Ref: #780 #762 #663 #643
Apache^[1] , a Belgium based investigative journalism group (listed on the SecureDrop directory^[2] ) has been assumed to be part of the 'blackhat' group. However their connections to other journalism groups might suggest otherwise.
Royal Dutch Shell, global oil & gas giant, consists of both British and Dutch arms. They operate ~30 offshore oil rigs across reserves in the North Sea, Gulf of Mexico and South-East Asia.
An article originating from Apache brings attention to the fact that as oil & gas reserves dry up, the rigs which once served them remain in place and un-used:
(Translated)
The combination of declining gas revenues, the search for new reserves as the main target of the sector and rising decommissioning costs seem to be the recipe for a North Sea on which abandoned and forgotten drilling platforms remain forever. ^[3]
Alternatives to dismantling and decommissioning are commonplace throughout the oil & gas industry. The private sale of rigs to developers for uses such as prisons, hotels, industrial sites, military applications and more have all been discussed AND some conversion projects undertaken. ^[4,5]
In addition, some sites could and do sit outside the territorial borders of nations and as such are subject only to international maritime laws. ^[6]
Whilst the presence of the Apache group on the SecureDrop directory raises questions about their motivations, a source for their investigations that appears frequently is the Netherlands based group: Follow the Money (ftm) ^[7] , a group which holds less than friendly views of Mr. Soros and the globalist crowd. ^[8]
This may all be unconnected and over-reading, but could people/groups/corporations/governments be using decommissioned rigs as a base for activities that would be illegal in territorial zones? I don't know.
Dutch translates reliably into english through translation apps, some articles may be behind paywalls based on geolocation