Shell is very different from Enron. We were criticized for that some time ago and Im glad we have a absolutely rock-solid way we do business. And, if you read our annual report, you read our footnotes and all the details, everything is in there. Its all completely transparent, as far as Shell is concerned.
Sir Philip Watts, Group Chairman, Royal Dutch Shell Group
By John Donovan
During a Bloomberg interview in 2002, with the then Group Chairman of Royal Dutch Shell, Sir Philip Watts, reference was made to the core Royal Dutch Shell business principle of complete transparency.
The following is an extract from his exchange with Guy Collins of Bloomberg on 8 February 2002: –
COLLINS: I want to ask you about Enron and any parallels there. Do you have any off balance sheet liabilities? Do you have trigger mechanisms in place that make you vulnerable to changes in the share price or credit ratings?
WATTS: Shell is very different from Enron. We were criticized for that some time ago and Im glad we have a absolutely rock-solid way we do business. And, if you read our annual report, you read our footnotes and all the details, everything is in there. Its all completely transparent, as far as Shell is concerned.
The reality was very far removed from the pledges of transparency.
On 9 November 2003 Royal Dutch Shell Group Managing Director/Boss of Exploration & Production, van de Vijver, sent the following infamous email to the Group Chairman, Sir Philip Watts complaining that he was: –
becoming sick and tired about lying about the extent of our reserves issues and the downward revisions that need to be done because of far too aggressive/optimistic bookings.
The Shell reserves scandal burst into the public domain in January 2004. Links to a selection of news reports are provided below. Sir Philip and van de Vijver were forced to resign.
They did not suffer financially. Shell directors are Teflon protected by contracts which stipulate that they are bailed out by Shell shareholder funds even if they cheat shareholders by engaging in outright lies, deception and cover-up, as happened in the reserves scandal. The disgraced Sir Philip Watts ended up with a package worth over $18 million (USD) to help cushion his sudden departure from the company.
RELATED ARTICLES
Royal Dutch/Shell Another Enron? Assessing the seriousness of Shell’s crisis The Economist 11 March 2004
The fall of Sir Philip Watts: By retired Royal Dutch Shell Executive Paddy Briggs. Now an elected trustee of the Shell Contributory Pension Fund
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.
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.
