Spending a day with Shell. At the Annual General Meeting of the oil major that is.
Shell has spent 5 billion dollar in the Arctic. 'What do you have to show for it? I asked them. Zero energy. Zero profit. A humiliating series of failures which the new CEO, Ben van Beurden called 'shortcomings in our logistics'. Subtle way of putting it, if you recall a juicy quote of a US Coast Guard official recently, who described Shell's irresponsible Arctic adventures in Alaska as 'a guarantee for ass kicking'.
So in order to help Shell into the right direction, I asked 'has the board set a date by which they will have spent enough money for NO return?'
The response was kind of like 'bla bla bla, North Sea oil, bla bla, investment return'.
I didn't understand the return on investment (there isn't any!) nor did I understand the comparison between the challenges of oil drilling in the North Sea and oil drilling in the Arctic. No wonder the CEO of Shell had to acknowledge the 'difficulties and harshness' of the Arctic. They were never prepared for it! CEO Van Beurden stated 'we are now reassessing the options'.
Here Shell. I drew your footprint for you. Black, oily and polarbear like. It's oil spill waiting to happen in the Arctic.
Phil was one on 30 activists and journalists detained in Russia last year for peacefully protesting against Gazprom's risky drilling in the Arctic. To learn more about the Arctic 30 here.