Banks| Policies| Dodgy Deals| Campaigns
About us| Blog| Publications| Successes| Contact us| Donate
About BankTrack
Visit us
Organisation
Our team
Our board
Guiding principles
Team up with us
Jobs at BankTrack
Our annual reports
Funding and finances
History
BankTrack in the media
Our privacy policy
Donate
2022-06-30 00:00:00
BankTrack hosts webinars on the 2022 Banking on Climate Chaos report
2022-06-02 00:00:00
GFANZ must tighten the screw on fossil fuel expansion
2022-05-19 00:00:00
BNP Paribas and Société Générale: stop financing climate destruction and human rights abuses
2022-05-04 00:00:00
Barclays is big on beef and burning
2022-05-20 15:14:47
Seven financiers abandon TotalEnergies' EACOP pipeline in a week
2021-12-16 13:33:02
Cambo oil field "paused" following pressure on Shell & banks
2021-12-16 13:04:42
Equator Principles improve transparency after BankTrack shows the way
2021-11-02 11:03:26
ANZ launches human rights grievance mechanism in a first for the global banking sector
Connect
2022-04-05 00:00:00
The BankTrack Human Rights Benchmark Asia
2022-03-30 00:00:00
Banking on Climate Chaos 2022
2022-03-08 00:00:00
BankTrack Annual Report 2021
2022-03-03 00:00:00
Locked out of a Just Transition: fossil fuel financing in Africa
2021-12-14 00:00:00
Actions speak louder: Assessing bank responses to human rights violations
2021-10-26 00:00:00
Equator Compliant Climate Destruction: How banks finance fossil fuels under the Equator Principles
See all publications
Browse
Home
Banks
Policies
Dodgy Deals
Campaigns
About
About BankTrack
Donate
Contact BankTrack
Publications
Victories
Follow Us
News
BankTrack blog
Facebook
Twitter Fossil Banks No Thanks Twitter Fossil Banks No Thanks Instagram
Affiliate Websites
Fossil Banks No Thanks
StopEACOP
Forests & Finance
Banks & Biodiversity
Drop JBS
Bank of Coal
Don't Buy into Occupation
Home › News
Out in the Cold – new report on Shell’s plans in the Arctic
Start
Dodgy Deals

By: Platform
2012-05-22
London

Contact:

Kevin Smith - Platform


Share this page:

Photo: Greenpeace
Go to:
Start
Related Dodgy Deals

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' – Investor Risk in Shell’s Arctic Exploration’ details Shell’s existing and planned oil exploration and production projects in the offshore Arctic, with a focus on risks for the company’s investors. Download the report in pdf format here. The report is accompanied by an investor briefing, available here.

Shell’s extraction volumes have been going down for the past 10 years, except a 5% rise in 2010. It is no surprise, then, that among other international oil companies it is hoping to book new reserves by pushing into frontier zones such as the Arctic. Rapid reductions in ice cover (due to climate change driven by the combustion of fossil fuels) make the exploitation of newly discovered offshore resources possible at least theoretically. The Anglo-Dutch oil group is planning to drill five wells in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas this summer, and is the first major international oil company the Arctic offshore a key exploration focus, spending at least 1/7 of its overall exploration budget in Alaska in 2011.

The threats posed by the drive into Arctic waters to the fragile Polar ecosystems and the communities that depend upon them have already made many headlines. In seas that remain ice-covered for most of the year, a spill like BP’s Deepwater Horizon disaster would be catastrophic and near impossible to clean up. The financial implications are less clear. Shell has admitted to a UK parliamentary committee that it has not calculated how much a large spill would cost to clean up.

In reality, spills notwithstanding, questions remain about the medium- and long-term economic viability of offshore Arctic oil extraction. It is dependent on high oil prices and, crucially, tax breaks. Market analysts Bernstein Research have stated that in the Arctic, “development costs will be at the high side of the industry range” and “development times are likely to disappoint”.

The report highlights Shell’s failure to address key technical and management concerns in going into this risky territory:

Shell’s spill response plans are inadequate – it has not yet tested its well capping system (key equipment in    case of a well blowout) in Arctic conditions – and has stated to the parliamentary committee that it has no plans to do so.

Shell is developing an extensive partnership with Russian majority state-owned company Gazprom, with an extremely poor safety and transparency track record. Shell is yet to answer to how it plans to limit its exposure to Gazprom’s malpractice.

In Russia Shell is also dealing with a history of cost overruns and government duress, which continues to be a concern particularly after Vladimir Putin’s return to the presidential seat.

The detailing of these and other risks to Shell’s shareholders forms the heart of the report. On this basis we shall be engaging with institutional investors over the coming year, working to highlight the threats and find a different way forward.    

Go to:
Start
Related Dodgy Deals

Related Dodgy Deals

Companies

active

Shell United Kingdom

LNG Terminal | Oil and Gas Extraction | Pipeline Transportation of Crude Oil | Pipeline Transportation of Natural Gas
There are no companies active for this item now.
Browse
Home
Banks
Policies
Dodgy Deals
Campaigns
About
About BankTrack
Donate
Contact BankTrack
Publications
Victories
Follow Us
News
BankTrack blog
Facebook
Twitter Fossil Banks No Thanks Twitter Fossil Banks No Thanks Instagram
Affiliate Websites
Fossil Banks No Thanks
StopEACOP
Forests & Finance
Banks & Biodiversity
Drop JBS
Bank of Coal
Don't Buy into Occupation
Vismarkt 15
6511 VJ Nijmegen
The Netherlands

Tel: +31 24 324 9220
Contact@banktrack.org
©2016 BankTrack                Webdesign by BankTrack and EASYmind
BankTrack is a registered charity in the Netherlands (ANBI) - RSIN 813874658
Find our privacy policy here

Stay up to date

Sign up now for all BankTrack's news


Make a comment

Your comment will be reviewed, before being posted