SPDC Completes Sale of Oil Mining Lease 18 in Nigeria

SPDC Completes Sale of Oil Mining Lease 18 in Nigeria

Mar 20th, 2015

by John Donovan. 

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Cautionary note: Shell has a track record in Nigeria of repeated oil spills; toxic gas flaring without end; arming police thugs; hiring militant gang leaders; hanging Nigerian campaigners while in bed with one particularly despotic regime; paying bribes to corrupt Nigerian government ministers and infiltrating spies into the Nigerian government.

THE HAGUE, The Netherlands, March 20, 2015 /PRNewswire/ –

The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC), a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell plc (Shell) (NYSE: RDS.A) (NYSE: RDS.B), has completed the assignment of its 30% interest in oil mining lease (OML) 18 and related facilities in the Eastern Niger Delta. Its interests in OML18 were assigned to Eroton Exploration & Production Company Limited. Total cash proceeds for Shell amount to $737 million.

This divestment is part of the strategic review of SPDC’s onshore portfolio and is in line with the Federal Government of Nigeria’s aim of developing Nigerian companies in the country’s upstream oil and gas business.

Shell has been in Nigeria for more than 50 years and remains committed to keeping a long-term presence there – both onshore and offshore. Through SPDC and its other Nigerian companies, Shell responsibly produces the oil and gas needed to help fuel the economic and industrial growth that generates wealth for the nation and jobs for Nigerians.

OML18 covers an area of 1,035 square kilometres and includes the Alakiri, Cawthorne Channel, Krakama, and Buguma Creek fields and related facilities. The divested infrastructure includes flow stations together with associated gas infrastructure plus oil and gas pipelines within the OML. The divested fields produced on average around 14,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (100%) during 2014.

Total E&P Nigeria Limited and Nigerian Agip Oil Company Limited have also assigned their interests of 10% and 5% respectively in the lease, ultimately giving Eroton Consortium a 45% interest in OML18.

All approvals have been received from the relevant authorities of the Federal Government of Nigeria.

Notes to editors:

SPDC is the operator of a joint venture between the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (55%), SPDC (30%), Total E&P Nigeria Limited (10%) and Nigerian Agip Oil Company Limited (5%).

ADDED BY JOHN DONOVAN:

Cautionary note: Shell has a track record in Nigeria of repeated oil spills; toxic gas flaring without end; arming police thugs; hiring militant gang leaders; hanging Nigerian campaigners while in bed with one particularly despotic regime; paying bribes to corrupt Nigerian government ministers and infiltrating spies into the Nigerian government.

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Posted in: Africa, Bribery, Business Principles, Corruption, Eni, GoogleNews, John Donovan, Nigeria, Oil, Oil Spill, Pollution, Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Shell, Shell Spying.
Tagged: John Donovan · Niger Delta · Nigeria · Oil · Royal Dutch Shell Plc

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Shell Leads Gulf Sale Bids

Shell Leads Gulf Sale Bids

Mar 20th, 2015 

by John Donovan. 

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By: MICHEAL KAUFMAN: Published: Mar 19, 2015 at 1:06 pm EST

Extracts

The Oil and Gas Journal, quoting US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), has reported that the Gulf of Mexico, Central Planning Area Lease Sale 235 attracted around 195 bids from 42 companies. Major energy companies such as Statoil ASA (ADR) (NYSE:STO), Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX), Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) and Royal Dutch Shell plc. (ADR) (NYSE:RDS.A) led the bids.

Shell was the highest bid placer placing around 17 bids amounting to $37.89 million.

FULL ARTICLE

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Posted in: Bidness Etc, BP, Chevron, Exxon Mobil, Gulf of Mexico, Oil, Royal Dutch Shell Plc.
Tagged: BP · Chevron · ExxonMobil · Oil

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Massive Layoffs Occurring in the Oil Industry

Massive Layoffs Occurring in the Oil Industry

Mar 20th, 2015 

by John Donovan. 

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From an article by Wall Street Sector Selector Staff published 19 March 2015

Massive Layoffs Occurring in the Oil Industry

Husky Energy operating in the Canadian oil sands announced it would cut capital expenditures and put some long-term projects on hold.

Husky Energy announced the layoffs of 1,000 workers.

Suncor and Royal Dutch Shell are both cutting workers in the Albian Sands project.

Twenty three thousand jobs could be lost according to the Canadian Association of Oil Drilling Contractors.

In the United States Baker Hughes has stated it will layoff 7,000 workers. 

FULL ARTICLE

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Posted in: Canada, Oil Prices, Oil Sands, Royal Dutch Shell Plc.
Tagged: Canada · Oil Prices · Royal Dutch Shell Plc

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Will Royal Dutch Shell Cut Its Dividend?

Will Royal Dutch Shell Cut Its Dividend?

Mar 20th, 2015 

by John Donovan. 

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From an article by Tim McAleenan Jr. published 19 March 2015 by Seeking Alpha

Will Royal Dutch Shell Cut Its Dividend?

Summary

• Royal Dutch Shell’s current dividend payout ratio is over 90%, putting the safety of the dividend in question.
• The good news for investors is that the company is sitting on $21 billion in cash, and likely has the ability to continue paying its dividend throughout continued low prices.
• The bad news for investors is that Royal Dutch Shell’s reserve replacement rate is only 47%, and this will affect the company’s long-term earnings power for producing oil.

FULL ARTICLE

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Posted in: Oil Prices, Royal Dutch Shell Plc.

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Arctic Drilling: Key decisions due at end of March for Shell

Arctic Drilling: Key decisions due at end of March for Shell

Mar 20th, 2015 

by John Donovan. 

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ARTICLE BY TIM BRADNER OF ALASKA JOURNAL OF COMMERCE, PUBLISHED 19 MARCH 2015

Key decisions due at end of March for Shell

Extracts

A key federal decision is shaping up for Shell at the end of this month.

The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, or BOEM, expects to issue a final decision by March 31 on a revised environmental impact statement of the Chukchi Sea 2008 Outer Continental Shelf lease sale that has been contested in court by environmental groups, the director of the agency said March 13.

Abigail Hopper, director of the BOEM, said a Record of Decision on a revised supplemental environmental impact statement, or SEIS, is to be issued.

That will enable the agency to begin its formal review of a plan submitted by Shell for 2015 summer exploration in the Chukchi Sea, she said.

Although a decision in late March puts Shell on a tight timetable, the company hopes to get its drill fleet to the Arctic in time for the open-water drill season.

One of the most important “lessons learned” from Shell’s 2012 experience was that Shell had no integrated plan, he said.

A post-season review by the U.S. Department of the Interior on Shell’s 2012 drilling season, “showed that not all elements of the operations were synchronized. The need for better coordination, such as between the company and contractors, was one of the lessons learned in 2012,” Salerno said.

That may have contributed to management decisions leading to the loss of the Kulluk drill ship when it lost its tow and ran aground off Kodiak Island in a Gulf of Alaska storm in late 2012, he said.

FULL ARTICLE

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Posted in: Alaska, Arctic, Beaufort Sea, Chukchi Sea, Oil, Oil Spill, Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Shell, United States.
Tagged: Alaska · Arctic Ocean · Beaufort Sea · Chukchi Sea · Oil · Royal Dutch Shell Plc

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10 Reasons Homeless People Sleep Out in the Cold – and Die

10 Reasons Homeless People Sleep Out in the Cold – and Die

• by Piper Hoffman
• March 19, 2015
• 5:30 pm

• SHARED FROM

• Editor’s note: This post is a Care2 favorite. It was originally published on December 12, 2012.
• 
  

You can’t miss them when you walk around a city: shapeless masses pressed up against buildings or into corners. Homeless people sleeping outside, even now when the temperature is cold and dropping. The lucky ones preserve their body heat under a pile of blankets; others make do with cardboard boxes or layers of clothes.

Some die. About 700 a year in the United States. The solution seems obvious: their lives would be saved if they slept in the warmth of a homeless shelter. But there aren’t enough shelter beds to go around, and some of the beds that do exist come with very unappealing strings attached:

1. The “#1 Reason Homeless People Don’t Use Shelters [is the] Lack of Available Beds,” writes formerly homeless Kylyssa Shay. Shelters are over-crowded in many, if not most, cities. People must line up hours before the facility opens to secure a bed for the night, and go through the same process the next day and the next.

2. Those who hold jobs (and many homeless people do) can’t always be in line at 4:30 in the afternoon, so they cannot get a shelter bed. Those who choose to stand in line may give up on finding employment because of the schedule.

3. As if homelessness didn’t cause enough physical discomfort (hunger, untreated pain from medical conditions, often being dirty, carrying all of one’s belongings), shelters often add a couple, like bed bugs and body lice, which are inevitable when a different homeless person sleeps in a bed each night. Contagious diseases are also common among a population that lacks access to nutritious food and adequate medical care. Shelters don’t have the means to quarantine the ill from the general population, making a night in a shelter a health risk. Hepatitis and tuberculosis are particularly common.

4. Straddling the line between uncomfortable and life-threatening is the lack of shoes that fit. Shoe theft is a common problem for the homeless, and is particularly common in shelters. (Theft generally is not unusual.) Not having shoes, or having only shoes that don’t fit well, can cause wounds that make it challenging or impossible to walk, and there are precious few places in a city where a homeless person can recuperate for a while without having to move along.

5. A dog or cat is often a homeless person’s best friend and only family. For young women on the street alone, a dog can also provide indispensable protection. But shelters for homeless people rarely accept their companion animals. Many people prefer sleeping outdoors to giving up their beloved friends.

6. Some shelters close their doors to people who are under the influence of alcohol or illegal substances. This is an understandable rule that not surprisingly leaves some people who need shelter out on the street.

7. Nevertheless, some shelters are known as operation centers for drug dealers and are therefore considered dangerous. Some homeless people prefer their chances outside.

8. There are few family shelters that accept single fathers with children. Sometimes the solution is for the children to spend the night in the shelter while dad sleeps outside.

9. Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people often face discrimination and “physical risk” in homeless shelters. For instance, transgender “women (born with male genitalia but identify and live as women) forced to take shelter with heterosexual men are frequently subjected to verbal, physical, and sexual abuse.” Some shelters simply deny entry to transgender people.

10. Some faith-based homeless shelters require guests to sit through sermons and even personal appeals to convert to their hosts’ religion. Enduring these sometimes derogatory, sometimes coercive tactics day after day is too much for some, especially people with strong religious convictions of their own.

You can do something to help end homelessness. The National Coalition for the Homeless recommends, “Get connected to a coalition. Volunteer at your local, state, or national housing or homeless advocacy coalition, or make a financial contribution to support their work. For the name of the coalition nearest you, see NCH’s Directory of National Housing and Homeless Organizations.”

Related Stories:

Homeless LGBT Youth: A Day In Our Shoes (Video)

NY Gov.’s Budget Cuts Will Hit Homeless and Disabled Youth

Diocese Puts Religious Dogma Before Helping the Homeless

Read more: http://www.care2.com/causes/10-reasons-homeless-people-sleep-out-in-the-cold-and-die.html#ixzz3UwQ2cEPO




The TRUTH will set you FREE.