Royal Dutch Shell Group .com Rotating Header Image

October, 2011:

Shell focuses on less developed US shale oil plays

HOUSTON | Mon Oct 31, 2011 7:35pm GMT

Oct 31 (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L) is “very interested” in onshore U.S. shale oil, but the company is focusing on less developed plays to bypass the pricey competitive rush for more established acreage, the head of Shell’s Americas operations said on Monday.

Marvin Odum told Reuters in an interview that oil majors likely will move into shale oil plays faster than they did during the natural gas shale boom.

He also said he expected the Keystone XL Canada-to-Texas pipeline to be approved despite opposition and that Shell’s joint-venture Motiva Enterprises’ refinery in Port Arthur will be well positioned to process heavy Canadian crude transported in the line. 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.

Irregularities in a Royal Dutch Shell tender process

Malcolm Brinded, the Shell boss who back AJL

31 October 2011

By John Donovan

During the discovery process of high court litigation several years ago, I stumbled across evidence in Shell’s own internal documents of a rigged contract tender process involving several Shell executives, led by AJL, a then Shell National Promotions executive.

I was in the process of suing Shell in the High Court for the fourth time (Shell had already settled the first three cases) when I found the amazing array of evidence in discovery documents supplied by Shell.

All of the cases involved the same Shell executive, AJL. 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.

Royal Dutch Shell, Tony Blair and Muammar Gaddafi

From pages 42 & 43 of “Royal Dutch Shell and its sustainability troubles” – Background report to the Erratum of Shell’s Annual Report 2010

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

In May 2005, Shell signed an agreement to start a joint venture with the Libyan National Oil Corporation. The joint venture would revamp and expand the existing liquified natural gas (LNG) Plant at Marsa el-Brega on the Libyan coast. It would also explore for gas and subsequently develop five areas totalling 20,000 square kilometres located in the heart of Libya’s Sirte Basin. Shell was committed to invest USD 637 million in the first phase of the joint venture.

Already in March 2004, Malcolm Brinded, head of exploration and production at Shell, stated: “We were in Libya in the Fifties and we were in Libya in the Eighties for an exploration programme, but for this one we came back in 2001 and so this is the culmination of discussions over that.” International sanctions on Libya were lifted in 2003 and 2004. Thus, Shell had been fishing for contracts from Gaddafi a long time before international sanctions were lifted. 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.

Missing Shell exec found dead in Netherlands

31 October 2011

CALGARY — What should have been business as usual in the Netherlands turned tragic this weekend, as a missing Shell Canada employee has turned up dead.

Barry Maguire, a general manager of design engineering for Shell, was found by the sea early Sunday.

A spokesman for the company confirmed Sunday evening Maguire of Calgary who had died while on a business trip.

He had been reported missing Thursday.

“We understand from the police in the Netherlands that the body of the employee, who previously had been reported missing, was found earlier (Sunday),” spokesman Stephen Doolan 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.

Asia LNG prices to continue rising-Shell CEO Voser

Mon Oct 31, 2011 6:07am GMT

Oct 31 (Reuters) – Oil major Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSa.L) expects prices of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in Asia to continue rising and refining margins to stay under pressure in 2012, its chief executive said on Monday.

“LNG prices are rising and we see this continuing,” Peter Voser told Reuters on the sidelines of the Singapore International Energy Week (SIEW).

Shell is working on new supply sources and that could influence prices in the longer term. The oil major has bought a marine terminal on Canada’s Pacific Coast as a possible site to export LNG to Asia. 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.

Malcolm Brinded sucking up to the Chinese government

Following the demise of his friend Gaddafi, Royal Dutch Shell Executive Director Malcolm Brinded (center figure in photo immediately above) has turned his attention to the Chinese government. Jia Qinglin (Front, R same photo), chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), listens to the introduction of a senior manager as he visits the research and development center of Royal Dutch Shell in The Hague, the Netherlands, Oct. 28, 2011. (Xinhua/Li Tao) 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 looks to North Sea as European investment cut

MARK WILLIAMSON

28 Oct 2011

ROYAL Dutch Shell said it would curb investment in Europe where it expects the economy to stagnate, but made clear it would still spend in the North Sea.

Announcing bumper profits driven by high oil prices, the oil and gas giant said it will shift a growing share of its investment to places like Qatar, where the launch of huge projects will underpin growth for years.

Noting that Shell only devotes 15% of its investment to Europe, chief financial officer Simon Henry said the continent’s share will shrink amid concerns about the fallout from the debt crisis. 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.

OIL GIANT ROYAL DUTCH SHELL PROFITS BONANZA

By David Cralk: Friday October 28,2011

OIL giant Royal Dutch Shell unveiled a doubling in profits ­yesterday thanks to higher prices as it vowed to slash European investment because of economic fears.

Chief executive Peter Voser said the group was making good progress as it reported third-quarter profits of $7.2billion (£4.5billion) for the period to the end of September up from £2.1billion last time.

It said oil prices, often soaring above $100 a barrel and new projects particularly in Canada and Qatar, had been the main drivers offsetting a 2 per cent dip in production to 3million barrels a day after a ramp up in asset sales such as its SDHp Norwegian gas pipelines. 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 PROFITS HIT £49m A DAY

By STEVE HAWKES, Business Editor: Friday 28 October 2011

*£12.5bn cash in the bank

*90,000 staff around the world

*3m output in millions of barrels a day

SOARING oil and gas prices have sent profits surging to £49million a day at SHELL.

The energy giant made a whopping £4.5billion over the three months to October — DOUBLE the same period a year ago.

Yesterday’s figures come as drivers are being forced off the road by soaring petrol prices as the cost of oil hits record highs.

AA chiefs claim a quarter of motorists are cutting back.

AA president Edmund King said motorists “will not be pleased” to see oil giants making a killing.

But he insisted many now blame the Chancellor more than oil companies for the huge prices they pay at the pump. 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 is another country: they do things differently there

The Guardian home

The oil giant handles budgets and projects of a size that would daunt nation states. The difference is that it need answer to no one … and it’s running a huge surplus

Posted by Thursday 27 October 2011 13.08 BST The Guardian

Shell: ‘ticking like a Swiss watch’. Photograph: Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Images

What European leader would not want to swap places with Shell boss Peter Voser? He has just doubled the company’s profits in the third quarter, amassed $30bn (£18.7bn) of cash over the last nine months and is now buying back shares at the rate of $800m every three months for want to anything better to do with the money.

Voser has the advantage of having everything to gain from higher energy prices. The social and political fallout from rising fuel poverty and mutinous motorists rarely touches the parallel universe that is Shell Centre 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.

North Sea oil spill risk ‘unacceptably high’, claims European commission

The Guardian home

Commission says new laws needed to prevent another Deepwater Horizon, as Shell and Exxon reveal massive profits

Shell made $7.2bn in profits in the third quarter. Photograph: Royal Dutch Shell/EPA

The European commission has warned that the likelihood of a Deepwater Horizon-type accident in the North Sea remains “unacceptably high” as it outlined new laws to counter the danger.

The moves have angered the UK government and offshore oil industry while threatening to put a brake on some of the huge profits declared by big North Sea operators Shell and ExxonMobil.

Brussels officials defended their plans to in effect seize overall control of North Sea regulation from the British authorities. 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.

Motiva Texas expansion 90 pct complete – Shell

Thu Oct 27, 2011 11:09am EDT

* Port Arthur refinery will be 600,000 bpd

* Will be deep conversion plant

* Refinery to process wide variety of crude oils

NEW YORK, Oct 27 (Reuters) – The expansion of the Motiva Port Arthur, Texas refinery is 90 percent complete and start-up procedures are slated to begin in the first half of next year, Shell officials said on Thursday.

The officials made the remarks about the refinery, jointly owned by Royal Dutch Shell and Saudi Aramco, in a third-quarter earnings conference call.

The refinery is currently rated at 325,000 barrels per day of input capacity and will expand to 600,000 bpd once the expansion is complete. 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.

ASA BANS SHELL FUELSAVE ADVERTISING FALSE CLAIMS

Action

Ad (a) must not appear again in its current form. Ad (b) must not be broadcast again in its current form. We told Shell to ensure that they held adequate substantiation for their advertising claims in future.


Shell UK Ltd

Shell Centre
London
SE1 7NA

Date:

19 October 2011

Media:

Radio, Direct mail

Sector:

Business

Number of complaints:

3

Complaint Ref:

A11-154707

A direct mailing and a radio ad for fuel:

a. The direct mailing, sent in early March 2011, was headed “Our scientists have developed a regular fuel to help you save”. Further text stated “The scientists at Shell are committed to creating fuels that improve your fuel economy. Their latest fuels – Shell FuelSave Unleaded and Diesel – are designed to help you save fuel and money. These advanced fuels each have a special formula enriched with a Shell Efficiency Improver combined with a special detergent package – designed to improve your fuel economy from the very first fill. And of course you’ll collect one point for every litre you buy”. Next to the text was an image of a man dressed in a lab coat holding a full 1 litre measuring glass, with text on it that stated “SAVE UP TO 1 LITRE PER TANK* AT NO EXTRA COST”. 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 Reports Higher Q3 Earnings on Oil Prices

By Eduard Gismatullin – Oct 27, 2011 8:25 AM GMT+0100

Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Europe’s biggest oil company, said third-quarter profit doubled as energy prices rose and it ramped up projects from Qatar to Canada.

Net income increased to $7 billion from $3.5 billion a year earlier, The Hague-based Shell said today in a statement. Excluding one-time items and inventory changes, earnings beat analyst estimates.

Chief Executive Officer Peter Voser is seeking to boost output with a $100 billion investment plan through 2014, including the Pearl gas-to-liquids and Qatargas 4 liquefied natural-gas projects and an upgrade at an oil-sands project in Alberta. Shell has sold about $6.2 billion of assets this year, exceeding a $5 billion target. 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.

Kashagan Expansion May Finish Earlier, KazMunaiGaz CEO Says

October 26, 2011, 7:24 PM EDT

By Nariman Gizitdinov and Hellmuth Tromm

Oct. 27 (Bloomberg) — Royal Dutch Shell Plc and other partners in the Kashagan venture may complete expansion as early as 2017, allowing Kazakhstan to reach its goal of becoming one of the world’s biggest oil exporters faster.

“If the partners will choose the field’s development conception by the end of this year or beginning of next year” and the government approves it, the expansion may be finished by 2017 or 2018, as much as a year earlier than the company previously estimated, said Bolat Akchulakov, chief executive officer of KazMunaiGaz National Co., a partner in the project. 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 Coast Guard Challenge: Arctic Drilling

October 26, 2011, 6:15 pm

By WILLIAM YARDLEY

As I noted in my article in Wednesday’s paper, Shell Oil has received several preliminary permits to begin drilling exploratory wells off the Arctic coast of Alaska next summer even as foes of drilling there argue that the severe conditions — ice, darkness, brutal storms — will make it impossible to properly respond to a spill or other problem.

Opponents are also challenging Shell’s plans for other reasons, including the carbon dioxide emissions resulting from all of the new work and vessel traffic. Some Native Alaskan groups have joined environmental groups in the fight. 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 Q3 profits soar on higher oil price

(Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSa.L) reported a doubling in profits on Thursday thanks to higher oil prices, robust demand for gas and stronger refining margins, and said it would continue to sell off non-core assets.

Europe’s largest oil company by market value said it’s current cost of supply (CCS) net income was $7.2 billion, a 100 percent rise on the same period last year when non-cash accounting charges weighed on the result.

The underlying result was broadly in line with analysts forecasts. 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 Profit Soars

OCTOBER 27, 2011

By ALEXIS FLYNN

LONDON—Royal Dutch Shell PLC Thursday said its net profit in the third quarter more than doubled, driven by strong oil and rising natural-gas prices as major projects have started to raise production.

Net profit for the quarter totaled $6.98 billion, compared with $3.46 billion a year earlier. Revenue was $123.41 billion, compared with $90.71 billion.

The results reveal that the company is reaping rewards for its heavy investment in new infrastructure, some of which enables it to turn less valuable hydrocarbons like natural gas and oil sands into high quality transport fuels and lubricants. 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 Pipe’ Norwegian premiere

The project is currently 10 years behind schedule, projected costs have risen from $800 million to $2.5billion, Statoil has had to sell off its retail outlets in Ireland because of the damage to its reputation and internationally the reputation of Statoil has suffered due to its partnership in the Corrib field.

CORRIB GAS PROJECT

The award winning documentary film about the controversial Corrib Gas pipeline – ‘The Pipe’ – will have its Norwegian premiere this Monday in Oslo at the Cinemateket presented by the Neptune Network:
http://www.neptunenetwork.org/.

Attendees will include people from industry, politics, media and academia, who will participate in a post screening discussion with director of the film Risteard Ó Domhnaill and County Mayo fisherman Patrick O’Donnell

(see photo right, courtesy of John Monaghan).

http://www.neptunenetwork.org/profiles/blogs/cinemateket-statoils-overgrep-mot-irsk-befolkning-vises-frem-i-pr
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.

Nigerians seek $1 bln from Shell over oil spills

Tue Oct 25, 2011 5:47am GMT

ABUJA (Reuters) – A Nigerian community from the oil-rich Niger Delta has filed a lawsuit in the United States seeking $1 billion in compensation from Anglo-Dutch oil major Shell for decades of pollution caused by oil spills.

Last week the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to decide if companies can be held liable in the United States for international human rights law violations.

The decision was related to a case involving allegations that Shell helped Nigeria violently suppress oil exploration protests in the 1990s. 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.

Economic benefits will likely win Keystone XL approval: Shell

Oct 24, 2011 – 5:41 PM ET

TORONTO — The U.S. government is likely to approve the Keystone XL pipeline in part because of the economic benefits that would come along with the controversial US$7-billion project, the head of Royal Dutch Shell’s North American operations, predicted Monday.

In fact, the economic benefits attendant on the energy industries in North America in general are even more important than energy independence, Marvin Odum, president of Shell Oil Co. and upstream director of Royal Dutch Shell’s subsidiary company in the Americas, said at a Toronto conference. 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.

Enviro Groups Challenge Permits For Shell’s Arctic Oil Drilling

Oct 24, 2011

By Tennille Tracy, Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- Environmental groups have filed a formal challenge to air-quality permits that Royal Dutch Shell needs to drill for oil in the Arctic.

The challenges, filed Monday, represent the latest effort to block Shell ( RDSA, RDSB, RDSA.LN, RDSB.LN) from drilling off the coast of Alaska and could derail the company’s plans to begin exploring the region in 2012. 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.

Free access to US court documents filed against Royal Dutch Shell claiming $1B in damages

Due to the Defendants’ oil exploration in the Plaintiffs land and failure by Shell and others to meet minimum Nigerian or own standards, the Plaintiffs community is now characterized by heavy contamination of land and underground water courses, sometimes more than 40 years after oil was spilled.

By John Donovan

We have purchased from the United States District Court Eastern District of Michigan and now publish on the Internet, court documents issued in the court on 18 October 2011 against Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Shell Petroleum Development Company (NIG) Ltd.

The case is as stated in the related Washington Post article:

Nigeria village cited by UN for chronic oil-spill damage sues Royal Dutch Shell for $1B in US

Case No. 11-14572

HRH EMERE GODWIN BEBE OKPABI;
EMERE FORTUNE OLAKA OBE;
EMERE AKE OLUKA;
HONOURABLE PRINCEWILL AKE IGWE; HONOURABLE DANDYSON NGAWALA;
CHIEF LAWRENCE OSARO OYOR, for themselves and on behalf of the People of Ogale in Eleme Local Government, Rivers state,
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.

Taliban threatens to attack Shell Pakistan, Pakistan State Oil

Oct 23, 2011, 03.46PM IST

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistani Taliban have threatened to attack installations of Shell Pakistan and the state-run Pakistan State Oil if the two firms do not pay a total of Rs 400 million within 20 days as extortion money, a media report said on Sunday.

“I had personally spoken to the managing directors of the Pakistan State Oil and Shell Pakistan and demanded that they arrange to pay us Rs 200 million each. Otherwise, I had warned them that we would start attacking their installations anywhere in the country,” a senior Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan commander told The News on phone. 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 Wins U.S. Air Permit for Oil Exploration Off Alaska

By Katarzyna Klimasinska – Oct 21, 2011 10:46 PM GMT+0100

Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA) won a final U.S. air-pollution permit to operate an oil-exploration rig in Alaska’s Beaufort Sea beginning in 2012.

Shell is authorized to use its Kulluk rig and supporting icebreakers and oil-spill response vessels for 120 days each year in the Arctic waters, the Environmental Protection Agency said today in an e-mailed statement.

“This air permit is one of several federal authorizations Shell needs to explore for oil and gas” off Alaska “starting in July 2012,” the agency said. “EPA’s final permit significantly reduces the potential air pollution from Shell’s drilling operations.” 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 Village Files $1B Suit Against Shell in U.S.

A village in Nigeria’s oil-rich southern delta where observers found a drinking-water well polluted with benzene 900 times the international limit has sued Royal Dutch Shell PLC for $1 billion in a U.S. federal court.

Published October 21, 2011 | FoxNews.com

LAGOS, Nigeria— A village in Nigeria’s oil-rich southern delta where observers found a drinking-water well polluted with benzene 900 times the international limit has sued Royal Dutch Shell PLC for $1 billion in a U.S. federal court.

The lawsuit alleges that Shell, long the dominant oil company over Nigeria’s more than 50 years of production, acted willfully negligent in pursuing profits over protecting the nation’s Niger Delta. 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.

New research reveals Shell paid militants who destroyed Nigerian towns

PLATFORMLondon.org

Monday 3 October 2011

Shell fuelled human rights abuses in Nigeria by paying huge contracts to armed militants, according to a new report published today by Platform and a coalition of NGOs and featured in The Guardian. [1]

Counting the Cost implicates Shell in cases of serious violence in Nigeria’s oil-rich Niger Delta region from 2000 to 2010.[2] The report uncovers how Shell’s routine payments to armed militants exacerbated conflicts, in one case leading to the destruction of Rumuekpe town where it is estimated that at least 60 people were killed.[3]
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 false claims over FuelSave featured on BBC TV Watchdog programme

By John Donovan

For getting on to a hundred years, Shell has claimed that its petrol is better quality and delivers more miles per gallon than rival brands, as per the example of one such advert from October 1925.

Fortunately for Shell, there was no UK Advertising Standards Authority in existence to rule on whether such claims were justified.

Now Shell’s false advertising claims are regularly exposed by Advertising Standards Authorities in the UK and overseas.

Printed below is a transcript of a feature on the BBC TV flagship consumer programme “Watchdog” broadcast last night – at 8pm on 20 October 2011.
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.

Lawsuit against Shell should be a no-brainer to decide

Published: October 20

The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case pitting a group of Nigerians against Royal Dutch Shell, which has been accused of complicity in torture and executions in Nigeria. According to an Oct. 18 news story, “The lower [U.S.] courts are divided about whether only an individual may be sued under the [alien tort] statute or whether it extends to cover corporations.”

Since the Supreme Court has already decided that, when it comes to contributions to political campaigns, corporations are just like individuals, the decision on whether a corporation can be sued should be a no-brainer. Or will the Supreme Court let corporations have their cake and eat it, too? 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.

Nigerians seek $1 billion from Shell for oil spills

CHICAGO — A Nigerian tribal king filed a lawsuit in a US court seeking $1 billion from Royal Dutch Shell to compensate for decades of pollution that sickened his people and damaged their lands, his lawyer said Thursday.

The suit was filed a day after the US Supreme Court said it will consider a lawsuit accusing Shell of human rights abuses in Nigeria in a landmark case that could make companies liable for torture or genocide committed overseas.

That case will assess the potential liability of corporations — including multinationals with a US presence — under the Alien Tort Statute, a US law dating back to 1789 that scholars say was meant to assure foreign governments that the United States would help prevent breaches of international 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.

The Arctic and the Lessons of the Gulf

A version of this editorial appeared in print on October 21, 2011, on page A34 of the New York edition

The Interior Department has been inching closer to approving Royal Dutch Shell’s ambitious plans to drill for what are believed to be huge deposits of oil in the Arctic Ocean off Alaska. In August, it approved an exploratory drilling plan for the Beaufort Sea, and two weeks ago it upheld the validity of leases in the neighboring Chukchi Sea that had been challenged by environmental groups.

The Interior Department and Shell both insist that they have learned the lessons of the disastrous BP spill in the Gulf of Mexico. They must prove it. The Interior Department has written tough new regulations governing drilling, including requirements for subsea containment systems to plug a runaway well. 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.

Dutch officials wade into Niger Delta crisis

Tuesday, 18 October 2011 00:00 From Kelvin Ebiri, Rotterdam

TOP officials of the Dutch government at the weekend kept on the front burner efforts to bring lasting stability to the Niger Delta.

The position of the government was articulated by Dutch parliamentarians and a representative of the country’s Foreign Affairs Ministry in charge of the Horn of Africa, East and West Africa.

A Dutch parliamentarian, Sharon Gesthuizen, specifically tasked Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) to clean up oil spill in all contaminated sites in the Niger Delta. Shell admitted that oil spill in the Niger Delta was wrong and it would do its best to remediate areas affected. 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.

Will Malcolm Brinded be attending the funeral of his friend Gaddafi?

COMMENTS FROM A ROYAL DUTCH SHELL RETIREE ON CURRENT NEWS STORIES

Interested in the report on this leak they are trying to stop in Athabasca…

Oilsands leak turned mine to pond

Few people probably realise this is a nightmare and very likely unstoppable until the whole aquifer runs out of energy. Compare it with a blow-out.  I think it is a major mishap but have no other info then what I read in the article.

And the oilwells in Sakhalin going to sand is a disaster of great magnitude.

6 Oil Wells On Sakhalin Go Offline

With winter starting they presumably cannot re-enter the wells and try to fix it. It also shows the original design was flawed. I bet that even those atheist Russians (and the secular Shell folk as well)  are praying the same will not happen on the gaswells because then they really are f*cked! 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.

Looking to strike it rich for oil in offshore Ireland

After the Government granted 12 firms permission to look for oil and gas around Ireland this week, Peter Flanagan and Donal O’Donovan ask if the next big oil field is really on our doorstep

Thursday October 20 2011

IRELAND has watched for years as neighbours in the UK and Norway reaped the benefits of staggering oil strikes in the North Sea.

This week, efforts to emulate that success here stepped up a gear when the Government granted licences to 12 companies from four countries to search for hydrocarbons off the west coast.

Five of the winning companies — Ireland‘s Providence Resources and San Leon Energy, and the UK’s Chrysaor, Serica Energy and Sosina Exploration — already have a presence in Ireland; while the other seven licence winners — Canadian firm Antrim Energy, Bluestack Energy and Petrel Resources from Ireland, the UK’s Europa Oil & Gas, Two Seas Oil & Gas and First Oil Expro, as well as Spanish firm Repsol Exploration — are new to Irish waters, although another arm of Repsol recently announced it was entering into another licence off Ireland with Providence. 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.

Allegations against ‘Ogoni Leader’ Ledum Mitee

Allegations against “Ogoni Leader” Ledum Mitee

Dear Mr. Ledum Mitee,

When would you stop deceiving yourself, the less informed in Ogoni and the world concerning the Ogoni struggle?

Ordinarily, it would not be a problem to make comments such as those credited to you in respect of the Kiobel, et al v. Shell, in the current VOA article: “Ogoni Leader Welcomes U.S. Supreme Court Decision on Shell Case

You were informed of the Wiwa, et al v., and Kiobel v. Shell case (the former, in which I am involved), but you lied to and dogged the lawyers when they traveled to Nigeria/Lagos for deposition. Lawyers are wondering what kind of leader you are, that claimed to have been a principal witness tortured by the Nigerian govt. and Shell, yet refused to join in these suits. 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.

What does Shell case mean for Chevron?

Published: Oct. 19, 2011 at 8:36 AM

NEW YORK, Oct. 19 (UPI) — Officials were divided on how a U.S. Supreme Court decision to hear a case against Shell filed by Nigerians reflects on Chevron’s legal issues in Ecuador.

The Supreme Court announced Monday it would hear a case filed by 12 Nigerians who claim Royal Dutch Shell is responsible for human rights violations in the Niger Delta in the 1990s.

Fadel Gheit, an analyst at Oppenheimer, told the Platts news service that ruling could have ramifications for a legal case against Chevron’s activity in Ecuador. 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 ads banned over fuel claims

19 October 2011

Shell has been criticised for exaggerating a promotion for cost-cutting fuels.

The company has been banned from using two of its adverts which promote a money-saving fuel because they have been ruled to be misleading.

A direct mailing advert, sent in March, said Shell scientists had developed a regular fuel to help consumers save money.

It said: “Their latest fuels – Shell FuelSave Unleaded and Diesel – are designed to help you save fuel and money. These advanced fuels each have a special formula enriched with Shell Efficiency Improver combined with a special detergent package – designed to improve your fuel economy from the very first fill.” 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 Chairman: Floating LNG Is A Game Changer For Offshore Gas

By James Herron

Published October 18, 2011| Dow Jones Newswires

PARIS -(Dow Jones)- Royal Dutch Shell PLC’s (RDSA, RDSB, RDSA.LN, RDSB.LN) new technology to produce liquefied natural gas aboard floating vessels will prove to be a game changer for the offshore gas industry, said the company’s Chairman, Jorma Ollila Tuesday.

“This game-changing technology will substantially reduce the cost and environmental footprint of developing offshore gas fields,” Ollila said at the International Energy Agency’s Ministerial Meeting in Paris. 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.

Ogoni Leader Welcomes U.S. Supreme Court Decision on Shell Case

Movement for Survival of Ogoni People president Ledum Mitee says the court’s decision sends a message that Shell must be held to account

James Butty

The president of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People [MOSOP] said his group welcomes the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to hear a dispute between the Ogoni people and Royal Dutch Shell Oil Company.

The high court justices agreed Monday to hear a federal appeal by a group of Nigerians who alleged that shell was complicit in torture, wrongful deaths and other human rights abuses committed by Nigerian authorities against environmental campaigners during the 1990s.

MOSOP President Ledum Mitee said the decision sends the right message that Shell must be held to account. 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.

SCOTUS to decide if corps. liable for torturing aliens, citizens

THOMSON REUTERS

Alison Frankel

10/17/2011

Almost as soon as the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit concluded last year in Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum that corporations are not liable in U.S. courts under the Alien Tort Statute for abetting overseas atrocities, the ruling looked like U.S. Supreme Court bait. As I’ve reported, the D.C. Circuit, the Eleventh Circuit, and the Seventh Circuit have all come to the opposite conclusion about corporate liability under the ATS. The only question was which ATS case the high court would choose as the vehicle for deciding whether corporations can be sued for helping foreign governments violate international human-rights 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.

US Supreme Court to hear Nigeria-Shell rights case

17 October 2011

WASHINGTON — The US Supreme Court said Monday it will consider a lawsuit accusing Royal Dutch Shell of human rights abuses, a case that could make companies liable for torture or genocide committed overseas.

The plaintiffs — relatives of seven Nigerians killed by the country’s former military regime — sued the Anglo-Dutch energy giant and other firms for apparently enlisting the government to suppress resistance to oil exploration in the Niger Delta in the 1990s. 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.S. Supreme Court to hear bid to sue Shell for Nigerian abuses

OCTOBER 17, 2011 12.35 P.M. ET

Associated Press

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court said Monday it will use a dispute between Nigerian villagers and oil giant Royal Dutch Shell to decide whether corporations may be held liable in U.S. courts for alleged human rights abuses overseas.

The justices said they will review a federal appeals court ruling in favor of Shell. The case centers on the 222-year-old Alien Tort Statute that has been increasingly used in recent years to sue corporations for alleged abuses abroad. 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.S. Supreme Court to hear bid to sue Shell for Nigerian abuses

17 October 2011

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court says it will use a dispute between Nigerian villagers and oil giant Royal Dutch Shell to decide whether corporations may be held liable in U.S. courts for alleged human rights abuses overseas.

The justices said Monday they will review a federal appeals court ruling in favor of Shell. The case centers on the 222-year-old Alien Tort Statute that has been increasingly used in recent years to sue corporations for alleged abuses abroad.

The villagers argue Shell was complicit in torture and other crimes against humanity in the country’s oil-rich Ogoni region in the Niger Delta.

A divided panel of federal appeals court judges in New York said the 18th century law may not be used against corporations. More recently, appellate judges in Washington said it could.

ADDED BY JOHN DONOVAN: SHELL IN NIGERIA

Shell’s horrendous track record in Nigeria includes embedding spies in the Nigerian government; paying rival militant gangs; engaging in corruption (not only in Nigeria); arming police spies; using a private spy firm (Hakluyt) partly owned and controlled by Shell directors, to infiltrate Nigerian activists (friends of Ken Saro-Wiwa) and linking Shell with murder and human rights abuses which are the subject of the above case. Questions inevitably arise about financial linkage to Shell of the militants responsible for the repeated attacks against Shell pipelines and infrastructure over many years, which has driven up the cost of oil. Shell has such a shameful record in Nigeria, including plunder and pollution on an epic scale, that it has even considered ditching the Shell global brand name. Such a radical move would also distance the company from its Nazi past. 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.

Technology, high prices fuel oil rush in Arctic

Technology, high prices fuel oil rush in Arctic

By BRETT CLANTON, HOUSTON CHRONICLE

Updated 12:02 a.m., Monday, October 17, 2011

As the global hunt for oil gets tougher, the icy expanse of the Arctic – one of the last frontiers left for exploration – is looking more attractive to some producers.

Indeed, oil and gas activity in areas north of the Arctic Circle could grow considerably in coming years as several major oil companies aim to move forward with exploration plans and others weigh whether they should follow suit.

While it may be too early to call it a boom, there are clear signs of a building trend. 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.

Greenpeace activists confront deep sea oil exploration ship

Business.Scoop

Edited by JONATHAN UNDERHILL & PATRICK SMELLIE

Auckland, Monday 17th October, 2011. This morning Greenpeace activists held a legal protest outside Port Taranaki against a ship that is due to depart imminently to start exploring for deep sea oil – the new frontier of oil development off New Zealand’s shores.

There was a heavy police presence at the port overnight and this morning – to protect the controversial ship, Polarcus Alima, which arrived in Taranaki this morning. It is due to leave shortly to start exploring for oil off Raglan at depths of up to 1600 metres, on behalf of US oil giant Anadarko (1). 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.

UGI acquires European LPG businesses from Shell

Energy Business News

EBR Staff Writer: Published 17 October 2011

UGI Corporation has acquired the liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) distribution businesses of Shell in the UK, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden.

These businesses delivered about 300 million gallons of LPG in 2010, the addition of which will expand the scale of UGI’s European LPG business to over 700 million gallons.

UGI chairman and CEO Lon Greenberg said the acquired businesses provide UGI with an attractive opportunity to expand its footprint in northern Europe to LPG markets that are in close proximity to its existing operations in France and Central Europe. 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.

Sakhalin: the last 130 Western Gray Whales

From pages 48 & 49 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.

The Sakhalin-2 project

According to its developers, the Sakhalin-2 project is the world’s largest integrated oil and gas project. The capital expenditure for this project amounted to USD 21.3 billion from 2001 through 2009, while total costs exceeded USD 24 billion.

The project is about extracting gas and oil offshore Sakhalin Island, in the Russian Far East. The fields are called Lunskoye (mostly gas) and Piltun-Astokhskoye (mostly oil). The company Sakhalin Energy Investment Company Ltd. (Sakhalin Energy) is the operator of the project. Royal Dutch Shell is a partner and lead technical adviser to the operator. Under the shareholding structure of Sakhalin Energy, Gazprom holds 50% (plus one share), Shell 27.5% (minus one share), Mitsui 12.5% and Mitsubishi 10%. 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.

Activist trial: Nigeria, Netherlands, Shell authorities play safe

VANGUARD

OCTOBER 16, 2011

By Emma Amaize in The Netherlands

NIGERIAN Embassy in The Netherlands,  Ministry of Foreign Affairs, The Netherlands and Shell Petroleum Development Company, SPDC, avoided taking a risk, weekend,   when the  prosecution of  a Nigerian-Dutch activist, Comrade Sunny Ofehe, by the Netherlands government for alleged pipeline bombing in Nigeria reverberated at an international conference on the Niger-Delta in Rotterdam.

But Ofehe’s  lawyer, Mr. Ed Manders of Manders Advocaten, who spoke to journalists 24 hours earlier in his office in Rotterdam, said the case of terrorism by The Netherlands police against his client, who is the founder/president of the Hope for Niger-Delta Campaign, HNDC, was not provable, as the prosecution was merely relying on a phone conversation in which the activist requested for an opportunity to videotape an oil bunkering activity 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 set to plug leak that created pond at oilsands mine

Never-seen-before problem shows importance of additional seismic work in areas earmarked for mining

By Dave Cooper, edmontonjournal.com October 14, 2011

The flooded pit at Shell’s Muskeg River mine now holds about seven million cubic metres of salty water after a deep crack formed in the rock below the mined-out area last year, allowing water from a deep aquifer to flow upwards. It was the first time an oilsands firm has faced such a situation. Shell is building a drilling pad in the pond and will inject hot asphalt and then cement into the crack to permanently seal the leak next year. Photograph by: Shell Canada, edmontonjournal.com

EDMONTON – When water started appearing at the bottom of a Muskeg River mine pit north of Fort McMurray last October, crews assumed it was normal seepage from surrounding rock. 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.

6 Oil Wells On Sakhalin Go Offline

14 October 2011
Vedomosti

Dysfunctional oil wells at Sakhalin-2 are threatening to decrease production at the field in Russia’s Far East and could be indicative of more serious problems.

The problems on Sakhalin-2 in the Piltun-Astokhskoye oil field were documented in a government report to the State Duma on the implementation of the production sharing agreement, a copy of which was obtained by Vedomosti.

According to the report, the wells are not functioning “due to the need to remove a significant amount of sand after a water breakthrough.” This mishap prompted a shutdown of six of the 13 oil wells on the Astokhskoye section, where the Molikpaq Platform extracts oil. 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.