JOHN DONOVAN OCTOBER 31, 2014 NEWS ROUND UP

Shell’s Simon Henry says its not difficult to drill in the Arctic Seas

Oct 31st, 2014 

by John Donovan. 

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How reassuring.

According to a Bloomberg article, Simon Henry, a mathematician, accountant, and the Chief Financial Officer of Royal Dutch Shell Plc, has stated in relation to drilling for oil in Arctic seas,  off Alaska –

“Its not that difficult to drill up there.”

The long term bean counter is also quoted as saying “Thirty years ago we went there and drilled several wells pretty quickly.”

His bold statements would have more weight if uttered by someone with expertise in offshore drilling.

Some might describe his comments as ill informed and even reckless, bearing in mind Shell’s recent shambles that heavily damaged the companies reputation.

As a finance man, did Simon Henry have any role in the decision to send a rig into stormy seas off Alaska in an effort to evade tax?

The one that ran aground and put lives at risk.

This extract from a US News & World Report article published in April 2014 is typical of many comments published on the subject:

Notably, in September 2012, a Royal Dutch Shell drilling rig ran aground in Alaska as workers attempted to tow it beyond the state’s waters. A Coast Guard report released Friday found that the Anglo-Dutch oil company decided to move the rig – and insisted on doing so through dangerous stormy weather – to avoid paying new Alaskan taxes. The report also detailed myriad safety issues.

Shell Executive David Lawrence of Alaska, paid the price for the debacle.

Simon Henry seems to think we have already forgotten about those dramatic events.

That would be another huge miscalculation on the part of Shell. 

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Posted in: Alaska, Arctic, Bloomberg, Environment, GoogleNews, John Donovan, Oil, Oil Spill, Pollution, Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Shell, Simon Henry, United States.
Tagged: Alaska · Arctic Ocean · Oil · Royal Dutch Shell Plc

UK News Reports Royal Dutch Shell Quarterly Result

Oct 31st, 2014 

by John Donovan. 

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DAILY EXPRESS: Oil giant Shell floats as prices sink

Extracts

ROYAL Dutch Shell unleashed an industry-beating rise in quarterly profit yesterday, despite falling oil prices, and vowed to keep slashing less-lucrative projects.

Finance chief Simon Henry said: “It’s quite likely we’ll take a very close look at investment levels where we have flexibility if we see oil price weakness persisting.”

FULL ARTICLE

DAILY MAIL: Shell posts forecast-busting profit rise of 31pc despite slump in oil prices

Extracts

Shell has managed to weather the sharp drop in the price of oil since June, announcing forecast-busting results for the third quarter.

Oil and gas production slipped by 5 per cent compared with the same period last year due to the expiration of its licence in Abu Dhabi, as well as security impacts in Nigeria and divestments.

The oil major also announced that Charles Holliday, a board director since 2010 and former chairman of Bank of America, will take over from outgoing chairman Jorma Ollila in 2015. He will be the Dutch-based group’s first American chairman.

FULL ARTICLE

THE GUARDIAN: Shell appoints former Bank of America boss Charles Holliday as new chairman

Extract

The announcement came as Shell’s profit rose strongly in the third quarter year on year, but the company warned it had yet to feel the full effect of the falling oil price. 

FULL ARTICLE

The Independent: Shell puts rival BP in the shade after profits jump despite fall in oil prices

Extracts

Although Shell beat City hopes, profits were down on the $6.1 billion seen in the April-June quarter due to the plunging oil price, which has plummeted by more than 20 per cent since the summer.

Oil and gas prices have continued to fall since the end of the quarter, threatening further revenue falls for Shell and its competitors.

Shell chief executive Ben van Beurden said: “The recent decline in oil prices is part of the volatility in our industry. It underlines the importance of our drive to get a tighter grip on performance management, keep a tight hold on costs and spending, and improve the balance between growth and returns.”

FULL ARTICLE

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Posted in: Ben van Beurden, BP, Chad Holliday, Daily Express, Daily Mail, Gas,GoogleNews, Nigeria, Oil, Oil Company Profits, Oil Prices, Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Shale Gas, Shale Oil, Shell, The Independent.
Tagged: Ben van Beurden · BP · Gas · Nigeria · Oil · Oil Prices · Royal Dutch Shell Plc

Shell Moerdijk Impact From Steam Leak

Oct 31st, 2014 

by John Donovan. 

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Styrene prices shot up following a steam leak at Shell’s steam crackers at Moerdijk in the Netherlands early this month.

Shell had to declare force majeure on ethylene and propylene at the unit which makes basic materials for the chemical industry and employs about eight hundred people.

The main repairs will last until at least the end of 2014, with some work not completed until an unspecified date in 2015.

The plant supplies steam to all the plants at the complex.

A Shell spokesman admitted that the steam leak resulted in flaring activity.

Extracts from related Wikipedia Styrene Article

“Styrene is regarded as a “hazardous chemical”, especially in case of eye contact, but also in case of skin contact, of ingestion and of inhalation, according to several sources. The International Agency for Research on Cancer considers styrene to be “possibly carcinogenic to humans”.

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Posted in: Environment, GoogleNews, Netherlands, Pollution, Royal Dutch Shell Plc,Shell, Toxic contamination.
Tagged: Royal Dutch Shell Plc

The TRUTH will set you FREE.

Water Markets: False Solution to Real Crisis

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SATURDAY, 1 NOVEMBER 2014 Water Markets: False Solution to Real Crisis Mitch Jones: Putting a public resource in the hands of the wealthy will not solve California’s water crisis.  READ MORE

Water Markets: False Solution to Real Crisis

BY MITCH JONES

Putting a public resource in the hands of the wealthy will not solve California’s water crisis

If we have learned anything from the water shut-offs in Detroit and the ongoing water crisis in the Western U.S., it is that every community deserves access to safe and reliable water, regardless of its ability to pay. Yet a new movement is afoot to transfer control of our water to new water markets. Despite the evidence privatizing water doesn’t work, water privatization and market-based schemes are still being pushedupon the public as a solution. Specifically, we are seeing the idea of water markets gain attention, especially in response to the Western drought.

While not a new idea, the widespread use of water markets, which represents the financialization of all of our common resources, is relatively new. They are a false solution that assigns the benefits of our investment in this common resource to a small few at the expense of everyone else, and do little to ensure adequate supply to anyone.

We know that large financial institutions dream of water markets. In fact, Willem Buiter, Chief Economist at Citigroup, has written of his desire to see a global water market: “I expect to see a globally integrated market for fresh water within 25 to 30 years. Once the spot markets for water are integrated, futures markets and other derivative water-based financial instruments — puts, calls, swaps — both exchange-traded and OTC will follow…. Water as an asset class will, in my view, become eventually the single most important physical-commodity based asset class, dwarfing oil, copper, agricultural commodities and precious metals.”

This is a frightening vision of a future in which our water is controlled by the Wall Street casino and it is currently being slipped into policy discussions under the guise of a solution to water shortages in a drought.

People who think of the market as the ultimate expression of fairness confuse money with people, and cost with value. A market can’t represent the common will of the people, because only those with the money to buy are allowed a voice.

Water is the ultimate common resource. As a nation, we invest in dams, in water infrastructure for transport and in treatment plants to make water more available for public use. And we invest a lot. According to the Congressional Budget Office, from 1956 to 2006, we spent almost four trillion dollars on developing our water resources. Society has spent that money because water is important for all of us.

Moreover, water is the ultimate inelastic resource. Economists describe a resource as “inelastic” if the price of the resource doesn’t really affect the amount of the resource being consumed. Not only will we pay anything if we need water, we are unwilling to part with what water we have. In Chile, where they marketized water in the 1981, there were very few trades. That’s because farmers were unwilling to part with their water access for any price. And when large corporations simply took water, poorer farmers were unable to afford the court costs to fight for their rights. The choice of a market over government in a resource that people didn’t want to sell led to centralizing a common resource in the hands of the rich.

The calls for water markets and water pricing also fail to see the reality of what water distribution and control would look like under these markets. In the United States, according to a study published in 2009, real estate developers seeking small amounts of water during construction projects and suburban developments paid the highest prices. In 2012, natural gas companies seeking water for hydraulic fracturing outbid Colorado farmers, freezing out farms.

People who think of the market as the ultimate expression of fairness confuse money with people, and cost with value. A market can’t represent the common will of the people, because only those with the money to buy are allowed a voice. And it can’t express the value of water because the value of a life-giving substance like water is different than its cost. Water is vital for all of us. And, access to water cannot be for sale.

Mitch Jones

POSTED ON OCTOBER 31, 2014

The TRUTH will set you FREE.

JUAN M FLAVIER The parable of the Noli Me Tangere

The parable of the Noli Me Tangere

Byline: Juan M Flavier

credit:carlojoe5.tripod.com

THE barrio school had a nipa hut look. The walls were made of matted bamboo (sawali) and the roof had weather-beaten cogon grass. Desks were low and equally aged with poke marks on the writing side. The only tidy piece of furniture was the teachers table covered with beige Manila paper.

Her voice shrilled above the din of noise as though the question was meant to silence the pupils. "Who wrote Noli Me Tangere?" she asked sternly. "Pedro, answer the question."

Pedro was taken by surprise. He stiffened then slowly inched up to stand. Guilt spread over his face as he said, "I didnt do it, Maam."

The teacher glared. Noli Me Tangere is a book written by the national hero Jose Rizal and here was a smart aleck saying he didnt do it. The whole class laughed in great amusement.

"You are fooling and making fun of me," the teacher said with anger. "I should suspend you. But before I do that you must come tomorrow with your father so we can have a talk about your bad behavior."

The boy went home and informed his father of the teachers request for them to be in school together the following day.

Suspecting something amiss, the father inquired, "What is it this time, Pedro?"

The boy fidgeted and then decided to get over it. "The teacher suspected me of writing Noli Me Tangere. I told her I did not do it and she got angry. She wants to suspend me but wishes to talk with you first."

"Talaga bang hindi mo isinulat ang Noli Me Tangere (Is it really true that you didnt write Noli Me Tangere)?" the father wanted to be sure.

"Talagang hindi (really not)," Pedro assured his father with conviction.

"Dont worry, I will help explain to your teacher," said the father trying to make his worried son feel better.

The next day, father and son went to see the peeved teacher.

"Your son is misbehaving," complained the teacher directly. "I asked who wrote Noli Me Tangere and your son says he did not do it. I intend to suspend him. What do you say as the parent?"

The father tried to appear as contrite as possible. But he believed completely in the innocence of his son. "Naku Maestra," he said with a low and conciliatory voice, "si Pedro ay tinuruan naming huwag magsisinungaling. Kaya ho pag sinabi niyang hindi siya ang sumulat ng Noli Me Tangere ay talaga hong hindi niya ginawa ito. (Wow, teacher, we taught Pedro never to tell a lie. So if he says he did not write Noli Me Tangere it is really true, he did not do it)."

The teacher got even more angry. The son had made fun of her. Now here was the father doing likewise.

Father and son left knowing they had failed to convince the irate teacher. Without saying anything to each other, they walked home.

"What happened?" the mother asked.

"Well, I told Pedros teacher that the boy was reared by us under a strict code of truthfulness. Pinanindigan ko na hindi sinulat ni Pedro ang Noli Me Tangere (So I stood firm that Pedro did not write the Noli Me Tangere)."

The mother shook her head and said, "Hindi pala kayo marunong. Kung ba inamin ninyo na sinulat ni Pedro and Noli Me Tangere at nangako kayo na hindi na niya uulitin wala sanang kaso. (You are not smart enough. If you admitted that Pedro wrote the Noli Me Tangere and promised he would not repeat it then there would be no case)."

COPYRIGHT 2004 Manila Bulletin Publishing Corp.

COPYRIGHT 2009 Gale, Cengage Learning

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