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Shell buys 51% stake in Irish floating offshore wind project

Shell bought the stake in the Western Star venture from Irish developer Simply Blue Group for an undisclosed sum.

Floating offshore wind technology is still in its infancy but has the potential to unlock vast power resources in deep waters.

The Western Star Project will be located at least 35km off the west coast of Co Clare and will have a total capacity of 1.35 GW, enough to power 1,145,000 homes in Ireland.

The floating technology proposed for this project will allow the turbines to be located far from shore and in waters over 100m deep. read more

Shell New Energies is to acquire a 51% stake in Simply Blue Energy’s Kinsale floating wind venture.

Kinsale was set up to develop the Emerald project, a floating wind farm in the Celtic Sea, off the south coast of Ireland.

The new JV will be operated by Simply Blue Energy supported by Shell floating wind experts, with the project office based in the Cork City Docklands rejuvenation area.

The partnership combines Simply Blue’s track-record in developing floating wind projects and local knowledge of the Celtic Sea environment with Shell’s offshore experience, floating wind expertise and ability to develop large complex projects. read more

Gordon Deegan: 2 Oct 2019

The Canadian-owned entity that acquired Shell Ireland’s 45 per cent interest in Corrib gas has already taken €414.8 million in dividends from the operation of the gas field.

Nephin Energy Holdings, which is owned by the Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board, has just filed its first set of accounts since the Canadian group agreed in 2017 to purchase Shell Ireland’s interest in Corrib Gas for €903 million.

Nephin paid a dividend of €382.4 million to its Canadian parent last year and a further €32.4 million in April and May of this year. read more

Shell has sold its remaining stake in the Corrib gas field, formally marking its exit after nearly two decades of involvement.

The UK company, one of the largest oil and gas firms in the world, announced yesterday that it had completed a deal to offload a 45 per cent interest in the gas field to a unit of the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board.

The deal, which was agreed in July last year, will include a cash payment of $958 million (€846 million), interest of $54 million and additional payments of $285 million, subject to gas prices and production from Corrib. The transaction could therefore be worth $1.3 billion (€1.1 billion). read more

By Pat McGrath

Western Correspondent

The oil company Royal Dutch Shell has completed the sale of its shares in the Corrib gas field off the north Mayo coast.

The deal means Shell no longer has any involvement in the operation of the project.

Last year, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) agreed a deal to purchase all Shell interests on the Corrib venture, for €1.08 billion.

Gas was first detected off the north west coast in the late 1990s but the project to bring it ashore was mired in controversy and subject to several challenges. read more

A billion-euro acquisition deal struck last year by a giant Canadian pension fund for Shell’s holds in the Corrib gas field still has not been fully completed. (stock picture)

Fearghal O’Connor: October 28 2018 4:00 PM

Pre-tax losses at Shell’s Corrib gas field operation fell substantially last year, from €187m to €89m, according to newly-filed financial results.

A massive billion-euro acquisition deal struck last year by a giant Canadian pension fund for Shell’s 45pc holding in the controversial gas field off the Mayo coast still has not been fully completed. read more

Seán McCárthaigh: August 2, 2018

The release of odourless gas into the national network last September, meaning 10,000 homes had to go without gas for days, was due to poor operating procedures at the Corrib gas refinery in Co Mayo.

A report by the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU) concluded that the emergency on September 21, 2017, was due to a technical failure at the Shell E&P Ireland terminal at Bellanaboy. The CRU said it had followed up its findings with enforcement actions against both Shell and Gas Networks Ireland (GNI), which operates the national gas network. read more

By STANLEY REED: DEC. 20, 2017

LONDON — An Italian judge ruled on Wednesday that two of the world’s largest oil companies, Royal Dutch Shell and Eni, the Italian company, must go on trial on charges of corruption over a $1.3 billion oil deal in Nigeria.

The judge set a March 5 trial date in Milan for the companies as well as a group of current and former executives, including Claudio Descalzi, Eni’s chief executive, and Malcolm Brinded, a former chief of exploration and production for Shell. No current Shell officials were to be tried in the case. read more

Now, some of the financial cost to the Corrib Gas Partners, Shell Ireland, Statoil and Vermilion Energy from the odourless gas being pumped into the network can be revealed.

Gordon Deegan: Irish Independent: Wednesday 1 November  2017 

Corrib Gas Partners lost out on estimated natural gas revenues of around €38m in the third quarter of this year as a result of odourless gas getting into the network and a scheduled downtime.

Production ceased at the Bellanaboy gas terminal in Co Mayo on September 9th for a scheduled downtime and a total of 31 days of production were lost.

This was as a result of odourless gas being pumped into the gas network in the west of Ireland after the plant was restarted temporarily. read more

The field was discovered in 1996, but objections and protests by locals who feared the development’s impact on the environment delayed its development.

Barry O’Halloran: 14 Oct 2017

The Corrib natural gas field off the west coast lost €140 million last year, according to accounts filed by its operator, Shell E&P Ireland.

Global oil and gas giant, Royal Dutch Shell, is selling its 45 per cent stake in the Corrib operator to a Canadian pension fund for up to €1.08 billion.

Accounts for Shell E&P Ireland show that it lost €140 million in 2016 as the cost of running Corrib exceeded the revenues that it earned.

The figures show that the company’s sales were €182.2 million, but costs of €359.4 million and a near €10 million interest bill left it with losses of €187 million. A tax credit of €47 million reduced this to €140 million. read more

Lefteris Karagiannopoulos: SEPTEMBER 28, 2017

(Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L) and Gas Networks Ireland (GNI) are working to remove unodourised gas that entered the network from the country’s Corrib gas field and has curbed output since last week, Shell said.

Due to a technical problem at the Shell-operated Bellanaboy Bridge gas terminal in Ireland, unodourised gas entered the network, forcing GNI to ask local customers to switch off their gas meters on Sept. 22-23, a Shell spokesperson said. read more

Corrib flaring ‘frightening’

CLOSE ENCOUNTER RIGHT: A still of the flare from a video by Rossport resident, Mary Corduff.

By Áine Ryan: 26 Sept 2017

COMPANIES selling ‘potentially dangerous energy products’ are obliged ‘to ensure that there is no risk to the customer’. That was according to Minister Michael Ring in the aftermath of news breaking last Thursday night about the fact that odourless gas from the Corrib refinery had entered the network for Galway and Mayo. The crisis, which involved a 36-hour flaring operation at the Bellanaboy refinery in order to push the odourless gas back out of the network, has since been resolved as two State inquiries continue into the potentially dangerous situation. read more

€400,000 worth of gas burned off and safe supply restored to some customers

Corrib gas plant flaring incident from 32 kilometers away

Lorna Siggins: 22 Sept 2017

Two State investigations are under way into the release of odourless gas into the natural gas supply in the west of Ireland after a “technical fault” at the Corrib gas refinery.

More than 9,000 customers in counties Galway and Mayo were advised to shut down supplies on Thursday until further notice for safety reasons, and the State’s national gas emergency plan was invoked.

Gas Networks Ireland said it had restored a safe supply to 60 per cent of those affected by Friday evening, mainly in Galway city and parts of the county. read more

Natural gas customers in Galway city, Headford, Castlebar, Tuam Ballinrobe, Claremorris, Westport, Ballina and Crossmolina are being told to turn the supply at the meter box off until further notice.

Gas is an odourless substance until a smell is added so it is noticeable.

If a gas leak was now to occur, homeowners would not be able to smell it.

It was processed at the Ballanaboy terminal in Mayo however the odourless gas managed to enter the network, Shell EP confirmed.

In a statement issued by Gas Networks Ireland, the company confirmed a ‘quantity of odourless gas’ entered the network. read more

Michael Ring said that he was “extremely concerned” over how the odourless gas managed to enter the wider network.

“Shell E&P Ireland (SEPIL) can confirm that a quantity of odourless gas has entered the Gas Networks Ireland (GNI) network,” a spokesperson said.

22 Sept 2017

A GOVERNMENT MINISTER has called for an investigation into how odourless gas from the Corrib gas field made it into the general supply.

Minister for Rural and Community Development Michael Ring said that he was “extremely concerned” over how the odourless gas managed to enter the wider network.

“I am aware that the EPA is engaged with Gas Networks Ireland and the priority is that this situation is resolved safely and with minimal inconvenience to customers,” he said.

“However, we also need answers on how this was allowed to happen and we need them without delay. read more

Friday, Aug 04, 2017

European upstream projects in the UK and Italy are among the eight Royal Dutch Shell proposals scheduled for a final investment decision (FID) before 2018.

Shell is considering a redevelopment of the Penguins cluster in the northern North Sea. This would see the installation of a new FPSO to replace the current 65-km tie-back of Penguins’ five deposits to the ageing Brent Charlie platform.

Charlie is the only one of four Brent platforms that is still producing oil, and Penguins requires a new outlet for processing once the field is finally decommissioned. read more

IT was so easy for sacked Sunday Times columnist Kevin Myers to mock and defame the Corrib Gas protestors in article after article over the years. From his perch in his eyrie somewhere in the rolling hills of Kildare, he picked on the protestors again and again without properly informing himself of the protest’s deep community nuances, cynically dismissing genuine fears as ‘pagan voodoo of the fir-bolgs’. Well, the Shell spin machine had ensured that official Ireland turned its back on this community, whose heritage and pristine environment is among the last bastions of a culture untainted by much of the consumerism and globalist capitalism that thousands of holiday makers who indulge in the area crave to  escape. read more

Áine Ryan: 18 July 2017

IT was always about ‘sovereignty’ for retired teacher and one of the Rossport Five, Vincent McGrath. So last week’s news that Shell is in the process of selling the controversial Corrib Gas project reminded him of the lines from the War of Independence poem, Shanagolden:
“These hills are at peace again, the Saxon stranger gone.”

Speaking to The Mayo News yesterday (Monday), Mr McGrath, who with four other local men spent 94 days in jail in 2005 for flouting an injunction allowing Shell onto their lands, said: “For me it was always about sovereignty and the health and safety of our community and our Government ceded this to Shell and thus failed in their primary duty to protect their citizens in Erris.” read more

Opinion: ‘Just one week after banning fracking, we started drilling for oil’

We need a just transition to a low carbon economy, not a sell-off of our future, write Sinead Mercier and Louise Michelle Fitzgerald.

IN AN ORWELLIAN twist of double-speak, on 11 July, just one week after onshore fracking was banned in Ireland, Minister of Communications, Climate Action and Environment Denis Naughten granted consent to Providence Resources PLC to commence drilling for oil in the Porcupine Basin off our south-west coast.

If catastrophic climate change is to be avoided, existing fossil fuels must be kept in the ground. Providence Resources states that they expect to find 5 billion barrels of oil.

As George Orwell wrote in 1984, “doublethink means the power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one’s mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them”. 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

The Shell to Sea campaign, led and supported by the miffeds, and backed by variegated bands of republicans, faced down the gardai in protest after protest.

Kevin Myers: 16 July 2017

Four binary questions divide most western societies. Which is the more important: mercy or justice? Idealism or pragmatism? Truth or freedom? Diversity or unity?

If you answered “mercy, idealism, freedom and diversity” you probably supported the Shell to Sea campaign and are delighted that Royal Dutch Shell, having got its fingers burnt in Co Mayo, is now leaving. You also think that anti-wind farm protesters are reactionary luddites who don’t care about global warming. Also, you are probably female or a “feminist” male, work in the public sector and are a soft republican. We’ll call you M-I-F-D: “miffed”. 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

Shell’s disillusionment with the Corrib investment, where protests and opposition delayed production by more than a decade…

13 July 2017

No doubt, Shell is glad to see the back of the Corrib natural gas field, even if it is on track to lose about €1 billion on 15 years of heavy investment in the controversial project.

The sale of its 45 per cent interest in the gas field off the Mayo coast to the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) for €830 million is part of a $30 billion (€26.3 billion) asset sale programme by the Anglo-Dutch group as it seeks to cut its $90 billion debt pile following its takeover of smaller UK rival BG Group early last year. 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

LONDON—Royal Dutch Shell PLC has sold its stake in a controversial Irish gas field for up to $1.23 billion to one of Canada’s biggest pension funds, but the deal will result in a $350 million impairment charge, the company said Wednesday.

Shell the development of the Corrib gas field, located in the Atlantic Ocean about 52 miles off the coast of rural County Mayo.The field began pumping in 2015 after years of delays. WSJ ARTICLE

(Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell is to sell its 45 percent stake in the Corrib gas venture to a subsidiary of Canada Pension Plan Investment Board for up to $1.23 billion, marking the oil company’s exit from the upstream business in Ireland.

The deal includes an initial consideration of $947 million and additional payments of up to $285 million between 2018-2025, subject to gas price and production, Shell said in a statement on Wednesday.

The transaction will result in an impairment charge of around $350m, which will be taken in Q2, 2017, Shell said. 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

The Supreme Court has found Shell E & P Ireland was acting in civil contempt of court orders when it entered nine years ago onto commonage lands at Rossport located on the modified route for the Corrib gas onshore pipeline, writes Ann O’Loughlin.

A three judge Supreme Court yesterday (wed) overturned as “incorrect” a 2010 High Court finding that a November 2007 order of District Judge Mary Devins prohibiting Shell’s entry onto the commonage, except in accordance with the Gas Act 1976, did not prevent Shell entering onto the commonage after acquiring a 1/62nd share of the land. read more

The Supreme Court has found Shell E & P Ireland was acting in civil contempt of court orders when, nine years ago, it entered on to commonage lands at Rossport located on the modified route for the Corrib gas onshore pipeline.

A three-judge Supreme Court on Wednesday overturned as “incorrect” a 2010 High Court finding that a November 2007 order of District Judge Mary Devins prohibiting Shell’s entry onto the commonage, except in accordance with the Gas Act 1976, did not prevent Shell entering on to the commonage after acquiring a 1/62nd share of the land. read more

14 June 2017

A GERMAN CIVIL engineering company has been fined €300,000 over the death of a contractor in 2013.

Wayss and Freitag Ingenieurbau AG contractor Lars Wagner, who worked for Herrenknecht AG, was killed on 8 September 2013 at the Mayo project.

He received fatal head injuries when a pipe he was working under collapsed on top of him as a result of an overpressure event in the pipe system.

The accident occurred in the gear chamber of a tunnel boring machine that was constructing the tunnel. Wagner was engaged in maintenance activity at the time of the accident. read more

Gordon Deegan: May 16 2017 2:30 AM

The performance of the Corrib gas field is exceeding expectations, with its promoters recording sales of (Canadian) $241.34m (€160m) in the first quarter of this year.

That is according to a new report by one of the Corrib partners, Canadian-based Vermilion, which recorded that between January and March this year the project exceeded expectations for “well deliverability and downtime”.

As a result of the strong performance, Vermilion has adjusted its field and well performance estimates “and now expects to maintain peak production through Q1 2018 and potentially into Q2 2018”. read more

Shell likely to cash in on Ireland’s Corrib

By Silvia Favasuli11 April 2017

After battling for nearly a decade and a half to develop Ireland’s Corrib gas field, Shell may be about to offload its stake in the project just over a year after announcing first gas.

Although Shell has refused to confirm that it is looking to sell, The Sunday Times reported in December that Australian investment bank Macquarie had approached the Anglo-Dutch major about a potential deal.

Ireland’s Business Post followed up the story in early March, stating that “up to three” potential buyers were considering making unsolicited bids for Shell’s 45% stake in the Corrib project, which the two newspapers valued at more than £1 billion ($1.24 billion). read more

Potential bidders eye Shell’s Corrib stake

The Sunday Business Post reports that as many as three potential bidders are running the rule over Shell’s stake in the €3.6 billion Corrib gas field off the west coast of Ireland as the oil and gas giant moves ahead with a $30 billion assets sell-off.

While the Corrib stake has not been formally put on the market, the newspaper cites unidentified market sources as saying that a number of companies are looking at Shell’s 45 per cent interest, with Australian bank Macquarie said to be among them. read more

Valerie Flynn: Sunday February 5, 2017

An official audit has criticised Mayo county council’s management of an €8.5m fund provided by Shell for the benefit of the local community near the Corrib gas pipeline.

The council allocated €451,000 of the fund to itself, with allocations made by “evaluation boards that were either entirely made up of staff from Mayo county council, or the majority of members on the evaluation board were from Mayo county council”, the local government auditor said. read more

Targets and victims of British undercover police operations in Ireland speak out, demand answers and action

—  Shell to Sea supports Jason Kirpatrick and other Core Participants in UCPI/Pitchford Inquiry  —

A press event jointly organised by Jason Kirkpatrick and Shell to Sea is scheduled for Buswell’s Hotel on Monday 06 February from 11.00am to 1pm.

Jason Kirkpatrick was a victim in Ireland of British undercover officer Mark Kennedy. Mr. Kirkpatrick is a former Deputy Mayor from Arcata, California, and is a “Core Participant” in the Undercover Policing Inquiry (UCPI) which covers England and Wales. read more

Shell is facing what Americans might describe as a shitstorm of lawsuits arising from its Nigerian activities since the 1950’s. Litigation is current or pending in Nigeria, the USA, Italy, the UK and the Netherlands.

READ ARTICLE

Shell to Sea, an environmental protest group, claims it was infiltrated by a British officer between 2004 and 2006: MARK STEDMAN/PHOTOCALL IRELAND

By:  Ellen Coyne – The Times

A Mayo protest group that claims it was spied on by a British police officer has asked to be included in a UK inquiry into undercover practices.

Shell to Sea, an environmental activist group that protested against the Corrib gas pipeline, believes it was infiltrated by Mark Kennedy when he was in the Republic. 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

By Jared Stonesifer [email protected]: 8 Dec 2016

POTTER TWP. — A petition with more than 750 signatures was presented to the township supervisors Wednesday night concerning objections to several aspects of Shell Chemicals’ ethane cracker plant project.

The move came one week before the Potter supervisors are set to vote on Shell’s conditional use application for the $6 billion project. The supervisors must approve the 200-page document before Shell is authorized to start construction on the plant, although construction isn’t expected until the end of next year. read more

By:  Danny Fortson – The Sunday Times

The Australian investment giant nicknamed the “vampire kangaroo” is hoping to sink its teeth into Ireland’s £3bn Corrib gas field.

Macquarie, one of the largest owners of British infrastructure, is understood to have approached Shell over a deal that could value the FTSE 100 giant’s 45% stake in the project at more than £1bn. It is unclear whether the Australians have tabled a formal bid.

Corrib started producing a year ago after years of delays and protests from fishermen, environmentalists and locals. read more

Written by Reporter – 29/11/2016 2:51 pm

A security firm which worked at Shell’s Corrib gas project has sought protecton from its creditors after a slump in its business.

Baker Tilly Hughes Blake has been appointed interim examiner to Business Mobile Security Services (BMSS) which trades as Senaca and Intergrated Risk Management Services.

According to reports, the firm’s finances were impacted by the ending of the Corrib project as well as the impact of costs to cover redundancy for affected staff. read more

Corrib job losses at Bellanaboy

Áine Ryan

SHELL E&P Ireland has announced that due to ‘challenging’ market conditions globally, ten jobs will be cut at its Corrib Gas refinery in north west Mayo. Employees were advised of the jobs losses, due to be implemented during 2017, at the Bellanaboy plant on Thursday last.

Speaking afterwards, a spokesman for the global oil and gas company said: “Since December 2015, the Corrib gas development has established itself as an integral element of Ireland’s energy infrastructure. Despite a good first year for operations, market conditions remain challenging with Irish gas prices reflecting lower oil and gas price conditions globally.” read more

Protesters campaigning against the controversial Corrib Gas Project in Ireland: Photo courtesy of Shell to Sea.com

By John Donovan

It does seem odd that The Corrib Onshore Gas Pipeline has been voted Engineering Project of the Year at this years Engineers Ireland Awards.

I say this bearing in mind the news just months ago that two of the construction firms involved in the project face trial over a workplace death that occurred. See the Irish Times report below.

Corrib companies charged over gas tunnel death

Two construction firms face trial over fatal workplace incident at Co Mayo project

Lorna Siggins: Wed, Jun 8, 2016 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

Written by Niamh Burns – 15/09/2016 6:00 am

The final of six wells at Shell’s Corrib project on the West cost of Ireland has now been brought online.

The move comes more than a week after Shell was fined over a flaring incident on New Year’s Eve last year.

According to Vermilion, which owns an 18.5% stake in the field, production ramp-up has exceeded expectations and production volumes have now reached full capacity.

In its quarterly results Vermilion said: “Irish production continued to ramp up during the quarter, with better than expected well deliverability and minimal downtime at Corrib since start up on December 30th, 2015.” read more

Shell to Sea says €1,000 fine equivalent to ‘65 seconds… of current Corrib sales revenue’

By Lorna Siggins

North Mayo residents living close to the Corrib gas refinery have expressed disappointment at the level of sanction imposed on Shell E&P Ireland over gas flaring last New Year’s Eve.

The multinational was fined €1,000 and ordered ordered to pay €15,000 in legal costs in relation to causing light and noise pollution from a gas flare during start-up testing at the Corrib gas terminal in Co Mayo on December 31st and January 1st.

The company pleaded guilty at Dublin District Court on Monday to breaching two parts of its industrial emissions licence, which had been awarded for project last year by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). read more