Daily Telegraph: Shell’s board survive: No wonder Shell is in such a mess
Here’s another lord in a lather. Oxburgh of Liverpool was probably out of breath when he arrived at the House of Lords for yesterday’s science and technology select committee meeting. For the previous four hours, the non-executive chairman of Shell’s UK business had delivered a (peerless?) master class in apologising for the oil and gas giant’s shocking loss of 23pc of its proven oil and gas reserves. It was a day for apologies at Shell’s annual meeting. Lord Oxburgh’s first one was for low-flying aircraft that might drown out his words.
On cue, a jet took off from nearby London City airport, drowning out his next apology (for Shell’s missing oil and gas). He then forecast a silver lining in “the particular black cloud that has hung over us for some months”. His colleagues on Shell’s flight deck sunk deeper into their seats.
As well they might. Lord Oxburgh claimed that the first Shell’s non-executives knew about the overstated reserves was in January when chairman of the committee of managing directors Sir Philip Watts ‘fessed up. This won’t do. What was Sir Mark Moody-Stuart doing? He was Sir Philip’s predecessor during the years when much of the unproven reserves were being added and is now a non-exec.
Shareholders hoping to find out answers from current Shellmeister Jeroen van der Veer were in the wrong country. He was in The Hague, answering questions at Shell’s Dutch agm. No wonder Shell is in such a mess, with directors in different countries trying to sing from the same corporate hymn sheet. At least changes to Shell’s structure might make that easier next year. Until then, that silver lining looks like being the oil price. If it was not riding so high, Shell’s corporate crisis would be far worse.
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.
