Ebola in Nigeria: Royal Dutch Shell issues warning to employees
By John Donovan
I received an email from a regular contributor at noon today advising that“Ebola has reached Port Harcourt now. No doubt you are aware Shell has ‘some’ operations there…”
The contact also supplied a BBC News article: Ebola spreads to Nigeria oil hub Port Harcourt
Before I had time to decide whether to comment, Reuters published an article “Doctor dies of Ebola in Nigeria’s oil hub Port Harcourt”
Extracts
Port Harcourt lies at the heart of Nigeria’s two million barrels per day oil industry, Africa’s biggest, and is a hub for expatriate workers in major international oil companies, including Royal Dutch Shell, ENI, Total and Exxonmobil.
A spokesman for leading operator Royal Dutch Shell in London said the firm was “monitoring the Ebola outbreak very closely, and liaising with health authorities on the steps being taken to contain the disease.” The only actions he wished to make public were a “health education campaign for staff and contractors.”Shell also said it had advised against non-essential travel to Nigeria.
Shell employees in Nigeria already had to worry about the prospect of losing their jobs as a result of Shell’s asset firesale plans. They now also have to worry about Ebola.
Royal Dutch Shell Files Arctic Drilling Plans
A Shell spokesperson claims that the company’s latest Arctic exploration plan takes into account lessons learned from the 2012 operation (which turned into a dangerous farce after Shell engaged in reckless machinations in an effort to evade tax).
By John Donovan
Royal Dutch Shell has filed a plan with US federal regulators that could result in a resumption of its Arctic drilling campaign in the summer of of 2015.
However, the oil giant still has significant regulatory and legal issues to deal with in the meantime.
A Shell spokesperson claims that the company’s latest Arctic exploration plan takes into account lessons learned from the 2012 operation (which turned into a dangerous farce after Shell engaged in reckless machinations in an effort to evade tax).
Related articles with more detail:
Shell formally launches 2015 Arctic drilling bid
Extract
Environmentalists warn that drilling in Arctic waters is too risky and insist that any spill at the top of the globe would be impossible to clean up. While Shell plans to stash booms, skimmers and other spill response gear nearby, conservationists note that most of that equipment is geared toward warmer, calmer waters.
Shell formally launches 2015 Arctic drilling bid
Extract
The exploration plan filed with the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management in Anchorage keeps the door open for Shell to resume its Arctic drilling campaign as soon as summer 2015, and is the strongest evidence yet that new CEO Ben van Beurden wants to keep pursuing a big discovery in the U.S. Arctic after an ill-fated exploration campaign in 2012.
Shell Submits a Plan for New Alaskan Arctic Oil Exploration
Extract
After years of legal and logistical setbacks and dogged opposition from environmentalists, Royal Dutch Shell submitted a plan to the federal …
THE FARCE IN 2012
Shell’s jinxed Arctic drilling farce: 29 December 2012
The TRUTH will set you FREE.
A safety audit on the Brent Bravo platform in 1999 led by Bill Campbell exposed a “Touch F*** All” culture with safety records routinely falsified. The damning audit report was passed to then Shell EP director Malcolm Brinded, who made promises to remedy the situation that were not kept. Instead Brinded decided to put profits before safety. Hence the subsequent deadly explosion followed by a cover-up at the highest level of Royal Dutch Shell. It seems from recently published articles that despite all the pledges and the appointment of a so-called safety Czar, nothing has changed.
By John Donovan
The FT states: “Shell’s phlegmatic chief executive Ben van Beurden will need to hold his nose when he takes the money…” and in a related article, describes Shell’s actions as a “retreat from the Niger Delta” (triggered in part by militancy, violence and bunkering).
By John Donovan
