SHELL ALASKA AND RELATED NEWS

Kulluk refloated

Jan 8th, 2013

by John Donovan. 

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ANCHORAGE, Alaska, January 7, 2013 – With arrival of favorable high tides at Sikalidak Island, recovery crews refloated the Kulluk shortly after 1:00 AM CST today.  Shortly afterward the anchor handling vessel Aiviq commenced towing the conical drillship toward safe harbor at Kiliuda Bay about 30 miles to the northeast. Once there a detailed damage assessment will begin.  Infraredmonitoring equipment on one of the vessels in a flotilla accompanying the tow shows no indication of fuel in the water and onboard tank checks confirm no change in fuel levels.  A crew of eleven remains onboard Kulluk during towing operations.

SOURCE

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

Shell oil drilling vessel towed after running aground off Alaska island during storm

Jan 7th, 2013

by John Donovan. 

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ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A Royal Dutch Shell PLC drill vessel pulled from rocks off a remote Alaska island approached shelter Monday morning in a protected Kodiak Island bay.

By Associated Press, Updated: Monday, January 7, 6:55 PM

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A Royal Dutch Shell PLC drill vessel pulled from rocks off a remote Alaska island approached shelter Monday morning in a protected Kodiak Island bay.

The Kulluk, a circular drill barge without its own propulsion, ran aground New Year's Eve in a powerful storm. It was being towed to Seattle for maintenance before it ran aground, but the lines that connected it to the towing ship broke.

That same ship, the 360-foot Aiviq, pulled the Kulluk off the rocky bottom near Sitkalidak Island at 10:10 p.m. Sunday and started a slow tow toward Kiliuda Bay.

High winds and sea swells threatened to slow the barge's 30-mile journey to the bay. But the ship made steady progress, moving about 4 mph. By 9 a.m., the vessels were about four miles from where crews planned to anchor up.

The massive effort to move and salvage the ship involves more than 730 people, according to the Unified Command, which includes the Coast Guard, Shell and contractors involved in the tow and salvage operation. Eleven people are aboard the ship — a salvage crew of 10 people and one Shell representative.

The Kulluk is carrying more than 140,000 gallons of diesel and about 12,000 gallons of lube oil and hydraulic fluid.

A tug trailing the drill vessel used infrared equipment to watch for oil sheens and reported no petroleum discharge.

The salvage crew planned to examine the vessel again in the protected waters.

Shell reported superficial damage above the deck and seawater within that entered through open hatches. Water has knocked out regular andemergency generators, but portable generators were put on board last week.

"There will be some extensive examination of the rig," said Ignacio Gonzalez, a spokesman at the Kulluk incident command center.

The Kulluk is a circular barge 266 feet in diameter with a funnel-shaped, reinforced steel hull that allows it to operate in ice. One of two Shell vessels that drilled last year in the Arctic Ocean, it has a 160-foot derrick rising from its center.

The Kulluk on Dec. 27 was being towed to Seattle for upgrades and maintenance when it ran into trouble during a strong Gulf of Alaska storm.

Its tow line to the Aiviq parted, and a day later, all four engines quit on the Aiviq, possibly due to contaminated fuel.

Four re-attached lines between the Aiviq or other vessels also broke in stormy weather.

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

More on this story:

- Shell oil rig runs aground in Alaska

- Crew boards grounded oil rig in Alaska

SOURCE

Posted in: Alaska, Arctic, Associated Press, Environment, Oil, Oil Spill, Pollution,Royal Dutch Shell Plc, The Washington Post, United States.
Tagged: Alaska · Arctic Ocean · Beaufort Sea · Chukchi Sea · Kulluk · Oil · Royal Dutch Shell Plc

Arctic drilling – cold feet

Jan 7th, 2013

by John Donovan. 

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FROM THE FINANCIAL TIMES JAN 7, 2013

Cold, wet and windy in those Alaska waters. An accident involving Shell's Kulluk oil drilling rigover the new year has set alarm bells ringing…

…only technology can reduce the risks. Until it is developed further, there is no need to rush into such stormy waters.

FULL FT ARTICLE

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

Reputational damage to Peter Voser

Jan 7th, 2013

by John Donovan.

By John Donovan

The mainstream news media is reporting that thereputational damage to Peter Voser and the Shell board arising from theArctic meltdownis huge. The fact that Shell's leadership is hopelessly incompetent comes as no surprise to us. No competent board with an ounce of commercial commonsense would allow this website to continue in existence, bearing in mind the damage it has done to Shell over the years by providing an outlet for Shell insider leaks. A Shell official has admitted our success in humiliating the company. Watts was a disaster, Jeroen van der Veer meekly surrendered Shell's controlling stake in the Sakhalin II project and Voser has now been exposed as a hypercritical fool who poured scorn on BP, instead of minding his own ship. Why did Shell rehire Voser in the first place? Surely it would have been better to find someone not tainted by financial scandal to lead Shell after the reserves fraud?

Posted in: Business Principles, Environment, GoogleNews, Jeroen van der Veer, Oil, Oil Spill, Peter Voser, Royal Dutch Shell Plc, RoyalDutchShellPlc.com, Sir Philip Watts.
Tagged: Alaska · Arctic Ocean · Beaufort Sea · Chukchi Sea · Jeroen van der Veer ·John Donovan · Peter Voser · Royal Dutch Shell Plc · Sir Philip Watts

← Royal Dutch Shell Arctic rig sparks drill fears

Royal Dutch Shell Arctic rig sparks drill fears

Jan 7th, 2013

by John Donovan.

The reputational damage to Shell's chief executive Peter Voser and the rest of the board is enormous. Shell has spent most of the past year defending allegations that it is incapable of drilling safely in the environmentally-sensitive Arctic region, which is regarded as the next frontier for oil.

By Daily Mail Reporter Monday 7 January 2013

Fears are growing that Royal Dutch Shell could further delay its entire drilling programme in the region where the US Army was embarrassingly called in to help salvage its Kulluk Arctic drilling rig.

The 266ft-diameter Kulluk ran aground off uninhabited Sitkalidak Island, about 200 miles south of Anchorage, Alaska, on New Year's Eve as it was hit by a storm while being towed to Seattle for maintenance.

So far there has been no leakage of diesel or the hydraulic fluidstored aboard in strong tanks, and no loss of life or significant injuries.

But experts say the longer the rig sits offshore, the greater the chances of a large-scale fuel leak that could destroy this protected natural habitat.

A spill would also jeopardise vital systems that provide food for nearby villages.

The reputational damage to Shell's chief executive Peter Voser and the rest of the board is enormous.

It is believed some institutional shareholders have never been happy with the amount of cash being thrown at the Arctic drilling programme.

Shell has spent most of the past year defending allegations that it is incapable of drilling safely in the environmentally-sensitive Arctic region, which is regarded as the next frontier for oil.

Their ships have caught fire and lost control, while its own spill containment equipment has been damaged in various mishaps.

Shell has so far spent £3.2billion buying leases and on exploratory drilling off Alaska's north and north-west coasts, but has yet to discover any commercial quantities of oil.

Shell's other Arctic rig, the Noble Discoverer, can only drill when the Kulluk is available to serve as backup in the event of a spill.

SOURCE

Posted in: Alaska, Arctic, Daily Mail, Environment, Oil, Peter Voser, Royal Dutch Shell Plc, United States.
Tagged: Alaska · Arctic Ocean · Beaufort Sea · Chukchi Sea · Oil · Royal Dutch Shell Plc

← Shell's money play is on the rocks

Reputational damage to Peter Voser →

Shell faces an Arctic meltdown

Jan 6th, 2013

by John Donovan.

Royal Dutch Shell could be forced to delay its entire drilling programme in the Arctic this year unless its grounded Kulluk rig can be repaired in time, the City's top oil analyst has warned. The grounding of the Kulluk rig has left Peter Voser, Shell's chief executive, dealing with a 'reputational hit'.

By Emily Gosden: Published in The Sunday Telegraph 6 Jan 2013

The oil major's controversial project also faces a series of regulatory hurdles that may now be even harder to pass as opponents of Arctic drilling prepare to capitalise on the reputational damage of the accident.

Last night, the Kulluk drilling rig remained grounded off Alaska as theUS Army was drafted in to help salvage operations. Officials were unable to say whether the rig, which was hit by a storm while being towed to Seattle for maintenance, was seaworthy or when it could be moved.

Shell refused to comment on whether it would be able to continue with its plans to drill for oil this summer — the culmination of a seven-year quest that has already seen it spend nearly $5bn (£3.1bn).

It plans to drill with the Kulluk in the Beaufort Sea and another rig, the Noble Discoverer, in the Chukchi Sea, where it spent more than $2bn acquiring leases. But its own safety plans require both rigs to be available so one can drill a "relief well" to stem a spill in the event the other suffers a blowout.

Jon Rigby, head of European oil and gas research at UBS and Extel's top-rated oil analyst for four years running, said: "The absence of a second drill ship this summer, if it comes to that, might hold back all operations, putting the company out of compliance with its safety case — further delaying drilling and adding costs."

The grounding of the drilling rig, the cost of which Shell has yet to quantify, was "unlikely to hurt [Shell's] bottom line directly" but constituted a "very unfortunate reputational hit", he said in a research note. "The costs to Shell of a salvage operation and any needed repairs are unlikely to be great. But negative headlines are not helpful ."

The Arctic is seen as one of the world's most promising untapped oil and gas regions, with as much as 15bn barrels of oil thought to lie beneath the Chukchi Sea and 8bn barrels under the Beaufort.

Shell first planned to drill there in 2007 but faced legal and regulatory delays. It hoped to finally get the programme under way in 2012 but a series of setbacks limited it to drilling shallow "top-holes".

Even if the Kulluk can be repaired in time for this summer's programme, Shell must still secure a series of regulatory approvals before it can drill into potentially oil-bearing rocks.

A "containment dome", a key piece of equipment used to cap any spill, needs further work after being "crushed like a beer can" during tests, according to official emails. The Noble Discoverer is also being repaired after the Coast Guard flagged problems.

Shell may also need fresh approval from the US authorities for its 2013 drilling plans, permits for specific wells, and for the project's impact on marine mammals.

"Shell got a green light to harass polar bears, but just for 2012; they will have go back and explain how many they intend to disrupt were they to go back in 2013," said Ben Ayliffe, head of Greenpeace's Arctic campaign.

Hanging over the entire operation is the threat that Shell's 10-year exploration licences, which were granted between 2005 and 2008, may expire before Shell can prove there are commercially viable oil discoveries. It has begun talks to try to secure extensions, arguing officials should recognise that their drilling work was delayed in part by factors beyond their control.

But those licences are likely to come under even closer scrutiny after the Kulluk accident. "We will try to put pressure on the US administration to suspend future drilling permits for Shell and the rest of the oil industry," Mr Ayliffe said.

Malcolm Graham-Wood, oil analyst at VSA Capital, said if Shell's plans were delayed "it might cause them to rethink the Arctic in the longer term".

He felt Shell would press ahead for now as "the cost-reward equation is still in their favour". But if the reputational risk of continuing proved worse than that of pulling out, they might reconsider.

"Reputational risk is much more important to people like Shell than $5bn that they can earn in one quarter," he said.

Writing off such a high-profile investment would leave Shell facing awkward questions from investors. One leading shareholder told The Sunday Telegraph he felt the market was "fed up" with Shell generally. He questioned its ability to translate high capital expenditure across its portfolio into increased production, adding: "They are trying to advance too many fronts, not particularly well."

Investors did not oppose Shell exploring the Arctic but were "nervous", he said. "If they spill anything it will be hell to pay."

A HISTORY OF SETBACKS

2007 Shell's plans to drill in the Arctic are halted by legal challenges from campaigners.

2010 Drilling cancelled after a . moratorium is imposed on US offshore drilling in the wake of the BP Gulf of Mexico disaster.

July 2012 Shell says heavier than' expected ice has delayed drilling plans, which are limited to the window in the summer when sea ice melts.

July The Noble Discoverer rig slips its moorings in a storm and drifts towards shore in a bay in the Aleutian area of Alaska.

Summer 2012 Shell is forced to wait to begin work in the Beaufort Sea until local communities have completed their annual whale hunt.

The Arctic Challenger oil spill response barge fails to receive US Coast Guard certification as planned, preventing Shell drilling into oil-bearing zones. Certification is eventually granted in October.

September Shell is forced to stop drilling preparatory top- holes in the Chukchi Sea after one day when a giant floe of sea ice, 12 miles by 30 miles in size, moves toward the site.

A containment dome, used to cap a spill, is damaged in final testing. Official emails say it was "crushed like a beer can" when dropped.

December Reports show that the US Coast Guard has found issues with safety and pollution-prevention equipment on the Noble Discoverer rig after it returns from drilling.

Dec 31 The Kulluk rig runs aground off Alaska after breaking off from tow boats during a storm, while being moved back to Seattle for maintenance.

SOURCE

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

← Vosers Holed Arctic Superbucket

Shell's money play is on the rocks →