ENERGY

Study Finds Shell Underestimated Oil Threat: Royal Dutch Shell Group underestimated the amount of oil on the Brent Spar storage facility, but came far closer than what the environmental group Greenpeace had charged, a survey found. Greenpeace campaigned this summer to block Shell from sinking the oil platform in deep waters, and Shell eventually backed down amid strong consumer protests in continental Europe. The Brent Spar has since been towed to Norway as Shell ponders how to get rid of it, and the company hired the Norwegian surveyor and classification society Det Norske Veritas to perform an independent inventory. DNV found that the Brent Spar contains up to 100 tons of oil, almost twice Shell’s estimate of 53 tons. Greenpeace admitted last month that its estimate of 5,000 tons was excessive.