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September 19th, 2012:

Oil spill fears put Shell’s Arctic drilling plans on hold

By Rob Davies

PUBLISHED: 22:30, 17 September 2012 | UPDATED: 22:30, 17 September 2012

A faulty piece of safety kit has forced Shell to postpone its controversial Arctic drilling programme just days before MPs were due to criticise its ability to respond to an oil spill in the region.

Shell said its ‘containment cap’ – a dome-shaped device that would collect oil and funnel it to a nearby ship in the event of a spill – had been damaged and will not be ready this year.

It comes at a bad time for Shell, as MPs prepare to release a report on whether British oil firms would be able to respond to a major spill in the Arctic. The first volume of the report, published on Thursday, is expected to conclude that companies such as Shell and fellow Arctic explorer Cairn Energy are not fully prepared for a disaster. read more

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BP and Shell downgraded by Santander

By John Donovan

19 September 2012

Under the headline “BP and Shell come under pressure” the Financial Times reports today that Santander has downgraded Royal Dutch Shell to “reduce” out of concern about Shell’s costs “as it tried to kick-start earnings growth” and other issues, apparently including the debacle in Alaska.

Extracts from Santander announcement:

While Shell remains resource-rich, it is light significant new projects, value, cash flow or earnings catalysts,” Santander said. “The company has also already peaked in terms of a core strategic goal: delivery of cash growth.” 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.