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Shell Energy pays out more than £500,000 for price cap overcharging

Industry regulator Ofgem says the supplier will refund and compensate 11,275 prepayment customers as well as pay into a fund to support vulnerable people for the breach, noting the hardship faced by consumers as energy prices surge.

Thursday 25 August 2022 10:29, UK

Shell Energy is to pay out more than half a million pounds for overcharging thousands of households above the permitted price cap.

Industry regulator Ofgem said the supplier would refund and compensate 11,275 prepayment customers as well as pay into a fund to support vulnerable people. read more

By Robb M. Stewart Published December 02, 2017: Dow Jones Newswires

MELBOURNE, Australia — Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSA) has moved finally to unleash a massive natural-gas resource buried in coal deposits in eastern Australia in a development that will see fuel flow to its majority owned liquefied natural gas venture on the country’s tropical coast.

The energy giant and various partners have agreed to a 27-year sales deal covering 5 trillion cubic feet of gas that will anchor the staged development of the Arrow fields in Queensland. read more

Protest event in Ireland during “Shell to Sea” campaign

Joe Brennan: 4 Sept 2017: Extracts from article: “Vayu warns of volatile prices for winter gas”

Ireland imports much of its gas needs through the UK, even though the Corrib field off the Mayo coast, which started production in late 2015, has the potential to meet up to 60 per cent of the country’s gas needs and is expected to supply fuel for up to 20 years.

“We are anticipating considerable energy price volatility this winter, which could be worrying for businesses as this is the time when their energy usage is at its highest,” said Keith Donnelly, an energy analyst with Vayu, noting that winter gas prices have risen by 8 per cent in the past six weeks. read more

Don’t make the mistakes that Shell made in the early days in term of how it approached the concerns of the local community.

Richard Curran: July 16 2017 6:00 PM

The State could be a big loser from Shell’s heavy financial hit on the Corrib gas field. If tax losses racked up by Shell are carried over to the new owners, it will reduce the corporation tax receipts on what will be a profitable venture for some shareholders in the years ahead.

So how did Shell manage to lose nearly $1bn (€870m) on the enormous commercial gas find off the west coast? One easy but rather simplistic explanation is that the protests not only delayed the project but ended up costing Shell a fortune. But $1bn? Hardly. read more

Lorna Siggins: 12 July 2017

Energy company Shell has sold its 45 per cent stake in the Corrib gas field to a unit of Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) in a deal worth $947 million (€830 million).

Below is a timeline of the controversial gas field’s past.

1996 – Corrib gas field discovery declared by Enterprise Energy Ireland Ltd, which submitted plans to pump it ashore and build an onshore refinery in north Mayo.

2001 – Government petroleum lease granted for Corrib field

April 2002 – Corrib acquired by Shell, which became lead developer with Norwegian company Statoil and Marathon. read more

Development of the Corrib field sparked a series of confrontations between the Irish police and environmental demonstrators before the first gas was brought ashore two years ago: NIALL CARSON/PRESS ASSOCIATION

Emily Gosden: July 13, 2017

Royal Dutch Shell has sold its stake in the contentious Corrib gas project off the Republic of Ireland to a Canadian pension fund for up to $1.23 billion.

The Anglo-Dutch energy group agreed to sell its 45 per cent stake in Corrib, about 50 miles off Ireland’s northwest coast, to a subsidiary of the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board.

The latest deal in a $30 billion divestment programme comprises a $947 million payment up front and up to a further $285 million between 2018 and 2025, depending on gas prices and production. read more

13 July 2017

Energy groups behind the controversial Corrib gas field off the Mayo coast are as much €2.5 billion in the red on their investment, as Shell’s move to sell a stake to a Canadian state pension fund has left it with loss of up to €1 billion.

Shell, currently in the middle of selling up to $30 billion (€26.3 billion) of assets to cut its debt pile, has agreed to sell its 45 per cent stake to a unit of the Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB).

The deal could be worth as little as €830 million to Shell but its return may rise by up to €250 million over the next eight years subject to future gas prices and the field reaching certain production targets. This would also boost the value of the other investors’ stakes in the project. read more

Losses on Corrib near €2bn as Shell sells up

It had been beset by more than a decade of delays and rows with protesters before production began.

Gavin McLoughlin: July 13 2017 2:30 AM

The Corrib gas field has left Shell and its partners in the project with losses running to the best part of €2bn to date.

Shell announced yesterday it was exiting the project in a deal worth potentially as much as €1.08bn, selling its 45pc stake in the project to a Canadian pension fund, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB).

The deal – which is expected to complete next year – will see Shell take an impairment charge of around $350m (€307m) and write off $400m (€350m) in historical currency movements that have impacted on its valuation of the asset. read more

Barrington’s report highlighted Shell’s policy of employing former public officials, former gardaí and former journalists – “giving rise to the appearance that Shell is seeking to influence those who regulate them”.

’Lorna Siggins: 12 July 2017

Royal Dutch Shell’s proposed sale of its major share in the Corrib gas field came as little surprise to residents in Erris, Co Mayo whose views are still divided on the multibillion euro project.

After years of acrimony and protest the first delivery of gas from the field was taken in December 2015 and the project was formally opened the following month. This was some 20 years after the gas discovery was reported off the north Mayo coast.

Rossport farmer Wilie Corduff, who was one of five men jailed indefinitely over opposition to the project’s high pressure pipeline route, said the decision by Shell came “16 years too late, as the damage to the community is done”. read more

By Joe Brennan

Royal Dutch Shell has sold its 45 per cent interest in the Corrib gas field to a unit of Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) in a deal worth up to $1.23 billion (€1.08 billion), as the group continues to sell off non-core assets.

The deal includes an initial consideration of $947 million and additional payments of up to $285 million over the next eight years, subject to gas price and production. It is subject to partner and regulatory consents and is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2018. read more

Corruption of Police by Shell

Printed below is an extract from a current submission to The Pitchford Inquiry by the Shell to Sea organisation in Ireland. As can be seen, it very much involves Shell.

The Pitchford Inquiry is investigating undercover policing activities in England and Wales. Pressure is mounting to also cover the activities of undercover British police in Ireland.

EXTRACT FROM THE SUBMISSION

Corruption of Police by Shell

In March 2013 Shell to Sea  contacted a reporter in the London-based Observer newspaper regarding a series of allegations which had appeared consistently since September 2012 on a website co-founded by John Donovan and his late father Alfred, available at www.royaldutchshellplc.com. It took from March until publication on 11 August to research and legal-proof the article written by award-winning journalist Ed Vuillamy                            (http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/may/18/ed-vulliamy-ryszard-kapuscinski-award) under the heading ‘Strange tale of Shell’s pipeline battle, the Gardaí and £30,000 of booze’. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/aug/10/shell-pipeline-protests-county-mayo  While the reportage of alcohol provision to the police came as no surprise, we find the claim made by Mr Neil Rooney of OSSL as quoted below to be, indeed, sinister: read more

By:  Shell to Sea

Open Letter to the Irish Minister of Justice, Francis Fitzgerald

Shell to Sea are calling for the Minister of Justice, Francis Fitzgerald to seek that the inquiry into the behaviour of undercover British police (entitled the Pitchford Inquiry) be extended to include the activities of undercover police in Ireland.

The Pitchford Inquiry is so far only investigating undercover policing activities in England and Wales, however the German Government, the Scottish Government and Northern Ireland’s Justice Minister, Claire Sugden have all called for the remit of the inquiry to be widen to include the activities of the undercover British police in their jurisdictions. read more

Shell Canada President Michael Crothers (above) says “Canada should stick to its values and do something to protect the environment, regardless of what policy tack the incoming U.S. president takes.”

See CBC News article: Canada shouldn’t lose resolve for a carbon tax, says Shell exec (Published 29 November 2016)

This is the most breathtaking hypocrisy on the part of Shell and Mr. Crothers.

Shell is responsible for nightmarish pollution of the Niger Delta in Nigeria. It has already settled related litigation and more is underway: read more

The Irish Police are said to be in the pocket of Shell

Gordon Deegan:Wednesday, November 16, 2016

Sales of more than €1.2m a day are being generated from gas flowing from the Corrib field off the Mayo coast, new figures show.

Production started on the field at the end of last year and for the first nine months of this year, the Corrib partners — including Shell, Statoil, and Canadian company Vermilion Energy — recorded estimated revenues of $360m (€335m) from the production of gas from the field.

A new report from Vermilion — which has an 18.5% stake in the project — show that it, alone, has generated sales of $66.42m from the first nine months of production. According to Vermilion production volumes on the project reached full capacity at the end of second quarter of this year. read more

The 10th of November 2006 was chosen by the Shell to Sea campaign as a suitable day of action as it marked the anniversary of the hanging of Ken Saro Wiwa and 8 other Ogoni activists who opposed Shell in Nigeria.

In 2007, following the baton charge and other incidents in which people were injured, GSOC sought to do a “policies and practices” investigation into the policing of Shell/Corrib protests. However, the then Minister for Justice Brian Lenihan denied GSOC permission to carry out this investigation. As the 2010 Frontline report stated this created “the impression that the State does not want the Garda Síochána held properly to account over the policing of the Corrib dispute”. [2] read more

Regular visitors to this website will be aware of the admittance made by a Shell “Mr. Fixit” contractor on the Corrib Gas development in Ireland, that at Shell’s behest, they distributed bribes to smooth the path of the controversial project. On one occasion, €30,000 was splashed out on free booze for the Irish police (the Garda).

Interesting then to see a recent article published by The Irish Times, reporting  that a whistleblower – a serving police officer – has made bribery allegations implicating 50 Garda officers in a tale of corruption involving the pub trade. Cheers. read more

By John Donovan

OSSL is the whistleblower “Mr Fixit” company that has admitted distributing bribes to the Irish Police (the Garda) and other parties on behalf of their client, Irish Shell, to smooth the path of the controversial Corrib Gas project in Ireland.

OSSL director Desmond Kane has drawn my attention to the astonishing news articles below, which speak volumes about the deeply flawed integrity of the Garda.

OSSL has spoken directly with Royal Dutch Shell CEO Ben van Beurden about the corruption in question and related very serious actions carried out by OSSL at the express instruction of Irish Shell, which funded the bribes, including €30,000 worth of alcohol. read more

Extracts from an article by Colm Keena published by The Irish Times on 22 Sept 2016

Shell E&P Ireland Offshore Inc associated with Corrib gas project

Two companies registered in the Bahamas and used by Dublin property investor Paul Fenelon for investments in the UK are among companies of Irish interest on the Corporate Registry of the Bahamas.

The registry, normally difficult to access, is being made publicly available by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), of which The Irish Times is a media partner.

Shell E & P Ireland Offshore Inc, a company with an address in Nassau, has had a number of Irish directors over the years, starting in 2000.  The company is associated with the Corrib gas project in Co Mayo. read more

News Release – Issued by Shell to Sea – May 7th 2016 

Shell to Sea campaigner Maura Harrington was arrested in Belmullet on Friday afternoon and  jailed for 10 days in Mountjoy prison for the non-payment of a court fine of E300.

It is thought that the jailing relates to a 2012 protest attempting to block construction of the disputed development.

Ms. Harrington has continuously opposed the Corrib gas project due to health and safety concerns, environmental damage and the giveaway of Ireland’s natural resources to private corporations. [1]

The jailing comes on the same day as Vermillion Energy – who owns an 18.5% share in Corrib gas – released sales figures of $17million from Corrib from the first three months of 2016. [2] At this rate the Corrib partners – Shell, Statoil and Vermillion – stand to make sales of $7.35billion from Corrib over a 20 year field lifespan. [3] read more

Shell to Sea activist Maura Harrington arrested over fine

Mark Hilliard: 6 May 2016

Shell to Sea campaigner Maura Harrington has been arrested on foot of a warrant for the non-payment of a €300 court fine.

Ms Harrington, a spokesperson for the protest group, was arrested on Friday afternoon in Mayo and transported by gardaí to the Dochas women’s prison in Dublin where she is to serve a ten day sentence.

Speaking to the Irish Times, her brother Sean Harrington said he believes the offence which led to the imposition of the fine would have been a protest action at the Corrib plant in or around 2012, possibly using her car to block access to the facility. read more

Friday 6 May 2016

SHELL TO SEA campaigner Maura Harrington has been arrested in Mayo and taken to Mountjoy Prison to serve time for an unpaid fine.

It is understood she was arrested this afternoon as she left a bank in Belmullet. She was taken to Belmullet garda station and then transported to the Dóchas Centre women’s prison at Mountjoy, where she is expected to spend ten days.

The activist was convicted last year in relation to the obstruction of a tunnel-boring machine at the Shell plant in Ballinaboy. A monetary penalty of €300 was imposed as part of her sentence, but she has refused to pay it. read more

By John Donovan

I am aware of speculation over the claimed resignation of John Egan, as a director of Shell E&P Ireland.

It is, in fact, true.

The proof is provided below.

For a number of years, Egan has been the Communications supremo at Shell E&P Ireland, the main partner in the Corrib Gas Project, which has been surrounded by accusations of corruption from the outset.

Ironically, in view of his conduct, Egan claims expertise in reputation restoration.

On New Years Eve, Shell warned nearby residents about gas flaring at the newly commissioned onshore processing plant at Bellanaboy. read more

Corrib Gas: Was it worth it? Yes.

Brendan Cafferty: 27 JAN 2016

As the gas starts to flow a member of the pro gas lobby reflects on the controversy

Who is to blame for the delay?

The gas was due ashore in 2002 at a cost of €800 million. It finally arrives at the start of 2016 at a cost of €3.5 billion-€4 billion. Planning such a huge project was, of course, protracted, with EPA and An Bord Pleanála hearings. Kevin Moore, the board’s planning inspector, did at the outset recommend that planning not be granted for the terminal at Ballinaboy, but the board of An Bord Pleanála did not agree with him – something that is not unusual. read more

Lorna Siggins: 26 JAN 2016

The Corrib gas project is a template for “how not to undertake a development”, according to a new planning approach published by the British Institution of Civil Engineers.

Although the gas project has secured its final Government approval from Minister for Energy Alex White, the prospect of further legal challenges and the large Garda presence at an “invitation-only” opening reflects the fact that it still does not have community consent.

Two of the report’s four authors say that had both Shell and Government agencies adopted a more democratic approach, they could have avoided cost overruns, including “the loss of at least €600 million loss to the tax payer”, and could also have “avoided the serious ensuing conflict with the local community”. read more

Extract from an email sent by OSSL today to Ben van Beurden concerning Shell bribery and corruption in Ireland, as admitted by OSSL, the firm that worked for Shell. This is stated as a fact not an allegation.

EMAIL RECIPIENTS AT BG GROUP AND ROYAL DUTCH SHELL PLC ARE AS LISTED

From: THE OSSL COMPANY <[email protected]>

Subject: Ethical BG …is Shell a good fit …given that The Corrib Project stinks all the way to the top

Date: 6 January 2016 at 14:22:57 GMT

To: [email protected], [email protected], tobybates <[email protected]>, [email protected], [email protected], “<[email protected]>” <[email protected]>, “<[email protected]>” <simon.h[email protected]> read more

…many of those involved have been ridiculed, slandered, spied on, harassed, beaten and jailed – all for upholding their democratic right to peaceful dissent. Incidents included the 2005 jailing of the Rossport Five, who spent 94 days in prison at the behest of Shell.

Ruairí McKiernan

As gas is flared into the skies above north Mayo, it is worth reflecting on a project that has been one of modern Ireland’s greatest scandals, a stunning fiasco in planning, economics, environmental protection and the abuse of civil liberties.

Far from it being just about energy supply, jobs and development, the Corrib gas project cuts to the core of this republic and asks big questions about how the country is run.

For more than 10 years now, campaigners have attempted to highlight the project’s many flaws. read more

December 30, 2015 | By Collin Eaton

HOUSTON — Royal Dutch Shell has started extracting natural gas off the coast of Ireland after more than a decade of project delays and an estimated $3.1 billion in unexpected cost overruns.

The Anglo-Dutch oil major on Wednesday said it aims to pump enough gas from the Corrib gas field to quench as much as 60 percent of Ireland’s demand for gas. It’s the latest move by Shell to cement its place among the world’s biggest gas suppliers, coming eight months after the company agreed to a $53 billion deal to buy British liquefied natural gas firm BG Group. read more

Peter Murtagh: 30 Dec 2015

Natural gas is flowing into the national supply grid from the Corrib gas field off Co Mayo for the first time since it was discovered in 1996.

One of six wellheads, drilled in 350m of water 84km off the west coast, was opened on Wednesday by the field developer, Shell E&P Ireland.

This started gas flowing through a 20 inch diameter off-shore pipeline to an 8.3km-long on-shore pipeline, which includes a 4.9km tunnel beneath Sruwaddacon Bay, the longest in Ireland.

It continues from there into the company’s reception terminal at Ballanaboy, near Belmullet in Co Mayo. read more

By SARAH KENT: Dec. 30, 2015 2:59 p.m. ET

LONDON—After nearly two decades of development, one of Ireland’s largest-ever energy projects is now producing natural gas, Royal Dutch Shell PLC said Wednesday.

…the Anglo-Dutch firm’s plans to build an onshore pipeline to transport the Corrib field’s gas to a terminal it would construct at Bellanaboy in County Mayo met with fierce local opposition. The concerns surrounding the safety of the pipeline and its effects on the environment, led to delays and increased costs… read more

New Release – Issued by Shell to Sea – December 30th 2015 – For immediate release

—  Minister White slips consent to Shell during Christmas period —

Shell to Sea have called the granting by Alex White of consent to operate the Corrib Gas pipeline – desperate and disgraceful. Permission was granted despite Shell’s EPA consent to operate the Corrib Gas refinery currently being admitted for hearing before the High Court. [1]

Shell to Sea is of the view that Shell possibly had contractual obligations which required that Corrib gas flow before end 2015 so they once again snapped their fingers at government to do the needful – in this instance the government of ‘law and order’ has shown itself no different to Fianna Fáil. read more

The costs of the Corrib gas project are set to top €3.6bn by the end of this year, more than four times the original estimate of €800m.

Gordon Deegan: Wednesday, November 18, 2015

Yesterday, operator Shell E&P Ltd confirmed that the 2015 spend by the Corrib partners on the field will be €260m.

Some €320m was spent last year, as total costs approach €3.6bn by the end of 2015.

A spokesman for Shell Ireland said: “As construction of the Corrib development is essentially completed, the capital investment in the project will reduce significantly from 2016 onwards.

“The Corrib facilities have been technically ready to start up since September 1 last.

“After what has been a protracted development phase, Shell is understandably eager to start producing gas as soon as possible. read more

Corrib Gas Project mired in corruption allegations and a related cover-up led by Michael Crothers

Paul O’Donoghue: 18 November 2015

The company behind the controversial Corrib gas project racked up losses of over €98m last year as it awaits a final government permit to begin flowing gas at the site.

Accounts just filed for Shell E&P, the Shell subsidiary managing the project in Ireland, show administrative costs amounted to €18.8m last year, down from €20.3m in 2013.

It made an operating loss of just over €26m compared to €28.5m the year before. Most of the loss was an actuarial loss that related to the firm’s pension scheme. read more

Michael Crothers at Shell E&P Ireland Limited

By John Donovan

On 7 November, we published the first news of the firing of Lorraine Mitchelmore, the President and Country Chair of Shell Canada.

The information, which came from a Shell insider source, was posted on our Shell Blog under the alias of “Manny”

The departure of Lorraine Mitchelmore has been confirmed today by the mainstream media, 10 days later.

She claims that she was not sacked, but stepped down to spend more time with her children.  read more

From: THE OSSL COMPANY <[email protected]>

Date: 28 August 2015 08:10:45 BST

To: Pearse_Street_DS <[email protected]>, [email protected], [email protected], Commissioner <[email protected]>, “<[email protected]>” <[email protected]>, Michiel Brandjes <[email protected]>, [email protected]

Subject: Corrib CEO ..a Shell man …the day the nightmare began …top cop Gannon.

The Shell CEO appointed to Corrib, accompanied by his Local liaison officer unannounced arrived in the premises of OSSL. read more

Richard Hartley-Parkinson for Metro.co.uk

Wednesday 22 Jul 2015

Shell has been accused of supplying £25,000 in alcohol to Irish police officers by two suppliers to an Irish gas project.

Desmond Kane and Neil Rooney both claimed in court that they were told by someone from Shell E&P Ireland to buy the alcohol, according to the Irish Journal.

Rooney told Castlebar Circuit Criminal Court that he was asked by senior pipeline engineer Conor Byrne to make the delivery in 2007.

He said he initially bought £7,000 worth of alcohol but was told by Byrne ‘you stupid c**t, there’s over 300 guards here, you’ll have to go back and get more’. read more

The detailed claims were made in a Mayo court last week.

TWO FORMER SUPPLIERS to the Corrib gas project told a jury they supplied £25,000-worth of alcohol to gardaí in 2007 on behalf of Shell E&P Ireland.

The allegations were made by Desmond Kane and Neil Rooney, co-owners of OSSL, which had previously supplied personal protective equipment for the Corrib gas project in north Mayo.

Both claimed that a person from Shell E&P Ireland asked them to buy alcohol in Northern Ireland and store it in a container at the back of their premises in Bangor Erris. read more

EXTRACTS

Under oath, Mr Neil Rooney claimed that the first delivery of alcohol to Belmullet Garda Station was made in 2005, and that in 2007, he was asked by Conor Byrne, a Senior Pipeline Engineer with Shell, to make a large delivery.

Mr Rooney, from Downpatrick, Co Down, said he went to the north and bought £7,000 worth of alcohol. When Mr Byrne saw the amount of alcohol, Mr Rooney claimed he was told there were 300 gardaí in Erris and to get more. He said he bought another £18,000 worth of alcohol. read more

Footage appeared to show some protesters and security officers involved in scuffles

The jury in the trial of two Shell protesters were shown video footage of the protest where up to 70 protesters entered a Shell compound in north Mayo.

The video footage was captured by CCTV at the compound and by security officers policing the site when the protesters entered the Shell compound at Aughoose, Pollathomas in Co Mayo on June 23rd, 2013.

Gerry Bourke of Aughoose, Pollathomas Co Mayo and Liam Heffernan of Kilnagear, Belcarra, Castlebar, Co Mayo are on trial in Castlebar Circuit Criminal Court both charged with violent disorder and criminal damage as a result of the protest. read more

EPA turns down oral hearing request on Corrib gas project licence

Lorna Siggins: Friday, 3 July 2015

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has turned down requests for an oral hearing into a revised licence sought by Shell E&P Ireland for the Corrib gas project in north Mayo.

The revised licence covering atmospheric and marine emissions from the Corrib gas refinery is one of the last State authorisations required before the project becomes fully operational.

Shell had received its original EPA licence in 2007, but sought a review after it agreed to a demand by Erris fishermen that “treated produced water” from the refinery be discharged out at the well head, rather than some 12 km offshore. read more

The lessons for all from the Corrib Gas project in North Mayo

Major infrastructure that is years behind schedule and massively over budget

Wednesday, 1 July 2015

The Corrib Gas project represents a cautionary example of how large industrial developments should not be handled by governments or multinational companies. A lack of consultation and sensitivity to local concerns in the initial stages led gradually to resistance and confrontation. Smouldering resentment over what objectors regarded as unqualified state support for the developer caught fire when five protesters, concerned about the safety of a gas pipeline and its proximity to their homes, were jailed on an application from Shell. From there, there was no going back. read more

PHOTO CAPTION FROM RECENT IRISH TIMES ARTICLE: Bríd McGarry, a Mayo landowner, and Mary Corduff, wife of jailed farmer Willie Corduff, after five Mayo farmers were jailed in 2005 for refusing to give an undertaking not to obstruct the construction of the Corrib gas pipe line. Photograph: Alan Betson/The Irish Times

Printed below is a comment on the Irish Times article received from OSSL, the Irish firm currently the subject of an investigation by the Irish police (the Garda) for alleged harassment of parties who received bribes distributed by OSSL on behalf of their disreputable employer, Irish Shell.  read more

Corrib gas cost overruns deprive State of €600m in tax

The €2.4 billion cost overrun is largely as a consequence of opposition to the project, which was stimulated in part by poor management of it at its outset.

Peter Murtagh: Tuesday 30 June 2015

The huge cost overrun on Corrib gas, the single most expensive energy infrastructure project in Ireland and the largest since the Ardnacrusha hydroelectric scheme on the Shannon in the 1920s, will deprive the Government of an estimated €600 million in tax revenue.

The €600 million represents 25 per cent of the project’s likely cost overrun of €2.4 billion, much of which was incurred because of changes made to the project since it began.

Had this additional €2.4 billion not been spent on development costs, an extra €600 million would have been paid to the exchequer as tax on profit, which for exploration companies is levied at 25 per cent. However, like all companies, Shell Exploration and Production Ireland, which is a partner with Statoil of Norway and Vermilion Energy of Canada, can write off capital development costs against taxation. read more

The Corrib legacy: what the protests achieved

A rerouting of the pipeline and greater public awareness of how Ireland treats its natural resources were among the positive outcomes of the Shell to Sea, campaigners say

Bríd McGarry, a Mayo landowner, and Mary Corduff, wife of jailed farmer Willie Corduff, after five Mayo farmers were jailed in 2005 for refusing to give an undertaking not to obstruct the construction of the Corrib gas pipe line. Photograph: Alan Betson/The Irish Times

Lorna Siggins: Monday June 29, 2015

“You’ve gone very quiet up there.” North Mayo resident Mary Corduff reckons that if she had a euro for every time she heard this remark over the past few months, her purse could be pretty full. “People think because they don’t see us on protesting on the television that we have accepted this, but we haven’t,” Corduff says, looking out of her farmhouse window towards the Corrib gas refinery several miles away. read more

The Corrib impact: business boomed and friendships died

As the gas is about to be brought onshore, Peter Murtagh takes a tour of the Corrib gas plant and speaks to people affected by its arrival.

SAT, Jun 27, 2015

Gas is expected to come later this year to the Shell terminal in Bellanaboy, Co Mayo, through the controversial pipeline that rises from the Atlantic seabed 83km offshore. The terminal is currently being commissioned and tested. As gas passes through the terminal, impurities will be removed and pressure adjusted before the gas is pumped into the Bord Gáis network.

Outside the terminal, at Glengad and Aghoose, the start and end points of the 4.9km tunnel under Sruwaddacon Bay, work to restore the landscape is under way. read more

Exclusive – Gazprom building global alliance with expanded Shell

The deal with Shell is a coup for Gazprom at a time when many Western companies are reducing their exposure to Russia because of Western sanctions over Moscow’s actions in Ukraine. Gazprom, which is under U.S. but not EU sanctions…

Fri Jun 19, 2015

Gazprom (GAZP.MM) is building a global strategic alliance with energy major Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L) that will include asset swaps and allow the Russian gas giant to penetrate new markets, its chief executive told Reuters.

Gazprom, the world’s top gas producer, said on Thursday that Shell and its long-time gas buyers in Europe – Germany’s E.ON (EONGn.DE) and Austria’s OMV (OMVV.VI) – had agreed to build two new Nord Stream gas pipelines under the Baltic sea to Germany. read more

Article from BreakingNews.ie published Wed 29 April 2015

Mayo men sue Irish Cops over alleged brutality at Shell to Sea protest *(were the cops tipsy?)

Three Mayo men are suing for damages over alleged garda brutality at a Shell to Sea protest eight years ago.

Patrick Coyle, and brothers Patrick and Martin O’Donnell, claim they were assaulted at Bellanaboy bridge on January 19, 2007.

It is the men’s case that gardaí displayed brutality and indiscipline during a protest outside the Shell oil refinery at Bellanaboy.

They claim Patrick Coyle was punched in the face and struck on the back of the head while trying to stop another demonstrator being pulled from the line of protesters by gardaí. read more

EMAIL SENT TODAY BY FORMER SHELL E&P IRELAND SUPPLIER OSSL, TO THE IRISH POLICE ( THE GARDA) AND SENIOR SHELL EXECUTIVES, INCLUDING BEN VAN BEURDEN.

OSSL HAS BLOWN THE WHISTLE ON SHELL CORRUPTION OF SENIOR IRISH COPS NAMED BELOW AND IS NOW BEING INVESTIGATED BY THE SAME POLICE FORCE ON BEHALF OF THE IRISH DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS FOR ALLEGED HARASSMENT. 

From: THE OSSL COMPANY <[email protected]>

Date: 24 April 2015 07:29:29 BST

To: “Belmullet.DistrictOffice” <[email protected]>, “<[email protected]>” <[email protected]>, [email protected], Commissioner <[email protected]>

Subject: police alcohol DPP has Belmullet Policewoman investigating Belmullet delivery with a …view to prosecuting the Shell vendor who delivered the Shell / Garda joint venture alcohol . read more

By John Donovan

The lid on the corruption scandal in Ireland involving a “Mr Fix” company OSSL, its client Shell E&P Ireland, and various recipients of Shell’s generous bribes distributed by OSSL, keeps coming off. 

Recipients have included senior Irish Police Officers, who took delivery of £30,000 of free alcohol kindly supplied by Shell. 

One local family had a tennis court installed at their property as another spectacular gift from Shell. They must think it’s perfectly normal for an oil company to install tennis courts to buy influence. read more

— Shell to Sea send submission on RTE’s Public Service Statement —

12 April 2015

RTÉ – Ireland’s National Television and Radio Broadcaster

Shell to Sea have today sent in a submission to RTE as part of RTE’s public consultation on the updating of their Public Service Statement [1]. In the submission, Shell to Sea claimed that RTE had failed to inform the public in an honest and balanced manner on the Corrib Gas project.

In the submission nine examples of RTE bias over the course of the more than decade long community campaign against the Corrib Gas project were highlighted.

One of the examples given related to the so-called “Garda Rape tape” over which RTE were forced by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) to issue an apology, after a news item broadcast on July 28^th 2011 was deemed by the BAI to be “inaccurate”, “unfair” and “harmful” to a Corrib campaigner. This related to Gardaí being inadvertently recorded joking about threatening to rape the two women who were in their custody. At the time of the incident the Garda Commissioner acknowleged the incident had happened and apologised for the incident occurring. Despite this RTE subsequently attempted to create the impression that the recording of the incident had been “altered” or “tampered with”. [2] read more