"The last train carrying the optimists out of Russian equities has just left the station," was one reaction. "The place looks rotten to the core," was another.
July, 2008:
Russia reaches investors’ tipping point after BP affair sours
This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website,
johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net,
are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.
BP chief Tony Hayward takes tough line against Russian partners
July 26, 2008
BP chief Tony Hayward takes tough line against Russian partners
BP threw down the gauntlet to its Russian partners yesterday, saying that the group would not be forced out of its troubled joint venture.
We intend to hold our ground and we are not going to be intimidated, Tony Hayward, the chief executive of BP said in an interview with The Times.
But despite the rhetoric, Robert Dudley, TNK-BPs American chief executive, remains in hiding outside Russia as speculation grows that his abrupt departure was triggered by fears of imminent arrest. Mr Hayward said that he had been forced to leave because of a refusal by the Russian authorities to grant him a visa and investigations by state security agents.
TNK-BP row ‘is bad for Russia’ says British Foreign Office
Investors began to bail out of Russian-focused shares in London as concerns grew about the ability of Western companies to do business in the country.
Paying the price for Russia’s ‘loveable rogues’
Russian stocks are in freefall, spooked by threats of anti-trust inquiries by Vladimir Putin, the Prime Minister, falling oil prices and the chicanery over TNK-BP.
The retreat from Moscow
"ExxonMobil is the only one that could really pull it off but it is more logical for BP to do a merger of equals with Shell with Tony Hayward running both companies," Gheit added.
Head of BP Venture, Citing Harassment, Leaves Russia
People close to BP say TNK-BP's troubles stem from a Kremlin drive to transfer control of the company to a state entity like OAO Gazprom, leaving BP as a minority partner.
BP refuses to be intimidated by ‘strong-arm tactics’
Tony Hayward has a clear message for the Russian partners in TNK-BP, repeated several times in a conversation with the Financial Times last night: "We are not going to be intimidated by strong-arm tactics.
TNK-BP chief is ‘forced out’ of Russia
The beleaguered chief executive of BP's Russian oil joint venture abruptly left the country yesterday, blaming mounting uncertainties over his visa and "sustained harassment".
Licence to drill
BP's interest is understandable - obtaining visas for workers is somewhat easier stateside than in Russia. But ExxonMobil and Royal Dutch Shell have also splashed out on North American gas properties.
Booming LNG demand helps boost BG Group
In the past four years, BG's shares have risen four-fold, while Royal Dutch Shell's have gone up 30 per cent, and BP's have been flat.
Hayward must urgently address the Russian farce, even if it means selling
Has the time come for BP to cut its losses, quit Russia altogether...
Riches in the Arctic: the new oil race
The future of the Arctic will be less white wilderness, more black gold, a new report on oil reserves in the High North has signalled this week. The first-comprehensive assessment of oil and gas resources north of the Arctic Circle, carried out by American geologists, reveals that underneath the ice, the region may contain as much as a fifth of the world's undiscovered yet recoverable oil and natural gas reserves.
In case you’d missed it, Britain is now at war with Russia.
The row between BP and AAR, its Russian partners, has dramatically escalated with the joint venture's chief executive fleeing Russia and going into hiding.
Bill Browder accuses Russian corporate raiders of $230m fraud
Mr Browder's allegations of institutional corruption strike at the heart of Russia's corporate minefield and further expose the difficulties of conducting business in a country already under fire for its treatment of multinational oil giants Royal Dutch Shell and BP.
TNK-BP: something rotten in the state of Russia
With its tail between its legs, Britain's biggest company is being all but chased out of Russia. During the five years since BP entered into the TNK-BP joint venture, the company has been at pains to insist its Russian venture was unlike those that suffered official harassment, such as Shell and ExxonMobil. It was suggested that BP had the President's ear and his blessing. Perhaps it did, then.
UP TO SCRATCH
John Donovan, managing director of Don Marketing, an agency specialising in promotional games, says he has supplied more than a billion game pieces without any problems. He counts Shell's Make Money game (said to have raised sales by 25%) and the Great Guinness Challenge (which boosted sales by 30%) among his biggest successes.
Dudley Flees Russia in TNK-BP Shareholder Fight
IF BP LOSES ITS RUSSIA STAKE?
Transnational Corporations in Conflict Zones: Shell and Society – Securing the Niger Delta?
In the words of one Shell worker, you pay whomever you have to pay. Thats just the way it is (p.10). The location of Shells priorities is perhaps most clearly seen when the US$60 million the company spends per year on community development is compared to the money reserved for pacifying local militias. Watts asserts that it amounts to at least double that figure and may be as high as US$200 million per annum or 10% of the operating budget.
Former Shell Exec Paddy Briggs comments on Shell’s sale of its stake in the London Array Wind Farm
By Paddy Briggs
This is important news. These two major companies would not have made this investment if they did not think that the project was viable. So Shells withdrawal has nothing to do with the inherent merits of the project but with their continued aversion to activities away form their core hydrocarbon business. As a shareholder I have no problem with this. As Tom Peters wisely said – STICK TO YOUR KNITTING !
What I object to, however, is the continued claims by Shell and other Oil Majors that they are genuinely interested in Renewables. The reality is that they have neither the time nor the skills nor the imagination to be heavily involved in Wind Energy (etc.). The number of staff, the capital investment and the revenue expenditure on Renewables is minuscule compared with the core hydrocarbon business. But the rhetoric in the corporate advertising of Shell and the rest is quite disproportionate to this reality. It really is utterly hypocritical.
Comments of former Shell Exec Paddy Briggs on Linda Cook
By Paddy Briggs
There are many who believe that many of Shells problems in recent times has come from a growing Americanisation of this historically European company. My experience with senior Americans (Jim Morgan, Steve Miller, Lynn Elsenhans and others) was that they were usually likeable but wholly unsuited to the international character of Shell. The regrettable centralisation of decision making is an American led virus. Linda Cook has no international experience to speak of and she sounds like an archetypal centralising American business apparatchik – the last thing Shell needs just now.
Conoco Nets $5.44 Billion In Global Oil Boom
The second-quarter earnings release sounded notes of caution that are likely to be repeated next week when Exxon Mobil Corp., BP PLC and other large oil companies report: a weak refining environment, rising costs and falling production of crude oil and natural gas.
Cold Comfort: Arctic Is Oil Hot Spot
Earlier this year, Royal Dutch Shell PLC spent more than $2 billion acquiring drilling leases in Alaska's Chukchi Sea.
Arctic has 90bn barrels of crude
The Arctic holds as much as 90bn barrels of undiscovered oil and has as much undiscovered gas as all the reserves known to exist in Russia, US government scientists have said in the first governmental assessment of the regions resources.
Sibir Energy, Shell rumours
By Bryce Elder and Neil Hume
Published: July 24 2008 03:00 | Last updated: July 24 2008 03:00
Sibir Energy, Aim’s largest company, slipped 2.8 per cent to 630p in tandem with the oil sector. That came in spite of rumours that Shell, its partner in the Salym oilfield in Siberia, may swap its 50 per cent stake in the joint venture for Sibir equity.
Sibir’s interest in the Salym field accounts for more than half its current net asset value, according to house broker Cazenove.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008
Browne speaks of Elton, elves and etiquette – but little of Texas City
The former BP chief executive Lord Browne admitted visiting Elton John's apartment in Venice, explained that he rarely discusses business with his butler and said he was unaware that his nickname was "Elf".
Oil price falls as US gasoline demand wanes
The price of oil looks set to fall further in the coming days despite continued hurricane fears and concern over the political impasse between the United States and Iran.
Russians issue legal threat to TNK- BP’s Robert Dudley
BP has been under siege in Russia for months, with police raids on its Moscow office, problems getting visas for staff seconded to TNK-BP, and legal action from a minority investor. On Wednesday, the UK company withdrew its remaining 60 engineers.
BP Losing 23% of Production Looms as Russians Assail Investment
Nothing will happen to TNK-BP without the say-so of the Kremlin,'' says Chris Weafer, chief strategist at UralSib Financial Corp., a Moscow-based brokerage. ``The endgame is clear with Putin's government having set up the model of state control.''
Arctic May Hold 90 Billion Barrels of Oil, U.S. Says
Energy producers such as Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Chevron Corp. have accelerated exploration of the northernmost regions for untapped reserves amid record prices and receding access to deposits in more hospitable climates.
MEND says it will attack major oil pipelines
The main militant group in Nigeria's oil-producing Niger Delta said on Wednesday it would attack major oil pipelines in the next 30 days to prove it had not received payment from the government to end its campaign.
The Bitter Battle To Lead TNK-BP
Ultimately, these people say, the Kremlin is seeking to gain control over the venture for a state company like OAO Gazprom, likely leaving BP as a minority partner.
Oil-shale debate moves West
Current shale development is in a research stage. Shell Exploration & Production Co. is working an oil-shale project on three 160-acre parcels in Colorado. Shell agreed with the administration that producers need final leasing regulations so that the "rules of the game" are clear.
Ministers urged to suspend Shell gas work
Its statement followed the arrest of 12 people, including Rossport Five member Willie Corduff, at Glengad yesterday during a protest. The 11 men and one woman were questioned in relation to alleged criminal trespass, and were released without charge shortly before 6pm, according to the Garda in Belmullet, Co Mayo.
Shell shuts onshore Texas natgas output due Dolly
Shell also said about 200 workers had been evacuated from offshore platforms, but Dolly was not expected to impact offshore prodcution.
Parish priest’s concerns over Shell security
"This is a form of intimidation and harassment with photographs being taken,"
BP withdraws remaining TNK-BP specialists
Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for Vladimir Putin, the Russian prime minister, reiterated that view on Tuesday but added we can only hope that such decisions by BP do not negatively impact the activity of the company.
BP withdraws last of seconded staff from Russia
BP has conceded a fresh defeat in its struggle for control of TNK-BP, its Russian joint venture...
Shell Revives Age Old Lime To Oceans Project In A Bid To Combat Global Warming
Apart from Shell and Exxon, the US Bush administration has also expressed an interest in the solution.
Irish Priest accuses Shell of surveillance operations amounting to intimidation and harassment
A PARISH PRIEST in north Mayo claims he has been monitored by Shells extensive security arrangements at a location where work on the controversial project is ongoing.
Protesters arrested at Shell Corrib Gas Pipeline landfall
We have received a report that Shell to Sea protesters, John Monaghan & Naoise O'Mongain, have been arrested at Glengad, the landfall area of the Corrib pipeline, for refusing to allow Shell to continue with the work.
Squandered oil wealth leaves Nigeria in dark age
...the vast majority of Nigeria's 140 million people live in no better conditions than their neighbors in West Africa, the least developed region of the world's poorest continent.
Cook ahead in Shell’s two-horse race
In the minds of some outside the company, Mr Brinded's image is still tarnished by memories of the aftermath of the reserves scandal in 2004.
Renewable energy: European utilities acquire Shell’s stake in world’s largest offshore windfarm
Shell decided to withdraw from the project in May after a strategic review saying it did not meet its financial rates of return.
The global economy is at the point of maximum danger: central banks have pushed debt to fatal levels
It feels like the summer of 1931. The world's two biggest financial institutions have had a heart attack. The global currency system is breaking down. The policy doctrines that got us into this mess are bankrupt. No world leader seems able to discern the problem, let alone forge a solution.
TNK-BP chief in contract pledge
Over the past two months TNK-BP's operations have all but ground to a halt after a spate of suspicious tax, labour and police inspections. BP's 150 western staff have also experienced difficulties renewing their visas
Shell braced against Hurricane Dolly
Shell has begun flying workers from platforms in the western Gulf of Mexico ahead of Tropical Storm Dolly, the company said in a statement.
Oil prices rally on Hurricane Dolly alert
Royal Dutch Shell, whose offshore platforms are to the west of the Gulf, near Texas, began evacuating workers back to the mainland as a safety precaution. On Sunday, it removed 125 people from its platforms, and said that it planned to evacuate another 60 today, but reassured the market that production was not affected.
Plan for Nigeria Met With Jitters
Militants in Nigeria might use the arrival of British troops as an excuse "for another fireworks display,"...
Storm Threat Lifts Crude Oil
Royal Dutch Shell PLC and Chevron Corp. said they were evacuating some personnel from offshore facilities, but output wasn't affected.
Shell Sells Wind-Project Stake
The U.K. arm of German utility E.On AG and Denmark-based DONG Energy said they bought Royal Dutch Shell PLC's stake in the U.K.'s London Array offshore wind project for an undisclosed sum, giving each company a half share in the project.
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: 
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A head-cut image of Alfred Donovan (now deceased) appears courtesy of The Wall Street Journal.
