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August 14th, 2012:

Black Smoke in Martinez – Authorities Investigating Strong Natural Gas Odor at the Shell Refinery

We just received this photo from a Claycordian in Martinez, who says she saw this black smoke, which came from the area of the Shell Refinery in Martinez.

As we reported just a little while ago, authorities are investigating a strong smell of natural gas at the Shell Refinery in Martinez. They say there is no shelter-in-place, but say anybody with pre-existing respiratory issues such as asthma should avoid the area or stay indoors.

The Contra Costa Health Department says two puffs of black smoke were sent into the air from a flare at the Shell Refinery earlier today. 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.

Malfunction triggers smoke, shuts Shell California refinery

Tue Aug 14, 2012 10:46pm BST

(Reuters) – A malfunctioning unit released heavy black smoke and was shut down at Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s (RDSa.L) 156,400 barrel per day (bpd) Martinez, California, refinery on Tuesday, according to the Contra Coast County Health Department Hazardous Materials Program.

Shell advised nearby neighbours that they might smell a propane odour while they were shutting down some equipment, according to a message sent to area residents.

A Shell representative was not immediately available to discuss refinery 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.

Interior chief says Shell equipment behind Arctic drilling delays

By Jennifer A. Dlouhy: Updated 9:48 p.m., Monday, August 13, 2012

WASHINGTON – Neither thick Arctic ice nor government red tape is holding back Shell’s plans to search for oil in waters north of Alaska this summer, a top Obama administration official said Monday.

Instead, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar told reporters, the delays are Shell’s own making.

A key oil spill containment system and the barge carrying it have not cleared a required Coast Guard inspection or been tested in front of federal drilling safety regulators. Instead, the 36-year-old Arctic Challenger barge has been docked and undergoing renovations in Bellingham, Wash. 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 Plans $2.5 Billion Issue in First Bond Sale Since 2010

By Charles Mead on August 14, 2012

Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA), Europe’s largest oil producer, plans to raise $2.5 billion with its first bond offering in two years with a three-part sale.

The company intends to issue $1 billion of five-year notes that may yield 50 basis points more than similar-maturity Treasuries, an equal portion of 10-year bonds with a 70 basis- point spread, and $500 million of 30-year debt that may pay 82 basis points more than benchmarks, according to a person familiar with the offering who asked not to be identified, citing lack of authorization to speak publicly about the sale. The bonds may be rated Aa1 by Moody’s Investors Service, its second-highest grade, the person 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.

Corrib coverage should come with more balance

Fr Kevin Hegarty

In the John Millington Synge play ‘The Playboy of the Western World’, the hero, Christy Mahon regales three awed young women with the dramatic and false story of how he killed his father. Susan responds that it is a ‘grand story’ to which Honor says, ‘he tells it lovely’.

I believe that some local media commentators indulged in some Christy Mahon style of lurid embroidery in their coverage of the lorry bound for the Corrib Gas terminal at Bellanaboy which got stuck at Glenamoy junction. To me, it seems as if they did a partisan trawl of the Corrib archive to cast doubts on the overall integrity of 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.

Selection of links: 14 August 2012

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.

BP Said to Seek $7.9 Billion Selling Gulf of Mexico Fields

By Cathy Chan, Matthew Campbell and Brian Swint on August 14, 2012

BP Plc (BP/) is seeking as much as $7.9 billion before tax payments for a group of Gulf of Mexico oilfields as it unloads assets following its 2010 spill in the region, two people with knowledge of the matter said.

The oil producer, Europe’s biggest after Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA), has prepared preliminary information for prospective buyers of assets including the Horn Mountain, Holstein, Diana Hoover and Ram Powell fields, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the sale process is confidential. 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.

Troubled Arctic Challenger cited for small illegal discharges

By Kim MurphyAugust 13, 2012, 6:49 p.m.

SEATTLE — The containment vessel designed to capture oil in the event of a spill during exploratory drilling off the coast of Alaska has itself been responsible for four minor illegal fluid discharges during the last three weeks, the Coast Guard confirmed Monday.

The discharges all involved hydraulic fluid and were generally limited to about a quart each time, all of which was contained and cleaned up. The fine was just $250. But the discharges signal Shell Exploration’s continuing problems with the vessel, the Arctic Challenger, whose trouble-plagued retrofit in Bellingham, Wash., has delayed the launch of the first major offshore oil drilling in the U.S. Arctic in 20 years. 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: To Break Ground for $100 Million Lubricant Plant in Northern China

Dow Jones Newswires: Published August 14, 2012

Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSA.LN) will break ground for a $100 million lubricant blending plant in northern China on Thursday, Mark Gainsborough, Shell executive vice president of Global Commercial Business, said Tuesday. 

Located in the city of Tianjin, the world-scale plant will start commercial production in early 2015 and produce 300,000 metric tons of lubricants annually, Mr. Gainsborough said in a media briefing in Beijing.

The plant is planned to suit growing demand for lubricants in Asia, especially in China, Mr. Gainsborough 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.

More than 1,000 turn out for ‘Rossport Five’ demonstration

FROM OUR AUGUST 2005 SHELL NEWS ARCHIVE…

Ireland On-Line: More than 1,000 turn out for ‘Rossport Five’ demonstration

Posted Sunday 14 August 2005

Supporters of the “Rossport Five” took their case to Galway this weekend where more than a thousand people attended a rally in the city centre.

The campaigners have been demanding that the Shell oil company abandons its plans to build a gas pipeline in their land.

The five Mayo men have now spent six weeks in jail for opposing the project.

Green Party councillor Niall O’Brolchain said that the men are prepared to stay there as long as it takes to prove the oil giant’s plans are not safe. 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.

An oil giant’s road from Rajasthan to ruin

 FROM OUR AUGUST 2004 SHELL NEWS ARCHIVE…

Michael Harrison’s Outlook: An oil giant’s road from Rajasthan to ruin

“Shell, by contrast, has endured the most humiliating, torrid and damaging period in its 100-year history. It is hard to think of a more spectacular fall from grace or a more abject example of management failure.”: “The deeper it dug itself into this hole, the more Shell was forced to lie” 

Fortunes; Failure; Scramble

14 August 2004

It is a long way from the arid deserts of Rajasthan to the Shell Centre on London’s South Bank. But two events this week provide a link.

One was the announcement by Cairn Energy that it had made yet another significant oil discovery in a region of India hitherto better known for its sumptuous pink palaces and backpacking tourists. The other was the disclosure that Shell’s former head of exploration and production, Walter van de Vijver, is to receive a £2.5m pay-off after being sacked for his part in the company’s reserves scandal. 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.

Time running out for Shell drilling in Arctic, Salazar says

By Yereth Rosen

ANCHORAGE | Mon Aug 13, 2012 6:47pm EDT

(Reuters) – Time is running out for Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L) to drill exploration wells in Arctic waters off northern and northwestern Alaska, U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said Monday.

Shell’s long-awaited plan to drill for oil in the Chukchi Sea has been held up by its inability to win approval for an oil-spill barge that is a required piece of safety equipment, Salazar said. The barge remains in Bellingham, Washington undergoing inspections and awaiting certification from the U.S. Coast Guard and American Bureau of Shipping, he 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.

Shell refinery fire put out in Martinez

Vivian Ho: Updated 9:12 p.m., Monday, August 13, 2012

A small fire broke out in the light oil processing unit at the Shell refinery in Martinez but was quickly put out Monday, a spokeswoman for the refinery said.

It was the second refinery fire in a week in the Bay Area, still jittery from the big Aug. 6 blaze at the Chevron refinery in Richmond.

The Shell fire began at about 2 p.m. and was knocked down at about 2:15 p.m. by Shell fire crews, said Erin Hallissy, a spokeswoman for the refinery.

The cause is under investigation.

Vivian Ho is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: [email protected] Twitter: @VivianHo 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.