Posts on ‘February 13th, 2013’

Royal Dutch Shell’s hopes of resuming drilling for oil off Alaska this summer have suffered a further setback after it revealed both its Arctic drilling rigs would now need to be taken to Asia for repairs.

Kulluk, the oil drilling rig owned by Royal Dutch Shell ran aground in Alaska after drifting in stormy weather. Photo: AFP

By Emily Gosden: 13 Feb 2013

The oil giant has admitted it does not know whether it will be able to continue its controversial campaign this year after a series of setbacks in 2012, including the grounding of its Kulluk drilling rig on New Year’s Eve and problems with its second rig, the Noble Discoverer.

However its exploration plans for 2013, set out a fortnight ago, showed it still was still intending to resume the work. It has so far spent nearly $5bn on its Arctic campaign without being allowed to drill into potentially oil-bearing rocks. read more

Royal Dutch Shell PLC’s plans to send its two offshore drilling rigs to Asia for extensive repairs will likely mean the cancellation of its second summer of drilling in the U.S. Arctic Ocean, unless it can find replacements fit to do the work – something that may prove to be a challenge.

By Tom Fowler Published February 12, 2013 Dow Jones Newswires

Royal Dutch Shell PLC’s (RDSA) plans to send its two offshore drilling rigs to Asia for extensive repairs will likely mean the cancellation of its second summer of drilling in the U.S. Arctic Ocean, unless it can find replacements fit to do the work – something that may prove to be a challenge.

Rigs able to operate in harsh Arctic conditions are rare and even if found, would have to be modified and receive U.S. government blessing to operate in a remote and environmentally sensitive area in less than five months. read more

U.S. Gulf Coast gasoline rose for a fifth day after fire broke out at a Royal Dutch Shell Plc refinery in Texas.

The 340,000-barrel-a-day Deer Park plant had a fire at about 9:30 a.m. local time, said Kimberly Windon, a company spokeswoman in Houston. The fire “was quickly isolated and contained to one unit,” and there were no injuries, she said.

Conventional, 87-octane gasoline on the U.S. Gulf Coast strengthened 1.88 cents to a discount of 12.75 cents versus futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 4 p.m., the narrowest gap since Jan. 8, data compiled by Bloomberg showed. Reformulated, 84-octane gasoline rose 0.88 cent to 9.75 cents below futures. read more

POSTING ON SHELL BLOG BY “OUTSIDER”

Dry towing a drillship? Something must be very seriously wrong. And when the Kulluk comes out of the water the damage to the hull will be clear for all to see – look forward to seeing the photographs!

RELATED COMMENT

The practice of dry towing is used when a vessel is transported on the deck of a heavy lift vessel.
 
For the Kulluk, this will expose the damaged underside for all to see. Dry towing of the Kulluk makes sense because the speed of the heavy lift vessel is 2-3 times faster than could be achieved with a conventional tow.
 
Dry towing of the Discoverer is somewhat unusual because the drillship should have been capable of sailing under its own steam at about the same speed as a heavy lift transport vessel. The use of a dry tow implies that the vessel is unseaworthy. Perhaps the Discoverer was more seriously damaged when it went aground last summer than Shell admitted? Or perhaps the recent explosion was more than just a “backfire”?
 
It’s a pity the exclusion zone will prevent anyone taking photographs when the vessels are lifted out of the water.
 
If you look at Google images, you’ll find plenty of examples of heavy lift dry tows. There are comparatively few examples of large ships being dry towed, but a well-publicised case was the USS Cole (heading photo above) after it was attacked in harbour. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Cole_bombing for example. read more

EMAIL RECEIVED FROM A FORMER EMPLOYEE OF SHELL OIL CO

John,

I found this in ‘glassdoor’.

It is a review of Shell, USA, etc. It is not the company I worked for years ago, not by a long shot.

Shell Oil US – Great Salary, no job security

169 Shell Oil US Reviews Back to all Shell Oil US Reviews

Reviews are posted anonymously by employees

There are newer reviews for this employer.

See the most recent Shell Oil US Reviews

“Great Salary, no job security”

Former Employee – Reviewed Dec 7, 2012

Pros – Great Salary and Bonuses, Domestic Partner Benefits, 401k company contributions

Cons – Continue downsizing and offshoring, little regard for employees, entire focus on cost cutting and bottom line profit, decision making is slow and decisions generally revisited over and again. read more

FROM OUR NEWS ARCHIVE: LONDON EVENING STANDARD Wednesday, 27 October 2004 page 42 BUSINESS SECTION

SPEAKING OUT

“I’m convinced we have a lot of strengths. All of us are deeply ashamed about what happened about the reserves, but we are determined to regain our, position.”

– Shell chairman Jeroen van der Veer on the oil giant’s attempts to put its misdemeanours behind it