Shell says it will proceed with B.C. energy plans despite political uncertainty

by Dan Healing, The Canadian Press, June 6, 2017

CALGARY — Royal Dutch Shell will forge ahead with its energy development plans in British Columbia regardless of the uncertainty swirling around the province’s political future, says the company’s Canadian country chair.

Energy investments in B.C. have been cast into doubt after the May 9 provincial election that saw the Liberals win 43 seats and the NDP take 41— a situation that gives the Green party the balance of power with their three seats.

Shell officially shelves plans to build Prince Rupert LNG project

by Kelly Cryderman, The Globe and Mail, March 10, 2017

Royal Dutch Shell PLC has officially shelved its plans to build the Prince Rupert LNG project, which had been planned for Ridley Island in British Columbia.

But the Anglo-Dutch giant will continue in advancing the $40-billion LNG Canada plant, another liquefied natural gas-export venture.

‘Global industry challenges’ delay LNG Canada’s Kitimat project

A liquefied natural gas tanker arrives at Sodegaura city in Chiba prefecture, east of Tokyo. There were conditions placed on marine routes and speeds after an environmental assessment of the LNG Canada project. (STR/AFP/Getty )

Consortium says liquefied natural gas facility in Kitimat, B.C., still ‘a promising opportunity’

The Canadian Press, July 12, 2016

Instability in global energy markets has caused the international partners in a proposed liquefied natural gas project in Kitimat, B.C., to delay their final decision on the venture indefinitely.

LNG Canada CEO Andy Calitz said in a conference call Monday that a drop in natural gas prices around the world, particularly in Asia, has made the project too expensive for now.

Haisla Nation in tough waiting game as LNG delayed

Haisla chief councillor Ellis Ross with a view in the background of his community and Douglas Channel in the fall of 2014. At the time, community members had jobs to pick from as preliminary work for potential LNG projects was underway and Rio Tinto was in the midst of a major upgrade project on its aluminum smelter in Kitimat. Now, Haisla members are leaving town to look for work as LNG projects are in limbo and the aluminum plant project is complete. Gordon Hoekstra / Vancouver Sun

by Gordon Hoekstra, Vancouver Sun, May 27, 2016

The Haisla Nation, which supports two of the leading proposed major LNG projects in B.C., is in a tough waiting game as the projects remain in limbo.

Activity on both the $25-billion to $40-billion Shell-led LNG Canada project and the $12-billion Chevron-led Kitimat LNG project proposed for the Kitimat area in northwest B.C., where the Haisla claim traditional territory, have slowed to a crawl.

Royal Dutch Shell casts fresh doubt on B.C. LNG project due to funding

by Yadullah Hussain, Financial Post, May 5, 2016

Royal Dutch Shell Plc. has cast doubts its liquefied natural gas export project in British Columbia will secure a final investment decision (FID) by the end of this year, further dashing the province ’s hopes of shipping LNG by 2020.

Shell’s LNG Canada in Kitimat is competing for funding dollars with two other company LNG projects, both in the United States, as well as with a chemicals plant in Pennsylvania, within the next 12 months, chief financial officer Simon Henry told investors during a conference call Wednesday.

Shell Refinery Fined $77,000 for Releasing Toxins Near Swinomish Reservation

Shell’s Puget Sound Refinery processes as much as 145,000 barrels (5.7 million gallons) of crude oil per day. Photo: Indian Country Today.

by Richard Walker, Indian Country Today, Dec 1, 2015

Shell’s Puget Sound Refinery near the Swinomish Reservation has been fined $77,000 by the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries for an uncontrolled release of toxins that sickened residents and sent at least two people to the hospital.

Penalty money will be placed in the workers’ compensation supplemental pension fund, which helps workers and families, Labor & Industries reported November 20.

Shell abandons Alaska Arctic drilling

The Transocean Polar Pioneer, a semi-submersible drilling unit leased by Shell, was used to explore Arctic deposits. Photograph: Daniella Beccaria/AP

Oil giant’s US president says hugely controversial drilling operations off Alaska will stop for ‘foreseeable future’ as drilling finds little oil and gas
by Terry Macalister, The Guardian, September 28, 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 began to admit it had been surprised by the popular opposition it faced.

Shell said today it had made a marginal discovery of oil and gas with its summer exploration in the Chukchi Sea but not enough to continue to the search for the “foreseeable” future.

Shell pulls plug on long-delayed oil sands mine

Shell station blocked by protesters at 12th & Clark in East Vancouver, Oct. 23, 2012.

Jeff Lewis, The Globe and Mail, Feb 23 2015

Royal Dutch Shell PLC has scrapped plans for a long-delayed oil sands mine, pulling the plug as oil prices skid to multi-year lows.

The European oil major said Monday that it is withdrawing its application with federal regulators for its 200,000 barrel-a-day Pierre River mine north of Fort McMurray, calling the project a “very long-term opportunity” that is not currently a priority.

The Oilsands: First Nations struggle to save traditions while profiting from boom

Tar Sands in northern Alberta.

By Marty Klinkenberg, Edmonton Journal, December 15, 2013

FORT CHIPEWYAN — On a hill overlooking Lake Athabasca, the big water that sustained their forefathers for 9,000 years, a dozen residents of Fort Chipewyan gather in a teepee with the legs and shoulders of a freshly killed caribou before them.

Shell consortium gets nod for 25-year LNG export licence

The Canadian Press, Feb 25, 2013

The federal government has approved a 25-year export licence for shipping liquefied natural gas from a West Coast terminal proposed by a consortium headed by Shell.

Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver says the approval for LNG Canada Development Inc. is a milestone in British Columbia’s plans for a trillion-dollar LNG sector.