Shell’s Exit From Arctic Oil Drilling

Shell’s Exit From Arctic Oil Drilling

Oct 3rd, 2015

by John Donovan. 

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LETTER TO THE EDITOR OF THE NEW YORK TIMES

“I am hesitant to pop open the Champagne quite yet…”

To the Editor:

Re “Shell Pulls Plug on Exploration in Alaska Arctic” (front page, Sept. 29):

While the news that Shell has decided to pull out of its controversial Arctic oil exploration effort is cause for celebration for many environmentalists, I am hesitant to pop open the Champagne quite yet.

I find it hard to celebrate knowing that Shell’s withdrawal is the result of an oversaturated oil market fattened on shale oil from the Bakken formation and an OPEC overproduction of 1 million barrels above the cartel’s target output. Shell’s Arctic exit is a business decision in response to low oil prices due to a slowing economy and a glut of supply, both temporary conditions that do nothing to preclude a return to Arctic exploration once these conditions expire.

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Posted in: Alaska, Arctic, Climate Change, Environment, New York Times, Oil Prices,OPEC, Pollution, Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Shell, United States.
Tagged: Alaska · Arctic Ocean · Environment · Oil Prices · Royal Dutch Shell Plc · Shell

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Shell and BP make new inroads in Iran

Shell and BP make new inroads in Iran

Oct 3rd, 2015

by John Donovan. 

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Saeed Kamali Dehghan and Terry Macalister

Friday 2 October 2015 20.30 BST

The possibility of a major British oil company regaining access to one of the world’s great hydrocarbon markets rose on Friday with officials in Tehran saying Shell would be allowed to build 100 petrol stations in Iran.

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TEHRAN, Oct. 3 (MNA) – A number of senior executives of the Anglo-Dutch Shell Oil Company have travelled to Iran to meet and talk with the officials at the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC).

Accordingly, the senior managers of Royal Dutch Shell Company, commonly known as Shell, are scheduled to stay in Tehran for four days to meet and talk with authorities of NIOC, Oil Ministry’s officials as well as some investors in the private sector.

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Posted in: BP, Business Principles, Iran, Oil, Royal Dutch Shell Plc.
Tagged: BP · Iran · Royal Dutch Shell Plc · Shell

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Shell CEO Ben van Beurden says carbon price needed to tackle climate change

Shell CEO Ben van Beurden says carbon price needed to tackle climate change

Oct 3rd, 2015 

by John Donovan. 

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“Shell’s track record on climate change does not inspire us with confidence...”

By business reporter Michael Janda and staff: 2 Oct 2015

Shell’s global chief executive says an effective carbon price is needed to tackle climate change, whether through a trading or tax system.

Speaking exclusively to ABC TV’s The Business, Ben van Beurden said a price on carbon was necessary to discourage pollution.

“Putting, in one form or another, a real, clear price on carbon that compels people to act with rational economic actions, I think is something that we need,” he told presenter Ticky Fullerton.

When pressed over the Government’s current Direct Action plan, which provides funding for programs to cut emissions rather than charging heavy emitters, Mr van Beurden said the design of the system was a matter for politicians in each country.

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Posted in: Australia, Ben van Beurden, BG Group, Climate Change, Gas, Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Shell.
Tagged: Ben van Beurden · BG Group · Gas · Global Warming · Royal Dutch Shell Plc ·Shell

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Work to begin on Motiva’s $500M Maurepas Pipeline by end of this year

Work to begin on Motiva’s $500M Maurepas Pipeline by end of this year

Oct 3rd, 2015

by John Donovan. 

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Anna Thibodeaux: October 3, 2015

Construction will begin on Motiva’s $500 million Maurepas Pipeline in the fourth quarter of this year.

“The Maurepas Pipeline is the initial step for Motiva to interconnect and optimize its Gulf Coast refinery operations,” said Kiley Roberson, company spokesman for Tulsa, Okla.-based SemGroup Corp., which will build and own the pipeline.

SemGroup has partnered with Rose Rock Midstream, which will serve as the pipeline operator.

“The Maurepas Pipeline project is a critical first step for Motiva to connect its two refineries in Louisiana to create what Motiva calls its Louisiana Refining System,” Roberson said. “With an integrated crude capacity over 500,000 barrels per day, Motiva’s Louisiana Refining System will rank in the top five of North American refineries in terms of total capacity, creating significant value for Motiva.”

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Posted in: Motiva, Oil, Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Saudi Aramco, Shell.
Tagged: Motiva Enterprises · Royal Dutch Shell Plc · Shell

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Vatican: Pope’s Meeting With Kim Davis ‘Should Not Be Considered A Form Of Support’

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BY JACK JENKINS OCT 2, 2015 6:35AM


After days of controversy over news that Pope Francis met with Kentucky county clerk and same-sex marriage opponent Kim Davis during the pontiff’s U.S. visit, the Vatican has announced that the meeting “should not be considered a form of support of her position.”

When reports surfaced Tuesday evening that Francis and Davis had met, many conservatives and progressives — including Davis herself — were quick to interpret the rendezvous as implicit support for Davis, who was recently jailed for refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. But the Vatican was tight-lipped on details of the meeting, initially refusing to even acknowledge that it happened, much less explain what it meant.

The Pope did not enter into the details of the situation of Mrs. Davis and his meeting with her should not be considered a form of support of her position.

On Friday morning, however, Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi broke the Holy See’s silence and attempted to temperwild speculation about the event. The Vatican clarified that the pope did, in fact, meet with Davis, but that the meeting was not an endorsement of her willingness to deny marriage licenses to LGBT couples while serving as a government official.

“Pope Francis met with several dozen persons who had been invited by the [Vatican embassy] to greet him as he prepared to leave Washington for New York City,” read the statement, as provided to ThinkProgress by the Vatican’s English language media attaché. “Such brief greetings occur on all papal visits and are due to the Pope’s characteristic kindness and availability. The only real audience granted by the Pope at the [Vatican embassy] was with one of his former students and his family.”

“The Pope did not enter into the details of the situation of Mrs. Davis and his meeting with her should not be considered a form of support of her position in all of its particular and complex aspects,” the statement read.

In addition, an unnamed “senior Vatican official” reportedly told Reuters that there was a “sense of regret” among the papal curia over the meeting, which has distracted attention from the pope’s otherwise successful trip to the United States.

Although the statement will likely allay the concerns of many progressives who were initially upset by reports of the meeting, questions remain as to why the embassy invited Davis to meet Francis in the first place. One theory, as explained to ThinkProgress by Vatican expert Thomas Reese on Thursday, appears to be bolstered by the Vatican’s statement: Perhaps a lone bishop or Vatican representative “brought her to the Vatican embassy here in Washington and simply presented her to the pope without much internal discussion.”

An unnamed “highly placed” Vatican source told a Chicago CBS affiliate that the pope was “blindsided” by the encounter, saying Francis was “exploited” by others who orchestrated a “meeting that never should have taken place.”

The Liberty Counsel, the legal team representing Davis, also unveiled a lengthy press release in response to the Vatican’s statement. Although Davis told ABC news on Wednesday that the meeting “kind of validates everything,” the conservative legal outfit insisted that “neither Kim Davis nor Liberty Counsel ever said the meeting was an endorsement of her legal case.” They also claimed the meeting and the pope’s recent comments about conscientious objection still indicate papal support for Davis’ actions.

“Despite a statement this morning by a Vatican official, the Pope’s own words about conscientious objection being a human right and his private meeting with Kim Davis indicate support for the universal right of conscientious objection, even for government officials,” the statement read. “The meeting with Kim Davis was initiated by the Vatican, and the private meeting occurred at the Vatican Embassy in Washington, D.C. … This meeting was a private meeting without any other members of the public present.”

It’s unclear whether the Liberty Counsel’s description of the meeting as private contradicts the Vatican’s, which said that the pope “met with several dozen persons” at the embassy.

While Francis does not endorse Davis’ position, the Catholic Church does maintain its historic opposition to same-sex relationships, which the Catechism of the Catholic Church calls “objectively disordered.” The Church in the United States has also shown an increasing willingness to fire employees of Catholic institutions who are openly gay, avoiding nondiscrimination laws by invoking the so-called “ministerial exception.”

This post was updated with new quotes and information from Vatican officials and the Liberty Counsel.

CREDIT: AP PHOTO/RICCARDO DE LUCA

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"According to a union official... rank-and-file members...did not support a Clinton endorsement."

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