» Oil & Gas Drilling



N. Teesside could be the hub of North Sea oil platform decommissioning

Ian Jack, The Guardian, reports 8th April 2017: To witness the beginning or end of a great industry or a way of living isn’t unusual. Each generation has its list of comings and goings — great grandfathers who remember the advent of the motor car, grandmothers who recall the last factory hooter in Accrington, fathers […]

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Shell and BP remain committed to deep-sea wells

We provide extracts from two news reports which show that the two largest British oil and gas companies, Shell and British Petroleum, remain committed to a future which involves extraction of oil and gas from deep-sea wells. The Guardian reports, 11th September 2016: Royal Dutch Shell has started production at the world’s deepest underwater oil […]

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Shell withdraws from oil drilling in the Alaskan Arctic

The Guardian reports, 28th September 2015: Shell has abandoned its controversial drilling operations in the Alaskan Arctic in the face of mounting opposition in what jubilant environmentalists described as “an unmitigated defeat” for big oil. The Anglo-Dutch company had repeatedly stressed the enormous hydrocarbon potential of the far north region in public, but in private […]

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BP pay record fine for Gulf of Mexico oil spill

The Guardian reports, 2nd July 2015: “BP has agreed to pay a record environmental fine of $18.7bn to settle legal actions brought by the US and several states over the fatal 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill. The US justice department, along with the states of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Texas and Florida, all sued BP […]

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Canary islanders say preserving the integrity of their seas is preferable to oil exploration

The Guardian reports, 10th November 2014: “In most places the news that you’ve struck oil would be cause to crack open the champagne. But not in the Canary Islands where Spain’s biggest oil company Repsol is due to begin drilling off Lanzarote and Fuerteventura. “Our wealth is in our climate, our sky, our sea and […]

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Shell cancels plans to drill in the Alaskan Arctic this summer

The Guardian reports, 30th January 2014: “Shell has announced plans to slash its exploration and development spending from $46bn (£27.8bn) to $37bn this year and has ditched plans to drill in the Alaskan Arctic this summer. The cutbacks were unveiled by new chief executive, Ben van Beurden, who said they were part of a range […]

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“Greenland is now at the heart of 21st century geopolitics” says Greenland PM

The Guardian reports, 23rd January 2014: “Climate change, says Aleqa Hammond, Greenland’s Prime Minister, is placing Greenland at the heart of 21st century geopolitics. As the ice retreats, it is moving from being a non-player in global affairs to the centre of a new international resource rush. “Climate change and this resultant new industrialisation brings […]

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Greenpeace v. Russia in the Arctic: the plight of the Arctic Sunrise crew darkens

As 6 weeks of 24 hour winter darkness approaches, the arrested crew of the Greenpeace vessel “Arctic Sunrise” face continued detention in prison in Murmansk, Russia. Greenpeace has produced a video of the plight facing the crew and journalists caught up in this situation. Also the Guardian reports, 7th November 2013: “Russia will bring more […]

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Armed Russian boarding of Greenpeace’s Arctic protest vessel

The Guardian reports, 19th September 2013: “Armed Russian military have stormed a Greenpeace ship protesting against oil exploitation in remote Arctic waters. According to the last communications from the Arctic Sunrise before all contact was cut at around 4.30pm BST, the Russians dropped guards on to the deck of the vessel by rope from a […]

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Shell’s Arctic drilling plans are under review

The Obama administration has ordered a sweeping review of Shell’s plans to drill in the Arctic after a series of mishaps ending with the New Year grounding of the company’s Kulluk rig. The review – and a separate investigation of the grounding of the Kulluk – raises the possibility that Shell, after investing six years […]

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Greenpeace forces Waitrose to re-evaluate its commercial ties with Shell and Arctic oil exploration

After only 12 days of an intensive campaign, Waitrose has announced it has put its partnership with Arctic oil drillers Shell on ice. Following 40,000 emails, several store visits, one spoof video, hundreds of Facebook posts, a social media meltdown, and the appearance of a life-size polar bear at their Islington store, Waitrose has declared […]

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Mixed fortunes in Falkland Islands oil exploration

Exploration group Falkland Oil & Gas – one of four UK companies drilling for oil and gas around the islands – saw its shares halve in value after a disappointing update on its operations in the South Atlantic. Its AIM-listed shares fell to an all-time low of 32p after the company said that gas reservoirs […]

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Oil companies going unpunished for thousands of North Sea spills

Oil companies operating in the North Sea have been fined for oil spills on just seven occasions since 2000, even though 4,123 separate spills were recorded over the same period, the Department of Energy and Climate Change (Decc) has confirmed. The disclosure came as Decc said on Thursday that the government had offered a “record-breaking” […]

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Russia announces further delays in its Arctic drilling programme

Bellona news agency states:”The launch this year of drilling at Russian State gas monopoly Gazprom’s Prirazlomnoye field in the Pechora Sea off Russia’s northwest coast – one of the gas giant’s signature projects – has been put off until autumn of 2013, Russia media have reported. The announcement could signal a second blow to Gazprom’s […]

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Shell halts Arctic drilling, but still defiantly optimistic about the safety of its operations

The man at the centre of Shell’s controversial drilling programme in the Arctic has said he is aware of the responsibility on his head but is convinced the Anglo-Dutch oil group is acting in a fully responsible and accountable way. Speaking after a huge ice floe forced drilling 70 miles off the north-west coast of […]

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Russia’s Gazprom halts Arctic oil drilling

Gazprom Neft has delayed the start of drilling operations at its offshore Prirazlomnoye oil field due to safety concerns, Reuters reported  The field is now expected to start producing oil in September or October of next year, a source at the company said. Earlier the company had said production would start this year.  “Work won’t start until the company can ensure complete safety,” a source close to the project […]

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