Royal Dutch Shell Trying to Stop Oil Leak in North Sea

- Royal Dutch Shell Trying to Stop Oil Leak in North Sea



Aug 18, 2011

Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE:RDS.A) is trying to stop an oil spill leak in the North Sea.

In the first phase of the operation to shut down the leak, engineers have lowered five giant concrete "blankets" on to a stretch of pipeline to place it back on the seabed after it lifted 4 feet off the sea floor.

Work is ongoing to lay concrete blankets to secure the pipeline, Shell spokesman Steve Harris said.

"First, we have to make a risk assessment ... to make sure that we can find a safe way to shut it off. We expect the result of the risk assessment very quickly and then divers will go down 300 feet (90 meters) and turn off the remaining amount of oil that is leaking into the sea."

Nearly 1,300 barrels of oil has leaked from its Gannet Alpha platform since August 12.

Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE:RDS.A) has a potential upside of 32.6% based on a current price of $63.21 and an average consensus analyst price target of $83.83.

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China Orders ConocoPhillips to Stop Penglai Operations

- China Orders ConocoPhillips to Stop Penglai Operations

Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Dow Jones Newswires
SHANGHAI
by Jing Yang

China's State Oceanic Administration said Wednesday that it has ordered ConocoPhillips to halt operations at platforms B and C at the Penglai 19-3 oil field in northeastern China's Bohai bay, due to slow progress in containing an oil spill at the field.

Oil is still leaking at the platforms, an oil slick still extends over the nearby area and there are signs that another oil spill could occur at Platform B, the administration said in a statement on its website.

"The measures that ConocoPhillips has taken so far are temporary and remedial...[and] risks of an oil spill recurring still exist" posing a significant threat to the Bohai marine ecosystem, it said.

Bohai bay has been the site of two spills in recent weeks, including a spill at Cnooc Ltd.'s offshore Suizhong 36-1 oil field.

The agency has asked the U.S.-based energy major to investigate thoroughly to ensure the source of the oil leak is plugged. "Operations aren't permitted to resume until oil spill risks are fully eliminated," it said.

ConocoPhillips said last week that the oil spill at Penglai 19-3--a joint venture with Cnooc Ltd.--had been contained and that output had fallen by 10%-15% due to the cleanup efforts. The company's China unit isn't immediately available to comment.

The Penglai field, discovered in 1999, produced an average 56,000 barrels a day in 2010, and is expected to reach 60,000 barrels a day this year, according to ConocoPhillips, which operates of the field.

Copyright (c) 2011 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

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Cairn Energy Files Injunction to Stop Greenpeace Rig Protests

- Cairn Energy Files Injunction to Stop Greenpeace Rig Protests

Thursday, June 02, 2011
Dow Jones Newswires
by Alexis Flynn

Cairn has filed for an injunction against environmental group Greenpeace and two Dutch-registered vessel owners in an attempt to prevent activists from further disrupting its drilling activities offshore Greenland, the Edinburgh-based oil and gas explorer said Thursday.

Cairn "cannot allow any action that poses a potential threat to the safety of our employees or the protesters involved," the company said.

Greenpeace confirmed legal proceedings against the group had begun. It said Cairn is seeking fines of EUR2 million a day for every day its operations are affected after Monday if the injunction is granted.

"Cairn is trying to use a legal hammer to shut down our campaign to kick the oil companies out of the Arctic, but we'll challenge Cairn and its lawyers every step of way," said Greenpeace campaigner Ben Ayliffe.

Cairn said it was requesting the order from an Amsterdam court to stop the future disruption of its "lawful operations offshore Greenland."

Copyright (c) 2011 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

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