Yahoo Business News: Shell and Motiva Account for All Employees Impacted By Hurricane Katrina; Operations Restoration and Relief Efforts Move Forward: Posted Thursday 15 Sept 2005

HOUSTON, Sept. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- Shell Oil Company and its joint venture, Motiva Enterprises LLC, have made contact with all of their nearly 4,600 employees in the hurricane-affected areas of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.

"We are extremely grateful that all of our employees are safe," said John Hofmeister, president of Shell Oil Company. "Now we can turn our undivided attention to helping our employees and others rebuild their lives as we restore our onshore and offshore Gulf Coast operations."

Finding and helping employees

The massive outreach effort to locate employees included telephone calls, text messages, newspaper and radio advertising, inquiries among coworkers and door-to-door checks on foot and by boat. The search was completed earlier this week when the last two unaccounted-for employees were found safe.

Shell and Motiva are providing emergency support to more than 1,200 employees who are relocating either because of damage to their homes or because their jobs are being temporarily relocated. Employee support includes temporary housing for up to a year, financial assistance (relocation allowances and interest-free loans for emergency cash and other expenses up to $50,000), counseling and other services. So far, about 60 employees and their families have been taken in by other Shell and Motiva employees.

Keith Casey, site manager at the Motiva Norco refinery, reported that one employee was stranded on his roof without food and water for three days before being rescued by helicopter. Once on dry land, he hitched a ride with an ambulance driver to La Place, La., then walked the rest of the way to the refinery. "I knew if I could just get here, you would take care of me," he said when he walked in.

"This has been an opportunity for us to show what it means to be a part of the Shell and Motiva family," said Phil Metzler, manager of global policy and benefits for Shell Oil Company. "Everyone has stepped up and done whatever it takes to first find and take care of our employees and then help get the business back up safely and efficiently."

Restoring operations

As the largest operator in the Gulf of Mexico, Shell was proportionately affected by the storm. Production assets in the eastern and western areas of the Gulf have resumed operation; four damaged platforms in the central Gulf are still being assessed. Shell's net GoM production from Shell-operated and outside-operated fields for the first half of 2005 averaged around 450,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (kboe/d). Currently, Shell's net GoM production has returned to approximately 160 kboe/d. Shell expects that about 60 percent of total production will be restored to pre-hurricane levels within fourth quarter 2005. Shell's Robert, La., operations training facility has been established as a temporary base for Shell's Gulf of Mexico producing operations staff.

Two Motiva refineries were affected by the storm. The refineries, in Convent, La., and Norco, La., account for 27 percent of Shell's U.S. refining capacity. The Convent refinery was restarted last week and is back to normal production; the Norco refinery began production Monday and is nearly fully operational.

Damage to one Shell crude pipeline near Nairn, La., caused a spill; containment and cleanup are underway. Other onshore pipelines sustained little damage; operations are now near 90 percent of capacity. A second spill at a tank farm in Pilottown, La., is also being contained.

While most Shell-branded retail locations in New Orleans are still inaccessible, 19 percent of the retail locations in New Orleans and all locations in Baton Rouge are open.

Damage is still being assessed at the Metairie, La., lubricants plant, at 42 wholesale locations in the hurricane area, and along Shell's offshore pipeline network.

Helping the community

Shell and its employees have also stepped forward to support the relief and restoration efforts throughout the affected areas. From the outset, Shell began providing housing, fuel, and operating space for the Louisiana State Police and the National Guard at its Robert training facility outside New Orleans, including delivery of a tanker of fuel to the New Orleans Police Department. By last Wednesday, the Kenner fuel terminal, although still on generators, was providing diesel and gasoline for rescue vehicles. Norco employees also developed an innovative system to fuel rescue vehicles stopping by the refinery.

Shell and Motiva have donated $2 million to the Red Cross and are matching up to an additional $1 million in employee donations, as well as providing support funds to their employees who are housing evacuees. In Houston, more than 2,500 Shell employees and retirees have volunteered their time to assist in the recovery efforts in Houston and elsewhere. Shell and Motiva donated $1 million to the United Way Katrina Relief Fund, which will have a direct, local impact to evacuees in Houston. In Louisiana, employees are helping co- workers, extended family members and neighbors clear debris and retrieve belongings.

"Our employees have found that part of their personal recovery is being able to do something meaningful to help others, whether it is clearing brush for a neighbor or helping to get the gasoline supply back up for our country," said Glenn Gilchrist, director of human resources for Shell manufacturing in the Americas. "As one employee said, 'I may have water in my house, but I have fire in my heart.'"

Shell Oil Company, including its consolidated companies and its share in equity companies, is one of America's leading oil and natural gas producers, natural gas marketers, gasoline marketers and petrochemical manufacturers. Shell, a leading oil and gas producer in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, is a recognized pioneer in oil and gas exploration and production technology. Shell Oil Company is an affiliate of the Shell Group, which operates in over 140 countries and territories and employs more than 112,000 people.

Motiva Enterprises LLC owns and operates refineries capable of refining approximately 705,000 barrels per day, a distribution system including ownership interests in 47 products terminals, and a marketing network that supports more than 9,000 branded gasoline stations in the Eastern and Southern United States.

Source: Shell Oil Company; Motiva Enterprises LLC

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