


Press Statement issued by Dr. Goodluck Diigbo MOSOP President/Spokesman

AUGUST 5, 2011

At a MOSOP Emergency General Meeting in Bori, headquarters of Ogoniland on August 4, 2011, MOSOP welcomes the increased awareness the UNEP report on Ogoniland is likely to create about the continued threat of possible extinction to the Ogoni people arising from oil operations in the past 55 years. However, MOSOP resolves to dispute the integrity of the UNEP Report on Ogoniland, which was paid for with $9.5 million by the polluters, including Royal-Dutch/Shell.

MOSOP President/Spokesman, Dr. Goodluck Diigbo, says MOSOP is challenging the integrity of the report, recalling an earlier confession by UNEP team leader Mike Cowing that the report has been informed by data and information solely supplied by Shell and the government, without actual study on the ground. The purported UNEP meeting with 23,000 Ogonis is only on paper, and there is no evidence to prove who attended, what review was done, agreements reached, if any and Ogonis who signed such agreements as proof of public participation as part of the Environmental Impact Assessment Study, EIAS due process. 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.

Ogonis divided over Shell compensation

Home

Friday 5 August 2011

Shell’s admission of responsibility for two major oil spills in the Niger Delta region has provoked reactions ranging from jubilation to cynicism. The Bodo fishing community had taken the Anglo-Dutch oil giant to court in the UK, claiming oil pollution has left the environment, and their livelihood, in ruins.

By Emmanuel Mayah, Lagos

Previously Shell has always maintained that oil spills in the Niger Delta were largely caused by sabotage by crude oil thieves and pipeline vandals. However the company finally admitted that two devastating spills in 2008 and 2009 were a result of equipment failure. 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 Feels Vindicated by Shell Company’s Spill Admission

MOSOP president Ledum Mitee says the admission proves MOSOP’s non-violent agitation over the years can yield positive results

James Butty: August 05, 2011

The president of the movement for the survival of the ogoni people (MOSOP) said Shell Oil’s acceptance of responsibility for two oil spills in 2008 and 2009 vindicates the ogoni people’s claims that the company had been responsible for environmental degradation in the region.

Ledum Mitee said shell oil’s mea culpa and Thursday’s United Nations report on the magnitude and impact of oil spills in the Niger Delta prove that MOSOP’S non-violent agitation over the years can yield positive results. 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.

The end of Big Oil? Not so fast.

BP’s Wytch Farm oil well in Poole, England

August 5, 2011: 5:00 AM ET

Splitting up energy giants may make sense while oil prices are as high as they are today, but it may not be worth the organizational headache for Big Oil to break apart.

By Shelley DuBois, writer-reporter

FORTUNE — Big Oil may be going out of style, but it is certainly not going away.

With major players like ConocoPhillips (COP) and Marathon (MRO) splitting up, industry leaders and the market are starting to question the model of the huge, integrated oil company that handles every portion of the business, from plumbing crude out of the ground to selling it at the gas tank.

But just because the Big Oil’s big business model is being questioned — and rightfully so — doesn’t mean it’s going anywhere. 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.

Amnesty condemns Shell’s decades of denial

The Irish Times – Friday, August 5, 2011

LORNA SIGGINS

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL has described as shocking the scientific findings of a United Nations Environment Programme report which found extensive oil pollution in Ogoniland in the Niger Delta.

The human rights group has called on Royal Dutch Shell, as lead oil company in the area, to focus on the “truth, rather than protecting its corporate image” if the problem is to be addressed.

The UN study published yesterday found carcinogens up to 900 times above World Health Organisation levels in drinking water in one area. 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.

Arctic oil spill could prove tough to clean

latimes.com Shell Exploration’s plan for exploratory oil and gas drilling in the Beaufort Sea won conditional approval from the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement. One of the big questions now is what happens if there’s an oil spill.Agency officials are expected as early as next week to act on Shell’s oil spill response plan, which conservationists say falls short of the mark for responding to an accident in icy waters, often shrouded in darkness, hundreds of miles from the nearest deep-water port.

Earlier this month, Canada looked at the same issue: How hard would it be to clean up an oil spill in the Beaufort Sea, which straddles the border between the two countries. The answer? Really hard.

Even in the “summer” season between July and October, when Arctic drilling normally occurs, true open water without ice occurs only 54% to 88% of the time, even close to shore, according to the report, prepared for the National Energy Board by S.L. Ross Environmental Research Ltd. of Ottawa. 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 agency approves Shell Arctic oil drilling plan

(Reuters) - Royal Dutch Shell's long-stymied Arctic drilling program inched ahead on Thursday, as the U.S. offshore drilling regulator approved the company's oil exploration plan for Alaska's Beaufort Sea.

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 Admits Liability in U.K. Court for Niger Oil Spill

Corporate Counsel: August 05, 2011

Sue Reisinger

In the first Nigerian oil spill case to be brought in the United Kingdom, a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell plc has accepted its liability and conceded to the jurisdiction of the U.K. High Court. The lawyer representing the claimants, Martyn Day from London-based Leigh Day & Co., announced the agreement Tuesday.

In return, the parent company will be dropped from the case, which continues against the Nigerian subsidiary, Shell Petroleum Development Company ltd.

The claim was brought on behalf of some 69,000 Nigerians after two massive oil leaks in 2008 and 2009 contaminated the waterways of the Bodo fishing community in the Niger Delta. David Williams, a London spokesman for the subsidiary, said it “has always acknowledged that the two spills which affected the Bodo community, and which are the subject of this legal action, were operational. As such, [the subsidiary] will pay compensation in accordance with Nigerian law.” 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 Receives Approval To Drill At Gulf Of Mexico Europa Field

Aug 4, 2011

HOUSTON -(Dow Jones)- Royal Dutch Shell (RDSA) said Thursday it has received approval from federal regulators to drill a new well at its Gulf of Mexico Europa field.

The permit will allow Shell, one of the largest producers in the Gulf, to return all of its five contracted drilling rigs to work, a company spokeswoman wrote in an email.

Shell and other companies slowed the pace of drilling in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico after the federal government imposed a nine-month drilling moratorium in the area following last year’s BP PLC’s (BP) Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The government resumed issuing permits in late February. 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.

U.N. Study Says $1 Billion Needed for Oil Cleanup in Nigeria

A landmark United Nations study into the long-term environmental impact of oil production in Nigeria says that oil spills have led to acute health risks for area residents and widespread environmental damage that may take as many as 30 years and $1 billion to clean up.

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 Tainted Water Well, and Concern There May Be More

For decades, oil and gas industry executives as well as regulators have maintained that a drilling technique known as hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, that is used for most natural gas wells has never contaminated underground drinking water.

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 Gambles U.S. Rules on Arctic Drilling

Shell, Europe’s largest oil company, says it must decide by October whether to assume that U.S. regulators will issue all 35 permits it would need to explore under the Beaufort and Chukchi seas next year during the four mildest months, from July to October.

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.

Guardian Front Page Story 4 August 2011

Shell accepts liability for two oil spills in Nigeria

Oil giant faces a bill of hundreds of millions of dollars following class action suit brought on behalf of communities in Bodo, Ogoniland

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.

Oil in Nigeria: a history of spills, fines and fights for rights

guardian.co.uk home

On Wednesday Shell admitted liability for two massive oil spills in Nigeria. Ever since oil was discovered in the country in 1956, it has been a source of strife

: Thursday 4 August 2011 09.22 BST

Ogoni activist Ken Saro-Wiwa in 1993, two years before he was executed by the Nigerian government. Photograph: Greenpeace/AFP

Oil was first found in Nigeria in 1956, then a British protectorate, by a joint operation between Royal Dutch Shell and British Petroleum. The two begun production in 1958, and were soon joined by a host of other foreign oil companies in the 1960s after the country gained independence and, shortly after, fell into civil war.

The rapidly expanding oil industry was dogged in controversy from early on, with criticism that its financial proceeds were being exported or lost in corruption rather than used to help the millions living on $1 a day in the Niger delta or reduce its impact on the local environment. 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 admits liability for huge oil spills in Niger delta

…amount leaked into the local environment could be as much as 10 million gallons.

…”one of the most devastating oil spills the world has ever seen…”

By Richard Hall: Thursday, 4 August 2011

Oil company Shell could be forced to pay hundreds of millions of dollars after accepting responsibility for two devastating oil spills in Nigeria’s Ogoniland region.

The agreement comes after the community in the Delta region of Nigeria brought a class-action lawsuit against Shell in the UK, alleging that spills in 2008 and 2009 had destroyed the environment and ruined their livelihoods.

Until now, Shell has claimed that less than 40,000 gallons were spilt in the accidents. But experts who have studied the spills in Bodo, Ogoniland, said the amount leaked into the local environment could be as much as 10 million gallons. 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.

Ogoniland oil spills: Shell admits Nigeria liability

3 August 2011 Last updated at 16:15

Oil giant Shell has accepted responsibility for two devastating oil spills in Nigeria’s Ogoniland region.

The Bodo fishing community sued Shell in the UK, alleging that spills in 2008 and 2009 had destroyed the environment and ruined their livelihoods.

Their lawyer said they would seek hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation for one of the world’s “most devastating oil spills”.

Shell told the BBC it would settle the case under Nigerian law. 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.

Sex scandal allegations against a Shell Fat Cat

By John Donovan

On 16 June 2011, I published an article that made reference to my email correspondence with Michiel Brandjes of Shell concerning sex scandal allegations against a senior Shell Executive made by a Shell insider. The accusations included alleged “serial infidelity involving Shell staff.” Mr Brandjes is Company Secretary & General Counsel Corporate of Royal Dutch Shell Plc.

Donovan email correspondence with Shell ending 16 June 2011

I first approached the Shell Fat Cat in question to give him an opportunity to deny the allegations. Some weeks later, under the threat of an ultimatum I sent to him by email, he supplied Mr Brandjes with copies of my original emails containing the allegations.
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: nothing wrong with fracking and unconventional gas

From pages 32, 33 34 & 35 of “Royal Dutch Shell and its sustainability troubles” – Background report to the Erratum of Shell’s Annual Report 2010

The report is made on behalf of Milieudefensie (Friends of the Earth Netherlands)
Author: Albert ten Kate: May 2011.

Shell: nothing wrong with fracking and unconventional gas

In its communication, Shell makes no difference between conventional and unconventional gas in terms of environmental and health risks. The company generally refers to natural gas as being cleaner-burning than coal in power plants and as being a bridge to a low-carbon energy future.

On fracking, Shell states on its website: “This is a safe and proven technique according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which is now carrying out a new study into hydraulic fracturing and its potential impact. Fracturing has been used by oil and gas companies for over 60 years.” The company does not mention that there are great differences between the traditional fracking and the present high-volume fracking, that the EPA has been presently accused of hiding some severe impacts of fracking, and that the U.S. government has not been able and/or willing to monitor the booming U.S. shale gas business adequately. 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 accepts liability for two oil spills in Nigeria

guardian.co.uk home

Oil giant faces a bill of hundreds of millions of dollars following class action suit brought on behalf of communities in Bodo, Ogoniland

The impact of an oil spill near Ikarama in the Niger delta. Photograph: Amnesty International UK

Shell faces a bill of hundreds of millions of dollars after accepting full liability for two massive oil spills that devastated a Nigerian community of 69,000 people and may take at least 20 years to clean up.

Experts who studied video footage of the spills at Bodo in Ogoniland say they could together be as large as the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster in Alaska, when 10m gallons of oil destroyed the remote coastline.

Until now, Shell has claimed that less than 40,000 gallons were spilt in Nigeria. 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 Canada files paperwork for $1.35B carbon capture project

Regulatory application a first for Alberta

By Dina O’Meara, Calgary Herald August 2, 2011

Shell Canada took its first regulatory step toward commercializing it carbon capture and storage project Quest, which will strip carbon dioxide from its Scotford oilsands upgrader near Edmonton. Photograph by: Ted Jacob, Calgary Herald

CALGARY — Alberta could see its first commercial carbon capture and storage project as soon as 2015 if Shell Canada’s application for its Quest project is approved by provincial regulators — and the energy giant’s board.

Shell filed an application Tuesday on its $1.35-billion Quest joint venture with Chevron Canada and Marathon Oil Sands. 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.

U.K. Deal Marks Latest Shift For European Refining Sector

AUGUST 2, 2011

By ALEXIS FLYNN

Essar Energy Monday completed a deal to buy the U.K’s second-biggest refinery at Stanlow, in Northwest England, from Royal Dutch Shell PLC, marking another step in a changing of the guard for the European refining sector as the fully integrated oil majors sell out to a new coterie of owners.

Essar Energy, a subsidiary of the giant Mumbai-based Essar conglomerate owned by Shashi and Ravi Ruia, paid Shell $350 million for what Essar Energy’s Chief Executive Naresh Nayyar says is a valuable, strategically positioned asset that gives the company an outlet to export surplus products made by its giant refinery at Vadinar in the Indian state of Gujurat. 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’s Oil, Gas Reserves Declining at About 12% a Year

By Elisha Bala-Gbogbo – Aug 1, 2011 2:49 PM GMT+0100

Nigeria’s oil and gas reserves are declining at as much as 12 percent a year, with production from onshore and shallow-water oil fields having reached their peak, Petroleum Minister Diezani Alison-Madueke said.

Africa’s largest oil producer plans to boost deep-water production through measures including the passage of a new oil industry law before the end of this year, Alison-Madueke told reporters today in Abuja, the capital. Nigeria needs to take a “pragmatic approach” in the new legislation to address concerns by international energy companies that the new law will hand too much profit and control to the state, she said. 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.

Slumping Output Raises Tough Questions For European Oil Giants

By Alexis Flynn, Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

LONDON -(Dow Jones)- When Europe’s major oil companies reported quarterly earnings last week, headlines across national capitals once again excoriated the petroleum giants for soaring profits in the face of consumers anger at high fuel prices.

Yet the profits couldn’t mask a trend that continues to trouble Wall Street and corporate boardrooms: Nearly every major oil company reported year-on-year oil and gas output declines, often in the double-digits. read more

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The end of Big Oil?

How the break-up of ConocoPhillips could lead to similar moves by oil conglomerates like BP and Exxon Mobil, forever changing the energy landscape.

By Cyrus Sanati, contributor

FORTUNE– The announcement last month that ConocoPhillips plans to break up into two separately traded companies took Wall Street by surprise, raising uncomfortable questions as to Big Oil’s raison d’etre. If COP proves that it can indeed unlock value from separating its exploration and production unit from its refining and marketing units, then other companies, namely BP and ExxonMobil, could soon find themselves under pressure from their shareholders to follow suit, forever changing the energy landscape. 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.