DOCSLIB.ORG

Brent: an Aging Giant

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Brent: an Aging Giant VOL. 14, NO. 2 – 2017 GEOSCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY EXPLAINED geoexpro.com GEO PHYSICS: Vietnam: Imaging Fractured GIANT FIELDS Basement Brent: An Aging Giant GEO EDUCATION Hunting for NULFs TECHNOLOGY EXPLAINED Is there a ‘G’ in Decommissioning? RECENT ADVANCES IN TECHNOLOGY Time-Lapse Seismic and Geomechanics Dive into the Detail Explore regional structures, uncover new leads and develop prospects with these unifi ed 3D GeoStreamer® depth datasets. We have tailored the most advanced imaging workfl ows to create an exceptional product that o ers both precision and perspective. Visit our website to fi nd out more about GeoStreamer PURE. Norwegian Sea Viking Graben Central Graben Barents Sea A Clearer Image | www.pgs.com/PURE Previous issues: www.geoexpro.com Contents Vol. 14 No. 2 This edition of GEO ExPro magazine focuses on Asia-Pacific; Reservoir GEOSCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY EXPLAINED Management; and Decommissioning. 5 Editorial y Exceed Geology is as important at 6 Regional Update the end of a well’s life as it was during exploration. 8 Licensing Update 10 M&A Update 12 A Minute to Read 16 Cover Story: Giant Fields: @ Brent – An Aging Giant Francis Gugen believes the transfer to renewable sources of energy is coming 22 GEO Physics: quicker than we think. Vietnam: Improved Images of Fractured Basement 26 Technology Explained: Spectrum Is There a ‘G’ in Decommissioning? W 30 GEO Education: Shallow water oil in North Gabon. Hunting for NULFs 36 Seismic Foldout: Australia – New Imaging of the Vulcan Sub-basin R 42 GEO Profile: Mr. Rickett – a tantalizing glimpse Francis Gugen – Advocate into behind-the-scenes struggles for for Change the control of oil. 46 Recent Advances in Technology: Time-Lapse Seismic and Illustrated London News London Illustrated Mary Evans Geomechanics P 50 GEO Media: Petroleum Geology of Libya The Kimberley National Landscape of Western 52 Exploration: Australia – a wonderful wild wilderness waiting for you. The Angle of the North Mark Tomkins 54 History of Oil: The Mysterious Mr Rickett 60 GEO Tourism: K K A Wonderful Wild Wilderness y^ @w 66 History of Oil: e e Advancing Geoscience in 8 ) South East Asia K R s 68 Exploration Update 6 W H 70 Q&A : Decommissioning n P in the North Sea 72 Global Resource Management GEOExPro April 2017 3 See better. Know better. Get better. Even though budgets continue to stay significant fields and reservoirs so you tight, success with your prospects is still can get ideas of what will or won’t work expected. DAKS™ IQ can help because with yours. with DAKS IQ you can see better, know better, and get better. In short, with DAKS IQ you can quickly and easily get knowledge to help DAKS IQ is an analogs-based knowledge, you optimize recovery, validate your reporting, and benchmarking platform decisions, and improve overall financial that provides best practices and performance across the entire E&P lessons learned from more than 1,500 life cycle. With DAKS IQ you get better of the world’s most important fields and bottom-line results. reservoirs. Covering over 500 geological and engineering parameters, DAKS IQ To learn more about DAKS IQ, visit us empowers you with cost-effective, critical online at ccreservoirs.com/daksiq. You’ll be glad you did. insight on what’s already worked on TM ccreservoirs.com Editorial Expect the Unexpected GEOSCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY EXPLAINED Ever since M. King Hubbert first outlined www.geoexpro.com his peak oil theory, suggesting that the rate of petroleum production tends GeoPublishing Ltd to follow a bell-shaped curve, it has 15 Palace Place Mansion been the source of much debate. Even Kensington Court though US Lower 48 states annual oil London W8 5BB, UK production did indeed peak in 1970, as +44 20 7937 2224 he had predicted, the anticipated steady Managing Director and inevitable decline has not followed, Tore Karlsson having been abruptly reversed in recent years by the rapid increase in production Editor in Chief as a result of exploiting unconventional Jane Whaley resources. Broad estimations about the [email protected] industry’s future always have a high US Lower 48 states oil production (green) compared to Editorial enquiries Hubbert’s prediction (red). chance of being proved wrong, because it GeoPublishing is almost impossible to second guess the Jane Whaley technological, political and societal changes that feed into a topic of such global significance as +44 7812 137161 energy supply. [email protected] In recent years, however, the discussion has migrated to the topic of peak oil demand, rather www.geoexpro.com than production. The conversation had been about finding sufficient resources to supply an ever- Marketing Director increasing population, coupled with rapid economic and technological developments in Asia. A Kirsti Karlsson world falling out of love with fossil fuels, the growth of alternative, renewable sources of energy +44 79 0991 5513 and concerns over carbon emissions are all issues which were not considered when production [email protected] was the primary concern. Predicting peak oil demand is proving as contentious as foretelling peak oil production. Statoil believes that demand will start slowing between the mid-2020s and late 2030s, while Ben van Beurden, CEO of global giant Shell, said at the recent IHS CeraWeek that we should See better. Know be ready for oil (though not gas) demand to peak between 2025 and 2030, and that “the most difficult challenge… is to have a meaningful discussion with the public on energy transition. The discussion is not rational, it is emotional.” Not everyone agrees with this forecast. The CEO of Chevron is cited as saying that the idea of peak demand is merely “wishful thinking”, and the International Energy Agency recently said that lack of new investment means that oil supply better. Get better. could struggle to keep pace with demand after 2020. Predicting the future of oil is a difficult and controversial game and Even though budgets continue to stay significant fields and reservoirs so you many experts have been caught out in the past, ever since David White, Subscription tight, success with your prospects is still can get ideas of what will or won’t work chief geologist of the US Geological Survey, forecasted that the peak of US GeoPublishing Ltd expected. DAKS™ IQ can help because with yours. petroleum production would soon be passed, possibly within three years. +44 20 7937 2224 with DAKS IQ you can see better, know That was in 1919. 15 Palace Place Mansion In short, with DAKS IQ you can quickly Kensington Court better, and get better. London W8 5BB, UK and easily get knowledge to help [email protected] DAKS IQ is an analogs-based knowledge, you optimize recovery, validate your VOL. 14, NO. 2 – 2017 Jane Whaley GEO EXPro is pub lished bimonthly Editor in Chief GEOSCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY EXPLAINED reporting, and benchmarking platform decisions, and improve overall financial geoexpro.com for a base subscrip tion rate of GBP GIANT FIELDS GEO PHYSICS: Vietnam: Imaging Fractured 60 a year (6 issues). that provides best practices and performance across the entire E&P Basement Brent: We encourage readers to alert us An Aging Giant lessons learned from more than 1,500 life cycle. With DAKS IQ you get better to news for possible publication of the world’s most important fields and bottom-line results. Gravity base structures, such as those supporting the Brent Bravo and to submit articles for publication. platform, are among the biggest and most impressive feats of reservoirs. Covering over 500 geological engineering in the oil and gas industry. Designed to withstand the GEO EDUCATION Cover Photograph: To learn more about DAKS IQ, visit us Hunting for NULFs and engineering parameters, DAKS IQ rigors of the stormy North Sea, they were constructed of thick concrete TECHNOLOGY EXPLAINED Main: Shell plc Is there a ‘G’ in empowers you with cost-effective, critical online at ccreservoirs.com/daksiq. reinforced with steel bars. Having produced nearly 4 Bboe over 40 Decommissioning? Inset: Alan64/Dreamstime.com years, the Brent field is now the location of one of the first major RECENT ADVANCES IN You’ll be glad you did. TECHNOLOGY insight on what’s already worked on decommissioning projects in the world. Time Lapse Seismic and Geomechanics Layout: Winslade Graphics Inset: Results from Vietnam’s first ocean bottom seismic survey Print: Stephens & George, UK demonstrate that higher density full azimuth seabed data can be used to TM enhance our understanding of fractured basement reservoirs. issn 1744-8743 © 2017 GeoPublishing Limited. Copyright or similar rights in all material in this publication, including graphics and other media, is owned by GeoPublishing Limited, unless otherwise stated. You are allowed to print extracts for your personal use only. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photographic, recorded or otherwise without the prior written permission of GeoPublishing Limited. Requests to republish material from this publication for distribution should be sent to the Editor in Chief. GeoPublishing Limited does not guarantee the accuracy of the information contained in this publication nor does it accept responsibility for errors or omissions or their consequences. Opinions expressed by contributors to this publication are not necessarily those of GeoPublishing Limited. ccreservoirs.com GEOExPro April 2017 5 Regional Update Asia-Pacific: ABBREVIATIONS Numbers Decline in Drilling (US and scientific community) M: thousand = 1 x 103 The resurgence of offshore exploration in the MM: million = 1 x 106 Asia-Pacific region is dependent on more acreage. B: billion = 1 x 109 T: trillion = 1 x 1012 Since the peak year of 2011, offshore exploration activity, measured as the number of exploration wells drilled, in the Asia-Pacific region has dropped by more than Liquids 40%.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Shell U.K. Limited Brent Remote Flare Decommissioning Programme and Revision to the Brent Spar Decommissioning Programme (Anchor
    Shell U.K. Limited May 2004 Brent Remote Flare Decommissioning Programme and Revision to the Brent Spar Decommissioning Programme (Anchor Blocks) SUBMISSION TO DTI & THE SECRETARY OF STATE, MINISTRY OF TRADE & INDUSTRY Keywords: Decommissioning, Remote Flare, Anchor Blocks, Brent This document is the property of Shell U.K. Limited, and the copyright therein is vested in Shell U.K. Limited. All rights reserved. Neither the whole nor any part of this document may be disclosed to others or reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means (electronic, mechanical, reprographic recording or otherwise) without prior written consent of the copyright owner. Brent Remote Flare Decommissioning Programme & Revision to the Brent Spar Decommissioning Programme (Anchor Blocks) Page i 1 Contents 1 Contents ........................................................................................................................................................i 2 Introduction..................................................................................................................................................1 3 Executive Summary ....................................................................................................................................3 4 Items To Be Decommissioned ...................................................................................................................4 4.1Remote Flare............................................................................................................................................4
    [Show full text]
  • 4. Embedding Human Rights Mechanisms Within Shell Headquarters
    4. Embedding within Shell Headquarters 4. Embedding human rights mechanisms within Shell Headquarters This first empirical chapter describes and analyses the process of embedding (implementation and internalisation) of the human rights mechanisms within the Headquarters of Shell1. This way, an answer is provided to the first research question (identifying the mechanisms of embedding human rights) by providing an analysis about the mechanisms through which Shell Headquarters embeds human rights in its policies and procedures. In addition, the degree of implementation and internalisation of human rights is also determined at Shell Headquarters level (second research question). Finally, by describing the process of implementation and internalisation, this chapter also provides more insight in explaining the degree of implementation and internalisation of these human rights mechanisms within Shell Headquarters (third research question). The chapter starts with explaining the use of data (section 4.1), after which the overall policy and objectives of the company (section 4.2) and the company’s approaches to embed human rights (section 4.3). Section 4.4 will introduce the Shell Group’s management system, after which sections 4.5 to 4.10 will then analyse how human rights is embedded according to Shell’s spheres of influence: employees (section 4.5), contractors (section 4.6), security forces (section 4.7), communities (section 4.8), government (section 4.9) and the international society (section 4.10). Section 4.11 continues the analysis with determining the degree of internalisation of human rights in Shell Headquarters. The chapter ends with a short summary and initial conclusion in section 4.12.
    [Show full text]
  • Power & Politics
    POWER & POLITICS Langone (Draft) MGMT-GB.3366.10 Fall 2017 Professor R. Kabaliswaran Office: KMC 7-56 Class: KMC 4-80 E-mail: [email protected] (best way to reach me) Class Hours: W 6:00:9:00. Dates: 9/27-12/20. Office Hours: Usually an hour before class and by appointment Deliverables: My Constituency Map due session 7. One individual midterm case report due session 9. Class Reflection Journal: Do each session on previous session’s case/s and discussion. Put it all together , broken by session, and post as ONE word document before last class session. No need for journal write up on content of midterm case session and the last session. One take-home final due last session. Welcome to the elective course in Power & Politics! Course Theme Politics is not a dirty word! We just got to learn how to play good politics and keep out bad politics. By the same logic, power by itself does not necessarily corrupt though absolute power may corrupt absolutely. In other words, this course is about how to conquer the world, or at least survive the corporate jungle, without losing our soul. Even if you don’t want to play politics, good or bad, you still need the skills from this course to ensure that you don’t become a victim of politics. Course Objectives • Understanding what power is: People often have a misperception of what power, the basis of political behavior, really means. By the end of this course you should be able to have not only a conceptual understanding of what power is within an organizational context but a practical grasp of what the actual sources of power are.
    [Show full text]
  • Coral Growing on North Sea Oil Rigs These Installations Are Home to Thriving Colonies of an Endangered Cold-Water Coral
    brief communications Coral growing on North Sea oil rigs These installations are home to thriving colonies of an endangered cold-water coral. his summer the coral Lophelia pertusa The occurrence of the coral raises ques- was found growing on oil platforms in tions about how to deal with this species, Tthe North Sea and on the Brent Spar which is listed under the Convention on oil-storage buoy during its decommission- International Trade in Endangered Species ing. The findings indicate that Lophelia has a (CITES), when platforms are decommis- wider distribution and a more rapid rate of sioned. At a meeting in Sintra in 1998 of growth than previously believed. The dis- countries belonging to the Oslo–Paris covery also has implications for the debate (Ospar) convention on protecting the over oil exploration in the Atlantic Ocean marine environment, Ospar decision 98/3 and the perceived benefits of onshore dis- indicated that the ‘footings’ of large plat- mantling of deep-water platforms. forms (jacket weight of more than 10,000 When Brent Spar was raised out of the tonnes) might be left in place. Such an sea in stages for dismantling (Fig. 1), option would preserve existing colonies colonies of Lophelia of up to 20 cm linear Figure 1 The top of Brent Spar being removed from the Heerema and might allow Lophelia to spread in the growth were found on the sides and bot- heavy-lift barge during its dismantling in Yrkefjorden, Norway. North Sea. tom, which had been at depths of 60–109 Niall Bell, Jan Smith m.
    [Show full text]
  • Official Journal C 326 Volume 38 of the European Communities 6 December 1995
    ISSN 0378-6986 Official Journal C 326 Volume 38 of the European Communities 6 December 1995 English edition Information and Notices Notice No Contents Page I Information European Parliament Written Questions with answer 95/C 326/01 E-l 69/95 by Jean-Pierre Raffarin to the Council Subject : The European transport infrastructure scheme 1 95/C 326/02 E-375/95 by Nel van Dijk to the Council Subject : Regulation of the growing and distribution of cannabis in the Netherlands 1 95/C 326/03 E-452/95 by Pat Gallagher to the Council Subject : Audio-visual productions for minority languages 2 95/C 326/04 P-977/95 by Olli Rehn to the Council Subject : Combined/joint funding of projects in the case of Tacis and Interreg 2 95/C 326/05 E-1237/95 by Jose Valverde Lopez to the Council Subject : The European dimension in higher education 3 95/C 326/06 E-1533/95 by David Martin to the Council Subject : Council Presidency appearances at European Parliament 3 95/C 326/07 E-1618/95 by Gerard Deprez to the Council Subject : Double charge for private parcels from Alaska 3 95/C 326/08 E-1684/95 by Anita Pollack to the Council Subject : EU/Asia Summit 4 95/C 326/09 E-1697/95 by Christiane Taubira-Delannon to the Commission Subject : Environmental pollution by mercury and mercury poisoning of humans 5 95/C 326/10 E-1701/95 by Jacques Donnay to the Council Subject : Differences between Member States concerning the implementation of Community Directives 6 EN 2 ( Continued overleaf ) Notice No Contents ( continued ) Page 95/C 326/11 E-l 708/95 by Josu Imaz San Miguel
    [Show full text]
  • Introduction to Petroleum Engineering Introduction to Petroleum Engineering
    INTRODUCTION To PetrOLEUM ENGINEERING INTRODUCTION TO PETROLEUM ENGINEERING JOHN R. FANCHI and RICHARD L. CHRISTIANSEN Copyright © 2017 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey Published simultaneously in Canada No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per‐copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750‐8400, fax (978) 750‐4470, or on the web at www.copyright.com. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, (201) 748‐6011, fax (201) 748‐6008, or online at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions. Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and author have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with a professional where appropriate. Neither the publisher nor author shall be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages.
    [Show full text]
  • Measuring the Oil Vulnerability of Canadian Cities
    MEASURING THE OIL VULNERABILITY OF CANADIAN CITIES Ruby Socorro M. Arico M. Sc. in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research University of the Philippines, 1997 RESEARCH PROJECT SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF URBAN STUDIES In the Urban Studies Program of Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences O Ruby Socorro M. Arico 2007 SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY Spring 2007 All rights reserved. This work may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopy or other means, without permission of the author. APPROVAL Name: Ruby Socorro M. Arico Degree: Master of Urban Studies Title of Research Project: Measuring the Oil Vulnerability of Canadian Cities Examining Committee: Chair: Dr. Karen Ferguson Dr. Anthony Perl Professor and Director, Urban Studies Program Simon Fraser University Vancouver, British Columbia Senior Supervisor Dr. Meg C. Holden Assistant Professor, Urban Studies Program and Department of Geography Simon Fraser University Vancouver, British Columbia Supervisor Dr. Aprodicio Laquian, Member Professor Emeritus, Community and Regional Planning University of British Columbia Vancouver, British Columbia External Examiner Date DefendedIApproved: DECLARATION OF PARTIAL COPYRIGHT LICENCE The author, whose copyright is declared on the title page of this work, has granted to Simon Fraser University the right to lend this thesis, project or extended essay to users of the Simon Fraser University Library, and to make partial or single copies only for such users or in response to a request from the
    [Show full text]
  • Megacities & Climate Change
    LEAD INTERNATIONAL SESSION WORKBOOK Megacities & Climate Change Sustainable Cities in a Changing World Mexico City 16 - 22 November 2008 Name: Inspiring leadership for a sustainable world Contents Introduction LEAD International Training Sessions 1 Overall Schedule 3 Welcome Letter: Boris Graizbord 5 Welcome Letter: Simon Lyster 9 Learning Journey 11 Mapping Your Learning Journey 13 Step By Step Guide to the International Session 23 Module Overview 29 Ways of Working 33 Thematic Learning Units 35 Adapting to Climate Change in Urban Areas 43 Sustainable Cities and the Millennium Development Goals 49 Re-engineering Cities: A Framework for Adaptation to Global Change 53 Mexico City: Growth at the Limit 63 Background Reading/Viewing List 65 Day 1 Session 1: Welcome and Keynote Address 71 Session 2: Megacities and Climate Change: Global, Regional and National Perspectives 73 World City Network: Studying Inter-City Flows Within Contemporary Globalisation 77 The Urban Revolution of the Twenty-first Century 89 New Approaches to Urban Governance in Latin America 93 Session 3: Getting To Know Each Other 103 Session 4: Introduction to the Working Groups and Tasks 107 Listening and Questioning Skills 109 Working Across Cultures 119 Day 2 Session 5: Introduction to the Thematic Panels 121 Water and Sanitation 123 The Urban Water Challenge 125 Mexico City Water Management Example 127 Transport and Urban Mobility 129 Sustainable Cities, Sustainable Transportation 131 Moving People - Making City 135 LEAD Associate Networking Fair 139 Contents Day 3 Session
    [Show full text]
  • Decommissioning in the UK
    OPRED Wendy Kennedy Vision and Objectives EUOAG 22 Offshore Petroleum Regulator for Environment & Decommissioning Chief Executive - Wendy Kennedy Based in Aberdeen OPRED’s aims are to regulate the offshore oil and gas industries in the context of sustainable development; to achieve improved regulatory compliance without imposing an undue burden on the industry but nevertheless ensuring that it limits taxpayer liability. OPRED is responsible for: • Developing, administering and enforcing the offshore oil and gas environmental regime (including offshore gas unloading and storage and carbon dioxide storage). • handling domestic and international policy relating to developing the environmental regulatory framework for offshore oil and gas. • the Department’s Strategic Environmental Assessment for offshore energy projects, which allows the Oil & Gas Authority (OGA) to conduct offshore licensing rounds and facilitates offshore renewable energy developments. • the oil and gas decommissioning regime and ensuring that the liability for such activity stays with the oil companies and does not transfer to the Department (total estimated cost currently sitting at £59 billion). What infrastructure is in the UKCS 470 Installations - 58 Licensed Operators • 10% floating • 30% subsea • 50% small steel • 10% large steel or concrete – potential derogations for abandonment Approximately 35,000 km pipelines • 10,000 km major pipelines International Rules Internationally, the UK has a number of obligations concerning the decommissioning of offshore installations. Geneva Convention 1958 1958 Geneva Convention on the Continental Shelf. which determined that “any installations which are abandoned or disused must be entirely removed”. Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter 1972 The "London Convention" for short, is one of the first global conventions to protect the marine environment from human activities and has been in force since 1975.
    [Show full text]
  • Rethinking the Foundations of Global Corporate Success
    Corporate environmental sustainability costs). In the context of formal management systems and procedures, the firm may adopt externally developed tools where possible (e.g., the climate change impact measurement tools, developed by reputable audit companies, or the standardized trading processes introduced by intermediaries as in the case of carbon emission trading schemes). Finally, in the realm of strategic planning, senior management may monitor external developments on environmental mitigation policies and competitor strategies, but outsource all non-crisis environmental stakeholder management where possible (e.g., lobbying with industry associations). Especially given the sometimes high country and regional specificity of government environmental policies, the above strategy of outsourcing, while not a conventional FSA, will give the MNE flexibility, thereby reduc- ing bounded rationality and bounded reliability challenges in the environ- mental strategy sphere. It is indeed sometimes difficult to anticipate correctly when and how vote-needing politicians in several countries around the world will introduce specific, new environmental regulations, and what these regulations might entail substantively. In the face of this high political uncertainty, environmental complexity, and the substantial risk associated with making non-redeployable resource investments in the envi- ronmental sphere, reliance on external markets may be a wise strategy to pursue. Case 15B.1 Shell’s environmental management strategy CASE Since the early 1990s, Shell’s reputation has been battered by corporate social responsibility problems such as the Brent Spar controversy and the Ken Saro- Wiwa trial in Nigeria. (Ken Saro-Wiwa was the environmentalist who was hanged and whose death some attributed in part to Shell.) Shell gradually realized that dismissing environmental and social issues could seriously hurt its business.
    [Show full text]
  • The Brent Spar Syndrome
    SUBJECT: COUNTERSTRATEGIES AGAINST ONLINE ACTIVISM: THE BRENT SPAR SYNDROME FROM: EVELINE LUBBERS <[email protected]> DATE: TUE, 29 SEP 1998 08:43:16 +0200 (MET DST) Shell is not going to forget lightly its misadventures beaten in the new-media war. The Brent Spar with the Brent Spar. The Oil Major was taken by affair was one, but the Nigeria situation has also complete surprise when the Greenpeace campaign prompted a “massive on-line bombardment” of against sinking that former drill platform achieved criticism. To quote May: “There has been a shift in its goals. What happened to Shell can in fact hap- the balance of power, activists are no longer entire- pen to any corporation. Loosing control of the sit- ly dependent of the existing media. Shell learned it uation as result of the activities of a pressure group the hard way with the Brent Spar, when a lot of has become a nightmare scenario for the modern information was disseminated outside the regular multinational enterprise. channels.” The Brent Spar affair has brought quite some SHELL DID TOO LITTLE TOO LATE change of attitude to Shell. Ten years ago the The Oil Major’s first reactive measures have Multinational could afford to blatantly ignore cam- meanwhile become the perfect example of how paigns against the South African Apartheid not to do it. But Shell has learned a lot as well. A regime. Although concerns were brewing in-house, comprehensive review of what has become known to the outside world Shell maintained that the as the PR disaster of the century indicates that campaigns against Apartheid were not significant- Shell had it all wrong about its own influence on ly damaging the company.
    [Show full text]
  • Worldwide Oil and Gas Platform Decommissioning: a Review of Practices and T Reefing Options ∗ Ann Scarborough Bull , Milton S
    Ocean and Coastal Management 168 (2019) 274–306 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Ocean and Coastal Management journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ocecoaman Worldwide oil and gas platform decommissioning: A review of practices and T reefing options ∗ Ann Scarborough Bull , Milton S. Love Marine Science Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, 93016, USA ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT Keywords: Consideration of whether to completely remove an oil and gas production platform from the seafloor or to leave Decommissioning the submerged jacket as a reef is an imminent decision for California, as a number of offshore platforms in both Offshore platforms state and federal waters are in the early stages of decommissioning. Laws require that a platform at the end of its Rigs-to-reefs production life be totally removed unless the submerged jacket section continues as a reef under state spon- Artificial reefs sorship. Consideration of the eventual fate of the populations of fishes and invertebrates beneath platforms has led to global reefing of the jacket portion of platforms instead of removal at the time of decommissioning. The construction and use of artificial reefs are centuries old and global in nature using a great variety ofmaterials. The history that led to the reefing option for platforms begins in the mid-20th century in an effort forgeneral artificial reefs to provide both fishing opportunities and increase fisheries production for a burgeoning U.S. population. The trend toward reefing platforms at end of their lives followed after the oil and gas industry installed thousands of standing platforms in the Gulf of Mexico where they had become popular fishing desti- nations.
    [Show full text]