
Shell’s 2012 Arctic drilling shelved
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Sep 17, 2012
Last week, I wrote about Shell’s dubious ‘historic’ achievement in commencing the first drill hole off the coast of Alaska in the past two decades. Later the same day, Shell announced that it had to stop drilling due to ice approaching the drillship. Now, they’ve had to cancel this year’s drilling altogether. A company update...

Shell commences Arctic drilling, US regulator releases ‘skimpy’ permit report
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Sep 10, 2012
“It’s the first time a drill bit has touched the sea floor in the U.S. Chukchi Sea in more than two decades,” – a Shell spokesperson said as the company announced its “historic” first test well in offshore Alaska. And now is not a good time. Shell’s permit to drill was conditional on the company’s...

EU announces Arctic policy, but what does it mean?
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Jul 4, 2012
Yesterday (3rd July) the European Commission published a document outlining its policy position on the Arctic region. Alarmingly, one of the action priorities listed in the press release is "Promotion and development of environmentally friendly technologies that could be used by extractive industries in the Arctic". In the Communication full text (p9) they add: In...
Out in the Cold – new report on Shell’s plans in the Arctic
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May 21, 2012
Shell’s Annual General Meeting tomorrow is unlikely to go calmly. The company’s problems range from anger over excessive executive pay to spills in the Niger delta. At this time, Platform, Greenpeace and FairPensions are putting to scrutiny offshore Arctic exploration as a key direction in the company’s strategy. The new report ‘Out in the Cold...

“Shell no” to Arctic Drilling
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Apr 27, 2012
Guest post by Emilie Surrusco, Alaska Wilderness League Right now, Shell’s drill ships are on their way to the pristine Arctic Ocean off the coast of Alaska. And despite all the glossy advertising, promotional videos, and slick promises from Shell, the oil giant is proceeding with its plans to drill 10 exploratory wells – with...
Russian prosecutors: Kolskaya rig was drilling illegally
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Dec 21, 2011
The oil rig Kolskaya, which capsized and sunk during a storm near Sakhalin on 18 December, had been drilling on the Kamchatka continental shelf illegally, according to the Russian paper Gazeta.ru. The Kamchatka regional environmental prosecutor had lodged a lawsuit against Gazflot (company commissioning the drilling, subsidiary of the Russian gas major Gazprom) for commencing...
Support oil workers and their communities in Kazakhstan – Protest at police killings
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Dec 20, 2011
A message below from an activist call out in solidarity with Kazakh oil workers and communities: Demonstration: Wednesday, 21st December 2011, 12 noon Kazakh-British Chamber of Commerce 62 South Audley Street Mayfair London W1K 2QR
More on Prirazlomnaya
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Nov 8, 2011
WWF Russia has just released a comparative analysis of a number of Gazprom’s projects, including the notorious Prirazlomnaya rig. On 6 September Gazprom held a press conference … practically in response to the publicity campaign by NGOs. At the conference, Gazprom Head of offshore technology Vladimir Vovk conceded that a finalised technical plan did not...
Tax breaks ‘crucial’ for Arctic oil
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Oct 24, 2011
On Friday 14th October, Texas governor and US presidential candidate Rick Perry unveiled his ‘jobs and energy’ policy which “resembles a wish list for the oil and gas industry” according to the New York Times. The plan, available online, involves scaling down the “job-killing” Environmental Protection Agency and opening up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge...

Prirazlomnaya: monstrous pioneer of Arctic drilling
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Sep 12, 2011
David Cameron today is taking UK oil chiefs on his trade mission to Russia to promote business links following the failure of the BP/Rosneft Arctic deal. Meanwhile, Russia’s first Arctic offshore oil drilling platform Prirazlomnaya has just been installed 60 miles off the coast of Novaya Zemlya, in the Pechora Sea. High-priority national project and...