NEW YORK (Reuters) – Shell Canada Ltd. (SHC.TO: Quote) Chief Executive Clive Mather said on Tuesday he expects further consolidation among Canada's heavy oil industry and that his company will be among the buyers.
Mather earlier this month agreed to pay C$2.4 billion ($2.2 billion) for BlackRock Ventures Inc., a small Canadian heavy oil and oil sands company. He told the Reuters Global Energy Summit in New York that more deals in the sector will soon emerge.read more
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: May 23, 2006
Filed at 10:00 a.m. ETAn oil company executive says there’s not much oil companies can do about skyrocketing gasoline prices.
John Hofmeister, president of Shell Oil Company, tells NBC’s ”Today” show that lowering the wholesale price arbitrarily could cause a run on gasoline, which could then run out.
He says the markets set prices and the oil companies follow the markets.
His comments come as the head of the Federal Trade Commission prepares for some tough questioning today on Capitol Hill about price gouging.
Deborah Platt Majoras goes before the Senate Commerce Committee a day after the agency said it found only a few cases of gasoline price gouging after Hurricane Katrina.read more
ShellNews.net: Latest News on the High Court Battle: EIGHT Royal Dutch Shell companies vs. Dr John Huong : 23 May 2006
By Alfred Donovan
My sworn affidavit relating to the draconian defamation action brought by EIGHT Royal Dutch Shell companies against former Shell geologist, Dr John Huong was filed with the High Court of Malaya on 22 May 2006. As a consequence, the affidavit is now in the public domain.
The same applies to the exhibit supplied with the affidavit – the unsuccessful submission by Shell International Petroleum Company Limited to the World Intellectual Property Organisation in May 2005 relating to certain Shell related domain names, including royaldutchshellplc.com. The relevant domain names are still owned by me. There will be news worthy developments in relation to one of them very shortly. read more
The WALL STREET JOURNAL ONLINE
May 23, 2006Crude-oil futures fluctuated dramatically on the New York Mercantile Exchange, first falling sharply and then ending the day nearly $1 higher at more than $69 a barrel after Venezuela said it would push OPEC next week to cut oil production. Here is today’s roundup of news about oil and energy.
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GOUGERS, BUT NOT LAWBREAKERS: The Federal Trade Commission said it had found 15 cases of gasoline-price gouging in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita last year. But it also said that none of those episodes were illegal. Rather, they merely matched the FTC’s definition of gouging, as ordered by Congress: any instance in which the average gas price in a state or national disaster area — or in any other area where consumers had filed gouging complaints — was higher in September 2005 than the average price in that same area in August 2005. The FTC found that 15 firms — seven refiners, two wholesalers and six retailers — fit that description. But the agency said it had found no illegal market manipulation.read more
Candace Lombardi, for News.com
Published: May 22, 2006
How far can you go on a tank of ethanol? Some students in France this weekend showed that the answer could be in the thousands of miles.That is, of course, if you don’t mind driving a car not much bigger than you are.
An ethanol-powered vehicle engineered by students from the Lycee La Joliverie took top honors at the Shell Eco-marathon, a contest to build a car that can drive as far as possible using the least amount of energy.
The vehicle averaged an astounding 2,885 kilometers per liter, or approximately 6,786 miles per gallon, according to an announcement released Sunday by race officials.
While the car did not break last year’s record of 9,023 mpg, it was significant in that it was an ethanol-powered vehicle. Hydrogen-powered vehicles, which were predicted to win early on in the race, became runners-up.read more
• Linklaters, the top-ranked legal adviser on mergers and acquisitions in 2005, said its 160 Chinese lawyers are outperforming the firm in profitability and are having to turn away deals.
• The UK may seek to collect about £1bn in taxes from hedge-fund managers, who may be concealing income abroad, a partner at accounting firm KPMG said.
• Royal Dutch Shell, Europe's second-largest oil company, plans to appeal against a Nigerian court decision demanding it pay $1.5bn into an escrow account for damages to Nigerian communities. read more
Royal Dutch Shell misses court deadline to pay $1.5 billion for Nigeria pollution Joe Shaulis at 2:40 PM ET
[JURIST] Royal Dutch Shell PLC [corporate website] will wait for a Nigerian appeals court ruling rather than pay a $1.5 billion judgment [JURIST report] to compensate ethnic communities in Nigeria for pollution from its operations. A company spokesman said paying the judgment, which was due at noon Monday, would be inappropriate because of its appeal [JURIST report; company press release]. read more
World oil not running out but difficult to exploit – Shell
World oil and gas reserves will not run out in the near future, even though exploiting remaining reserves will become increasingly difficult, Royal Dutch Shell chief executive Jeroen van der Veer said last Tuesday.
Speaking at the company’s annual general meeting, Van der Veer said the majority of easily exploited resources were already in production. But the company had for years been working on exploiting other reserves, such as Canadian tar sands, Deutsche-Presse-Agentur (dpa) quoted him as saying. read more
Forbes/AFX News Limited: Shell Australia lifts 2005 EBIT 70 pct to 1.23 bln aud
SYDNEY (XFN-ASIA) – Royal Dutch Shell unit Shell Australia said its profit before interest and tax jumped almost 70 pct in 2005 to 1.23 bln aud, on the back of record high oil prices and improved operations at its two refineries.
In a report released last night, Shell Australia said the profit rise was underpinned by its upstream oil and gas production operations off the coast of Western Australia that generated 968 mln aud in profit before tax and interest in 2005, up from 708 mln in 2004. read more
Mayor Han Zheng met with Jeroen van der Veer, Chief Executive Officer of Royal Dutch Shell Group, at the VIP guest hall in the morning of May 20th.
The Mayor expressed his warm welcome and sincere thanks for Shell’s contribution to Shanghai’s development as a member of the International Business Leaders' Advisory Council for the Mayor of Shanghai. He said he hoped to hear yet more constructive ideas from Shell this year.
Han Zheng said that 2006, the first year of the Eleventh Five Year Plan, would be fundamental and critical. Shanghai will be placing the emphasis on developing its manufacturing and modern service industries. The cooperation of transnational companies in fields such as environmental protection and energy efficiency was most welcome and appreciated. read more
NEW ORLEANS (AP) – Shell Exploration & Production Co. said Monday that partial oil and natural gas production has been resumed from its hurricane-damaged Mars production platform in the Gulf of Mexico.
Although the company, a unit of Britain's Royal Dutch Shell PLC, did not say what initial production rates were, it said pre-Katrina rates of 140,000 barrels of oil a day and 150 million cubic feet of gas daily should be restored by the end of June.read more
Shell to Boost Presence
In China’s Chemical Sector
By ARIES POON
May 23, 2006NANHAI, China — Royal Dutch Shell PLC said it plans to step up its presence in the chemicals sector in China on the country’s strong demand for oil products.
Shell is in talks to acquire a stake in a 16.7-billion-yuan ($2.08 billion) refinery owned by China National Offshore Oil Corp. in Nanhai in the southern Guangdong province in China. Tan Ek Kia, Shell chemicals vice president for the Asia-Pacific region and the Middle East, declined to specify the size of the stake Shell wants to acquire.
Shell also plans to raise the capacity of its 50%-owned petrochemicals complex, which is near the Nanhai refinery and has an annual capacity of 2.3 million metric tons, Mr. Tan said, though he didn’t elaborate on the potential increase.read more
Reuters: Shell in talks over stake in CNOOC Huizhou refinery
Mon May 22, 2006
DAYA BAY, May 22 (Reuters) – Oil Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L: Quote, Profile, Research) said it was in talks with CNOOC over taking a stake in its 240,000 barrel-per-day Huizhou refinery in southern China, a company official told reporters on Monday.
Tan Ek Kia, vice president of ventures and developments at Shell Chemicals, declined to give the size of the potential stake or the timescale for discussions over the refinery that is expected to be completed by 2007/2008.read more
LONDON (MarketWatch) — Royal Dutch Shell (RDSA) isn't going to meet a Nigerian court-ordered deadline of Monday and pay $1.5 billion in environmental compensation damages to local communities because of the company's appeal on the long-simmering matter, a Shell spokesman in Nigeria said Sunday.
Anglo-Dutch Shell has appealed a decision handed down Friday by the Federal High Court in Port Harcourt, the main oil city in Nigeria, that ordered the company to pay money to ethnic Ijaw communities in the Niger Delta. read more
Financial Express (India): NTPC says no to Shell LNG offer
ANUPAMA AIRY
Posted online: Monday, May 22, 2006 at 0107 hours IST
NEW DELHI, MAY 21: National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) has turned down Shell’s offer to supply LNG at $10.41 per mmbtu for its power projects in Gujarat.
NTPC is currently procuring naphtha at $18.69 per mmbtu for fuelling some of its power projects.
Having failed to make much headway in convincing NTPC to buy its LNG, Shell has sought the power ministry’s intervention to make the state-owned power major see reason in buying LNG at $10.41 per mmbtu. Even the Prime Minister’s Office has asked NTPC to evaluate Shell’s offer. read more
Sustainable development is a crucial factor to consider when meeting the high growth in energy demand worldwide, delegates at the Britain in Kuwait Conference and Exhibition heard today in a presentation by Dr. Ken Taylor, Sustainable Development Advisor for Shell Exploration and Production and former Chairman of Kuwait Shell.
Building on the recently published 'Shell Sustainability Report 2005', Dr. Taylor said, 'For Shell, meeting the energy challenge means producing the extra energy needed for economic growth in environmentally and socially responsible ways.'
'This includes managing the environmental impact of oil and gas exploration and production as well as developing alternative energy resources and ensuring skills and knowledge transfer wherever we operate,' he added.
Recent developments in Kuwait include the provision of technical support in Kuwait's refineries to help improve reliability and energy efficiency, as well as using the latest Shell technology to improve air emissions by removing sulphur.
'Shell has many long-term partnerships with national oil companies, and our aim is to develop and expand these relationships by focusing on people development and protection of the environment as much as sound technology application and business practice,' Dr Taylor said.read more
BLOOMBERG: Shell's Australian Refining Profit Surges on Margins (Update1)
May 22 (Bloomberg) — Royal Dutch Shell Plc's Australian unit had refining and marketing profit jump more than sixfold last year because of enhanced plant reliability and gains in earnings from turning each barrel of crude oil into fuel.
Profit before interest and tax for the unit rose to A$300 million ($226 million) in the year ended Dec. 31, from A$43.5 million a year earlier, Shell Australia said today in a statement. Shell reduced the amount of imports needed to meet customer demand and its discount gasoline retail venture with Coles Myer Ltd. benefited from “strong customer support,'' said Russell Caplan, Shell Australia's chairman. read more
Saudi Arabia, Total Sign Deal for $5-Billion Refinery
By SPENCER SWARTZ and SIMEON KERRMay 21, 2006 6:55 a.m.
Saudi Arabia and French energy giant Total SA on Sunday signed a tentative deal to build a 400,000 barrel-a-day export-oriented refinery in the Persian Gulf city of Jubail, the kingdom's state-run oil company Saudi Aramco said.
Saudi Aramco and Total agreed to form a joint-venture company, with each company holding a 35% ownership stake, according to the memorandum of understanding signed by the companies.
The companies plan to offer up to a 30% stake in the project — scheduled to begin service in 2011 — to the Saudi public, Aramco said.read more
As use of ethanol fuel increases, George Bush is looking to his South American neighbour for lessons in energy self-sufficiency. Nick Mathiason reports
Giant mechanical claws grab tonnes of sugar cane from huge, open-topped trailer trucks and place them on conveyor belts where they are crushed into juice. Here at the Costa Pinto refining plant an hour's drive from Sao Paulo begins the process which now powers half of Brazil's cars.
It is big business. Cosan, which owns the plant, is Brazil's biggest sugar refiner, publicly quoted and soon to list on Wall Street. It has 16 other facilities like Costa Pinto, producing a billion litres of ethanol and generating $200m. It is planning to accelerate production. read more
SYDNEY (Reuters) – Oil prices steadied on Monday after shedding almost 5 percent last week as investors, spooked by inflation concerns, locked in profits on a broad range of commodities that had been trading around record highs.
U.S. crude (CLc1) was trading 16 cents higher at $68.69 a barrel by 0213 GMT, after falling 92 cents on Friday. London Brent crude (LCOc1) was up 15 cents at $68.83.read more
Wiwa criticises Shell for offering 'peanuts' in return for Corrib deal
Tom Shiel Irish Times; May 22, 2006
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A quiet mountain road taken by hundreds of starving Famine victims during the spring of 1849 resembled a colourful, cosmopolitan boulevard as some 300 people participated in the annual Afri Famine Walk from Doolough to Louisburgh, Co Mayo, at the weekend.read more
DAVID GOW The Guardian – United Kingdom; May 22, 2006
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Green campaigners yesterday staged angry protests outside the annual meeting of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in London over plans to invest in the controversial $20bn (pounds 11bn) gas project on Sakhalin island off the east coast of Siberia.read more
Shell chief's statement was irresponsibleBy Henrik Rasmussen
Published: May 22 2006 03:00 | Last updated: May 22 2006 03:00
From Mr Henrik Rasmussen.
Sir, Shell executive Jeroen van der Veer recently stated that oil companies have to accept increasingly nationalistic policies of countries such as Venezuela and Bolivia as a fact of life (“Energy landscape redesigned”, May 15). He went on to say that legal action to protect the property rights of oil companies is “counterproductive . . . good luck!”read more
Shell's Sakhalin-2 in river dispute, denies cover-up
By Tom Bergin
627 words
May 21 2006
2:34:11 PM
Reuters News
English
(c) 2006 Reuters Limited
LONDON, May 21 (Reuters) – A consortium led by Royal Dutch Shell Plc has not fully complied with environmental guidelines when laying pipelines in east Russia, documents showed on Sunday.
The consortiumdenied, however, that it misled the public and potential lenders who are mulling $6 billion to $7 billion in loans for the project.
Documents obtained by conservation group WWF, and seen by Reuters, showed that contractors working for Shell-led Sakhalin Energy did not follow all the environmental guidelines agreed with potential lenders when laying pipes across two rivers on Sakhalin Island in December. read more
Energy initiative takes centre stage at EBRD conference
Time is GMT + 8 hours Posted: 21-May-2006 18:29 hrs
Jean Lemierre, President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) speaks in London, April 2006. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development kicks off its annual meeting with an initiative to slash energy waste and pollution across the 27 countries in which it operates.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development kicks off its annual meeting with an initiative to slash energy waste and pollution across the 27 countries in which it operates. .
The two-day conference comes also as the EBRD continues to focus on investment opportunities in southeastern Europe, where countries including Bulgaria and Romania are battling to win EU membership.
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Around 2,000 journalists and delegates will descend on London to attend the annual event which spills over into Monday. read more
Southern Petroleum investors back in court
453 words
5 May 2006
National Business Review
English
(c) 2006 The National Business Review
May 5, 2006
The country's longest running insider trading case is still alive and more interesting thanks to Greymouth Petroleum's just-announced big find
Nick Bryant
Back before the Securities Commission evolved from mewling puppy to ferocious Rottweiler – and insider trading cases were practically unheard of – a band of grumpy oil and gas investors began suing what was then Fletcher Energy for alleged withholding of valuable inside information.
What started in 1995 and is known to the courts as the c150/99 case is back in court today for a costs hearing before Justice Hugh Williams. read more
High stakes in deep gas
820 words
12 May 2006
National Business Review
English
(c) 2006 The National Business Review
May 12, 2006
There's nothing to see here, say Todd and Shell, but is it a case of three-into-one along a hotly-contested stretch of Taranaki's gas-rich coastline?
Hugh de Lacy
There is no basis to suggestions that the Pohokura, Turangi and Mangahewa gasfields are all part of one giant field, according to Shell and Todd Energy executives.
Taranaki is rife with rumours that the owners of the fields are headed for unitisation processes under the Crown Minerals Act because they are all, in effect, sucking gas from the same MA72 payzone. read more
Ireland: Don’t bank on chip and pin to defeat fraudsters
Jessica Bown and Brian Carey
The original Catch Me If You Can conman is not impressed by the new card system
CHIP-AND-PIN systems introduced to foil credit and debit-card fraudsters are making it easier to commit certain types of financial crime, a reformed con man has warned.
Frank Abagnale, whose life story inspired the Leonardo DiCaprio film Catch Me If You Can, served five years for fraud after posing as an airline pilot, a doctor and a lawyer and cashing $2.5m (€2m) of cheques between the age of 16 and 21.
NI_MPU('middle');
Now 58 he has used his skills to help the FBI fight fraud for 30 years and also works with CIMS, which offers identity-fraud protection services.
He does not believe that chip-and-pin technology, which requires transactions to be verified with a four-digit number rather than a signature, will prove much of a challenge for professional fraudsters.
The information sent out by the hand-held card reading devices used in restaurants is not encrypted, for example. Any criminals nearby with an information receiver can therefore capture the data, including the pin entered, making some brands of fraud much easier.
read more
AN anti-Shell protester who was too stressed to attend a court case in Mayo last Monday had recovered in time to attend Shell’s annual meeting in London the following day.
Galway district court was told that Maura Harrington, 54, could not attend to face charges of drunkenness and being a danger to herself and others due to stress and anxiety. A judge adjourned the case to July.
NI_MPU('middle');
Within 24 hours, Harrington, one of the leaders of the campaign against Shell’s Corrib gas pipeline, was being shadowed by two uniformed policemen and a security guard as she attended the company’s annual meeting at the Novotel hotel in Hammersmith.
“Having had some rest, I will be in a position to attend the court hearing in July,” the primary school teacher said yesterday. “The fact that I attended the Shell meeting in London the following day has nothing to do with my non-appearance in court. I was, and still am, very distressed about the case. I won’t be skipping the country.”
read more
LAGOS (Reuters) – A Nigerian court has given Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L) a Monday deadline to pay $1.5 billion in damages for pollution in the oil-producing state of Bayelsa, the energy giant said on Saturday.
Shell said it had appealed against the order by Justice Okechukwu Okeke, who in February upheld a resolution by parliament that the firm should pay the money to ethnic Ijaw communities in Bayelsa in the Niger Delta, which produces all of Nigeria's output of 2.4 million barrels of oil per day.read more
BBC Monitoring Service – United Kingdom; May 20, 2006
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Text of report by Kelvin Ebiri entitled “Shell gets Monday deadline to pay Ijaw 1.5bn dollars” published by Nigerian newspaper The Guardian website on 20 Mayread more
Sakhalin Energy, in which oil giant Shell has a controlling stake, is this weekend facing allegations that it is misleading potential funders of the world's second most expensive infrastructure project. The company is apparently claiming to comply with environmental standards despite evidence to the contrary.
A series of documents leaked to The Observer state that independent consultants monitoring the construction of a $20bn gas and oil project on Sakhalin island, off the east coast of Russia, highlight numerous breaches of environmental protocol. But versions of the same reports on the website of Sakhalin Energy, the consortium behind the project, give the consortium a clean bill of health.
The documents centre on how Shell contractors handle the construction of sensitive river crossings in areas where salmon spawn. Sakhalin Energy said: 'The company is committed to best practice and the transparent reporting of our activities. We will investigate any allegations to the contrary.' read more
ShellNews.net: File of Shell -v- Dr John Huong Court Papers
(HIGH COURT OF MALAYA DOCUMENTS IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN)
Acrobat Reader is needed to access the Shell -v- Dr Huong High Court papers below. Please be patient when downloading as some of the files contain many pages, in one instance 22 pages.(To download a FREE Acrobat Reader click on the adobe link: (http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html)
Burton blames errant rig anchors for major pipeline damage in Gulf of Mexico; no lives lost, no major pollution from offshore facilities, and sub-sea values held
Ray Tyson
For Petroleum News
U.S. Minerals Management Director Johnnie Burton is clearly unhappy with the damage caused by drilling rigs set adrift in the Gulf of Mexico during last year’s devastating hurricanes. Moreover, the director says MMS is not as prepared as it would like to be going into this year’s hurricane season. read more
Chevron to build 55-mile oil pipeline to serve deepwater Tahiti field
Chevron has approved the construction of a 55-mile deepwater oil pipeline in the Gulf of Mexico that would connect the Chevron-operated Tahiti field to the existing Amberjack pipeline for delivery to shore.
Chevron said it also approved expanding the pipeline from a 20-inch diameter to a 24-inch diameter design that can handle 300,000 barrels of oil per day and accommodate additional discoveries in the Walker Ridge and Green Canyon areas. read more
Company says potential customers want 2.9 billion cubic feet daily in new supplies from Baja California facility
Allen Baker
For Petroleum News
Sempra’s new LNG terminal under construction near Ensenada, Mexico, has plenty of interest from shippers if the facility is expanded — interest for a staggering 2.9 billion cubic feet of daily capacity, or nearly half the amount California now consumes.
Initial capacity of the Energia Costa Azul plant is a billion cubic feet daily, about a sixth of California’s current demand. That capacity is already pledged to BP and Royal Dutch Shell in long-term contracts. Sempra has a pipeline nearby that could take some of the terminal’s natural gas to the east, and says a substantial portion will go to Mexican customers. read more
Increased security, investigation into May 12 gasoline blast in southwest Nigeria; villagers killed were scavenging for fuel
Dulue Mbachu
Associated Press Writer
Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo ordered stepped-up protection for pipelines traversing Africa’s oil giant after a gasoline blast killed up to 200 people, but Nigerians said rampant poverty will continue to drive villagers to tap the pipes and pilfer fuel.
Rescue workers had aimed to finish collecting the estimated 150 to 200 dead for burial in mass graves by sundown May 13 but at least 22 charred bodies floated in the tidal mangrove swamps east of the main city of Lagos — many miles from the May 12 blast site at Ilado village. read more
Reuters: Shell gets Nigerian deadline for $1.5 bln damages
20 May 2006 15:46:43 GMT
Source: Reuters
LAGOS, May 20 (Reuters) – A Nigerian court has given Royal Dutch Shell a Monday deadline to pay $1.5 billion in damages for pollution in the oil-producing state of Bayelsa, the energy giant said on Saturday.
Shell said it had appealed against the order by Justice Okechukwu Okeke, who in February upheld a resolution by parliament that the firm should pay the money to ethnic Ijaw communities in Bayelsa in the Niger Delta, which produces all of Nigeria's output of 2.4 million barrels of oil per day.read more
NAIROBI (Reuters) – Kenya has annulled an agreement by Royal Dutch Shell to buy BP's 50 percent stake in their oil products marketing joint ventures in the east African nation, Shell said on Saturday.
“We were surprised and disappointed,” Mwaura Ngaari, regional external affairs manager of Kenya Shell, told Reuters, confirming the decision.
“We are actually going to appeal.”
Media quoted Finance Minister Amos Kimunya as announcing rejection of the deal in the official government gazette, and suggested the reason was to avoid Shell becoming over-dominant.read more
Shell's 'regret' over Corrib is a PR move, warns Owens Wiwa
(The Irish Times Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Nigerian activist Dr Owens Wiwa has said the north Mayo community must make “no compromise” in relation to its opposition to the Corrib gas onshore pipeline.
Dr Wiwa, brother of executed Nigerian writer Ken Saro-Wiwa, also believes Shell E&P Ireland's recent statement of “regret” over its handling of the project was a “public relations” move timed to assuage shareholders before the parent's annual meeting in The Hague earlier this week. “I have seen this pattern many times before,” Dr Wiwa, a Toronto-based medical consultant, told The Irish Times.read more
Firm Is Fired as CounselIn Ohio Class-Action Case;Other Challenges Expected
By NATHAN KOPPEL and PETER LATTMANMay 20, 2006; Page A3
Milberg Weiss Bershad & Schulman LLP suffered a serious setback as a result of its indictment, with the Ohio attorney general firing the powerhouse law firm as counsel in a class-action case.
The New York law firm, indicted Thursday in an alleged conspiracy to pay kickbacks to plaintiffs, had been representing Ohio's public college-savings fund in class-action litigation in a mutual-fund case. In a letter to the firm, Ohio Attorney General Jim Petro, a Republican, said he was taking Milberg off the case because the indictment meant its representation of clients “will be severely compromised.”read more
Crude-oil futures tumbled again on the New York Mercantile Exchange, settling at $68.53 after an OPEC minister hinted the oil cartel wouldn't cut production any time soon. Here is today's well of news about oil and energy.
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THE PRICE OF FEAR: Geopolitical tensions have added roughly 20%, or about $15 a barrel, to the price of crude oil, OPEC acting secretary general Mohammed Barkindo told an OPEC-International Energy Agency workshop in Oslo. Mr. Barkindo pointed out that there was “absolutely no supply shortage” of oil and that global inventories were at five-year highs. That means there must be some other explanation for oil prices staying stubbornly near $70 a barrel, Mr. Barkindo said. Some analysts suggest that speculation has helped, but clearly the sticky issues surrounding Iran, Iraq, Venezuela, Nigeria and other oil-producing nations have played a big part. Mr. Barkindo warned it is also getting harder to predict demand, making exploration projects riskier.read more
LONDON (Reuters) – Oil fell by more than a dollar toward $68 a barrel on Friday, close to a five-week low, as renewed concern about rising inflation and slower economic growth prompted selling across commodity markets.
The drop in crude came alongside a slide in prices of industrial and precious metals, which have hit record or near-record highs in the past month. Copper fell over 6 percent and aluminum, zinc and gold also slid.read more
Top class action lawyers to face fraud trial in US
Bill Condie Evening Standard – London: KRTBN; May 19, 2006
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Class action legal firm Milberg Weiss Bershad & Schulman, which has sued some the biggest US and UK companies, has been indicted on fraud, perjury and bribery, and accused of paying kickbacks to people who served as professional plaintiffs.read more
The Australian Financial Review (abstracts); May 19, 2006
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Gorgon stakeholders Chevron Australia, Shell and Exxon Mobil have signed a number of preconstruction sales commitments for their liquefied natural gas venture, due to the changed fundamentals of the global LNG market. read more
Calgary-based oil producer may invest up to $7.4-billion to develop oilsands crude
Financial Post – Canada; May 19, 2006
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North American Oil Sands Corp., a closely held Calgary-based company, may spend as much $7.4-billion by 2015 to develop heavy-crude deposits in northern Alberta. read more
By Dino Mahtani in Lagos Published: May 19 2006 17:59 | Last updated: May 19 2006 17:59
Nigeria auctioned 17 new oil drilling licenses on Friday to companies from China, India, Britain and Nigeria, reserving one oil bloc for a company linked to militant activists in the turbulent delta region.
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The auction is intended to follow up on a 2005 bidding round in the world’s eighth largest oil exporter that saw many winners default due to funding problems. Nigeria raised about $1.2bn in preliminary signing fees last year, less than half of what was originally promised, and a fraction of what is expected to be invested in the blocks. read more
NIGERIA‘Shell must stay out of our oil’ – Nigerian militants
Lagos – Nigerian militants on Thursday warned Anglo-Dutch oil giant Shell against resuming operations in areas where it has shut production in the restive Niger Delta region. The warning followed reports that the company plans to resume production within a few weeks.
“They are welcome to test our resolve, but we promise you they will pay a hefty price for their foolishness,” the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (Mend), said on Thursday. read more
HOUSTON, May 19 /PRNewswire/ — Shell Energy Services Company, L.L.C. (Shell Energy) has entered into an agreement to sell substantially all of its assets to MxEnergy Inc. (MXenergy). The sale is expected to close mid-2006 subject to state and federal regulatory approvals.
Shell Energy residential and commercial customers will continue to receive reliable and uninterrupted natural gas supply service during this transition. No action is required from customers in order to transition from Shell Energy to MXenergy, and all contracts will be honored in full. As the closing date approaches, customers will receive a letter providing additional information. read more
North Slope community authorizes mayor to defend village from company’s ‘hostile and dangerous’ intentions
Rose Ragsdale
For Petroleum News
The village of Kaktovik has issued a stinging rebuke to Shell Oil, which is planning to conduct seismic work in nearby whaling waters this fall.
In a strongly worded resolution, passed unanimously by Kaktovik’s city council, villagers described Shell Oil as a “hostile” force in the community.
“Until such time as it becomes apparent that Shell Oil wishes to work reasonably and sensibly with the City and people of Kaktovik, the City of Kaktovik, on behalf of our people, has no choice but to treat Shell Oil as a hostile and dangerous force,” the resolution stated in part. read more
This is not a Shell website. That fact should be abundantly plain from the overall content of this home page and our sister Shell-focussed websites, including shellnazihistory.com. Click on the Disclaimer link at top of this page for more information. You Can Be Sure Shell does not endorse or approve of this website. There are no subscription charges nor do we solicit or accept donations. It is an entirely free to use website drawing attention to the negative side of Shell while also publishing positive news about the company. The Shell logo image with the white text used on this website, as per the above example, is in the public domain because its copyright has expired and its author is anonymous. It can be found on WIKIMEDIA COMMONS. Our shellenergy.websitepublishes Shell Energy customer complaints posted on Trustpilot where there is an ample supply. Use this link for Shell’s own website.
SHELL’S ROLE IN NIGERIAN OPL 245 BRIBERY SCANDAL
Whatever fig leaves they might be trying to use to hide the truth, Shell and Eni paid over $1bn to a company called Malabu for the OPL 245 licence. Even though the payment was channelled through the Nigerian government, it was clear that Shell knew that the ultimate beneficiary was Dan Etete, the former minister of petroleum. Etete is the owner of Malabu, to whom he awarded the licence when he was Nigerian Minister of Petroleum.
Royal Dutch Shell conspired directly with Hitler, financed the Nazi Party, was anti-Semitic and sold out its own Dutch Jewish employees to the Nazis. Shell had a close relationship with the Nazis during and after the reign of Sir Henri Deterding, an ardent Nazi, and the founder and decades long leader of the Royal Dutch Shell Group. His burial ceremony, which had all the trappings of a state funeral, was held at his private estate in Mecklenburg, Germany. The spectacle (photographs below) included a funeral procession led by a horse drawn funeral hearse with senior Nazis officials and senior Royal Dutch Shell directors in attendance, Nazi salutes at the graveside, swastika banners on display and wreaths and personal tributes from Adolf Hitler and Reichsmarschall, Hermann Goring. Deterding was an honored associate and supporter of Hitler and a personal friend of Goring.
Deterding was the guest of Hitler during a four day summit meeting at Berchtesgaden. Sir Henri and Hitler both had ambitions on Russian oil fields. Only an honored personal guest would be rewarded with a private four day meeting at Hitler’s mountain top retreat.
MORE INFORMATION
Shell appeased and collaborated with the Nazis. The oil giant instructed its employees in the Netherlands to complete a form giving particulars about their descent, which for some, amounted to a self-declared death warrant. Shell used slave labor and was a close business partner in Germany of I.G. Farben, the notorious Nazi run chemical giant that also used slave labor and supplied the Zyklon-B gas used during the Holocaust to exterminate millions of people, including children. Shell continued the partnership with the Nazis in the years after the retirement of Sir Henri and even after his death. It was money generated on Shell forecourts around the world, profiteering from cartel oil prices, that funded the Nazi party and saved it from financial collapse. Evidence about Shell's Nazi connections can be found in extracts from "A History of Royal Dutch Shell" Volumes 1 and 2 authored by historians paid by Shell, who had unrestricted access to Shell archives. There are 67 pages in total, so takes some time to download.
Photograph (full size here) shows a Swastika flag flying at the head office of Royal Dutch Petroleum, 30 Carel van Bylandtlaan, The Hague, during the Nazi occupation of the in World War II (From Image Database Hague Municipal)
Sir Henri Deterding, the founder of the Royal Dutch Shell Group - known as "The Most Powerful Man in the World" - who became an ardent Nazi and financial supporter of Hitler and the Nazi party.
Reading between the lines in various legal documents, it seems that the allegations are that after the technology in question had been disclosed to a Shell company in the USA, the information was passed to Shell in the Netherlands in breach of confidentiality. And Royal Dutch Shell subsequently exploited the technology without payment or credit to the company holding the rights; Newton Research Partners. The inference seems to be that Twister B.V. was founded by Shell partly on trade secrets stolen from Bloom/Newton.
DISCLAIMER: This is not a Shell website nor is it officially endorsed by or affiliated with Royal Dutch Shell Plc. Originally co-founded by the late Alfred Donovan and his son John, it is now operated by John, Shell's "No.1 Enemy", aided by an expert team, with invaluable support from retired Shell senior executives and officials as guest contributors and leaked information from Shell insiders. (JOHN DONOVAN, WEBSITE OWNER) For nearly a decade, we have operated globally under the Royal Dutch Shell Plc top level domain name, dealing on Shell’s reluctant behalf with job applications, business proposals, Shell pension enquiries, shareholder enquiries, complaints, invitations to speak at conferences, an approach from the Dutch Defence Ministry and even terrorist threats. All meant for Shell. Prospect magazine has aptly described this website as being:"An open wound for Shell": WIPO proceedings by Shell to seize the domain name failed. NO SUBSCRIPTION CHARGES: All of our watchdog activities monitoring Royal Dutch Shell, including operating this website, are carried out on a non-profit basis. Any advertising revenues generated are used to recover and/or defray operational costs. We are a news aggregator and original content website. All information is available free for educational and research purposes. SHELL TACIT ENDORSEMENT: WHAT A WELL INFORMED SHELL OFFICIAL SAID ABOUT US:
"John and Alfred Donovan well known in UK/Hague. They perceive Shell played them and so have made it their mission to embarrass,belittle and criticize Shell, which they do quite well. Their website, royaldutchshellplc.com is an excellent source of group news and comment and I recommend it far above what our own group internal comms puts out."
WARNING TO SHELL EMPLOYEES: Shell Global Affairs Security "CAS") is spying on Shell employees globally trying to trace who is visiting, posting, or leaking information to this website from Shell premises. Threats, including death threats, have allegedly been made against conscience driven Shell whistleblowers supplying us with information. The worlds biggest leak of employee details as part of a claimed corporate revolution by 116 Shell employees, suggest the espionage operation, threats and draconian litigation have not been entirely successful in cutting off the supply of information to this website. The insider leaks had already cost Shell billions on the Sakhalin Energy project and the loss of SEIC Deputy Chairman, David Greer. We publish our own carefully researched articles about Shell e.g. "How Royal Dutch Shell saved Hitler and the Nazi Party". MEDIA COVERAGE: Prospect Magazine, The Sunday Times, and The Guardian, have all published major articles about us: "Rise of the Gripe Site";"Two men and a website mount vendetta against Shell' and "92-year-old's website leaves oil giant Shell-shocked”. SHELL PETROL STATION images displayed in the website header panel are licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Information on copyright issues here.
John Donovan can be contacted at [email protected]
SHELL’S $500,000 WEDDING GIFT TO CORRUPT BRUNEI ROYAL FAMILY
EXTRACT FROM ASIAN JOURNAL ARTICLE IN LIST OF LINKS BELOW: "Fireworks will light up the sky for three nights. The local unit of oil giant Royal Dutch Shell has donated 500,000 Brunei dollars (US$292,400; euro 243,700) for the display, and for cultural events to be hosted by popular performers from Malaysia."
IN JULY 2007, MR BILL CAMPBELL (ABOVE, A RETIRED GROUP AUDITOR OF SHELL INTERNATIONAL SENT AN EMAIL TO EVERY UK MP AND MEMBER OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS:
THIS IS WHAT IT SAID:
Subject: This could be the most important whistleblower email you have ever received.
Some unfortunate Royal Dutch Shell workers have already lost their lives. More lives are at stake.
My name is Bill Campbell. I am a former Group Auditor of Shell International. I am writing to you on a matter of conscience in an effort to avert the inevitability of another major accident in the North Sea. The consequences could potentially impact on families in many constituencies, including your own.
As Royal Dutch Shell and the Health & Safety Executive would acknowledge, I am an expert on safety matters relating to offshore oil and gas platforms. In 1999, I was appointed by Shell to lead a safety audit on the Brent Bravo platform. The audit revealed a platform management culture that basically gave a higher priority to production than the safety of Shell employees. To our astonishment we discovered that a "Touch F*** All" policy was in place. Worse still, safety records were routinely falsified and repairs bodged.
I personally brought the shocking situation to the attention of senior management including Malcolm Brinded, the then Managing Director of Shell Exploration & Production. I revealed that ESDV leak-off tests were purposely falsified, not once but many times and that Brent Bravo platform management had admitted responsibility for the dangerous practices being followed. In response to my team ringing alarm bells, management pledged to rectify the serious problems which had been uncovered.
When I later complained that the pledges were not being kept, I was removed from my oversight function.
Four years later, a massive gas leak occurred on the platform. Two workers lost their lives. I have no doubt at all that the inaction of the relevant Asset Manager, the General Manager, the Oil Director and Malcolm Brinded, contributed in some part to the unlawful killing of two persons on Brent Bravo in September 2003.
Shell subsequently pleaded guilty to breaches of the HSE regulations and a record-breaking £900,000 fine was imposed. I thought this would bring about a real change in policy to put the emphasis on safety.
Unfortunately I was wrong. Although I supplied the evidence related to 1999, and the fact that there had been a collapse in controls of integrity from 1999 to 2003 on all 16 of Shell's North Sea offshore installations covered in a post fatality integrity review to the HSE for review by the Procurator Fiscal, none of this evidence was presented before the Sheriff at the subsequent Inquiry. The situation is explained in a letter to the Procurator Fiscal and the Sheriff (on 24th February 2007).
Shell management has engaged in spin to try to pretend that it is getting to grips with its safety problem. However, its atrocious safety record - the worst in the North Sea in terms of accidental deaths and absolute number of enforcement actions – tells a different story. This fact has resulted in a number of newspaper articles.
I have had meetings with senior Shell people including its CEO Mr. Jeroen van der Veer. I regret to say that I have found him to be economical with the truth. He prefers to support cover-up and deceit rather than confronting the underlying problems. Brinded is now Executive Director of Shell Exploration & Production. He believes in burying evidence.
My family and friends would probably prefer me to give up on this matter and enjoy my retirement after so many years working for Shell.
However, by writing to every MP in the UK, no one can ever say that I did not do my best to avert an inevitable further major accident event in the North Sea. When it happens (I pray that I am wrong) I will make this warning communication available to the media together with the vast amount of evidence in my possession.
At least my conscience is clear. I have done everything possible to ring the alarm bells about Shell management and its unscrupulous attitude to the safety of its employees.
Yours sincerely
Bill Campbell
ENDS
(Malcolm Brinded and Jeroen van der Veer are no longer with Shell. The Oil Director referred to in the email is Chris Finlayson, who left Shell to become Chief Executive of British Gas before being fired - his photo immediately below)
SIR PHILIP WATTS, THE GROUP CHAIRMAN OF ROYAL DUTCH SHELL GROUP, FORCED TO RESIGN IN 2004
Shell’s reputation was destroyed in 2004 after FIVE consecutive cuts to its hydrocarbon reserves covering 55% of its total reserves. US and UK financial regulators imposed $150 million in fines on Shell for securities fraud. Shell was also rocked by class action lawsuits. Sir Philip Watts
and Walter van de Vijver (whose headcut images appear courtesy of The Wall Street Journal) were among the Shell executives forced to resign. More details at the foot of this column.
MORE DETAILS: The Shell reserves scandal brought about
the end of the Royal Dutch Shell Group in its original form as an Anglo-Dutch partnership.
Shell Transport & Trading Co and Royal Dutch Petroleum were unified into a single Dutch owned company - Royal Dutch Shell Plc.
Sir Philip turned to religion and is now a very wealthy priest after receiving a payoff/pension package from Shell reportedly worth $18.5 million. Walter van de Vijver in contrast was the victim of a sadistic sacking by his Shell senior management backstabbing colleagues.
Displayed below are some of the spectacular promotional campaigns my company Don Marketing created for Shell in the 1980s and 1990s. This was before the series of SIX high court actions we brought against Shell for stealing ideas (4) and for defamation (2) - all settled by Shell. This website is a permanent response by me to the malicious underhand tactics, including treachery, espionage and intimidation, used by Shell during and after the bouts of litigation. More information is printed at the foot of this column.
MORE DETAILS: After a solicitor acting for Shell threatened to make the litigation "drawn out and difficult" with the intention of draining the resources of a financially weaker opponent, my late father (Alfred Donovan) and I decided to mount a wide-ranging campaign as a counter-measure. We jointly founded the Shell Corporate Conscience Pressure Group, which nearly 15% of Shell UK retailers joined. We regularly conducted ethical surveys involving up to 1500 Shell petrol stations. All responses were opened and authenticated by an independent solicitor who supplied Affidavits confirming the results. In whole page announcements in trade magazines (examples above) we challenged Shell to commission and publish the resuits of independent research asking the same questions and offering respondents GUARANTEED anonymity. Shell never took up the invitation. Instead it asked the UK Advertising Standards Authority to investigate our Shell surveys. No problems were found. The head-cut image of Alfred Donovan appears courtesy of The Wall Street Journal.
SHELL CONTROVERSIES
selection of memorable warnings/articles/images associated with the controversial track record of Royal Dutch Shell.
WARNING: DO NOT DISCLOSE YOUR IDEAS TO SHELL GameChanger OR SHELL Ideas360 WITHOUT TAKING EVERY POSSIBLE PRECAUTION. Shell management has ample funds to pay for intellectual property but prefers to steal it from small businesses and in our experience, gives its full backing to dishonest managers willing to do its bidding. We have sued Shell repeatedly in the High Court for the theft of our Intellectual Property. It is doubtful if anyone can match our dire experience in dealing with this ruthless unscrupulous serial poacher of other parties ideas. Expect threats, legal machinations and sinister action from Shell and its spooks if you object to having your ideas stolen.
Some years ago extensive documentary evidence was brought to the attention of Malcolm Brinded above, when he was Chairman of Shell UK, proving beyond any doubt that Shell executives had conspired to rig a tender for a major contract. A number of innocent firms were deliberately lured into signing confidentiality agreements and disclosing Intellectual Property to Shell under false pretences, in a carefully contrived plot. The firm which was awarded the contract never took part in the tender. One objective of the Machiavellian plan was to stop/delay IP trade secrets owned by the participants in the tender from being disclosed to Shell's rivals. This was achieved by outright deception, without paying a cent to the firms involved, who wrongly believed they were participating in an honest tender. Instead of sacking the ring leader, AJL - who had a personal relationship with the firm which miraculously won the race in which it never ran - Shell senior directors, including Brinded, gave AJL their full backing. Some of the Shell executives involved, including for example, Tim Hannagan, still hold high positions inside Shell - in his case, Global Brand and Visual Identity Manager. If Shell does not accept that this is a true, provable account of what happened, then it should sue for libel. How on earth is such predatory conduct compatible with Shell's claimed business principles?
OVER 500 EXTERNAL PUBLICATIONS CITING OUR SHELL WEBSITES
See our link list of over 500 articles by the FT, Wall Street Journal, Reuters, Bloomberg, Forbes, Dow Jones Newswires, New York Times, CNBC etc, plus UK House of Commons Select Committee Hansard records, information on U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission websiteetc. all containing references to our Shell focussed websites, or our website founders Alfred and John Donovan. Includes TV documentary features in English and German, newspaper and magazine articles, radio interviews, newsletters etc. Plus academic papers, Stratfor intelligence reports and UK, U.S. and Australian state/parliamentary publications, also citing our Shell websites. Click on this link to see the entire list, all in date order with a link to an index of over 100 books also containing references to our websites and/or our activities.
John Donovan, the website owner A head-cut image of Alfred Donovan (now deceased) appears courtesy of The Wall Street Journal.
JOHN DONOVAN, THE OWNER OF THIS AND SEVERAL OTHER SHELL FOCUSSED WEBSITES
SHELL PRELUDE TO DISASTER
The links below are to a series of articles, many triggered by a well-placed whistleblower directly involved in the pioneering Royal Dutch Shell Prelude project. Includes articles by Mr Bill Campbell above, the retired distinguished HSE Group Auditor of Shell International and another retired Shell guru with a track record of spotting potential pitfalls in major Shell projects.
The campaign waged on this website by John Donovan to persuade Edward Heerema to rename the worlds biggest ship, The Pieter Schelte - which he named after his late father, Pieter Schelte Heerema, a former Officer in the German Waffen-SS - has been successful. On Friday 6 February 2015, Allseas announced that it was changing the ships name, and on 9 February announced the new name - Pioneering Spirit.
GLOBAL NEWS COVERAGE: FEBRUARY 2010
MORE INFORMATION: Contact details for over 176,000 employees and contractors of Royal Dutch Shell reached John Donovan and some environmental and human rights groups, ostensibly from disaffected Shell staff calling for a “peaceful corporate revolution” at the company. The database, from Shell’s internal directory, contained names and telephone numbers for all the company’s work force worldwide, including some home numbers. It was supplied with a 170 page covering note, explaining that it was being circulated by “116 concerned employees of Shell dispersed throughout the USA, the UK, and the Netherlands”, to highlight the harm done by the company’s operations in Nigeria. John Donovan brought the leak to the attention of Shell. Tests proved that the data was authentic and he destroyed the database after being informed by Mr. Richard Wiseman, the then Chief Ethics & Compliance Officer of Royal Dutch Shell Plc, that the confidential information if publicly disclosed, could put Shell employees and contractors in real danger.
Royal Dutch Shell conspired directly with Hitler, financed the Nazi Party, was anti-Semitic and sold out its own Dutch Jewish employees to the Nazis. Shell had a close relationship with the Nazis during and after the reign of Sir Henri Deterding, an ardent Nazi, and the founder and decades long leader of the Royal Dutch Shell Group. His burial ceremony, which had all the trappings of a state funeral, was held at his private estate in Mecklenburg, Germany. The spectacle (photographs below) included a funeral procession led by a horse drawn funeral hearse with senior Nazis officials and senior Royal Dutch Shell directors in attendance, Nazi salutes at the graveside, swastika banners on display and wreaths and personal tributes from Adolf Hitler and Reichsmarschall, Hermann Goring. Deterding was an honored associate and supporter of Hitler and a personal friend of Goring.
Deterding was the guest of Hitler during a four day summit meeting at Berchtesgaden. Sir Henri and Hitler both had ambitions on Russian oil fields. Only an honored personal guest would be rewarded with a private four day meeting at Hitler’s mountain top retreat.
IN JULY 2007, MR BILL CAMPBELL (ABOVE, A RETIRED GROUP AUDITOR OF SHELL INTERNATIONAL SENT AN EMAIL TO EVERY UK MP AND MEMBER OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS: 
MORE DETAILS:
A head-cut image of Alfred Donovan (now deceased) appears courtesy of The Wall Street Journal.
