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March 23rd, 2016:

Where does the cancellation of Browse and Masela leave Prelude?

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Screen Shot 2016-03-23 at 12.53.14From a Regular Contributor

Cancellation of both the Browse and Masela FLNG developments on the same day suggests that the issues about which Bill Campbell has warned may finally have won the day. 

If so, this is a huge climbdown for Shell, with several billion dollars in probable write-offs. 

It’s perhaps not surprising, given the plethora of warnings from technical sources that there were serious risks involved. 

Could Prelude be next to be axed? Parking a multi-billion dollar vessel in cyclone alley for 20 years never seemed like the most appropriate use of the pension funds invested in Shell… read more

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.

One Floating LNG Dream Sinks As Another Gets Ready To Float

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One Floating LNG Dream Sinks As Another Gets Ready To Float

Screen Shot 2016-03-15 at 10.34.57Unfortunately for Shell it formally committed to the Prelude development in May, 2011, a time when oil was selling for around $120 a barrel, three-times the current price of around $41/bbl.

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By Tim Treadgold: March 23, 2016

No-one blinked and share prices barely fluttered when a $40 billion plan by Australia’s Woodside Petroleum ngIf: ticker to develop a floating liquefied natural gas (LNG) project was torpedoed earlier today.

However, the knock-on consequences of sinking the Browse project will be felt most acutely at Europe’s biggest oil company, Royal Dutch Shell ngIf: ticker .

The immediate impact on Shell is that it has a 27% interest in the Woodside-led Browse LNG project, but it is also nearing completion of the world’s biggest floating LNG barge, the $12.6 billion Prelude project. read more

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.

Woodside halts Australian LNG project

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By Daniel J. Graeber: March 23, 2016

PERTH, Australia, March 23 (UPI) — Australian energy company Woodside said it was putting a hold on the development of its Browse liquefied natural gas project because of market conditions.

Woodside said that, even with front-end engineering and design work completed, weak economic and market conditions meant it was necessary to put a hold on the $50 billion facility.

“We have undertaken a comprehensive and rigorous process to assess all elements of the development,” Woodside CEO Peter Coleman said in a statement. “The decision represents a disciplined approach to large-scale capital investment and is consistent with our requirements for a development concept to be commercially robust across a range of scenarios.” read more

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.

Wood Group extends deal with Shell’s Scots gas sites

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Screen Shot 2016-03-15 at 10.34.57GARETH MACKIE: Wednesday 23 March 2016

Oil and gas services giant Wood Group has secured a new three-year contract covering three Shell sites north of the Border.

The deal, which has the option to be extended for a further four years, will see Wood Group Industrial Services (WGIS) provide maintenance and site support at the St Fergus and Mossmorran gas processing plants in Aberdeenshire and Fife, as well as Braefoot Bay marine terminal near Aberdour.

Aberdeen-based Wood said the contract builds on its 20-year history supporting Shell on the assets. read more

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.

Woodside Petroleum drops $40 billion Browse floating LNG project

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Screen Shot 2016-03-15 at 10.34.57Shell, Woodside’s biggest partner in the project, had also spoken cautiously on its prospects…

Angela Macdonald-SmithEnergy Reporter: 23 March 2016

Woodside Petroleum chief executive Peter Coleman is turning a keener eye to potential acquisitions after a decision by the Browse joint venture to ditch a $40 billion-plus floating LNG project freed up the company to chase “attractive” assets.

The indefinite deferral of the Browse project off the north-west coast was forced by the collapse in oil prices, which created an “extremely challenging external environment” for the huge project despite work done to reduce costs, Woodside said. read more

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.

Shell offshore team loses Styrofoam pipe floats at sea

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Screen Shot 2016-03-15 at 10.34.57By Brett Ruskin, CBC News Posted: Mar 22, 2016

Eight large sections of Styrofoam are adrift at sea — and there’s no plan to recover them.

The abandoned floats broke loose from a pipe used for drilling operations, following an incident earlier this month that has suspended Shell Canada’s search for oil off Nova Scotia’s coast.

“Until such time as the board is satisfied that operations can proceed safely, drilling will remain suspended,” said Kathleen Funke, spokesperson for the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board (CNSOPB).

On March 5, weather conditions deteriorated near Shell Canada’s newest exploratory well — named Cheshire — approximately 225 kilometres off the coast. read more

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.

BG demands government raise price of gas to $7 per million BTUs

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Mohamed Adel: 22 March 2016

Screen Shot 2016-03-15 at 10.34.57BG, a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell, is negotiating with Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) to price gas at $7 per million BTUs in the 9B concession area in Egyptian Mediterranean waters. EGPC has offered $ 5.88 per million BTUs.

A source close to the negotiation process told Daily News Egypt that the BG, with a representative from Royal Dutch Shell, leads the negotiations regarding pricing of gas produced from 9B and agreed on the price of $5.88 per million BTUs with a condition of paying $ 1bn in dues to BG. read more

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.

Indonesia decides against Inpex floating LNG project, wants to stay onshore

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Screen Shot 2016-03-15 at 10.34.57* President says onshore plan to bring more economic benefits

* Unclear if Inpex, Shell will be involved in new plan

* Onshore facility to be built in eastern province of Maluku 

By Agustinus Beo Da Costa and Fergus Jensen

JAKARTA, March 23 Indonesia’s president on Wednesday rejected Inpex Corp and Royal Dutch Shell’s proposal to build the world’s largest floating liquefied natural gas plant in the country’s east, saying an onshore plant would benefit its economy more.

The announcement is a blow to the two energy firms, as well as to Indonesia’s energy regulator (SKKMigas), which warned last week that rejecting the $15 billion plan to process gas from the Masela field offshore would lead to delays and job cuts. read more

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.

Shell Gas Project in Indonesia Risks Running Out of Steam

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President Joko Widodo’s decision for an onshore scheme is estimated to add more than $5 billion to the project’s cost

By BEN OTTO: March 23, 2016 

JAKARTA, Indonesia—Inpex Corp. and Royal Dutch Shell PLC. suffered a blow Wednesday in their $14 billion bid to exploit a deep-water gas field in Indonesia, after President Joko Widodo declared the scheme must make use of an onshore refinery rather than a proposed floating facility.

Inpex, the project’s planned operator, and partner Shell proposed six months ago to build a massive floating facility to exploit a major gas field in the country’s remote east known as Masela. read more

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.

Scientists Warn of Perilous Climate Shift Within Decades, Not Centuries

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By JUSTIN GILLISA version of this article appears in print on March 23, 2016, on page A11 of the New York edition

The nations of the world agreed years ago to try to limit global warming to a level they hoped would prove somewhat tolerable. But leading climate scientists warned on Tuesday that permitting a warming of that magnitude would actually be quite dangerous.

The likely consequences would include killer storms stronger than any in modern times, the disintegration of large parts of the polar ice sheets and a rise of the sea sufficient to begin drowning the world’s coastal cities before the end of this century, the scientists declared.

“We’re in danger of handing young people a situation that’s out of their control,” said James E. Hansen, the retired NASA climate scientist who led the new research. The findings were released Tuesday morning by a European science journal, Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics.

A draft version of the paper was released last year, and it provoked a roiling debate among climate scientists. The main conclusions have not changed, and that debate seems likely to be replayed in the coming weeks. read more

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.