Shell Admits Real Reason for Arctic Drilling Rig Run Aground: Failed Tax Avoidance Scheme

[wtmusic]

Sean Churchfield, Shell Operation Manager for Alaska, answers questions during a US Coast Guard hearing.

"The main reason an offshore oil rig ran aground off the coast of Alaska late last year was because oil company Royal Dutch Shell was trying to depart state waters to avoid paying millions in taxes.

Sean Churchfield, operations manager for Royal Dutch Shell in Alaska, testified to the Coast Guard over the weekend that the Kulluk, an Arctic offshore drilling rig, left Dutch Harbor in December “driven by the economic factors.” When the Coast Guard’s legal advisor Lt. Cmdr. Brian McNamara asked why leaving by the end of the year was such a concern, Churchfield said:

The end of the year to my understanding was when the tax liability potentially would have become effective.

The cost of maintaining the rig in Dutch Harbor was another factor, but the tax liability was larger, according to Churchfield. The Kulluk is a 28,000 ton oil drilling ship that ran aground off the shore of Sitkalidak Island, Alaska due to an extremely strong winter storm in the waning hours of 2012. The Coast Guard took part in a joint operation to evacuate all crewmembers. Currently, the Kulluk and its counterpart the Noble Discoverer are in Asia for repairs."

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2013/05/28/2052381/cs-draft/

[Socialistlemur]

1. The guy who planned the Shell project is a dummy

Can't add much more to this post.

[BlueToTheBone]

2. I hope they fine Shell 3x the amount of their tax burden

they were running away from.