Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Europe’s biggest oil company, began a sale of U.S. shale assets after booking a $2.1 billion impairment in the second quarter. The company will sell its interest in the Eagle Ford project in Texas and plans to open a data room to potential buyers next month, The Hague-based Shell said today in an e-mailed statement. The company also will divest its holding in the Mississippi Lime area in Kansas, it said last week.

By Eduard Gismatullin – Sep 30, 2013 10:29 AM GMT+0100

Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA), Europe’s biggest oil company, began a sale of U.S. shale assets after booking a $2.1 billion impairment in the second quarter.

The company will sell its interest in the Eagle Ford project in Texas and plans to open a data room to potential buyers next month, The Hague-based Shell said today in an e-mailed statement. The company also will divest its holding in the Mississippi Lime area in Kansas, it said last week. read more

(Reuters) – Shell, the global leader in liquefied natural gas, urged Gazprom to expand a plant they jointly own or risk missing out during a peak in gas prices, an executive of Shell’s operations in Russia told Reuters.

By Denis Pinchuk

YUZHNO-SAKHALINSK, Russia | Mon Sep 30, 2013 8:34am EDT

(Reuters) – Shell (RDSa.L), the global leader in liquefied natural gas, urged Gazprom (GAZP.MM) to expand a plant they jointly own or risk missing out during a peak in gas prices, an executive of Shell’s operations in Russia told Reuters.

Shell and Gazprom have been in talks for years about expanding their plant on the Pacific island of Sakhalin, where Japan’s Mitsui (8031.T) and Mitsubishi (8058.T) are also shareholders. The plant, known as Sakhalin-2, is Russia’s only existing LNG project. read more

More than 200 tonnes of oil spilled from Gannet Alpha. Prosecutors will now decide whether Shell should face criminal proceedings.

Aberdeen Evening Express

Published: 30/09/2013

AN OIL giant could face criminal charges over the worst spill in the North Sea for more than a decade.

A leak in a pipeline saw more than 200 tonnes of light crude oil spew from the Gannet Alpha, 112 miles east of Aberdeen.

Shell was accused of playing down the spill after it estimated 120 barrels had been spilled.

The firm later revised its figure to 1,300 barrels.

The UK Government’s Department for Energy and Climate Change has now completed its probe into the incident and handed its report to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service. read more

Royal Dutch Shell PLC plans to sell its stake in the Eagle Ford Shale in South Texas, following a $2 billion write-down of North American assets that the company announced in August.

Royal Dutch Shell PLC plans to sell its stake in the Eagle Ford Shale in South Texas, following a $2 billion write-down of North American assets that the company announced in August.

Shell’s sale of leases on 106,000 acres in the oil-and-gas-rich region illustrates the struggles major oil companies have had in places where smaller energy firms have thrived.

Shell said the Eagle Ford holdings didn’t meet the company’s targets for size and profitability.

POTENTIAL ACCESS TO FULL ARTICLE read more

DENVER — Royal Dutch Shell PLC became the latest company to abandon efforts to turn Western Slope oil shale into oil, joining a long line of companies in a boom and bust cycle in the region… the company no longer wants to continue efforts to turn oily shale rock into liquid by heating the rock and pumping out the oil.

ASSOCIATED PRESS: 30 SEPTEMBER 2013

DENVER — Royal Dutch Shell PLC became the latest company to abandon efforts to turn Western Slope oil shale into oil, joining a long line of companies in a boom and bust cycle in the region.

The company said energy markets have changed since the project started in 1982, and the company no longer wants to continue efforts to turn oily shale rock into liquid by heating the rock and pumping out the oil.

Chevron stopped its oil shale research in Rio Blanco County in February 2012. read more

The U.S government announced Thursday that they will be welcoming other oil and energy companies interested in leasing Chukchi Sea near Alaska after Shell backed out..

By Julie S: Sept 29, 2013

The U.S government announced Thursday that they will be welcoming other oil and energy companies interested in leasing Chukchi Sea near Alaska after Shell backed out, Reuters reports.

Chukchi Sea is located at the northwest side of Alaska and believed to hold more than 15 billion barrels of oil, according to the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) calculation.

Shell was the first company to lease in 2008 for $2.1 billion. The company started its preliminary drilling in 2012 but experienced challenges in their equipment. It also reported accidents happening on-site. Finally, the company announced that it will no longer drill in Chukchi Sea for 2013. It also did not say if there will be drilling for 2014. read more

Both firms have challenged tax demands through writ petitions in high court in an alleged transfer pricing case: Shell India is fighting a tax order accusing it of underpricing an intra-group share transfer by Rs.15,000 crore and consequently evading taxes.

Shell India is fighting a tax order accusing it of underpricing an intra-group share transfer by Rs.15,000 crore and consequently evading taxes.

FULL ARTICLE

Printed letters, September 29, 2013

By Staff
Sunday, September 29, 2013

Shell’s decision to shut down its oil shale operations in Colorado and move it to friendlier places like Canada and Jordan was based on artificial economic factors created by the government’s punitive regulatory approach, not normal free-market determinants.

Most people knew this was bound to happen as soon as former Interior Secretary Ken Salazar signed the oil shale leasing plan that reduced the availability of land for the industry to a paltry few acres scattered here and there. No business could be expected to operate under the conditions imposed on the oil shale industry by the BLM, which was reacting favorably to an irresponsible lawsuit brought by a coalition of anti-economic development organizations. read more

FINANCIAL TIMES

September 30, 2013

When BP and Shell explored for hydrocarbons along the coast of Tanzania between 1952 and 1964, they found little natural gas and even less oil.

But their geologists did discover that the 100 stratigraphic shallow boreholes they drilled showed the presence of sealing, reservoir and source rock combinations common in other hydrocarbon-rich regions. In short, they were sure oil and gas were nearby – but beyond the technology of half a century ago.

Fast-forward the last 60 years and new technology – including deepwater drilling and 3D seismic mapping techniques – has allowed geologists to find the elusive hydrocarbons they missed in the 1950s and 1960s. read more

The people who will really be laughing are those who sold the US prospects to Shell over the past few years. These assets were acquired by Shell at a cost of several billion dollars right at the top of the market.

FROM A SHELL RELATED SOURCE

Looks like Ben van Beurden is going to be starting with a clean sheet – wholesale disposals (and huge write-offs) in Voser’s last quarter as chairman of the CMD…which of course starts tomorrow.
 
Today’s press mentions disposals of the Eagle Ford shale interests in Texas, shale prospects in Colorado and Kansas, the Chukchi sea prospects off Alaska (interests acquired at enormous cost), and onshore assets in Nigeria – essentially everything that Marvin Odum and Dave Lawrence built up over the past few years plus the Niger delta… And these are just the ones we know about.
 
The people who will really be laughing are those who sold the US prospects to Shell over the past few years. These assets were acquired by Shell at a cost of several billion dollars right at the top of the market. read more

Oil giant Shell has denied running away from its problems in Nigeria. Shell employs 600 contractor companies, who Janzen says “in principle” survey the lines around the clock;  Campaigners suggest some contractors may be implicated in theft, arguably putting Shell indirectly in the frame.

30 September 2013

The tanker sailed into the Niger Delta, right under the eyes of Nigeria’s armed forces. Crewed by men working for an international criminal gang, it headed inland, hooked up to “bunkering” points illegally installed on Shell’s Trans-Niger pipeline, and began to steal oil.

“Something went dramatically wrong,” says Jurgen Janzen, Shell’s pipeline asset manager. A year ago today, in the early hours of the morning, Shell discovered both the tanker and the pipeline ablaze, a raging inferno billowing black smoke hundreds of feet above the Delta. read more

Harvey Jones hates the fact that Royal Dutch Shell plc is failing to fulfil its massive potential.

There is something to love and hate in almost every stock. But today, I’m in a fratchy mood, so here are five things I hate about Royal Dutch Shell (LSE: RDSB) (NYSE: RDS-B.US).

Wasn’t it a certain Warren Buffett who said you should never invest in things you don’t understand? I clearly don’t understand Royal Dutch Shell, because it hasn’t performed as I expected since I bought it in 2011. In fact, its probably the most disappointing FTSE 100 stock in my portfolio. Its share price is up less than 5% over the past two years, against a whopping 30% for the FTSE 100. That kind of mismatch makes me question my judgement. read more

Fri Sep 27, 2013 3:06pm EDT

* Statoil find opens up new basin for offshore Canada

* Oil majors Chevron and Shell also exploring new fields

* Scarcity of specialised rigs could hamper progress

By Nia Williams

CALGARY, Alberta, Sept 27 (Reuters) – Statoil’s announcement this week of a major oil find off Canada’s Atlantic coast offers a refreshing reminder that new technology and high prices are helping uncover new oil supplies far beyond U.S. shale and the Alberta oil sands.

Statoil says its discovery in the deep-sea Bay du Nord may contain up to 600 million barrels of recoverable oil, making it the third-largest find in Atlantic Canada and rejuvenating hope for an offshore region that was forecast to be in decline for the next several decades. read more

Shell is abandoning its decades-long quest to extract shale oil commercially from Colorado…; Shell Oil Co., the Houston-based North American arm of Royal Dutch Shell, this week confirmed it was giving up its Mahogany project in Colorado after investing tens of millions of dollars and 31 years on the endeavor.

By Jennifer A. Dlouhy, Washington Bureau : September 27, 2013

WASHINGTON — Shell is abandoning its decades-long quest to extract shale oil commercially from Colorado, leaving just one major company betting big on the future of that unconventional crude in the United States. read more

ROYAL DUTCH SHELL PLC (COMPANY SEC MICHIEL BRANDJES) AND THE SCOTTISH POLICE (CHIEF SUPT. BILLY GORDON) HAVE HAD ADVANCE SIGHT OF THIS EMAIL AND ATTACHED INFORMATION FROM BILL CAMPBELL, RETIRED HSE GROUP AUDITOR, SHELL INTERNATIONAL

From: Cambell
Subject: Articles
Date: 25 September 2013 12:33:02 GMT+01:00
To: [email protected]
Cc: [email protected], [email protected]

John
 
I want to keep up the pressure on Shell by the publication of these two additional articles that cover the hardware faults taken from Shell’s own data.
 
The Chairman wrote to me some time ago saying he agreed with the 2006 press releases, I understand his defence now is that he was misled at the time by Malcolm Brinded and his legal counsel Keith Ruddock.
 
I want to use the fact that the Chairman has not raised, and will not raise, any legal objection to these articles in this correspondence copied to the police, and the previous article re behaviours, in future correspondence with the HSE and the judiciary.
 
I will pass to all the bundles of evidence supporting these articles in due course
 
Bill read more

(Reuters) – The U.S. government on Thursday started to formally gauge energy companies’ interest in future oil and gas leasing in the Chukchi Sea near Alaska, site of a trouble-plagued 2012 exploration season for Royal Dutch Shell Plc. Shell did preliminary drilling on one Chukchi well in 2012. After experiencing equipment failures and accidents, it declined to drill again this year. The company has announced no decision about returning to complete that well or drill others in 2014.

By Yereth Rosen

ANCHORAGE, Alaska, Sept 26 | Thu Sep 26, 2013 8:07pm EDT

(Reuters) – The U.S. government on Thursday started to formally gauge energy companies’ interest in future oil and gas leasing in the Chukchi Sea near Alaska, site of a trouble-plagued 2012 exploration season for Royal Dutch Shell Plc.

The “Call for Information and Nominations” issued by the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) is the first step in a potential Chukchi Sea lease sale under consideration for 2016, officials said. read more

By Derek du Preez | Computerworld UK | Published 12:51, 26 September 13

Shell has signed a five-year deal with CGI to support the oil giant’s Technical and Competitive IT (TaCIT) unit, which is responsible for providing services across a number of the company’s key portfolios.

CGI acquired Logica, one of the UK’s largest outsourcing companies, in May last year for an estimated £1.7 billion.

As Shell’s lead key application services supplier, it will support TaCIT’s critical business and technical applications in three business areas… read more

By Christine Harvey – Sep 26, 2013 9:15 PM GMT+0100

U.S. Gulf Coast gasoline strengthened relative to futures in New York after Motiva Enterprises LLC reported an incident at the largest refinery in the region.

Motiva’s Port Arthur, Texas, refinery report a “process incident” and flaring from an alkylation unit and fluid catalytic cracker, according to a filing with state regulators. The 600,000-barrel-a-day plant halted startup of a unit yesterday after emissions, a notice to the U.S. National Response Center said. Destin Singleton, a spokeswoman for the plant, declined to comment on specific units. read more

By John Donovan

Earlier this month we published an article revealing that the toubled security firm G4S had signed a five-year deal with Shell.

BBC news is now reporting that the government has handed information on security firm Serco to the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) following recent disclosures on overcharging.

Two months ago, the Ministry of Justice said G4S and Serco had overcharged the government by “tens of millions” for electronic tags for criminals.

Some of the above information is extracted from a BBC news article: Fraud office to examine Serco tagging contracts read more

Shell Oil has not disclosed new safety measures since a critical federal report in March, and it has not applied to drill in the Arctic in 2014.

SEATTLE — Six months after federal officials chastised Shell Oil for its faulty offshore drilling operations in the Arctic, the company has yet to explain what safeguards it has put in place or when it plans to resume exploring for oil in the vulnerable region.

Shell’s 2012 return to offshore Arctic exploration after a generation away was marred by high-profile problems, including hefty fines for polluting the air and a drilling rig that ran aground. The company canceled its 2013 drilling season, and its 2014 operations are in question. read more

By John Donovan

Royal Dutch Shell is once again inviting people to share their ideas with the oil giant. (see article below)

I caution anyone contemplating doing so to be on their guard.

In my experience Shell has no respect for confidentiality or intellectual property rights.

I have successfully sued Shell many times for breach of confidence and breach of contract in respect of ideas I disclosed to the company in strictest confidence and Shell then used without giving me any credit or payment.

I know many other people who have had the same problems in having their ideas ripped off by Shell. read more

The European Commission raided the offices of oil price publisher Platts, Statoil ASA, BP Plc, Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Argos Energies in May to gather evidence of possible collusion and abuse of market power, according to the companies. The probe extends to undisclosed crude-derived products and biofuels.

Crooked bankers and insider traders would have no safe havens under planned global guidelines for market-abuse penalties, amid concerns some countries don’t have strict enough rules.

Culprits should face prison or tough fines regardless of where they are based, said David Wright, secretary general of the International Organization of Securities Commissions, a group of global regulators working on principles for how to deter investment banks, other financial firms and staff from abusing markets. read more

by Matthew DiLallo, The Motley Fool Sep 25th 2013 5:10PM

Shell is joining a growing list of oil and gas companies that are abandoning the Kansas portion of the Mississippi Lime. The company has decided to put its entire position up for sale. That includes the 45 producing wells it has drilled, as well as 600,000 acres. The reason is pretty simple: The economic returns are not there and so its only option is to exit.

FULL ARTICLE

Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA) will suspend exploration drilling off French Guiana until 2015 after three unsuccessful wells…; Kirsten Smart, a spokeswoman in London at Shell, declined to comment…

By Eduard Gismatullin September 25, 2013

Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA) will suspend exploration drilling off French Guiana until 2015 after three unsuccessful wells, according to a partner in the project.

A Shell-led venture is still drilling the GM-ES-5 well, due to be completed in November, Keith Bush, chief executive officer at partner Northern Petroleum Plc (NOP), said yesterday by phone. The partners may design a new drilling program in 2015, he said.

“Post this, there is going to be a lot of work done on the integration from the well data,” Bush said. “Whether this well is a discovery or not, we will need to look at where we want to be once the work program’s being conducted next year.” read more

Shell has learned a great deal about oil shale in Colorado and will apply that knowledge to oil-shale plays in other parts of the world…

By Mark Jaffe: The Denver Post: Posted:   09/24/2013 

Royal Dutch Shell on Tuesday became the most recent company to abandon efforts to turn Western Slope oil-shale rock into oil, announcing it is abandoning its Mahogany project.

Chevron stopped its oil-shale research in Rio Blanco County in February 2012.

“The energy markets have evolved since we started the project in 1982,” said Kelly op de Weegh, a Shell spokeswoman. “We are exiting our Colorado project to focus on other opportunities.” read more

The campaigners were detained on Thursday along with their ship after two Greenpeace activists tried to climb onto a Gazprom offshore platform, in a protest against oil drilling in the Arctic. The ship was raided by armed Russian men in balaclavas who abseiled down from helicopters. The ship was seized in the Pechora Sea, near the rig. Greenpeace said the Russian authorities “are holding 30 of our activists”.

24 September 2013

Russian prosecutors have accused 30 Greenpeace activists of piracy and say they will prosecute all of them for trying to board an Arctic oil platform.

Russia’s Investigative Committee, modelled on the FBI, will question the activists. Six Britons are among them.

Their ship, the Arctic Sunrise, is being towed to the port of Murmansk.

Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin said “all those who assaulted the platform, regardless of nationality, will be prosecuted”. read more

Posted on September 24, 2013 at 2:55 pm by Zain Shauk

Royal Dutch Shell has picked a site in Louisiana for a plant costing at least $12.5 billion that would turn natural gas into diesel, jet fuel and other liquids, the Louisiana governor’s office announced Tuesday.

Shell said the project, which is no sure thing, could help to harness more domestic natural gas to make transportation fuels. The company will continue to consider the option before making an investment decision at the site in Ascension Parish, Louisiana, according to the news release. read more

A report released by the Shell to Sea campaign, which has opposed the Corrib gas field off Mayo, last year claimed there are 69 prospects, discoveries and licensed areas off Ireland and that energy firms estimate the potential finds could hit 21 billion barrels of oil equivalent.

24 September 2013

Independent advisers are being sought by the Government to assess if the right tax is being charged for the oil and gas industry.

A review of controversial reliefs for exploration companies will be included in the audit along with the level of other special fiscal arrangements for big energy firms.

Pat Rabbitte, Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, said he wants experts to review if the current terms for exploration, development and production are fit for purpose. read more

The operations of helicopters in the North Sea are to be reviewed in the wake of recent accidents, the Civil Aviation Authority has announced.

The operations of helicopters in the North Sea are to be reviewed in the wake of recent accidents, the Civil Aviation Authority has announced.

The regulator said it would work with its Norwegian counterpart and the European Aviation Safety Agency to draw up a report, which it expects to publish early next year.

It will examine areas including helicopter airworthiness and training.

Four people died in a Super Puma crash last month.

It was the fifth accident in four years, two of which caused fatalities. read more

A version of this article appears in print on September 24, 2013, on page A4 of the New York edition

By JANE PERLEZ and BREE FENG

ATYRAU, Kazakhstan — On the northern reaches of the Caspian Sea, not far from this old Soviet town known for its oil and sturgeon, lies a vast new oil find, the biggest outside the Middle East. China was rebuffed when it asked for a stake 10 years ago.

But when the pumps finally started this month, the China National Petroleum Corporation had won a share in the project, known as Kashagan, and President Xi Jinping was in the region recently to celebrate, another indication that China’s influence has eclipsed even Russia’s across the former Soviet republics of Central Asia. read more

First to speak out of the polar bear’s arse was Greenpeace’s UK director John Sauven…

Earlier this month, around 3,000 Greenpeace members and supporters marched from Parliament to Shell’s London offices to protest against what they claim is the oil giant’s designs on the Arctic. A giant, roaring polar bear puppet hauled by Greenpeace volunteers along the mile-long route led the procession. At the end of the march, a backdoor opened in the rear of the polar bear, named Aurora, to serve as a platform for the speakers. They proceeded to address the rain-soaked rally about the evils of drilling for oil and gas in one of the most bleak, infertile and unpopulated regions of the planet. read more

Royal Dutch Shell has closed a key oil pipeline due to oil theft less than a week after it announced it had reopened, underscoring the huge challenges faced by Africa’s largest oil exporter.

23 September 2013

Royal Dutch Shell has closed a key oil pipeline due to oil theft less than a week after it announced it had reopened, underscoring the huge challenges faced by Africa’s largest oil exporter.

Leaks from crude oil theft on the Trans Niger Pipeline in Nigeria have continued, causing a further shut-in of Bonny Light grade oil, Shell said on Friday.

An estimated 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil was stolen from pipelines in the Niger Delta in the first quarter of this year, the report by London-based Chatham House said, not including the unknown quantities stolen from export terminals. read more

Interior Department officials are drafting proposed minimum standards for oil and gas activity in U.S. Arctic waters, partly with an eye to codifying some of the voluntary steps that Shell took during its 2012 drilling in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas north of Alaska.

The mobile drilling unit Kulluk, which ran aground in the Gulf of Alaska in December 2012, is towed by the tugs Aiviq and Nanuq in 29-mph winds and 20-foot seas 116 miles southwest of Kodiak City, Alaska. Photo: Associated Press

Jennifer A. Dlouhy: Published 1:02 am, Monday, September 23, 2013

Washington —

Hunting for offshore oil in remote and unforgiving Arctic waters requires vessels capable of withstanding crushing blows from icebergs, a nearby supply of emergency equipment and other specialized resources, according to a new report from Pew Charitable Trusts. read more

By John Donovan

The famed Shell Scenarios crystal ball never revealed a world in which its so-called No.1 Enemy would be operating globally under the Royal Dutch Shell Plc top level domain name, dealing on Shell’s behalf with job applications, business proposals, Shell pension enquiries, complaints, invitations to speak at conferences, and even terrorist threats. This was a scenario apparently deemed too far beyond the realms of possibility to be contemplated, but it is nonetheless the incredible reality and has been for getting on to a decade. read more

* Billions of dollars in Nigerian oil stolen each year

* Stolen oil is sold on international markets

* One part of complex criminal web

* Money from theft laundered in global financial centres

Reuters – Thu, 19 Sep 2013 09:00 PM

By Joe Brock

ABUJA, Sept 19 (Reuters) – Stolen Nigerian oil worth billions of dollars is sold every year on international markets and much of the proceeds are laundered in world financial centres like Britain and the United States, a report said on Thursday.

An estimated 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil was stolen from pipelines in the Niger Delta in the first quarter of this year, the report by London-based Chatham House said, not including the unknown quantities stolen from export terminals. read more

 

I have a great respect for National Geographic. I’m a card-carrying member with an annual subscription, and I appreciate the balance, depth and understanding they bring to revealing the links between the natural and human world.

So the latest issue had prepared me for a recent debate at the Royal Society in London which examined the question of the Science of Change in the Arctic. It painted a stark and disturbing picture of our planet’s future in terms of the impact of global sea level rise on coastal cities. It dramatically brought home the message that a fossil fuel-driven civilisation has profoundly altered the planet, which by 2070 will put some 150m people and US$35 trillion worth of assets in the world’s coastal cities at risk from flooding. Our desire for carbon intensive energy has raised sea level by 60mm since 1994 and the draft fifth IPCC report predicts a one metre rise by the end of the century. That is a lot of coast underwater. read more

ABOVE IS AN ATTACHMENT TO A BRIEF OSSL EMAIL (BELOW) SENT TO SENIOR EXECUTIVES AND OFFICIALS OF ROYAL DUTCH SHELL EARLIER TODAY

From: THE OSSL COMPANY <[email protected]>
Subject: LAST NIGHT AT IRISH GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS …YOU SHAME THE NAME OF SHELL …
Date: 20 September 2013 07:19:41 GMT+01:00
To: Michael Crothers <[email protected]>, John Shell News <[email protected]>, Michiel Brandjes <[email protected]>, Peter Voser <[email protected]>, [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], Neil Rooney <n[email protected]>, [email protected], [email protected] read more

By John Donovan

I have published within this article the latest OSSL emails and attachments sent to Shell regarding the Shell Garda alcohol scandal.

OSSL claims that they have actually sent 678 emails to Shell alone requesting payment for the alcohol in question, which was supplied on Shell’s instructions.

They say that copies of the emails are available on request “just ask” – and that the figure does not include emails sent to the Garda on the same subject.

The failure of Royal Dutch Shell senior management to deal with this huge continuing embarrassment is breathtaking. Shell appears to be being run by fools who do not have a clue about crisis management. read more

Posting on our Shell Blog 19 Sept 2013:

The practice of accusing Shell of something outrageous and then claiming that lack of rebuttal equates to proof of that claim is getting quite tiresome. Does anyone agree? (ref. OSSL emails to Shell and Irish Police18 Sept 2013)

By John Donovan

A posting on our Shell Blog this morning by “supershell” makes a fair point…

The practice of accusing Shell of something outrageous and then claiming that lack of rebuttal equates to proof of that claim is getting quite tiresome. Does anyone agree? (ref. OSSL emails to Shell and Irish Police18 Sept 2013)

It is relevant to note that the first OSSL email of today to Supt Thomas Murphy (copied to various Shell executives and lawyers) that I have printed below, claims that 434 out of 435 emails OSSL sent on the alcohol subject to the Garda, Shell, or associates parties, went unanswered. read more

The Commission’s antitrust chief continues to investigate benchmarks including Libor and has also raided offices of oil majors Shell, BP and Statoil in an investigation of suspected manipulation of oil prices.

By John O’Donnell and Barbara Lewis: BRUSSELS | Wed Sep 18, 2013 6:51pm IST

(Reuters) – European Union regulators proposed new rules on setting commodity and interest-rate benchmarks on Wednesday that backed away from their earlier plans for sweeping EU oversight of the multi-trillion-euro markets.

The draft law would regulate benchmarks for the first time at the European level and aims to prevent scandals such as the rigging of the London Interbank Offered Rate (Libor), used to price some $300 trillion of products including home loans and credit cards globally. read more

The oil-market investigation became public in May when European Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia, who is also pursuing price-fixing allegations related to the London interbank offered rate, or Libor, sent investigators to seize computer records and documents from Platts offices, and raided BP Plc (BP/), Statoil ASA and Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA), three of Europe’s largest oil companies,

By Asjylyn Loder and Lananh Nguyen16 September, 2013

By the time Jorge Montepeque came to London in January 2002 to revamp Platts energy-price benchmarks amid a series of manipulation scandals, he’d already earned a reputation as the company’s troubleshooter.

During a decade in Singapore leading the company’s Asian editorial operations, Montepeque brought more transparency to the $6 trillion global energy market. He ordered reporters to stop using anonymous tips to determine fair values of fuels, pushed traders into a system that sent bids and offers to subscribers around the world and made it more difficult to manipulate prices of Dubai crude. read more

By Jamie Ashcroft September 18 2013, 11:57am

Royal Dutch Shell (LON:RDSB) has the potential for constructive change under soon-to-be appointed chief executive Ben van Beurden, according to analysts at JP Morgan.

The investment banking major does, however, retain an ‘underweight’ rating for the stock.

Shell caught the market off guard when it hired BvB, promoting the 30 year company man from within, from his position as director of downstream operations – before that he was executive VP of the chemicals division. read more

By John Donovan

More OSSL emails have been sent today to Shell and the Garda.

One includes an email exchange between OSSL and Supt Patrick Diskin in January 2012 under the subject heading:

“Supply of alcohol to Garda on Corrib project.”

I note that Supt Diskin did not take issue with what was stated in the subject heading.

If anyone sent me an email with false information in the subject heading, I would definitely point that out in my reply.

Supt Diskin did not do so because he knew that it was a valid subject, not a figment of someones imagination. read more

FROM PROFESSOR RICK STEINER: I wanted you to have two letters sent by the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) in the past few days regarding the horrible business practices of Shell in the Niger Delta…

From: Richard Steiner <[email protected]>
Subject: MOSOP letters re: Shell in Nigeria
Date: 17 September 2013 18:47:38 GMT+01:00
To: John Donovan <[email protected]>

Dear John,

I wanted you to have two letters sent by the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) in the past few days regarding the horrible business practices of Shell in the Niger Delta, as well the unwitting support to these damaging corporate behavior by an international environmental organization, IUCN. read more

I am glad to notice that Superintendent Murphy is in civilised touch with you. No doubt he will do a thorough investigation of the- booze- from-Shell- for-the-Gardai issues in spite of his representing the same county police as most of those specifically mentioned by OSSL as being in receipt of large deliveries of spirits courtesy of Shell. We are all of us aware of the difficult job he has to do: spirits are delivered to be consumed and there goes the evidence…

Comment supplied by Micheál ÓSeighin

Hi, John,

I am glad to notice that Superintendent Murphy is in civilised touch with you. No doubt he will do a thorough investigation of the- booze- from- Shell- for- the- Gardai issues in spite of his representing the same county police as most of those specifically mentioned by OSSL as being in receipt of large deliveries of spirits courtesy of Shell.

We are all of us aware of the difficult job he has to do: spirits are delivered to be consumed and there goes the evidence: as a good policeman, Superintendent Murphy will know that lack of a body does not necessarily mean the lack of a crime and he will act accordingly. He will no doubt try to establish the credibility of OSSL by investigating carefully the other allegations by OSSL of gifts delivered by OSSL on behalf of Shell to named local people and if these allegations are well founded (physical evidence existing) he, the Superintendent, must then find the allegations of OSSL regarding alcohol for Gardai to be an established case requiring a more substantial answer  than a bleated ”we never got any, we never got any”. He will then no doubt investigate some other allegations of attempted bribery of prominent local people by other Shell functionaries apart from OSSL, even in the media, to establish if there is indeed a pattern of behaviour, of bribery, towards which Shell minor operatives tend. At this point he will, no doubt, examine the history of Shell and other companies in the extractive industries, to establish for himself whether such bribery or attempted bribery is and/or has been a distinguishing factor of the activities of such companies vis a vis the members of the police forces serving the communities in which they are established. read more

By Rick Wilkinson: OGJ Correspondent: MELBOURNE, 09/17/2013   

Royal Dutch Shell PLC has started drilling the first of its seven development wells in Prelude natural gas field in the Browse basin offshore Western Australia. It is using the Noble Clyde Boudreaux drilling vessel.

The drilling campaign is expected to last 2 years with the vessel serviced out of Broome on the Kimberley coast.

The Prelude project is expected to be the world’s first floating LNG (FLNG) facility. It will tap into an initial reserve base of 3 tcf of gas and condensate contained in the Prelude and nearby Concerto fields. read more

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY — September 17, 2013 at 2:50 PM ET

By: Rebecca Jacobson

Salvage teams assess damage to Royal Dutch Shell’s Kulluk drill barge in January after the rig ran aground near Kodiak Island in Alaska. Photo by AFP/Greenpeace/Robert Meyers

Rapidly thawing sea ice in the Arctic Circle has threatened polar wildlife and contributed to global changes in weather and climate. It has also opened the polar region for industrialization and resulted in new shipping lanes and a chance to drill for precious offshore oil reserves. read more

RECEIVED BY EMAIL

Shell, through its subsidiaries and lackeys this time, is again engaging in unfair business practices in the Northeast US and screwing over their dealers.

See the attached Federal Complaint that has been filed.

Court Document – Complaint filed 20 August 2013

By John Donovan

We now seem to be getting down to the nitty-gritty in the long running saga in which a small “Mr Fixit” company, OSSL, admits it acted as a conduit for sweeteners (bribes) funded by Shell to smooth the rocky path of the highly controversial Corrib gas pipeline project in Ireland.

Following the personal intervention by RDS Plc Chief Executive Peter Voser, after I arranged for OSSL bosses to corner him at the Shell AGM in May, his chosen envoy, Iain Middleton and the CEO of Shell E&P Ireland, Michael Crothers, met in Dublin the following month with OSSL founders Desmond Kane and Neil Rooney. Peter Voser publicly stated that the objective of the discussions was to resolve the dispute. read more

It must be disconcerting that private communications in relation to your investigation of OSSL allegations are regularly published on my website, sometimes within minutes of being sent.

From: John Donovan <[email protected]>
Subject: OSSL ALLEGATIONS
Date: 17 September 2013 09:40:44 GMT+01:00
To: Thomas Murphy <[email protected]>
Cc: [email protected]

Dear Supt Thomas Murphy

It must be disconcerting that private communications in relation to your investigation of OSSL allegations are regularly published on my website, sometimes within minutes of being sent.

I want you to know that I am willing to not only cease publishing any reference by me personally to OSSL and your investigation, but also to delete entirely from my website ALL past information on the OSSL subject authored by me. read more