Royal Dutch Shell will invest more than $1.6bn in the second phase exploration of a key Brazilian oil block and also plans to compete in the countrys next auction of oil and gas concessions, senior company figures have disclosed.
By Robin Yapp, in Sao Paulo 7:07PM BST 21 Sep 2011
Already Brazils second biggest oil producer after the state-run energy giant Petrobras, Shell has had impressive results in the Campos Basin, part of Brazils pre-salt oil fields that lie deep below the Atlantic ocean and a thick layer of salt.
Production in the area has been 30pc higher than anticipated, convincing Shell to make substantial further investment in the hope of seeing similarly impressive results.
Andre Araujo, president of Shell Brazil, said the second phase development of the BC-10 block in the Campos Basin in which Shell has a 50pc share and is believed to hold 400m barrels of recoverable oil – will start next year.
To give you an idea of the importance of exploratory activity in Brazil for Shell, we are going to invest, just in the second phase of BC-10, more than the $1.6bn that we spent to set up Raizen [its joint venture Brazilian ethanol plant], he said.
Marvin Odum, Shells director of exploration and production for the Americas, said the company would look to further expand in Brazil because it now appears a more attractive investment prospect than many other oil-producing nations.
“The opportunities that we find here are of the highest quality in global terms, both from the regulatory point of view and geological,” Mr Odum told business newspaper Brasil Economico.
“Because of this, we don’t believe that a recovery of production in countries such as Iraq and Libya, in the future, will reduce Brazil’s attractiveness. The pre-salt has areas of the highest quality.”
Mr Odum indicated that Shell was likely to compete when Brazils National Petroleum Agency auctions new exploration blocks off the countrys north-east coast in 2012 but said a final decision would be taken after details of the auction are published.
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: 
MORE DETAILS:
A head-cut image of Alfred Donovan (now deceased) appears courtesy of The Wall Street Journal.
