Royal Dutch Shell Plc  .com Rotating Header Image

September, 2010:

Shell increases oil trade with Iran – despite sanctions

guardian.co.uk home

Oil giant stepped up orders of Iranian crude while others halted trade amid sanctions imposed by UN, EU and US

Robert Booth

Monday 27 September 2010 18.37 BST

Iran’s oil depot at Kharg Island, the country’s main export terminal in the Persian Gulf. Oil is a major export for Iran. Photograph: Kaveh Kazemi/Getty Images

Shell, the Anglo-Dutch oil giant, paid the state-owned Iranian oil company at least $1.5bn (£0.94bn) for crude oil this summer, increasing its business with Tehran as the international community implemented some of the toughest sanctions yet aimed at constricting the Islamic republic’s economy and its lifeline oil business.

Sensitive trading documents seen by the Guardian show the UK-registered company stepped up its orders of Iranian oil at a time when other major buyers, including BP and Reliance Industries, India’s largest conglomerate, halted orders amid impending trade sanctions aimed at curbing Tehran’s perceived desire to acquire nuclear weapons.

Shell is not accused of acting illegally because the sanctions – enforced by the US, UN and EU – stopped short of banning the import of Iranian oil. But its trades with the state-owned oil company, a major contributor to the finances of a government which has made its nuclear programme a priority, are likely to expose Shell to growing political pressure. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Royal Dutch Shell environmental issues

On 7 November 2007 The Guardian published an article under the headline [3] The UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) ruled that a Shell advertisement featuring flower heads emerging from refinery chimneys implying the oil giant used its waste carbon dioxide to grow flowers, breached ASA rules.

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Royal Dutch Shell safety concerns

The energy multi-national Royal Dutch Shell, has faced campaigning activity on its safety record and Health and Safety working practices, particularly in relation to its North Sea platforms, following the tragic death of only two offshore workers after a gas leak on its Brent Bravo platform on 11 September 2003.

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Controversies surrounding Royal Dutch Shell

There have been concerns over Royal Dutch Shell over environmental and health and safety related issues as well as in respect of its businesses practices and priorities.

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Shell’s Pearl GTL Proj In Qatar To Start Ops By 1Q 2011

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

SEPTEMBER 27, 2010

DOHA (Zawya Dow Jones)–The first phase of Royal Dutch Shell’s (RDSA) $18 billion Pearl gas-to-liquids, or GTL, project in Qatar will start up in the first quarter of next year, with both production facilities fully operational in the first half of 2012, a company executive said Monday.

“We’ll finish the construction process for phase 1 by the end of the year and then we’ll start up the first train,” Qatar Shell Commercial Manager Krey Stirland said on the sidelines of an energy conference in the Qatari capital, Doha. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Shell Invests $2 Billion to End Nigerian Gas Flaring After Project Delay

Royal Dutch Shell Plc and partners are investing $2 billion in a program to end natural gas flaring in Nigeria, Africa’s biggest oil producer, after the projects were delayed because of funding and security problems.

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

The Jorma Ollila legacy at Nokia

Non-Executive Chairman and former CEO of Nokia, Jorma Ollila is currently also the non-executive Chairman of Royal Dutch Shell Plc. Lucky Shell.

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Incidents at Shell Group Companies & Joint Ventures

From Addendum #1 to Riding The Dragon

Explosions & Fires: 1992-2002
Sampling of Incidents at Shell Group Companies & Joint Ventures

Information about the book can be found on Amazon

Related comments from a former employee of Shell Oil USA

Something on the ‘drins’, etc., from the book ‘Riding the Dragon’.

http://gcmonitor.org/article.php?id=148

I found this story to be very interesting, because I remember the internal reaction at Shell to that incident. Shell management lies to everyone, most especially their own employees.

http://gcmonitor.org/article.php?id=283

You might want to attach this link for those who would like a review of the book ‘Riding the Dragon’. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Shell May Seek to Develop Unconventional Gas Fields in Russia

Bloomberg

By Stephen Bierman – Sep 24, 2010

Royal Dutch Shell Plc may seek to develop coal-bed methane in Siberian Russia after a meeting with regional officials.

“The Kemerovo region is Russia’s leading coal province and may be of interest for Shell given our expertise and advanced technologies in coal-bed methane,” Vera Surzhenko, a spokeswoman for Shell, said by telephone from Moscow today. “At the moment it is too early to say anything specifically.”

Russia, holder of the largest natural-gas reserves, may have as much as 87 trillion cubic meters of coal-bed methane, OAO Gazprom Chief Executive Officer Alexei Miller said in February. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev at the time said this was the equivalent of two OAO Gazproms. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Shell’s antiquated Arctic drilling fleet

When you consider what Shell is proposing to use in the harsh Arctic environment to drill its exploration wells (the refurbished but antiquated Frontier Discoverer, with the obsolete and beat-up Kulluk as a backup rig), one wonders whether Shell USA management truly understands the nature of the environment they are going to be operating in.

From a former employee of Shell Oil USA

Attached is a link to an article about the ODECO Ocean Ranger (right), a large modern semi-submersible rig that sank during a storm. It was drilling a well for Mobil (now ExxonMobil) in the Hibernia oil field, offshore Nova Scotia, Canada.

(Ocean Ranger vanishes off Canada)

This case is interesting because there are parallels with the problems BP had with its production platform ‘Thunder Horse’, which almost sank in a hurricane that is was supposedly designed to withstand.

‘A design flaw (porthole too low) and poor worker training were the cause of the sinking of the Ocean Ranger. Poor worker training was essentially the cause of the Deep Water Horizon disaster. And a design flaw, a valve installed backwards, almost sank BP’s Thunder Horse production platform in the hurricane. All three incidents/accidents were avoidable if oil company and rig company management had been doing their jobs.’

Did I ever mention
‘Murphy’s Law’ to you? read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Shining a harsh light into the murky world of corporate behaviour

“I suppose Cable’s experience of this murky world came while enjoying his comfortable existence as a well paid employee of Shell.”

Comment from the Daily Telegraph article: Emotional Anti-Business Secretary should be an odd man out of a job

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Shell found guilty of deceit, misrepresentation and breach of contract

THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD

Shell ‘softened’ damning environmental report to break lease

Saffron Howden Friday September 24, 2010

SHELL abandoned an old petrol station in Sydney knowing it was contaminated, then told its health risk assessors to change their report to ”soften” their findings, the Supreme Court has heard.

Yesterday Shell Australia was found to have deceived and misled the new owner of the Cabramatta land, Haissam Assafiri, and to owe him more than $1 million. In his judgment, Justice Robert McDougall said the petrochemical company did not remediate the Hume Highway site, which was a petrol station for 30 years, to the level required under its final ”demolition” lease in 2007. Instead, Shell left a concrete slab that was too ”severely deteriorated” to contain the polluted soil. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Shell, Exxon Shift Away From Refining

Bloomberg

Shell, Exxon Shift Away From Refining, Eye Output, JPMorgan Says

By Fred Pals – Sep 23, 2010 10:12 AM GMT+0100

The world’s biggest oil companies such as Exxon Mobil Corp. and Royal Dutch Shell Plc will continue to sell refining and other non-core assets and focus on exploration and production to create more value, JPMorgan Cazenove analysts said.

“We see a continued shift upstream; downstream looks destined to become an equity value driver of diminishing relevance,” London-based JPMorgan analysts Fred Lucas and Nitin Sharma wrote in a note today. “Certain integrated names are gradually morphing into hybrid exploration and production companies.” read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

A blow out in the Arctic would gush free for at least one year

Three years to drill a relief well. I suspected as much. I knew it would take at least a year, perhaps a year and a half, under best conditions. People don’t realize that. So, a blow out in the Arctic will gush free for at least one year. Imagine that.


The Kulluk (above) is a refurbished old rust bucket rescued from mothballed oblivion in Northern Canada, and one that no drilling contractor wanted to invest a dime in.

Comment from a former employee of Shell Oil USA on the Calgary Herald article…

Regulators warn drilling oil-spill relief well off Canada’s Arctic coast would take three years

Three years to drill a relief well. I suspected as much. I knew it would take at least a year, perhaps a year and a half, under best conditions. People don’t realize that. So, a blow out in the Arctic will gush free for at least one year. Imagine that.

This estimate comes from Canadian sources which are more realistic than the politically motivated ‘opinions’ of the MMS and Shell. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Regulators warn drilling oil-spill relief well off Canada’s Arctic coast would take three years

By Andrew Mayeda, Postmedia News August 1, 2010

Workers on the deck of a drill ship set up a well for the Devon Energy Corp. in Canada’s Beaufort Sea. Photograph by: Archive, Calgary Herald

OTTAWA – Drilling a relief well in the ice-infested waters of the Beaufort Sea would take at least three years, leaving an oil spill off Canada’s Arctic coast to gush until the job is done, Canadian regulators warn in newly released documents.

Under the current policy of the National Energy Board, which regulates drilling in the Canadian side of the Beaufort, oil companies must demonstrate the capacity to drill a relief well in the same season in which they dig their original well. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Shell’s investigation resumes as protest ends

The Irish Times – Wednesday, September 22, 2010

LORNA SIGGINS Western Correspondent

SHELL EP Ireland has resumed investigative work on the proposed new Corrib pipeline route in north Mayo, following suspension of activity when two Shell to Sea campaigners boarded one of the drilling rigs.

The two campaigners from the Rossport Solidarity Camp secured themselves with a hammock under the drilling rig for 12 hours on Monday from shortly after 7am until 7pm. They were wearing dry suits and had food, and left voluntarily when work was due to finish on the drilling rigs under the licensing terms. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.
Comment Rules

  • Please show respect to the opinions of others no matter how seemingly far-fetched.
  • Abusive, foul language, and/or divisive comments may be deleted without notice.
  • Each blog member is allowed limited comments, as displayed above the comment box.
  • Comments must be limited to the number of words displayed above the comment box.
  • Please limit one comment after any comment posted per post.