July 22nd, 2014:
Behind the scenes at Greenpeace’s Lego and Shell protest viral video
The elephant in the atmosphere
Extract from an article published by economist.com on 19 July 2014: “Shell, Exxon and carbon: The elephant in the atmosphere”
IN SEPTEMBER 2013 a group of institutional investors with $3 trillion of assets under management asked the 45 biggest quoted oil firms how climate change might affect their business and, in particular, whether any of their oil reserves might become “stranded assets”—unusable if laws to curb emissions of carbon dioxide became really tight. Exxon Mobil and Shell are the most recent to get back with their assessment of the risk: zero. “We do not believe that any of our proven reserves will become ‘stranded’,” says Shell.
South African anti-fracking group threatens legal challenge
Extract from a Reuters article by Ed Cropley published 22 July 2014 under the headline: “UPDATE 1-S.African anti-fracking group threatens legal challenge”
JOHANNESBURG, July 22 (Reuters) – A South African anti-fracking group threatened a legal challenge on Tuesday to government plans to grant shale gas exploration licences in the pristine semi-desert of the Karoo, saying the regulatory process had been marked by “patent ineptitude”. Green groups wanting to protect the Karoo, believed to hold significant shale gas deposits, said Pretoria was incapable of ensuring firms such as Royal Dutch Shell, at the forefront of the fracking push, would adhere to the rules.
Shell’s Ho-Ho pipeline plagued by mechanical issues
Extract from a Reuters article by Catherine Ngai published Tuesday 22 July 2014 under the headline: “Ho-Ho pipeline slow to start but pickup anticipated- traders”
Death of 193 Dutch Strains Russian Relations for Shell, Heineken
At one point the largest foreign investor in Russia, Shell declined to comment on whether its business would be affected after the downing of the plane. The company lost four employees in the incident, it said yesterday.
BloombergBusinessweek article by Celeste Perri, Maud van Gaal and Fred Pals published 22 July 2014
For centuries, the fortunes of the Netherlands, the wind-swept country carved out of North Sea wetlands, have relied on preserving the peace with its global trading partners. Last week’s downing of an airliner carrying 193 Dutch nationals is testing one of its most important relationships, involving companies from Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA) to Heineken NV. (HEIA)
The Netherlands was Russia’s third-biggest trading partner last year, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The Dutch, home to the busiest container port in Europe and the region’s biggest energy company, send dairy products, meat and machinery to Russia, which the U.S. says is complicit in the attack.
Nigerian Federal Government, Shell and the Ogoni: Treachery all round?
Extract from an article by Ifeanyi Izeze published 21 July 2014 by ngex.com
Qatar’s LNG Dominance Threatened by Shell’s Reported Withdrawal
Extract from an article by Andy Tully published by oil price.com on 21 July 2014
In 2013, however, one Shell well in Block D of the field came up dry, although Qatar had promoted it as a rich source of energy. As a result, Shell decided against even beginning a second exploratory well, anonymous sources told The Wall Street Journal. A person identified by The Journal only as a Shell spokesman said the first well had reached the depth planned to explore for gas, but “it did not encounter commercial volumes of hydrocarbons.” Now, he said, Shell is negotiating with QP and PetroChina on how to withdraw from the venture without drilling the second well.
Protecting Oil Installations in Nigeria
Extracts from an article published 22 July 2014 by ThisDayLive under the headline: Protecting Oil Installations through Community Engagement
At a recent practical dialogue on the security and human rights practices of stakeholders involved in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry, especially within the Niger Delta operational basin, the Global Rights Nigeria disclosed that oil companies in the country might have spent over $53 billion securing their operational facilities between 2007 and 2011.
Global Rights, which is currently headquartered in Washington noted that it was possibile the federal government expended such huge amount of money in securing oil and gas operations within the Niger Delta, owing to the region’s poor history of human rights practices.
Legal challenge launched against Shell Centre decision
Extracts from an article by Elizabeth Hopkirk and Ike Ijeh published by bdonline.co.uk on 22 July 2014
An opponent of Squire & Partners’ Shell Centre development has launched a legal challenge in the High Court. Activist and writer George Turner claims communities secretary Eric Pickles’ decision to approve the £1.3 billion scheme last month was flawed and will unleash a planning free-for-all on the South Bank. He served the challenge on Pickles, as well as the mayor of London, Lambeth council, Shell and developer Braeburn Estates, a joint venture between Qatari Diar and Canary Wharf Group. The defendants now have two weeks to respond. They are expected to contest the validity of Turner’s challenge.