…customers of certain Far Eastern shipyards have found that in spite of vessels being delivered with all of the necessary certification, unsurveyed welds have not always been up to the standards of the specific “randomly selected” welds on which the certification had been based. This may have interesting implications for the Prelude vessel…. Since Shell does not seem to be able to ensure that the welds on their pipelines in Kashagan were properly executed, all of which should have been inspected, are they any more likely to be sure of the welds on Prelude?
From an oil industry expert
Mitsui paid $1.1 bn, and Anardarko perhaps $2.66bn to settle their liabilities in respect of Macondo.
Mitsui and Anadarko shared responsibility with BP because they were fully appraised of what was going on, and gave their approval to the Macondo operations. Shell is in the same position in Kashagan. It is rather naïve to compare Shell’s role as a partner in Kashagan with that of a shareholder in a public company.
In order for partners to give approval they require adequate information, to which they have ready access.
See this Wall Street Journal article for more information.
On another related subject, customers of certain Far Eastern shipyards have found that in spite of vessels being delivered with all of the necessary certification, unsurveyed welds have not always been up to the standards of the specific “randomly selected” welds on which the certification had been based. This may have interesting implications for the Prelude vessel…. Since Shell does not seem to be able to ensure that the welds on their pipelines in Kashagan were properly executed, all of which should have been inspected, are they any more likely to be sure of the welds on Prelude?
A head-cut image of Alfred Donovan (now deceased) appears courtesy of The Wall Street Journal.
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: 
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on Mar 18th, 2014 at 06:08
Just a really, really shallow article.
1. “Since Shell does not seem to be able to ensure that the welds on their pipelines in Kashagan were properly executed”…
Do you know who the the operating partner has been in Kashagan until 2008 (when absolute majority of work was carried out and absolutely all of the procurement was complete)? Eni… How do I know? Very quick research
2. You are comparing Prelude and Kashagan… Great logic… “Both deal with water, hence I can compare those two”.
Wow, just wow. Gotta love the approach. Compare two completely different items, a bit fear mongering, throw in “expert opinion” and an article from WSJ that has nothing to do with the issues. Boom, done!
on Mar 17th, 2014 at 20:51
The problem of assessment not meeting the standards expected by certification schemes is a quality assurance problem, which affects almost every organisation, in any industry on the planet. Any company which buys a ship, container, vessel or rig could be exposed to the same problem. This non-article does nothing to enhance your “Attack-Shell-for-anything-and-everything” crusade. And no, I’m not a Shell employee, affiliate, crony or anything else. Just an interested (and puzzled) observer.