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August, 2012:

Edmonton Sun: Shell bulks up!

FROM OUR AUGUST 2004 SHELL NEWS ARCHIVE…

Edmonton Sun (Canada): Shell bulks up!

Shell Canada Ltd now expects the next phase of expansion at its Athabasca oilsands project in northern Alberta to cost about $7.3 billion. That is nearly twice the estimated price released last fall.”

Wednesday 10 August 2005

By CP

CALGARY — Shell Canada Ltd. now expects the next phase of expansion at its Athabasca oilsands project in northern Alberta to cost about $7.3 billion.

That is nearly twice the estimated price released last fall.

Shell said yesterday its first major expansion at the Athabasca project, still targeting a 100,000-barrel-daily production boost, would now include “over-building” of common infrastructure to make further expansions cheaper and easier.

“The scope and scale of the expansion has been modified to include pre-building of infrastructure and utilities to support our longer-term goal of 500,000 barrels per day,” Shell spokesman Janet Annesley 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.

Government Delays Shell’s Drilling Operations in the Arctic

By: Audrey Hudson  8/10/2012 06:24 AM

Shell’s arctic drilling plans have stalled due to a number of obstacles including needed government permits, a slow summer ice melt, an OK from the Coast Guard, and if environmentalists have their way, sea raspberry coral.

The multinational oil and gas company hoped to start drilling five exploratory wells in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas off the northern Alaskan coast beginning July 1, but the four-month drilling window is closing fast forcing the to company to scale back their plans to just two wells. 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.

Peru tribes fear gas may bring extinction

FROM OUR AUGUST 2004 SHELL NEWS ARCHIVE…

iol.co.za: Peru tribes fear gas may bring extinction

Environmentalists say Shell’s contact in the 1980s wiped out half of the Yora tribe, pushing it toward extinction. Companies risk wiping out tribes with little or no contact with the outside world because pipeline workers expose them to diseases to which they have no immunity…

By Eduardo Orozco

Posted 10 August 2004

Malvinas, Peru – When Peru Camisea natural gas reserves arrive in Lima on Friday the economic boon they promise will come at a high price, the fear of extinction among the remote jungle tribes along the pipeline corridor.

Two decades after they were discovered, the Camisea reserves are expected to bring in about $8-billion in royalties for the government over a 40-year lifetime, generate billions of dollars in gas exports and slash Peru’s $700-million a year dependence on hydrocarbon imports. 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 Shell Spying

Rossport protesters under 24-hour surveillance by private security firm

Friday, August 10, 2012

LORNA SIGGINS, Western Correspondent

OPPONENTS OF the Corrib gas project in north Mayo are seeking legal advice on a communication that indicates the Rossport solidarity camp is under 24-hour surveillance by a private security company.

The communication involves a “situation report” that documents movements at the protest camp in late June.

The solidarity camp, initially established at Rossport in 2005, is pitched on private land at Aughoose – one of two locations for the final part of the Corrib gas pipeline, along Sruwadaccon estuary, a special area of conservation. 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 Petroleum Industry Reeling

FROM OUR AUGUST 2004 SHELL NEWS ARCHIVE…

The New York Times: Nigeria’s Petroleum Industry Reeling

In unrest comparable in scale to Chechnya and Colombia, a year of bloodletting has killed more than 1,000 in the oil-rich Niger Delta…: A confidential 93-page security report commissioned by Shell in December 2003 and obtained by The Associated Press and other news organizations warns that mounting attacks by criminals and ethnic militants could force the oil giant to abandon its onshore operations in the delta by 2008.: The report’s authors made other serious conclusions: that Shell “exacerbates conflict” in the way it gives cash and contracts to delta residents…

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Published: August 9, 2004

OMADINO, Nigeria (AP) — In unrest comparable in scale to Chechnya and Colombia, a year of bloodletting has killed more than 1,000 in the oil-rich Niger Delta — leaving the world’s No. 7 oil exporter, and people here, concerned for the future.

Tensions over oil revenues have aggravated ethnic strife. Kidnappings and sabotage have escalated, forcing costly shutdowns by companies pumping crude in the oil-rich swamps of the volatile 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.

For Shell, risks outweigh rewards for offshore oil drilling in Arctic

Jim Coburn, JD | Aug 08, 2012

Shell Oil’s spill response gear staged in Wainwright. Summer 2011. Ben Anderson photo

Just two years after BP’s Deepwater Horizon rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, another oil industry giant is poised to begin drilling in an even more forbidding, unpredictable and remote environment: the Alaskan shoreline.Shell is moving forward with at least two Arctic wells this year, at a time when confidence in the oil and gas industry’s risk management practices is remarkably low.In the wake of the Deepwater Horizon disaster, several reports have found that many oil and gas companies—not just BP—were poorly managing the risks of offshore drilling. As it prepares to move into the Arctic, has Shell set itself apart from its competitors, or is the company taking avoidable risks in an unforgiving environment?A new report by Ceres shows that oil and gas companies—Shell included—are not doing enough to manage offshore drilling risks and disclose their efforts to investors. The report, “Sustainable Extraction?“, examines risk disclosure in SEC filings submitted in the first quarter of 2011 by 10 of the world’s largest oil and gas companies. It finds that out of 50 deepwater risk disclosure scores on key metrics including spill response procedures and drilling risk management, only four scores were good, and 29 (nearly 60 percent) were poor or no disclosure.

This striking lack of disclosure makes it nearly impossible for investors to understand how companies are managing the range of potential drilling risks. And investors are already wary.

Lloyd’s, the world’s largest insurance market, cautions that “the Arctic is a frontier unlike any other” that will “remain a complex risk environment.” In its “Arctic Opening” report, Lloyd’s highlights geographic remoteness, ongoing changes to the environment as a result of climate change and extreme weather as key risk factors of offshore drilling in the Arctic. 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 refuses to lift injunction against jailed Rossport Five

FROM OUR AUGUST 2005 SHELL NEWS ARCHIVE…

Irish Times: FG leader wants TD to apologise for office picket

“The five men in Cloverhill face into their sixth week in prison, with no sign of any breakthrough due to Shell’s insistence on building an onshore terminal and its refusal to lift the injunction against north Mayo residents opposed to the onshore pipeline.”

Monday 8 August 2005

Lorna Siggins, Marine Correspondent

Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny has called for an apology from fellow Mayo TD Dr Jerry Cowley (Ind) about a picket of his constituency office over the Corrib gas issue.

Mr Kenny says he holds Dr Cowley “personally responsible” for “the behaviour, attitude and abusive language” towards two of his staff during an eight-hour protest on Friday in Castlebar.

Mr Kenny says he was “compelled for the safety and security” of his office and staff to call the gardaI to remove Dr Cowley “and his supporters” late on Friday. 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.

Irish Government orders Shell to dismantle illegal pipeline

FROM OUR AUGUST 2005 SHELL NEWS ARCHIVE…

Irish Times: Ministers can’t play both sides in key projects

“The dispute between Shell and the residents of north Mayo spilled over into the British papers last week. With the clarity that observing something from a distance allows, the story was distilled down to the company being ordered by the Irish Government to dismantle a pipeline because it had been built illegally.”: It is not the sort of publicity that any company likes, particularly one with Shell’s sensitivities…”

John McManus

Aug 08, 2005

Business Opinion: The dispute between Shell and the residents of north Mayo spilled over into the British papers last week.

With the clarity that observing something from a distance allows, the story was distilled down to the company being ordered by the Irish Government to dismantle a pipeline because it had been built illegally.

The other key fact to be gleaned from the UK newspaper reports was that five local men are in jail in Ireland for opposing this apparently illegally built pipeline, the safety of which appears to be an issue, because the Government is ordering an independent inquiry. 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 Guardian: We have been here before: the price of oil will fall

FROM OUR AUGUST 2005 SHELL NEWS ARCHIVE…

Forecast in August 2005 from Vince Cable,  the former Chief Economist of Shell: “We have been here before: the price of oil will fall”

Monday August 8, 2005

Vincent Cable

One piece of conventional wisdom which is hardening into a truism is that oil prices will continue to rise. Recent headlines include: “Shell predicts two decades of rising oil prices” and “Oil will hit $100 by winter”.

The futures markets are expecting prices to continue to rise from just over $60 a barrel to $64-$65 in six months. The mainstream forecasters anticipate continued high prices in the short and even long term.

We have been here before. At the peak of the 1979/80 oil shock, when prices reached $80 a barrel in today’s terms, a poll of forecasters showed a consensus expecting prices to rise indefinitely. The forecasts were underpinned by the belief that supplies were becoming exhausted or that the Opec cartel had limitless capacity to adjust supply to maximise revenue. Little account was taken of the supply and demand response which led to the collapse of prices within five years. The old adage of all commodity markets that high prices lead to low prices was forgotten. It is being forgotten again. 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: Oil spill barge close to beginning Arctic journey

Posted on August 7, 2012 at 9:11 am by Jennifer A. Dlouhy in Alaska,

The newly renovated barge that Shell is counting on to help clean up any oil spill in Arctic waters may soon be ready to set sail from a Washington state shipyard.

Shell and Superior Energy have been winnowing down a once-400-item to-do list for the Arctic Challenger barge, based on Coast Guard inspections while it was being built in Everett, Wash.

If it clears Coast Guard inspections and successfully passes an oil spill containment drill for Interior Department regulators, the barge could be ready to begin its journey north in about a week, said Shell Oil Co. spokeswoman Kelly op de Weegh. 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 Gains Acquisition Firepower as Cash Flow Cuts Debt

By Eduard Gismatullin on August 07, 2012

Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA) is building the firepower to make acquisitions as record cash flow cuts debt to the lowest level in three years.

Europe’s largest oil producer generated $12.6 billion in free cash flow, the difference between revenue from operations and capital expenditure, during the first half. That’s the most for any six-month period since Shell became a single entity in 2005 and has allowed The Hague-based company to cut its ratio of net debt to equity to 8.8 percent, below any European rival. 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.

Japan’s Showa Shell to keep Iran crude oil imports

Iran’s television network, broadcasting in English round-the-clock. Based in Tehran.

Wed Aug 1, 2012 4:3PM GM

Japanese refiner Showa Shell Sekiyu KK has announced that it will continue crude oil imports from Iran regardless of US and European Union oil sanctions against the Islamic Republic.

The company officials said on Tuesday that Showa Shell has renewed its contract with Tehran, which had expired last March, and is currently importing 60,000-70,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude from Iran, Oil Ministry’s official news agency, SHANA, reported. 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.

Rights group criticises Shell and Garda over traffic blockage

The Irish Times – Tuesday, August 7, 2012

AOIFE RYAN

HUMAN RIGHTS group Action from Ireland (Afri) has criticised both the Garda Síochána and Shell over “the bungled transport” of a huge tunnelling machine.

As reported widely, a 170-tonne lorry transporting the Shell machine to bore the sub-sea tunnel linking raw gas to an inland refinery, jack-knifed at a narrow crossroad in Glenamoy, Co Mayo, last Tuesday morning.

The lorry cut off local traffic for a time, including people travelling to Castlebar for hospital appointments. Mayo County Council and Shell workers finally removed the lorry on Friday afternoon, after it widened the roadway. This operation, which involved a convoy of lorries transporting materials for the remedial works, was facilitated by more than 100 gardaí in the early hours of Friday morning. 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 and Exxon Earn $160,000 a Minute, Yet Still Receive $2.4 Billion Tax Break

By Climate Progress | Sun, 29 July 2012 00:00

The top two corporations on the Fortune 500 Global ranking, Royal Dutch Shell and ExxonMobil, announced their 2012 second-quarter earnings last week, bringing the total profits for three Big Oil companies to $44 billion for 2012 or $250 million every day this year. Exxon profited by $16 billion this quarter, bringing its earnings for 2012 to $25 billion.

The New York Times wrote that Exxon and Shell’s earnings “disappoint,” because energy prices unexpectedly dropped for consumers this summer. Put their profits in the appropriate context, however, and Exxon and Shell still made a combined $160,000 per minute last quarter, even though the top five oil companies benefit from $2.4 billion federal tax breaks every year. 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 Shell sue the Girls Scouts opposing Arctic drilling?

FROM A REGULAR CONTRIBUTOR 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.

Delusion at Shell

FROM OUR SHELL NEWS ARCHIVE FOR AUGUST 2004…

Daily Telegraph: Dr Rieley is wide of the mark on Shell’s ‘malaise’, writes a reader: the delusion of senior managers that because they had got to the top of Shell, and Shell was huge, they must be brilliant”: “No organisation can have had so many initiatives, change programmes and organisational upheavals.”

Posted 6 August 2004

LETTERS PAGE

I read your article with interest (Plain Talk July 29, Danger of not fixing it when it’s clearly broken).

I spent 20 years working for Shell and I am afraid your diagnosis of Shell’s problem is wide of the mark. Shell managers who are deemed to have potential traditionally have only stayed in a job a maximum of two and a half years. So they don’t have time to suffer from your “malaise”. The temptation is, on coming into a job, to rubbish the previous incumbent’s efforts and set an entirely new course safe in the knowledge that by the time you move on the problems associated with it will not have emerged. Skilled incompetence – which appears to mean a resistance to change – is also not a charge that can be laid at Shell’s door. No organisation can have had so many initiatives, change programmes and organisational upheavals. 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 defense in Nigeria raises eyebrows

Published: Aug. 6, 2012 at 8:44 AM

WASHINGTON, Aug. 6 (UPI) — A U.S. Supreme Court brief filed by Shell in a case involving alleged rights violations in Nigeria contains “offensive” arguments, an advocacy group said.

Shell, in Kiobel vs. Royal Dutch Petroleum, is accused of working with the Nigerian government to ensure resistance to operations in the oil-rich Niger Delta was protected by military force.

In a 71-page brief filed with the U.S. Supreme Court, the company argues the Alien Tort Statute doesn’t apply in a case in Nigeria because that law doesn’t extend to activity conducted on foreign soil. 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 pull some cash from Europe due to crisis: report

6 August 2012

(Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L) is pulling some of its funds out of European banks over fears stirred by the euro zone’s mounting debt crisis, The Times reported on Monday.

The company’s chief financial officer Simon Henry told the newspaper that Shell is cutting back its exposure to European credit risk in the worst-hit economies and putting a higher price on doing business with the region’s peripheral nations.

“There’s been a shift in our willingness to take credit risk in Europe. The crisis has impacted our willingness to afford credit,” Henry is quoted as saying. 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.

How Shell pleased Qaddafi

It seems Shell violated its own principles in Libya…

SUMMARY OF AN ARTICLE PUBLISHED IN THE DUTCH MAGAZINE VRIJ NEDERLAND ON 1st AUGUST 2012 (TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH)

Shell consolidated its interests in Libya by appeasing Qaddafi’s confidants with jobs for their children.

Ahmed Sawani was in 2006 a freshman in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Tripoli. In despite of the fact he just started studying, he got a job at Shell Libya. According to a comment in a leaked Shell document, Ahmad’s father was director of the Qaddafi Foundation, an acquaintance of the country chairman of Shell Libya, Mark Hope. Just like the Sawanis many other Very Important Persons are mentioned in the VIP document. The opposite also happened when a minister, Tahar Jehaimi, was relieved from his post and nothing was heard from him for a long time. It was mentioned as a reason for closing the file of his child. 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.

Europe’s Oil Majors Plead for Patience

August 5, 2012

By ALEXIS FLYNN

Downbeat quarterly earnings from Europe’s major energy companies are a reminder that the bumper returns of two years ago are a long way from returning, as the sector expends time and money trying to secure new oil and gas fields.

While the market was braced for a drop in profits from a year ago, given that crude prices averaged 7% less than in the corresponding period in 2011, the scale of the future challenge faced by companies like BP PLC, Royal Dutch Shell PLC, Total SA and Eni SpA was yet again in evidence, analysts 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’s wells yield $162 million profit

6 August 2012

Oil and gas giant Shell made a profit of $162 million from its fields in Taranaki last year, including the huge but ageing Maui and Kapuni gas fields.

Shell sold its retail petrol stations in New Zealand in 2010, but it maintains its large and profitable oil and gas production fields in Taranaki and is a partner in a joint venture to explore for more in the Great South Basin off the bottom of the South Island.

It is possible partners in the Great South Basin could drill an exploration well in the summer of 2014-15, but they are still analysing data from seismic testing. 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.

Insight: A year on, Nigeria’s oil still poisons Ogoniland

 (Reuters) – A bright yellow sign above the well in this sleepy Nigerian village says ‘caution: not fit for use’, and the sulphurous stink off the water that children still pump into buckets sharply reinforces that warning.

“Can you smell it? Don’t get any in your mouth or you’ll be sick,” said Victoria Jiji, 55, as she walked past the bore hole in her home village of Ekpangbala, one of several in Ogoniland, southeast Nigeria, whose drinking water has turned toxic. 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 billion barrels worth of oil discovered off Irish coast

FROM A REGULAR CONTRIBUTOR

John,
 
I ran across these articles about a large oil discovery off the coast of Ireland.
 
‘More than 1 billion barrels worth of oil’ discovered off coast of Cork

Barryroe oil discovery four times what was expected
 
It is too early to guess whether the discovery is large enough to develop, but if it is then it is my guess that the company developing this field will want to transport the oil to shore via pipeline. So, it would appear the Irish are going to have another pipeline issue to contend with, only this time it will carry oil.
 
Wonder if Royal Dutch Shell will consider tendering an offer for the discovery ??? 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.

African Cultural and Fundamental Rights Council Task Government and Shell on Ogoni Cleanup

In short, the devastating content of this report $hell and the government had covered was the reason Ken Saro-Wiwa was murdered when he revealed the genocidal design against Ogoni to the world and refused to call off the campaign as was demanded by Shell and government.

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.

Self-Government for Ogoni Was Overdue, Says Goodluck Diigbo

PRESS STATEMENT BY MOSOP MEDIA:

Self-Government for Ogoni Was Overdue, Says Goodluck Diigbo

4 August 2012

MOSOP President/Spokesman, Dr. Goodluck Diigbo has been speaking on the reason for the urgency behind the Ogoni declaration of self-government to enforce the United Nations Declaration on Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

“The urgency behind the declaration is that self-government for Ogoni was overdue in view of many important issues bordering on indigenous rights of the Ogoni people being tampered with now. The UNEP Ogoni Report is one out of many,” Diigbo explained.

Diigbo stated that:“The Ogoni declaration of self-government now guarantees the Ogoni people the right to participate in decision-making in all matters which would affect their rights, through representatives chosen by Ogonis in accordance with own procedures, as well as to maintain and develop all our own indigenous decision-making institutions, which we started to set up since 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.

Irish Times: Compromise in Corrib gas dispute

FROM OUR AUGUST 2005 SHELL NEWS ARCHIVE…

Irish Times: Compromise in Corrib gas dispute

“There is no doubt that Shell miscalculated badly if its management thought to intimidate other likely protesters by making an example of these men.”: Multinational companies in the oil and gas industry are accustomed to flexing their muscles and getting their way with governments. In its anxiety to develop the gas field, Shell overstepped its authority and undertook work that was not specifically sanctioned by Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources Noel Dempsey. It has since been directed to undo that work: Shell’s public image has been seriously damaged.”

Thursday Aug 04, 2005

It is now days since five men went to jail for refusing to give an undertaking that they would not obstruct work on the construction of the Corrib gas pipeline in North Mayo. They have been in court on a number of occasions since that time. And, in spite of an invitation from High Court president, Mr Justice Finnegan, to purge their contempt and his observation that there was no sense in their remaining in jail, they have continued to opt for incarceration.

High stakes are being played for here. When the protests began some months ago, the great majority of local people had come to accept – after years of controversy and public debate – that the processing of natural gas from the Corrib field would take place on shore. The jailing of the men, following legal action by Shell E&P Ireland, has changed that situation. 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 names Jorma Ollila as new chairman

FROM OUR AUGUST 2005 SHELL NEWS ARCHIVE…

Financial Times: Shell names Jorma Ollila as new chairman

“The group lags behind competitors such as BP and ExxonMobil in production growth, faces lawsuits in the US over false reserves statements and announced a $10bn cost overrun at Sakhalin-2, its flagship Russian project.”

By Gordon Smith: Published: August 4 2005

Royal Dutch Shell on Thursday named Jorma Ollila, the current chief executive and chairman of Nokia, as a replacement for Aad Jacobs, its outgoing chairman.

Mr Ollila earlier this week outlined his plans to step down from the Finnish telecommunications group, where he has served as chief executive for the last 13 years.

The move follows calls by Aad Jacobs last month for his successor to be neither British nor Dutch following the unification of the oil group after 98 years trading as separate British and Dutch businesses. 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.

Machine removed from Mayo road

3 August 2012 (Evening)

IRISH TIMES REPORTERS

A giant tunnel boring machine belonging to Shell, which became stuck on Tuesday after the lorry it was being transported on jack-knifed at an isolated Co Mayo crossroads, has been removed.

A spokesman for Mayo County Council said the junction at Glenamoy crossroads near the villages of Rossport and Carrowteigue was now cleared and that traffic was back to normal.
In a statement Shell E&P Ireland said it “apologises once again to the local community and to all road users who were inconvenienced by this incident”. 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.

Heavy vehicles deployed to shift lorry

Friday, August 3, 2012, 10:37

ÁINE RYAN

More than 100 gardaí escorted a convoy of heavy vehicles to the isolated Glenamoy crossroads in north Mayo at about 4.30am this morning in a bid to free Shell’s giant tunnel boring machine.

A spokesman for Rossport Solidarity Camp said the gardaí implemented checkpoints from about 10km away at Bangor Erris.

He confirmed that veteran campaigner, Maura Harrington, was arrested at one of the checkpoints, and that the rear window of her van smashed when she declined to exit it. The van was subsequently impounded and Ms Harrington was detained at Belmullet  Garda station. 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 Claims About Sabotage Of Oil Pipelines In Niger Delta Challenged

3 August 2012

(RTTNews) – Amnesty International and the Center for Environment, Human Rights and Development (CEHRD) on Friday challenged the investigation process into oil spills in the Niger Delta, as inconsistencies in Shell’s (RDS-A) claims about sabotage were revealed.

Experts have examined evidence from the latest oil spill from Shell’s poorly maintained pipelines in the Bodo creek area and confirmed that it strongly indicates that the leak is due to corrosion of the pipeline. However, Shell appears to be ignoring the evidence of corrosion. 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.

Social media #fail: how Greenpeace let Shell off the hook over Arctic drilling

Greenpeace has an impressive track record on social media engagement so why has its most recent campaign, an elaborate hoax of Shell’s Arctic exploration, seemingly flopped?

It’s not often that a major oil company comes off looking more social savvy than either a major media company or one of the world’s leading social media platforms.

But that’s exactly the position Royal Dutch Shell finds itself after a week when NBC and Twitter – corporate partners during the Olympics – managed to bumble their way into major social media #FAIL by conspiring to silence a vocal Twitter critic of the US media network.

For those of you not caught up in the goldfish bowl atmosphere of social media discussing social media the screw-up occurred when someone at Twitter suggested to NBC that they might consider complaining about Guy Adams, the acerbic US correspondent for the Independent who had been using the microblogging network to vent his fury at NBC’s coverage of the games. In a Tweet of particular pique, Adams published the corporate email address of Gary Zenkel, the NBC executive responsible for the network’s Olympic’s coverage. Twitter suggested to NBC that this contravened the social network’s privacy conditions. NBC ran with the complaint and Twitter duly suspended Adams. 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 leaks billions from rampant oil theft

Oil firms and government say nearly 200,000 barrels of oil stolen each day from pipelines and wells by criminal gangs.

Last Modified: 03 Aug 2012 11:14  

A sophisticated criminal network has stepped up its operations in Nigeria’s Bayelsa State, costing state and oil companies as much as a billion dollars per month.

Royal Dutch Shell Oil Company’s Nigerian subsidiary said in a recent report that between 150,000 and 180,000 barrels of oil are stolen each from its pipelines and wells. Government estimates have put the number of stolen oil as high as twice this amount.

The trade in stolen oil involves international traders who provide oil at discounted prices to refineries in other parts of the world. read more

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Investigations of Shell’s Nigeria spills a ‘fiasco’: Amnesty

2 August 2012

LAGOS — Rights group Amnesty International said Friday investigations into Shell oil spills in Nigeria were a “fiasco,” alleging the company repeatedly blamed sabotage in an effort to avoid responsibility.

“No matter what evidence is presented to Shell about oil spills, they constantly hide behind the ‘sabotage’ excuse and dodge their responsibility for massive pollution that is due to their failure to properly maintain their infrastructure,” Audrey Gaughran, director of global issues at Amnesty, said in a statement. read more

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Shell Starts Prep Work In The Arctic

By Stephanie Joyce, KUCB – Unalaska | August 2, 2012 – 5:24 pm

Shell still hasn’t received final permits for its Arctic drilling plans, but the company is starting to send vessels north anyways.

Two of the company’s support vessels – the Aiviq and the Fennica – left Unalaska early this week for the Chukchi Sea. The icebreaker Tor Viking is expected to join them in the next few days. Together, the vessels will start prepping the drill site for the Noble Discoverer’s arrival. read more

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Shell and Todd in non-payment dispute

Spokespersons for Shell New Zealand and Todd Energy have declined to comment on a non-payment dispute showing up in a report to the Companies Office.

3 August 2012

The joint owners of some of New Zealand’s largest oil and gas fields, Shell New Zealand and Todd Energy, are in dispute over non-payment for services provided for work on the Maui, Pohokura, and Kapuni fields.

Companies Office records show Shell Todd Oil Services (STOS) was carrying a contingent liability at December 31 for an unresolved dispute relating to work programmes and budgets for all three fields.

The notes say these have “not been approved and accordingly some JV parties have declined to pay cash calls relating to aspects of the SIEP (Shell International Exploration and Production) charges”. read more

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In Beaver County, Corbett pushes Shell ethane cracker

By James O’Toole / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: August 2, 2012

Joining a bipartisan coalition of supporters of Shell’s proposed ethane cracker plant in Beaver County, Gov. Tom Corbett emphasized today that the building the multibillion-dollar processing facility is not a done deal.

Pennsylvania prevailed earlier this year in a multi-state competition to secure a preliminary commitment from Shell to develop the plant on an industrial site near Monaca. Mr. Corbett was joined there this afternoon by representatives of business and labor groups in a cautious progress report on the proposed development. read more

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Shell’s boring machine bogged down in Ireland

Shell machine remains stuck

AINE RYAN

Shell’s giant tunnel boring machine is expected to remain at an isolated Co Mayo crossroads for a third night, as residents questioned the ability of the boggy road to withstand the weight of heavy removal vehicles and some protestors vowed to continue their actions.

A Mayo County Council spokesman confirmed the local authority was continuing to work with oil company experts and hoped the machine and jack-knifed lorry would be removed within the next two days.

“It is envisaged that the problem will be resolved in the next 24 to 48 hours but that is contingent on the level of protest activity encountered. The protestors have already delayed the transportation of lifting equipment to the scene,” the council spokesman said. read more

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The Frozen Frontier: Is Shell Ready For The Risks Of Arctic Drilling?

8/02/2012 @ 2:19PM

This column is a guest blog authored by Jim Coburn, who directs Ceres’s corporate sustainability disclosure program:

Just two years after BP’s Deepwater Horizon rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, another oil industry giant is poised to begin drilling in an even more forbidding, unpredictable and remote environment: the Alaskan shoreline.

Shell is moving forward with at least two Arctic wells this year, at a time when confidence in the oil and gas industry’s risk management practices is remarkably low. read more

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Shell’s Alaska Drilling Delayed by Bureaucracy, Republicans Say

By Kasia Klimasinska on August 02, 2012

Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA)’s drilling on U.S. leases off Alaska’s north coast is being delayed by federal bureaucrats, House Republicans said today in pushing to speed development by citing success on private lands in North Dakota.

North Dakota and its Bakken shale formation overtook Alaska as the second-largest oil-producing state in March, according to the Energy Information Administration. Alaska is seeking new oil sources as output from the nation’s largest field, Prudhoe Bay, declines and the flow through the Trans-Alaska pipeline drops. read more

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Shell Oil’s multibillion dollar Arctic hoax

Shell Oil’s multibillion dollar Arctic hoax

By Travis Nichols, Special to CNN August 1, 2012 — Updated 1911 GMT (0311 HKT)

Editor’s note: Travis Nichols is a polar and oceans media officer with Greenpeace USA.  He collaborated with the Yes Lab and Occupy Seattle on the ArcticReady.com website and the #shellFAIL video campaign.  He is the author of “Off We Go Into the Wild Blue Yonder” (Coffee House Press) and “See Me Improving” (Copper Canyon Press).

(CNN) — A recent CNN.com op-ed asked “Was the Shell Oil hoax ethical?” We at Greenpeace, along with the activist group Yes Men, are behind the Shell Oil website ArcticReady.com, which we created to call attention to the company’s Arctic destruction. So we were intrigued by this question. read more

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Shell offers free fill-ups for hydrogen fuel cell vehicles

The oil company opens a station in Newport Beach where hydrogen will be available at no charge, but only 200 cars statewide can take advantage of it.

By Jerry Hirsch, Los Angeles TimesAugust 1, 2012, 4:45 p.m. Shell has opened a new station in Newport Beach where drivers fill up at no charge. That’s right: A big oil company is offering unlimited free gas.

But there is a catch. The gas is hydrogen, and it’s free only to those driving a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle.

That’s not a lot of people. Only 200 fuel cell vehicles are operating in the state, said Catherine Dunwoody, executive director of the California Fuel Cell Partnership. Automakers plan to offer more, but even then the highest estimates are for no more than 50,000 in operation in California five years from now, she said.

The cars will be expensive — as much as double the price of a gasoline compact or mid-size auto, according to current estimates. At the moment, they can only be leased. read more

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Shell machine remains stuck in Mayo

COMMENT FROM A REGULAR CONTRIBUTOR:

SHELL MACHINE REMAINS STUCK IN MAYO…

The question surely is whether the Mayo is (S)Hellman’s, and whether Shell has enough demulsifier to disperse it…
 
(Oil mixed with water forms an emulsion which is physically and chemically similar to mayonnaise – think of the off-white globules that are formed by oil slicks)

Efforts to move a jack-knifed 160-ton truck carrying machinery for a controversial gas project are farcical, campaigners have claimed.

As the 40m vehicle continues to block a road in Co Mayo, protesters against Shell’s Corrib scheme said it will take a miracle to move it.

One of the Rossport Five, Willie Corduff, was arrested earlier today during protests over traffic disruption since the truck got stuck near the Glenamoy Bridge in Erris yesterday morning.

Mr Corduff was one of five men who spent 94 days in jail in 2005 after refusing to agree not to protest against the project. read more

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Shell reduces its Arctic drilling ambitions as delays continue

By Laura J. Nelson: August 1, 2012, 4:45 a.m.

Shell has reduced the number of exploratory offshore Arctic wells it plans to drill this year as construction delays continue on a containment barge that must be finished first, the company says.

Weather is also a factor: Shell engineers had hoped to begin drilling in early August, before ice forms in the fall. Arctic drilling is controversial: The bitter cold could hinder cleanup of any spill.

The company had hoped to finish five exploratory wells this year, but now will attempt two: one in the Beaufort Sea northeast of Alaska, and one in the Chukchi Sea between Alaska and Siberia, officials said Tuesday. read more

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At Shell, a Grassroots Effort Aims to Nourish Innovation Via Meditation

COMMENT RECEIVED FROM A SHELL INSIDER

A GAME STOPPER NOT A GAME CHANGER

Hi John,             Was really interested reading one of your new articles, on Mandar Apte and his Game Changer energy program, which was supported by the CEO of Shell to promote innovation in Shell using employees good ideas.

He would be aghast if he knew how the Shell Geelong management have stifled Diana Newman, whose outstanding idea is an industry game changer. Management has used every dirty trick, lies, and burying their heads in the sand.  Such tactics have had the effect in Australia of being a Game Stopper to any other Shell person with a great idea coming forward.

Published: August 01, 2012 in Knowledge@Wharton

Mandar Apte, a chemical engineer, has worked at Shell for 12 years. He is part of the energy giant’s GameChanger program, whose mission is to provide seed funding and guidance to cutting-edge ideas and foster a culture of innovation. Apte is also the founder of a staff-led initiative called Empower, which uses breathing and meditation exercises sourced from the International Association for Human Valuesto nurture personal creativity and inter-personal skills. So far, some 2,000 employees at Shell offices in the U.S., U.K., the Netherlands and the UAE have gone through modules that are part of the Empower program. In a conversation with Knowledge@Wharton, Apte discusses the impact that Empower has had on him and his colleagues and his hopes for its future. read more

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Shell takes key step on scaled-back Alaska drilling

Posted on August 1, 2012 at 12:01 am by Jennifer A. Dlouhy

WASHINGTON _ Shell on Tuesday began preparations to install anchors at the site of one of its planned wells in the Chukchi Sea north of Alaska — a major step toward launching a new era of Arctic oil exploration, even as the company has been forced to scale back its drilling plans.

Delays in construction of an emergency spill containment barge, last-minute problems with an essential air pollution permit and stubborn sea ice still clinging to Alaska’s coast have shortened the company’s drilling window. And now Shell believes just two out of 10 wells planned for the Beaufort and Chukchi seas are likely to be completed this year. read more

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Nigeria’s precarious oil amnesty

1 August 2012

An amnesty for thousands of militants in south-eastern Nigeria has brought relative stability to the region, enabling its huge oil industry to recover but, as the BBC’s Will Ross reports, some are questioning how long the peace can hold.

“If I’d set eyes on you back in those days we would not be talking like this,” says Tobine with a menacing smile. “I would have made a call to find one or two ways to make money out of you.”

Tobine means he would have kidnapped me for ransom. read more

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NGOs seek Sakhalin compensation from Shell, UK banks

Sakhalin production complex: compensation due? (Photocredit) 1 August 2012

Three environmental groups have called on UK banks Barclays, RBS and Standard Chartered to compensate Sakhalin residents for pollution caused by a large oil and gas project that they helped finance.

Oil major Shell, as a part owner of the Sakhalin II project on the Russian Pacific island, is also named in the complaint. It was filed with the UK and Dutch governments on Tuesday and alleges that the companies are in breach of the voluntary OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises.

“Shell, RBS, Standard Chartered and Barclays share responsibility for the environmental and community damage caused by the Prigorodnoye Production Complex,” said Doug Norlen, policy director at Pacific Environment, a US-based NGO. read more

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Delays Force Shell to Drill More Arctic Wells in 2013

By Alexis Flynn

LONDON–Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSB) expects to drill eight wells in the second half of its two-year Arctic exploration program, three more than it had originally planned, as stubborn ice sheets and permit delays have reduced the amount of time available to complete the first five wells this year.

Shell, which still plans to drill ten wells in two years, is busy working with the U.S. coastguard to complete a special oil spill containment vessel that is being retrofitted to operate in more challenging conditions, a company spokesman said Wednesday. read more

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Truck still stuck amid protest

Wednesday, 1 August 2012

Tensions continue to run high in Co Mayo as a truck carrying machinery for a controversial gas project remains stuck at a junction.

The 40m vehicle has been blocking a road near the Glenamoy Bridge in Erris since Tuesday morning after failing to negotiate a turn. But efforts to move it were suspended overnight due to protesters.

It was one of three trucks transporting parts of a large tunnel-boring machine, which is being used to dig a 4.9km (3-mile) tunnel under Sruwaddacon Bay and inland to the Bellanaboy Gas Processing Terminal as part of Shell’s Corrib gas project. read more

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