Persistent issues with theft and sabotage in the Niger Delta could prompt Shell to take a hard look at its operations onshore Nigeria, the supermajor’s chief executive Ben van Beurden said this week.
“Our onshore oil position, despite all the efforts we put in against theft and sabotage, is under challenge,” van Beurden told reporters, as carried by Reuters, after Shell reported another set of weak Big Oil results affected by the pandemic.read more
Late last year, a Milan judge ruled that Shell and Eni must stand trial in Italy…
Libby George, Julia Payne: 18 JAN 2018
LONDON (Reuters) – Nigeria has filed a claim against JP Morgan Chase for more than $875 million, accusing it of negligence in transferring funds from a disputed 2011 oilfield deal to a company controlled by the country’s former oil minister.
A spokeswoman for JP Morgan dismissed the accusation on Thursday, saying the firm “considers the allegations made in the claim to be unsubstantiated and without merit”.
The suit filed in British courts relates to a purchase of the offshore OPL 245 oilfield in Nigeria by oil majors Royal Dutch Shell and Eni in 2011.
At the core of the case is a $1.3 billion payment from Shell and Eni to secure the block that the lawsuit says was deposited into a Nigerian government escrow account managed by JP Morgan.read more
Sergey Starodubtsev, the CEO of Shell NeftRoyal, said that Dutch Shell plans to increase the number of its gasoline stations in Russia to about 450.
24.8.2017: MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Anglo-Dutch oil giant Royal Dutch Shell intends to double the number of its gasoline stations in Russia to about 450, the CEO of company’s Russian subsidiary Shell Neft, Sergey Starodubtsev, said Wednesday.
“In Russia, Shell has 227 filling stations at the moment — in Moscow, St. Petersburg and other regions of Russia, for example, in Tatarstan. Do we plan to expand the network? Yes, we plan…. Shell considers Russia one of the priority regions… At least, we are planning to double the number of gas stations in Russia in the near term,” Starodubtsev said at a press conference.read more
FILE PHOTO: Logo of Saudi Aramco is seen at the 20th Middle East Oil & Gas Show and Conference (MOES 2017) in Manama, Bahrain, March 7, 2017. REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed/File Photo
Saudi Aramco plans to spend $18 billion in the next five years to expand its operations in the Americas, focusing on its U.S. oil refining subsidiary Motiva Enterprises, Motiva said on Thursday.
Motiva [MOTIV.UL] called the $18 billion estimate “a general framework of opportunities” to increase refining capacity, branch into chemicals, and expand its commercial operations, marketing and branded presence in the next five years.read more
Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A, RDS.B) and Saudi Aramco complete the separationof the assets, liabilities and businesses of their U.S.-based refining and marketing joint venture.
Shell now holds sole ownership of the 235K bbl/day Norco refinery, where subsidiary Shell Chemical already operates a petrochemical plant, and the 242,250 bbl/day Convent refinery, which Motiva previously said will be integrated to create the Louisiana Refining System, as well as 11 distribution terminals.read more
Shell assumes ownership of Norco, Convent refineries in Motiva deal with Saudi Aramco
Advocate staff report
Royal Dutch Shell has assumed sole ownership of refineries in Norco and Convent as part an agreement with Saudi Aramco to split up the assets of their Motiva joint venture.
Shell, which also has a chemical plant in Convent, also assumes ownership of 11 distribution terminals and Shell-branded markets in Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Louisiana, a portion of the Florida panhandle, and the Northeast.
Saudi Aramco, through its Saudi Refining Inc. subsidiary, assumes ownership of the Motiva Enterprises LLC name, the refinery at Port Arthur, Texas, and 24 distribution terminals. Motiva has the right to exclusively sell Shell-branded gasoline and diesel in Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C., as well as the eastern half of Texas and the majority of Florida.read more
Shell Oil Co, the U.S. arm of Royal Dutch Shell Plc, on Thursday reaffirmed the target date to split up the Motiva Enterprises [MOTIV.UL] refining joint venture with co-owner Saudi Aramco [IPO-ARMO.SE] would be May 1.
Shell and Saudi Aramco in March 2016 announced the plan to divide up the nearly 20-year-old venture, which runs three refineries and other assets. The date of the split has been pushed back twice since the announcement.
As part of the deal, Saudi Aramco will make a $2.2 billion balancing payment to Shell. Of that total, Aramco will only have to pay about $700 million in cash to Shell, with the remainder satisfied by Aramco assuming most of Shell’s half of the $3.2 billion debt held by Motiva.read more
A Motiva Enterprises investigation into the dramatic Aug. 11 fire at its St. James Parish oil refinery found the blaze resulted from a small valve failure that could not have been foreseen and prevented.
The Houston company reached that conclusion in a recent report to the State Police after a monthslong probe into the four-hour blaze that sent black clouds billowing into the sky, forced the evacuation of 1,400 workers and contractors during an intermittent lightning storm and heavily damaged an important H-Oil unit.read more
HOUSTON (Reuters) – A fire was extinguished at Motiva Enterprises’ 235,000 barrel per day (bpd) Convent, Louisiana, refinery on Saturday with no injuries, a company spokeswoman said in a statement.
Two sources familiar with plant operations said the fire broke out shortly before noon on the 45,000 bpd heavy oil hydrocracker, called the H-Oil Unit, which was being restarted to full production for the first time since a fire last August.
Motiva’s spokeswoman, Angela Goodwin, did not identify the unit involved in the fire.read more
by Javier Blas, Joe Carroll, and Margot Habiby: 7 March 2017
Saudi Arabian Oil Co. will pay Royal Dutch Shell Plc $2.2 billion including debt to finalize the breakup of a 19-year refining partnership known as Motiva Enterprises LLC.Saudi Aramco’s Saudi Refining unit will take full ownership of the Motiva Enterprises name and legal entity, including the largest refinery in the U.S. at Port Arthur in Texas, and 24 distribution terminals, according to a joint statement. Shell will take sole ownership of the Norco and Convent refineries in Louisiana and 11 distribution terminals.
Aramco will make a $2.2 billion balancing payment, split between debt and cash and subject to adjustments including working capital, Shell said in a separate statement. Aramco will assume almost all of Motiva’s $3.2 billion of net debt, including $1.5 billion of Shell’s share. A cash payment will cover the balance, Shell said. The arrangement will also take the Anglo-Dutch company closer to its target of selling $30 billion of assets in the three years to 2018.
“Motiva is a strong competitor among U.S. refiners, and we value this important link with the dynamic U.S. energy sector,” said Abdulaziz Al-Judaimi, senior vice president of Aramco’s downstream business. “Our intent is to continue providing Motiva with strong financial support as it transitions into a stand-alone downstream affiliate.”read more
HOUSTON Shell Oil Co, the U.S. unit of Royal Dutch Shell Plc, said on Monday it expects to divide the refineries and other assets of the Motiva Enterprises [MOTIV.UL] joint venture with co-owner Saudi Aramco in the second quarter of 2017.
“We are pleased with the progress we have made to date, and anticipate completion of the transaction in Q2 2017,” Shell spokesman Ray Fisher said in an email. “The April 1 date is a target that the internal project teams are working toward.”read more
Environmentalists cheered and oil lobbyists jeered. Both will certainly waste a lot of time and electrons writing long tracts of praising and condemning Obama. And then they’ll waste donor funds fighting it out in court.read more
HOUSTON, Dec 18 2016 (Reuters) – A malfunction on Saturday triggered flaring at Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s Norco, Louisiana, chemical plant, said a Shell spokesman.
Shell’s Ray Fisher on Sunday declined to say which unit sustained the malfunction.
A source familiar with plant operations said the malfunction was in an olefins unit at the chemical plant.
The Shell chemical plant in Norco shares the safety flare system with the adjoining Motiva Enterprises refinery. Flaring from the chemical plant is sometimes thought to come from the refinery.read more
The election of Donald Trump threatens to complicate efforts by Saudi Arabia’s national oil company to purchase refineries and expand its petrochemical footprint in the U.S.
Speaking in Louisiana earlier this month, he said: “We use refineries from other countries. The whole thing is just crazy. It’s crazy.”
That stance could complicate a continuing deal: Saudi Aramco and Royal Dutch Shell PLC are in talks to end a joint venture called Motiva Enterprises. The Saudi company, which is state owned and state controlled, has said it expects after negotiations are concluded to own the 603,000-barrel-a-day refinery in Port Arthur, Texas. Shell is expected to get two smaller refineries in Louisiana.read more
Motiva Enterprises was returning the expanded hydrocracking unit at the 603,000-barrel-per-day (bpd) Port Arthur, Texas, refinery to production on Wednesday, said sources familiar with plant operations.
A Motiva spokeswoman declined to discuss operations at the refinery.
The refinery is in the process of restarting the hydrocracker after completing a two-month overhaul that increased its capacity from 80,000 bpd to 105,000 bpd, sources have told Reuters.
(Reporting by Erwin Seba; Editing by Alan Crosby and Jonathan Oatis)read more
To Mr. Gary P. Thomson SI-LSC/KCompany Secretarial Advisor
Corporate Secretariat
London
Dear Mr. Thomson
Thank you for your email dated 26 July 2016 and your subsequent letter dated 30 August 2016, the content of both stated by you to be “Strictly private and confidential”.
An attachment was marked as being “Confidential”.read more
At a time when U.S. and Saudi relations are strained, the Saudi Arabian Oil Company is reportedly leading in a race to buy a large refinery in Houston.
Certainly, politics and geopolitics cannot stay out of such move by the Saudi company, but it seems that Aramco has solid business reasons, as well as political ones, to bid for the Houston Refinery, which Dutch chemicals company LyondellBasell Industries NV (NYSE:LYB) is reportedly putting up for sale.read more
HOUSTON — Motiva Enterprises LLC has formed a 76 sales and marketing team to better capitalize on its long-term license for the brand.
The new team is a part of Motiva’s fuels, sales and marketing organization and will establish the go-to-market commercial strategy for the 76 brand in Motiva’s operating geography — which includes 26 Gulf and East Coast states and Washington, D.C.
According to Motiva, the relationship with Phillips 66 on the 76 brand complements the company’s long-standing relationship with Shell and the Shell brand. It also expands Motiva’s portfolio to meet the needs of its wholesalers.read more
Earlier in March, Saudi Aramco’s subsidiary, Saudi Refining, Inc (SRI) and Royal Dutch Shell plc (ADR) (NYSE:RDS.A), announced to dissolve their fuel partnership, Motiva Enterprise. Due to contradictory interests, both the entities signed a letter of intent (LOI), showing the division of assets held under joint venture (JV).
However, the disbanded venture has stuck another blow as Shell is seeking up to $2 billion as a part of breakup from its giant refining enterprise. The hefty compensation is due to Saudi Aramco’s retention of a larger stake in the venture for almost two decades.read more
HOUSTON, July 1 (Reuters) – Motiva Enterprises’ Convent, Louisiana refinery has shelved plans for a gasoline unit overhaul in October despite a six-to-nine-month delay in a planned revamp of the refinery, according to sources familiar with the company’s plans on Friday.
Earlier this year, Motiva began planning the October overhaul of the 92,000 barrel per day (bpd) fluidic catalytic cracking unit at the 235,000 bpd Convent refinery.
Instead, the FCCU will remain in operation until at least June 2017 when it will be permanently closed, said the two sources who were not authorized to speak to the media about the matter.read more
Yenagoa — An oil spill site at Oruma/Yiba-Ama community, Ogbia Local Government Area, Bayelsa State, has been set ablaze by unknown persons.
Sources said Shell abandoned the Ogbia segment of the spill incident without carrying out clean-up and remediation of the devastated Oruma/Yiba-Ama environment.
The report of the Joint Investigation Visit (JIV) carried out on the oil spill which was concluded on 25 June, 2015, indicated that the incident was allegedly caused by third party interference with 306 barrels of crude oil spilled.read more
Construction will begin on Motiva’s $500 million Maurepas Pipeline in the fourth quarter of this year.
“The Maurepas Pipeline is the initial step for Motiva to interconnect and optimize its Gulf Coast refinery operations,” said Kiley Roberson, company spokesman for Tulsa, Okla.-based SemGroup Corp., which will build and own the pipeline.
SemGroup has partnered with Rose Rock Midstream, which will serve as the pipeline operator.
“The Maurepas Pipeline project is a critical first step for Motiva to connect its two refineries in Louisiana to create what Motiva calls its Louisiana Refining System,” Roberson said. “With an integrated crude capacity over 500,000 barrels per day, Motiva’s Louisiana Refining System will rank in the top five of North American refineries in terms of total capacity, creating significant value for Motiva.”read more
Motiva Enterprises said on Thursday it aims to trade its own gasoline, diesel and the components needed to make them in a new organization separate from its co-owner, Royal Dutch Shell.
Motiva, a 50/50 joint venture of Shell and Saudi Aramco , said in a statement that the move will more closely connect the company with fuels markets, customers and trading partners.
But Motiva said it will still rely on Shell to trade crude oil.
“With this change, we hope to provide greater value to them through more active participation in the market,” Motiva Chief Executive Dan Romasko said in the statement.read more
Motiva plans in-house trading organization for refined products
Markets| Thu Jun 11, 2015 1:13pm EDT
(Reuters) – Motiva Enterprises said on Thursday that it was planning to form its own products trading organization for transport fuels and refinery intermediates to enhance its market participation through direct dealings with customers.
The company said it started negotiating term contracts for its gasoline and diesel products in late 2014. It now intends to expand its focus to include all trading activities for refined products starting on Jan. 1.
Motiva said there would be several job opportunities within the new trading organization.read more
I own and operate many Shell related domain names including, for example, RoyalDutchShellPlc.com and RoyalDutchShellGroup.com, both of which Shell International unsuccessfully attempted to seize 10 years ago in proceedings via The World Intellectual Property Organisation.
Depending on reaction to this article, I may put one of my domain names – aramcoshell.com up for sale, probably by auction.
(Reuters) – Motiva Enterprises said on Thursday that operations at its Convent and Norco, Louisiana, refineries will be integrated to take advantage of increased production of lower-cost U.S. shale oil.
Motiva, which is co-owned by Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Saudi Aramco, said the first step in the integration project is the construction of the Maurepas pipeline system that will bring advantaged crude to the Norco refinery and connect the production systems at the two plants.read more
The biggest oil refinery strike in the US in over three decades has entered its 35th day, with no agreement between the United Steelworkers (USW) union and Royal Dutch Shell plc (ADR) (NYSE:RDS.A) been reached so far.
The two parties had a meeting on Wednesday, but the talks ended without reaching a mutually acceptable agreement. Towards the end of the meeting, the two parties decided to hold talks next week. Further negotiations can start as early as March 9.read more
From an article published in the Premium Times on 5 March 2015:
Shell confirms oil leak from underwater facility in Bayelsa
Extracts
The Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) on Thursday confirmed an oil leak incident from its underwater line within its oil fields in Bayelsa.
According to a statement issued by Joesph Obari, Spokesperson for the oil firm, the leakage was reported on January 23, 2015, and the company subsequently shut the facility.
A site visit however showed that residual leak from Seibou Deep facility operated by SPDC, has been discharging crude into Ogboinbiri River in Bayelsa.
“A spill was detected from an underwater flow line riser at the Seibou 2 Wellhead in the night of January 23, 2015,” the statement said.
“The well was closed-in about fifteen hours later, once it was safe to do so and the impacted area boomed off to prevent further spread of the spill.read more
Article by Zain Shauk published 4 March 2015 by Bloomberg.com
More Steelworkers Cross Picket Lines as Refinery Strike Drags on
(Bloomberg) — Royal Dutch Shell Plc said more than 20 percent of about 800 union workers at its Deer Park refinery in Texas have crossed picket lines, undermining a strike that has entered its second month.
Workers also have begun returning to their jobs at refineries owned by Motiva Enterprises LLC, a joint venture between Shell and Saudi Arabian Oil Co., said Kelly Op De Weegh, a Motiva spokeswoman. LyondellBasell Industries NV and Tesoro Corp., two other refinery owners affected by the strike, are seeing a growing number of employees coming back to work, according to spokespersons for the companies who wouldn’t provide a specific estimate.read more
Several months ago we published an article about certain events at the Shell-Motiva Norco site in Louisiana involving alleged victimisation of employees:
By Manuella Libardi: Published 4:03 pm, Monday, March 2, 2015
Nederland police are still investigating a Saturday shooting at the home of a Motiva Enterprises supervisor that damaged his vehicle.
Police Chief Darrell Bush said two shots were fired in the 800 block of N. 10th St. early Saturday. The gunman shot at the supervisor’s vehicle and some pellets also hit the house.read more
Tensions between Royal Dutch Shell plc (ADR) (NYSE:RDS.A) and the United Steelworkers (USW) union rise as more union workers have walked out of three additional US refineries. The latest negotiations between Shell and USW took place on February 20. However, no agreement between the two parties could be reached.
The USW workers on Friday midnight decided to impose a strike at the US Motiva Port Arthur refinery in Texas .On Saturday, the USW then decided to impose strikes in the Motiva Convent, Shell Chemicals Norco plants, and the Motiva Norco Refinery. Motiva Enterprises is a joint venture between Shell and Saudi Aramco.read more
(Reuters) – The U.S. refinery strike was widening on Friday night as workers at the nation’s largest refinery gave notice of a walkout beginning at 12 a.m. (0600 GMT) on Saturday, the United Steelworkers union (USW) said.
Shortly after talks between union and oil company representatives ended on Friday night, the union notified Motiva Enterprises [MOTIV.UL] of a strike by its members at the company’s 600,250 barrel per day (bpd) refinery in Port Arthur, Texas.read more
SETTLEMENT DOCUMENTS SUPPLIED BY AN INSIDER SOURCE
Shell reached a settlement with the U.S. Department of Labor for failure to pay overtime in the USA.
Shell required Production Department Operators to make shift relief in full Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) but, the company would not pay individuals for the time necessary for donning or doffing PPE thereby violating the Federal Fair Labor Stands Act, which requires employees to be paid for all time worked.
Here are the two separate judgments for Shell and their alliance company “Motiva”.read more
The article printed below was supplied to the Company Secretary & General Counsel Corporate of Royal Dutch Shell Plc., Mr Michiel Brandjes, on Monday 15 Sept 2014. I asked Mr Brandjes to also bring the article to the attention of Royal Dutch Shell CEO Ben van Beurden and the Shell-Motiva Security Supervisor named in the working headline. The parties were given the opportunity to take issue with the stated facts, comment and/or take legal action to prevent publication. No response has been received. It follows that Shell has also not disputed the authenticity of quoted internal email correspondence. Readers are free to draw their own conclusions.
WORKING HEADLINE: SHOVE-OFF BY JO KERKHOFF – VICTIMIZATION OF EMPLOYEES RAMPANT AT SHELL-MOTIVA NORCO SITE
This is the true story of a former U.S. Secret Service Agent and former Special Agent-in-Charge of the U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security. He was hired by a contractor firm in June of this year to become Project Manager with responsibility for the security force at the Shell-Motiva Norco site in Louisiana. The site is spread over 700 acres, inclusive of a major refinery.
I have confirmed the remarkable background of this individual, who has worked in some of the most stressful operational settings. This includes his assignment as the Incident Commander for the rescue, relief, recovery and federal law enforcement activities in preparation for and in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, where he commanded vast personnel resources as well as small boats, aircraft and vehicles, for which he was granted seven high-level awards and commendations.read more
“If it had been built better, if it had been designed better, it could be running more crude…”
Extracts from a Reuters article by Erwin Seba published by The Chicago Tribune on 3 July 2014
HOUSTON (Reuters) – The nation’s largest refinery hit a throughput milestone last week, processing 615,000 barrels in one day for the first time since a series of setbacks that followed its $10 billion expansion, sources familiar with operations said. The 2.5 percent increase in crude oil intake one day in late June, trumpeted in a company email, showed the continuing impacts of a troubled start-up after the expansion, the sources said. “If it had been built better, if it had been designed better, it could be running more crude,” said one of the sources. A Motiva official declined to comment.read more
Extracts from a Reuters article by Simon Falush published 30 April 2014
LONDON (Reuters) – Oil major Shell may take up to a year to complete a planned sale of assets in Nigeria, and the process may be complicated by an election, the oil major’s chief financial officer said. Shell is looking to make $15 billion in disposals worldwide this year and next, including the sale of its stake in four oil blocks in the Niger Delta…
HOUSTON – January 27, 2014 – Dan Romasko, former Executive Vice President of Operations for Tesoro Corporation, has been named President and CEO of Motiva Enterprises LLC. He replaces Bob Pease, who has served with distinction for the past 5 years and will return to Shell, effective February 1.
By John Donovan: According to a Shell insider source, rumours are circulating that Royal Dutch Shell Plc may divest Shell Oil Company in order to generate money. And presumably to get rid of the difficult USA influence. Since Saudi Aramco are joint owners on a 50-50 basis with Shell in Motiva Enterprises, operating three US refineries and 7,700 Shell branded gasoline stations, the Saudis would be the most logical buyer, perhaps followed by Chevron. read more
Motiva Enterprises LLC plans to shut the fluid catalytic cracker at the Convent, Louisiana, refinery, by October 2016 because it’s unprofitable to operate…
By Barbara PowellDec 18, 2013 6:07 PM GMT
Motiva Enterprises LLC plans to shut the fluid catalytic cracker at the Convent, Louisiana, refinery, by October 2016 because it’s unprofitable to operate, a person familiar with operations said.
The refinery’s crude units don’t produce as much feedstock, such as vacuum gasoil, as the unit can process. Motiva found it too costly to purchase additional feed, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the information isn’t public. A catalytic cracker upgrades vacuum gasoil into gasoline and other fuels.read more
ROYAL DUTCH SHELL has shut down parts of a refinery in Port Arthur, Texas, after a fire broke out following a £6.4billion expansion scheme.
Shell closed units at the Motiva refinery, which is run by a joint venture of the oil giant and Saudi Refining, after the second blaze in a week is said to have started near the biggest of the plant’s three crude oil units.
The first attempt to start the unit, at the end of a five year upgrade of the refinery, was hampered by a chemical leak in June 2012.
The unit has been running at reduced rates since it began production early this year.
The company may shut the crude unit in the autumn of 2014 to fix the problems.read more
With a trial slated for September, discovery is still ongoing in litigation brought against Motiva Enterprises, which alleges the company discriminated against a black Port Arthur woman by allowing a white male certain privileges.
As previously reported, Carolyn Warwick filed a lawsuit July 10 in Jefferson County District Court against Motiva Enterprises.
Court records show that a certificate of written discovery was filed on April 2, serving upon all counsel Motiva’s first set of interrogatories and first request for production of documents.read more
Motiva Enterprises LLC’s Port Arthur, Texas, refinery is in the early process of preparing units for restart, following an unexpected loss of power Sunday from its utility provider, said Kimberly Windon of Shell Oil Co., spokeswoman for the joint venture that operates the refinery.
“The refinery is safely progressing through a structured and planned restart sequence that will encompass several days,” Ms. Windon said.
The electrical malfunction resulted in a plant-wide shutdown of Motiva’s 600,000-barrel-a-day refinery and also of Valero Energy Corp.’s (VLO) 310,000-barrel-a-day refinery in the same area.read more
Motiva Enterprises LLC’s Port Arthur, Texas, refinery is completely shut down after losing power yesterday, a person familiar with operations said.
There isn’t a timeline for restarting the plant, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the information isn’t public. The refinery is the largest in the U.S. with a capacity of 600,000 barrels a day.
Entergy Corp. restored electricity to the three plants in Port Arthur, owned by Motiva, Total Petrochemicals USA Inc. and Valero Energy Corp., which account for 1.08 million barrels a day of refining capacity.read more
A worker was killed at the Motiva Refinery in Norco Wednesday when two large cylinders fell on him, authorities and a company official said. Michael Louque, 56, of Grammercy, was pronounced dead at St. Charles Parish Hospital in Luling, the St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s Office said.
The Sheriff’s Office said Louque, who worked for River Parish Maintenance, was loading the equipment onto a flatbed truck when the load shifted and the pumps fell on him. The Sheriff’s Office initially said he was loading pumps, but Roger Landry, president of River Parish Maintenance, said it was actually 16-foot-long cylinders that weigh more than 1,000 pounds.read more
FROM OUR 2005 SHELL NEWS ARCHIVE:“Motiva, a joint supply venture between Shell and Saudi Refining…”: “…pleaded no contest to state charges of criminally negligent homicide…”: “The company… has paid more than $60 million to settle lawsuits”: “It is still the subject of a federal lawsuit…”
Judge Fines Motiva $10M in Tank Explosion
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS: Posted 18 March 2005
DOVER, Del. (AP) — Refineries operator Motiva Enterprises LLC was fined $10 million Thursday after the company pleaded guilty to criminal charges relating to a fatal tank collapse and explosion at a refinery in 2001.
Motiva, a joint supply venture between Shell and Saudi Refining, pleaded guilty to negligently endangering workers at its former refinery in Delaware City as well as discharging pollutants into the Delaware River and negligently releasing sulfuric acid into the air, both in violation of the Clean Air Act.read more
Selection of Shell related article links kindly supplied by a regular contributor
Stranded Shell drill vessel won’t face state tax: FuelFix (blog)-State oil and gas attorney Martin Schultz said the policy covers the Kulluk. “It’s a pretty straightforward interpretation as it applies to the Shell …
Motiva Enterprises LLC has successfully restarted the expansion segment of its Port Arthur, Texas, refinery after months of setbacks and false starts, a person familiar with the refinery’s operations said.: The process of restarting the unit began late last year, but was further delayed by the discovery of new pipe leaks and a small fire.
Published January 22, 2013 by Dow Jones Newswires
Motiva Enterprises LLC has successfully restarted the expansion segment of its Port Arthur, Texas, refinery after months of setbacks and false starts, a person familiar with the refinery’s operations said.
The refinery will run the segment at 200,000 to 225,000 barrels per day for about three to four weeks before ramping up to its full capacity of 325,000 barrels, the person said.
A spokesman for Royal Dutch Shell Plc. (RDSA) said only that the unit is on track to be restarted in early 2013.read more
By Dow Jones Business News, January 07, 2013, 01:19:00 PM EDT
By Alison Sider
Motiva Enterprises LLC said the crude unit of its Port Arthur, Texas, refinery expansion leaked while being restarted Sunday and was shut down.
Kimberly Windon, spokeswoman for Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSA), said the company still plans to have the VPS 5 crude distillation unit fully restarted “in the early part of this year.”
“We anticipate making the necessary adjustments/repairs and returning the unit to normal operation in an expeditious manner,” Ms. Windon wrote in an email Monday.read more
Published December 31, 2012 by Dow Jones Newswires
Motiva Enterprises LLC reported that a wet gas compressor at its Port Arthur, Texas, refinery experienced an emergency shutdown Saturday, according to a filing with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
The company reported that charge rates were reduced to help stabilize operations for the restart of the compressor.
A spokesman for Royal Dutch Shell PLC couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.
Motiva is a joint venture between Shell and Saudi Arabian Oil Co.read more
A malfunctioning Shell Chemical unit located on the Motiva Enterprises campus in Norco that lost power on Thursday was restarted about 10 p.m. Saturday, according to a news release from the company. The company warned residents that the flaring and smoke that had preceded Thursday’s power outage will continue through Sunday.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.