Shell Oil President At Platts Energy Outlook Forum: Government And Business Can Work Together To Overcome "Divide"

NEW YORK , Nov. 29, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The shale gas "revolution" is "redrawing the geopolitical map of the world," and Shell has a four-pronged approach toward capitalizing on that new supply, the president of Shell Oil Company told the 2012 Platts Global Energy Outlook Forum "Fuel Fight: Environment Meets Economics" Thursday in New York City.

Marvin Odum, giving the keynote address at the Forum's luncheon, said his company has four "pillars" of its gas strategy. He cited specific instances where Shell is looking at projects that would make those "pillars" actual projects.

"The gas revolution is a creator of new jobs, a catalyst for a renaissance in American manufacturing, a bridge to future renewables and with carbon capture and storage, a destination fuel for an increasingly carbon-constrained economy," Odum said.

Odum made his remarks before an audience of more than a hundred energy executives, government officials and other industry representatives. The Forum, now in its sixth year, consisted of two panel discussions on challenges and vulnerabilities of the world's energy systems, including the U.S. shale boom and nuclear safety.

A recurring theme of the day was the ever-present tension and conflicts between the energy industry, government and society, which Odum called a "divide" that did not have to exist.

Speaking to recent issues within Shell Oil Company, which is the U.S. arm of Royal Dutch Shell, Odum said the company's drilling program in federal waters offshore Alaska is a sign of a "real example where business and government work together to secure both the opportunity and the protection." (Shell received limited permission to drill in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas this summer, but the limitations on the permit required the company to halt operations for this year before it reached the hydrocarbon-bearing zone.)

To balance the "rewards and the risks" inherent in drilling in such an environmentally sensitive area, "government, society and business (must) work with one another to define expectations, agree on operations standards, and collaborate on solutions," Odum said. Both the Bush and Obama administrations "did their due diligence" and Shell was issued drilling permits.

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