Tag: Shell

The permit will allow Shell to return all of its five contracted drilling rigs to work Royal Dutch Shell (RDSA) said Thursday it has received approval from federal regulators to drill a new well at its Gulf of Mexico Europa field.The permit will allow Shell, one of the largest producers in the Gulf, to return all of its five contracted drilling rigs to work, a company spokeswoman wrote in an email.Shell and other companies slowed the pace of drilling in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico after the federal government imposed a nine-month drilling moratorium in the area following last year's BP PLC's (BP) Deepwater Horizonoil spill. The government resumed issuing permits in late February.The approval Shell received Thursday came from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement for a new well at Europa, a subsea field in nearly 4,000 feet of water. Production from Europa is tied to Shell's Mars tension-leg platform.The bureau oversees oil and gas drilling in federal waters.Source: Dow Jones Newswires

An open letter to Michael Bromwich - Director of BOEMRE An Open Letter to Michael Bromwich, Director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and EnforcementRe: Shell's push to drill in the ArcticDear Director Bromwich:You recently said that you were studying how to treat " operators who may have behaved badly in the past and whether they should be allowed to continue operating in the future." I'm writing to tell you about one company that has not only been "behaving badly" in the past but plans to continue doing so into the future. Shell Oil is pushing to drill in America's Arctic Ocean - an area pristine and untouched, home to some of our nation's most beloved species of wildlife and relied upon for thousands of years by local indigenous peoples -with no effective way to clean up an oil spill in the Arctic's ice-covered, remote and extreme conditions.In the wake of the largest environmental disaster in our nation's history - one year later, 491 miles of Gulf coastline remain contaminated by oil - Shell should not be allowed to destroy America's one and only Arctic.Shell is pushing an aggressive plan to drill 10 wells in the Arctic's Chukchi ...

Shell has unveiled its plans Shell has unveiled plans to build the world's first floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) platform. The 600,000-tonne behemoth - the world's biggest "ship" - will be sited off the coast of Australia. But how will it work?Deep beneath the world's oceans are huge reservoirs of natural gas. Some are hundreds or thousands of miles from land, or from the nearest pipeline.Tapping into these "stranded gas" resources has been impossible - until now.At Samsung Heavy Industries' shipyard on Geoje Island in South Korea, work is about to start on a "ship" that, when finished and fully loaded, will weigh 600,000 tonnes.That is six times as much as the biggest US aircraft carrier.By 2017 the vessel should be anchored off the north coast of Australia, where it will be used to harvest natural gas from Shell's Prelude field.Once the gas is on board, it will be cooled it until it liquefies, and stored in vast tanks at -161C.Every six or seven days a huge tanker will dock beside the platform and load up enough fuel to heat a city the size of London for a week.The tankers will then sail to Japan, China, Korea or Thailand to ...

Alliance on Corporate Ocean Responsibility Oil and gas industry majors BP and Shell have joined the growing number of leading companies from a range of ocean industries that are distinguishing themselves as members of the World Ocean Council (WOC) - the business leadership alliance on Corporate Ocean Responsibility."We are committed to meeting the world's growing energy needs in economically, environmentally and socially responsible ways," said David Martin, vice president safety, environment and sustainable development for Shell. "As a company with presence in many of the world's major oceans, we look forward to sharing good practices for the responsible and sustainable use of our oceans through this alliance."Dr Liz Rogers, BP Group's VP Environment, Social Responsibility and HSSE Compliance, Safety and Operational Risk, commented that "BP is delighted to be joining WOC to participate in constructive engagement in Ocean Policy and Planning. BP believes that co-operation in marine science is of mutual benefit to all stakeholders and looks forward to playing its role in collaborative stewardship of ocean sustainability.""The WOC continues to grow as an unprecedented international alliance on ocean stewardship," noted WOC Executive Director, Paul Holthus."We are developing and implementing programs to address ocean stewardship challenges and opportunities facing the ...

Shell announced it had signed agreements Shell announced it had signed agreements with the Governments of Alberta and Canada to secure $865 million in funding for its Quest Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) Project in Canada.The Quest Project will capture and permanently store deep underground more than one million tonnes of CO2 per year from Shells Scotford Upgrader near Edmonton, Alberta, which processes heavy oil from the Athabasca oil sands.Quest would be the first application of CCS technology for an oil sands upgrading operation, says John Abbott, Shells Executive Vice President of Heavy Oil. Not only would it allow us to significantly reduce the carbon footprint of our oil sands operation here in Alberta, but it will contribute to the global knowledge that will help to get other CCS projects up and running more quickly.Shell aims to be a leader in continuously improving its oil sands environmental performance, through CO2 reduction, improved water management and minimizing the impacts of tailings ponds. A number of innovative technological solutions, including CCS, will be required to achieve that goal.CCS is recognized as one of the most promising technologies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels. To realize that potential, government support in ...

Approval of an exploration plan is not an approval to drill Environmental groups asked a federal appeals court Thursday to throw out a U.S. government decision to approve a Shell oil exploration plan that involves five proposed wells under more than 7,000 feet of water in the Gulf of Mexico.The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Regulation and Enforcement approved the plan in May. The plan also includes three previously approved wells 72 miles off Louisiana.Defenders of Wildlife, the Center for Biological Diversity and the Natural Resources Defense Council claim in a petition filed in the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in Atlanta that the decision violates the law and that the environment would be harmed if it stands.New regulations for deepwater drilling were imposed following last year's deadly rig explosion and Gulf oil spill.The conservation groups argue that there is no basis to conclude that drilling in waters substantially deeper than the BP well that blew out would have no significant impact on the environment. BP's well that blew out was in 5,000 feet of water. Engineering experts and some industry observers have argued that more than a year after the disaster oil companies are still not adequately prepared ...

The project is expected to produce 50,000 barrels of oil a day Shell announced a significant, multi-billion dollar investment to develop its major Cardamom oil and gas field in the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico (GoM). The Cardamom project is expected to produce 50,000 barrels of oil equivalent (boe) a day at peak production and more than 140 million boe over its lifetime.Technological advances in seismic imaging and drilling have allowed us to both discover and access this new field, said Marvin Odum, Shell Upstream Americas Director. This is another sizeable deep-water investment by Shell that strengthens energy supplies to the USA. It will also secure employment for more offshore workers.Shells rigorous global safety standards underpin our approach to deep-water exploration and production. Our exploration plan for Cardamom (Shell interest 100%) was the first to receive approval since the lifting of the US government moratorium on drilling in the GoM. As a result of todays final investment decision, Shell will move ahead with further development drilling and installing undersea equipment.Shell discovered the Cardamom reservoir in 2010 using advanced seismic technology that was able to produce improved images versus traditional seismic methods. The discovery was confirmed by drilling a ...

One of the biggest biofuels deals to date In one of the biggest biofuels deals to date, Shell is combining its extensive retail experience, global network and research in advanced biofuels with Cosan's technical knowledge of producing biofuels on a large scale.Raízen will produce and sell over 2 billion litres a year of the lowest-carbon biofuel commercially available - ethanol made from Brazilian sugar cane.Shell is already one of the largest distributors of sustainable biofuels: now it is moving for the first time into production. The deal with Cosan is a major development in Shell's strategy of investing for selective growth in its fuels business.Raízen will distribute biofuels and over 20 billion litres of other industrial and transport fuels annually through a combined network of nearly 4,500 Shell-branded service stations. In Brazil it becomes the third largest fuels company. Plans would extend the company's reach in future years to export more ethanol to other key markets.Low-carbon biofuels will be the most practical and commercially realistic way to take carbon dioxide (CO2) out of transport fuel in the coming years and will be a vital part of the future energy mix.The joint venture also combines Shell's expertise and technology partnerships in ...

The Shell Prelude FLNG facility will be the largest floating offshore facility in the world Shell Development (Australia) Pty Ltd (Shell) has given notice to a Technip Samsung Consortium (TSC) to proceed with the construction of the first floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) facility in the world. TSC will provide engineering, procurement, construction and installation for the FLNG facility Shell will deploy at its Prelude gas field off the northwest coast of Australia.Moored far out at sea, some 200 kilometres from the nearest land, the Prelude FLNG facility will produce gas from offshore fields and liquefy it onboard by cooling. Detailed design of the innovative facility will be undertaken by TSC at Technips operating centers in Paris, France, and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and it will be built at the Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) shipyard in Geoje, Korea, where the Notice to Proceed signing ceremony took place.Mr Thierry Pilenko, Chairman and CEO of Technip, commented: "Once again Technip is a key partner of a visionary customer pushing back together the limits of technology. This great project is a real breakthrough for the energy industry and a true revolution for offshore natural gas developments. Technip is extremely pleased and proud to bring ...

If oil price is between $50 and $90 a barrel, the investments are worth it Royal Dutch Shell sees deep-water oil drilling continuing in the future and as of next year will produce more gas than oil, its chief executive was quoted as saying by a Swiss newspaper on Sunday.Asked how high the price of oil needed to be for Shell to profit from its investment of $30 billion in 2011, Peter Voser said: "If the price of oil is between $50 and $90 a barrel, the investment's are worth it."Following the rig explosion and oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico last year that prompted calls for a cessation of deepwater oil drilling, Shell has received permission to drill in the region and has been there since April."You can like it or not: Deep-water drilling will be part of extracting oil in the future," Voser said in an interview with the NZZ am Sonntag.Voser said if Shell's total reserves, including those it was not yet working with, were taken into account it had enough for the next 50 or 60 years."This figure may rather rise than fall," he said. "A big part of these reserves is natural gas."Source: Reuters