TOM BAWDEN: THE INDEPENDENT: Tuesday 18 August 2015
Shell’s shares slumped today after the US government finally gave it the green light to drill for oil and gas in the Arctic Ocean.
The FTSE 100 oil giant will be able to explore the ocean floor for hydrocarbons for the first time since 2012, when a series of mishaps including the grounding of a drilling rig off the coast of Alaska, ended a costly Arctic programme that has cost $7bn over the past decade and has yet to find a drop of oil.
But despite receiving final clearance by the Obama administration to finally resume drilling, investors were unimpressed, sending the group’s shares down by 14.50p, or 0.81%, to 1,778.50p.
Although the Arctic potentially offers vast untapped resources of oil and gas, it is high-risk, extremely difficult to access and it could be at least ten years before any commercial production began, analysts said. #
Furthermore, the oil services group John Wood today reminded the City that conditions in today’s low oil price environment are likely to remain tough for a while, warning that there was “little prospect of short term improvement in market conditions”.
Shell welcomed the decision by the US government to allow it to proceed and sought to reassure stakeholders that it would operate safely in the pristine Arctic environment.
“We remain committed to operating in a safe, environmentally-responsible manner and look forward to evaluating what could potentially become a national energy resource base,” a company spokesman said.
The US Department of the Interior permit allows Shell to drill in the oil-rich Chukchi Sea off the northwest coast of Alaska. Harsh conditions in the Chukchi have discouraged other oil companies from drilling there.
“Activities conducted offshore Alaska are being held to the highest safety, environmental and emergency response standards,” said Brian Salerno, director of the Interior Department’s Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement.
“We will continue to monitor their work around the clock to ensure the utmost safety and environmental stewardship,” he added.
The go-ahead for Shell comes after repairs were completed to the Fennica, an icebreaker the company leases that carries emergency well-plugging equipment. The ship had suffered a gash in its hull after hitting uncharted shoals off southern Alaska.
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.
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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A head-cut image of Alfred Donovan (now deceased) appears courtesy of The Wall Street Journal.
