nAs a flotilla of kayaking environmental protesters surrounded her fleet in Seattle harbour in May, ...

1. Ann Pickard: sedikit diketahui eksekutif terkemuka Shell
berjudi pada Arktik minyak | Lingkungan
nAs a flotilla of kayaking environmental protesters surrounded her fleet in Seattle harbour in May,
Ann Pickard, the rarely-interviewed executive in charge of Shells Arctic drilling programme,
launched a PR counter-offensive.nnnShells executive vice president for the Arctic laid out the
companys creed of safety and assurance against the activists slogans. This is not rocket science; we
can do this, she told the Financial Times. In the Seattle Times: Were not going to make the mistakes
of the past.nn Related: Shell ready to begin drilling for oil in the Arctic nnThe company had recalled
Pickard from the brink of retirement to pull its Arctic venture off the rocks after its ice-strengthened
drilling rig the Kulluk ran aground in heavy weather in 2012. Its Arctic drilling operation is now
about to begin again in earnest as a key safety vessel arrived at the drilling site on Tuesday. The
company will be anxious to prove that it can drill safely in the icy conditions without damaging the
unspoiled Arctic environment.nnBut despite heading up the oil giants most controversial project, the
woman in charge has by-and-large remained away from the media spotlight. When the Seattle Times,
FT and Houston Chronicle gave her a soapbox to counter the environment movement, they ignored
the chequered past of one of the oil industrys toughest political operators.nnPickard has a history of
doing whatever it takes in order to further Shells corporate interests in its most contentious theatres
of operation. In 2005, just five years after she joined from Mobil she became Shells top executive in
Africa and the head of the Anglo-Dutch giants significant, and stubbornly controversial, presence in
Nigeria. Pickard stepped into what was later considered the most dangerous executive post within
the oil industry.nnHer five years in Nigeria were dominated by a fractious security situation. The
Wyoming-born executive who often travelled around with bodyguards and a police escort oversaw a
significant escalation in Shells security spending and its militarised operations in the volatile Niger
Delta region. nnIn response to an upturn in violence, Shell spent over 240m on security in Nigeria
between 2007-2009, operating its own security forces complete with a network of effective
informants that passed intelligence on everything from rebel movements to the health of the
president to the Shell executive.nnShell has spent over $7bn on Arctic drilling without so far
producing a drop of oil. Drilling in the Arctic is expensive and dangerous and oil prices have fallen
dramatically. Will this and government action thwart Shells ambitionshnUnder Pickard, the Nigerian
military received tens of millions of dollars worth of support from Shell, leading to awkward
questions for the company when these forces were accused of brutal civilian killings in the delta in
2009. Shell have denied complicity or any control over these forces.nnPickard also drew on a
network of well-placed informants within the Nigerian government, according to US diplomatic
cables leaked by WikiLeaks. As one cable noted, Pickard said Shell had seconded people to all the
relevant ministries and that Shell consequently had access to everything that was being done in
those ministries. Following publication of the leaked cables, Shell categorically denied that it had
infiltrated the Nigerian government.nnnPickard features in numerous leaked cables from the US
embassy in Abuja and is described by one US diplomat as an experienced political operator in the oil
and gas industry. nnIn 2009, Pickard met with US ambassador to Nigeria, Robin Rene Sanders, to
discuss a strategy to stymie flagship reforms to petroleum legislation (significant parts of which
were vigorously opposed by Shell). Pickard said it would be helpful if the embassy could glean
information from the speaker of the Nigerian parliament and asked the diplomat to continue to
deliver low-level messages of concern. She said she would like to keep the Embassy in reserve and
use it as a silver bullet, in case Shells attempts to block the passage of the bill failed. In 2015, seven
years after the reforms were first conceived, they remained stuck in parliamentary limbo.nnPickard,
who has played down the risks of a spill in the Arctic, had to deal with two major oil spills in the
Niger Delta which led to a record 55m settlement earlier this year for thousands of residents of the
Bodo community whose lives, lawyers argued, were devastated by the spills in 2008.nnCourt

2. documents later showed Shell were aware of major risks and hazards to the pipelines in the area,
years before the spills. A Shell employee later acknowledged in an internal email that the pipelines
in the area have not been maintained properly or integrity assessed for over 15 years. nnnOn
settling the case Mutiu Sunmonu, managing director of Shells Nigerian subsidiary said: From the
outset, weve accepted responsibility for the two deeply regrettable operational spills in Bodo. Weve
always wanted to compensate the community fairly and we are pleased to have reached
agreement.nnFor her work in Africa, Fortune Magazine called Pickard the bravest woman in oil. But
the WikiLeaks files suggested her true asset to Shell had been her willingness to manipulate every
available political angle in order to further the companys interests. Its a trend Shell has continued
under her leadership in the Arctic.nnPickard has argued publicly against the US governments Arctic
safety standards - which are based on the rules set for Shells failed 2012 season. In particular she
has taken aim at the requirement for a same-season relief well. That is the presence of a second rig
capable of drilling down and tapping a well that has had a blowout.nn Related: The new cold war:
drilling for oil and gas in the Arctic nnPat Pourchot, who was the US Department of Interiors (DOI)
special assistant for Alaska affairs from 2009 until February this year, said Pickards public
statements were reflected in Shells lobbying attempts to water down safety requirements.nnThey
were clearly aggressive in their approach and in their desire to get permits and their desire to have
terms of the permits that they felt they could meet or that served their corporate interests They
disagreed obviously with some of the permit requirements and argued, quite strangely, that they
didnt think that some things were either effective or were too expensive, or would not address
certain issues, he said.nnPourchot, whose department has faced down most of Shells attempts to
water down Arctic drilling safety standards, said Pickard came across publicly very well with a good
solid message of safety and concern to the contractors.nnBut that would be what you would expect
from a CEO for Shell who is trying to do some very new things in the Arctic and undertaking a very
huge project, he said.nnShells decision to create a special new position for Pickard, solely focused
on the Arctic, reflects its no-turning-back attitude even in the programmes darkest days of early
2013.nnThe companys $7bn (4.5bn) investment in proving the size of its potentially vast polar
reserves has been widely described as a multi-billion dollar gamble. Right across the frozen north,
oil giants have been putting their Arctic projects on hold or abandoning them completely as costs
have risen and oil has proved elusive, leaving Shell alone as the vanguard of Arctic
exploration.nnBut Pourchot said Shells bet was placed long ago: I did think, because of their
sizeable investment and the momentum they had, that they would come back again. I also think they
had a steep hill to climb.nnIts just too big a prize, Pickard told Bloomberg in August. We cant afford
to leave it all there.nnIn the wake of the disastrous 2012 drilling season, David Lawrence, Shells
executive responsible for the Arctic, departed the company by mutual consent after nearly three
decades of service. It was Pickard who was charged with guiding Shells rigs back into those highly
regulated, environmentally sensitive and logistically nightmarish waters. nnTo straighten things out,
said Pourchot.nnPickard declined to be interviewed by the Guardian. A Shell spokeswoman said the
company did not comment on appointments below the level of their executive committee. nnHer
public profile is so low that the most visible Ann Pickard on the internet is an English YouTube cake
decorator. Since arriving back in her home country via four years advancing Shells massive
Australian investments Pickard has made relatively few public appearances or statements.nnBut in
May, as activists ramped up their campaign against Shell, Pickard went on the offensive. She told
the World Petroleum Congress in Troms, Norway: A minority of people are using myths,
misperceptions and downright misinformation to try and shore up their arguments.nnCharlie
Kronick, a senior advisor for Greenpeace and long term observer of Shells Arctic programme, said
the aggressive rhetoric was aimed at neutering the environmental campaign. He said her experience
in Africa, which is definitely a pressure cooker, had prepared Pickard well for working in tough
environments and under scrutiny from civil society.nnIn May, Pickard told the Seattle Times that
Shells programme was underpinned by a moral imperative to provide energy in a world of increasing
demand and tightening traditional methods of supply.nnThe world is going to need Arctic oil;

3. otherwise we dont supply energy, she said.nnBut the executive director of the International Energy
Agency (IEA) Maria van der Hoeven said in April that under existing climate policy commitments
there would be limited production from offshore Arctic to 2040, particularly outside Russia and
Norway. In that time frame, it is very difficult to make a case that Arctic developments will enhance
security of supply.nnEchoing her predecessor Lawrences fatefully nave-sounding, pre-Kulluk
assertion that drilling in the Arctic is relatively easy, Pickard told the Financial Times: I dont want to
sound overconfident, because thats not my style at all. But as I look at every little piece of what were
planning to do ... theres no weaknesses in our programme. [The question is] what is going to happen
thats going to surprise ushnnBut even as the company received its final set of US government
approvals in July, one of its key safety vessels the Fennica icebreaker was limping back to Oregon
with a metre-long gash in its hull sustained, reportedly, as it left Dutch Harbor, a port in the
Aleutians Islands. By the end of the month, protesters hanging from a bridge managed to further
delay the quickly-repaired ship from leaving dry dock in Portland.nnAs a hard-headed business
woman, from the Shell point of view, she was the obvious pick to push through their programme this
year, said Kronick. But it was absolutely crucial that they not have a re-run of 2012 things at least
had to look like they were going well. That has demonstrably not been the case.nnBut dont expect
Pickard to do anything other than continue pushing north. In Houston in May she told an audience:
Ive made a career taking on some of the most challenging opportunities in the oil and gas sector,
from Russia to Nigeria to Australia. The Arctic is no exception.nCampaign ticker