Alaska Dispatch | Sep 05, 2012
Norwegian oil company Statoil has watched closely Royal Dutch Shell’s long and costly quest to sink exploratory oil wells in the Arctic waters off the coast of Alaska. And that struggle has Statoil concerned, so much so that company officials say Statoil won’t be exercising its federal leases and drilling in Alaska’s Arctic until at least 2015, according to The Financial Times.
Instead, in the near term Statoil is headed to Canada for offshore oil exploration: “…in the coming months Statoil had plans to drill three wells offshore eastern Canada and nine in the Norwegian Barents Sea, where it has already made discoveries. But it will not be drilling in the Chukchi Sea before 2014,” The Financial Times reported this week.
In Alaska’s Arctic, Shell is on the verge of starting a limited drilling program that will entail sinking a drill bit up to 1,400 feet into the seabed — several thousand feet shy of the oil and gas deposits. Nonetheless, this partial drilling effort signifies a breakthrough for Shell, which has spent more than $4.5 billion and years to get to this point.
Tim Dodson, head of exploration for Statoil, told The Financial Times that the costs — many related to complying with regulations and fighting off lawsuits — that Shell has absorbed to get this far is worrisome. “Some of these regulations can make the costs of exploration prohibitive,” he told the newspaper.
One possible way to reduce the financial risks could be for oil companies to partner on offshore exploration wells in the far north. The Financial Times reports.
“You will see more shared equity on these wells, to spread the risk and limit the cost exposure,” (Dodson) said. He added that Statoil was already discussing this option with other companies that have leases in the northern seas, such as Chevron, ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips.
Royal Dutch Shell conspired directly with Hitler, financed the Nazi Party, was anti-Semitic and sold out its own Dutch Jewish employees to the Nazis. Shell had a close relationship with the Nazis during and after the reign of Sir Henri Deterding, an ardent Nazi, and the founder and decades long leader of the Royal Dutch Shell Group. His burial ceremony, which had all the trappings of a state funeral, was held at his private estate in Mecklenburg, Germany. The spectacle (photographs below) included a funeral procession led by a horse drawn funeral hearse with senior Nazis officials and senior Royal Dutch Shell directors in attendance, Nazi salutes at the graveside, swastika banners on display and wreaths and personal tributes from Adolf Hitler and Reichsmarschall, Hermann Goring. Deterding was an honored associate and supporter of Hitler and a personal friend of Goring.
Deterding was the guest of Hitler during a four day summit meeting at Berchtesgaden. Sir Henri and Hitler both had ambitions on Russian oil fields. Only an honored personal guest would be rewarded with a private four day meeting at Hitler’s mountain top retreat.
IN JULY 2007, MR BILL CAMPBELL (ABOVE, A RETIRED GROUP AUDITOR OF SHELL INTERNATIONAL SENT AN EMAIL TO EVERY UK MP AND MEMBER OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS: 
MORE DETAILS:
A head-cut image of Alfred Donovan (now deceased) appears courtesy of The Wall Street Journal.
