As Bay Area refinery owners fight for reduction of assessments, some want levy on windfall profits
By Rick Jurgens
CONTRA COSTA TIMES
Governments vigorously tax oil companies for the same reason legendary criminal Willie Sutton robbed banks: “Because that's where the money is.”
Take the owners of the five East Bay refineries. As a group, Chevron, Shell, ConocoPhillips, Valero and Tesoro posted 2005 profits of more than $58 billion, as soaring fuel prices boosted their total sales to $859 billion.
A portion of that money went to finance the operations of governments. The five companies paid $41 billion in income taxes in the United States and other nations during 2005, according to company financial filings.read more
Ogoni may pull out of reconciliation process with Shell
Hope of a successful Ogoni/Shell reconciliation process has again been threatened just as the Ogoni people have indicated their likely withdrawal from the talk.
In a press statement circulated in Port Harcourt on Saturday and signed by the Information Officer of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), Bari-ara Kpalap, the group frowned at what it described as Shell’s “provocative and unfriendly actions” in recent times.
MOSOP contended that the alleged entrance of some workers of the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) into Kpean, an Ogoni community, on the night of April 13, this year, was a violation of the terms of the ongoing peace and reconciliation process. read more
Structures larger than Prudhoe Bay exist in regions that extend the prolific onshore petroleum systems of northern Alaska
Alan Bailey
Petroleum News
With Shell planning to restart drilling in the Beaufort Sea and seismic surveys planned for both the Beaufort Sea and the Chukchi Sea, this may be a good time to review the petroleum resource potential of the outer continental shelf of northern Alaska.
And at the April 6 meeting of the Geophysical Society of Alaska U.S. Minerals Management Service geologist Kirk Sherwood spoke about the new MMS assessment of Alaska’s Arctic offshore region. read more
Murkowski cites local support for oil and gas development, North Aleutian basin could hold up to 23 trillion cubic feet of natural gas
Wesley Loy
Anchorage Daily News
Alaska Gov. Frank Murkowski came off the fence April 12 and endorsed the idea of oil and gas leasing in the federal waters of salmon-rich Bristol Bay.
In a letter to the U.S. Minerals Management Service, Murkowski said he based his position on local support around the bay for leasing in what is known as the North Aleutian basin.
The governor last October had stopped short of backing a lease sale, saying he needed to hear more from the region’s people. read more
THE Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) has denied allegations of human rights violations in Ogoni land levelled by the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP).
A statement released by management of the company disclosed that SPDC was forced to pull out of Ogoni land in 1993 without the opportunity to secure and make safe its wells and other facilities.
“Since then, continuing sabotage and deterioration of facilities left behind have caused a number of crude oil spills and fire incidents, putting communities and the lives of people at risk. SPDC has been seeking access from Ogoni leaders to return to the area to secure these facilities and clean up the spills and the environment, but without success.”read more
Two of Hollywood's most prominent power players – one the former president of Disney, the other the current chairman of Paramount Pictures – took centre stage in America yesterday in the growing scandal surroundingthe disgraced private eye Anthony Pellicano and his unorthodox investigative methods.
Neither Michael Ovitz, the one-time super agent and Disney supremo, nor Brad Grey, the Paramount chief who once shared an office building with Mr Pellicano, has been accused of wrongdoing. Both men, through their lawyers, have insisted they are only witnesses in the case.read more
Just when the executives of the world's biggest fast food company were beginning to get over the damage done by the hit film Super Size Me, a new film and book about McDonald's are about to dump a fresh bucket of ordure over the Golden Arches.
With Hollywood backing and a stellar cast, a film of Eric Schlosser's best-selling book, Fast Food Nation is looming as a potent threat to the burger chain's fragile reputation.read more
John and Helen Taylor have set a new Guinness World Record by driving round the world – that's 18,000 miles – on just 24 tanks of petrol. Averaging close to 60mpg in their standard 1.6 VW Golf, they used a new fuel formulation designed by Shell to reduce friction within the engine and improve economy.
For 13 years as chairman and chief executive, Lee R. Raymond propelled Exxon, the successor to John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil Trust, to the pinnacle of the oil world.
Under Mr. Raymond, the company's market value increased fourfold to $375 billion, overtaking BP as the largest oil company and General Electric as the largest American corporation. Net income soared from $4.8 billion in 1992 to last year's record-setting $36.13 billion.read more
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KUWAIT: Independent economists yesterday urged Kuwait's state-run oil industry to come clean on the extent of its proven oil reserves as oil accounts for about 80 per cent of the nation's income. Economists made the call after speculation earlier this year that Kuwaiti reserves could actually be only half their current estimated 97 billion barrels. read more
By Chris Sansone Friday, April 14, 2006 12:19 PM CDT
With the Easter weekend upon us, retail gasoline prices continue to soar across Texas and the nation as crude oil market prices push sharply higher, according to the weekly AAA Texas gas prices survey released Friday.
The survey shows the average retail price of regular, self-serve gasoline in Texas climbed 14 cents this week to $2.73 per gallon. Nationally, the average price climbed 12 cents this week to $2.72 per gallon. read more
April 14, 2006— Soaring gas prices are squeezing most Americans at the pump, but at least one man isn't complaining.
Last year, Exxon made the biggest profit of any company ever, $36 billion, and its retiring chairman appears to be reaping the benefits.
Exxon is giving Lee Raymond one of the most generous retirement packages in history, nearly $400 million, including pension, stock options and other perks, such as a $1 million consulting deal, two years of home security, personal security, a car and driver, and use of a corporate jet for professional purposes.read more
This article relates to a forthcoming story about Shell's use of private investigators and undercover agents.
THE NEW YORK TIMES: F.B.I. Files Link Big Film Names to a Detective
By DAVID M. HALBFINGER and ALLISON HOPE WEINER
Published: April 14, 2006
LOS ANGELES, April 13 — The chairman of Paramount Pictures and a onetime Hollywood superagent had far more direct dealings than they have acknowledged publicly with the celebrity detective at the center of a rapidly expanding wiretapping scandal, according to government evidence.read more
ThisDayOnline: Ogoni Land: MOSOP, Shell Trade Words
From: John Iwori in Port Harcourt, 04.14.2006
The Movement for Survival of Ogoni People (MOSOP), the apex organization of the Ogoni people in Rivers State is at loggerhead with Anglo Dutch oil giant, Shell over what it called, “reports of Shell’s unabated, provocative responses and disguised plots in support of its regime of destabilization of Ogoni communities”.
In a two page statement made available to THISDAY yesterday in Port Harcourt, MOSOP decried the multinational oil company’s attempt to “immediately work on oil installations in Ogoni”, especially those located in Kegbara Dere and other oil producing communities in Gokana Local Government Area, even as it accused Shell of announcing what it described as a “non-detailed but limited, monetized relief materials for victims of the Kegbara Dere oil spill of March 24th, 2006 as a subtle means of enhancing the plan”.read more
• Royal Dutch Shell, Europe's second-largest oil company, said it will open a $8.3m financial and accounting centrein Poland, taking advantage of lower costs for skilled labor.
• Faroe Petroleum, a UK.-based oil and gas company, raised £25m by selling its own shares to fund an expansion into Norwegian exploration and production as well as its existing licences.
• Shares of Empyrean Energy, a UK-based oil and gas explorer, rose by 21pc after the company announced the discovery of “good oil” at its Eagle North-1 well in California. read more
Expansion: Repsol buys emission rights from Shell (Repsol compra derechos de emision a Shell)
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Leading Spanish petrochemicals group Repsol YPF is to acquire 10,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) emission rights from Anglo-Dutch petrochemicals giant Royal Dutch Shell. These rights have a market value of 205,000 euros.read more
Shell Group to set up A7 million accounting, management center in Poland
AP Worldstream
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Poland and Royal Dutch Shell PLC on Thursday signed a deal for the oil giant to open a A7 million (US$8.5 million) center for accounting and management near the southern city of Krakow, Shell said.read more
Shell to Spend $1.55 Billion to End Gas Flare in Nigeria
By Vincent Nwanma, Dow Jones Newswires
LAGOS (Dow Jones Commodities News via Comtex)
Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria, a unit of Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSB) (RDSB.LN) says it will spend an additional $1.55 billion to end gas flaring from its operations in Nigeria.
This amount will be used to capture gas still being flared from 28, out of its 75 flowstations in Nigeria, SPDC said in a statement sent to Dow Jones Newswires Wednesday. read more
The Notice of Annual General Meeting currently arriving through the letter boxes of Royal Dutch Shell plc shareholders contains an apology by Shell for the jailing of the “Rossport Five”. They are the five Irish citizens jailed at the behest of Shell for three months because they opposed on environmental grounds, the laying of the Corrib gas pipeline in Ireland.
The apology on page 9 of the report says: –
“Shell regrets that five people were imprisoned for contempt of court and recognises the very negative impact this has had on the local community. Shell acknowledges that it must work in more effective partnership with the local community to recover the situation and to ensure wide acceptance of the way forward for Corrib. It believes that the Government-led mediation process, together with the ISR, will enable that partnership to move forward.” read more
IF YOU’RE about to graduate from a UK university you’ve chosen a good time to do it. The number of jobs for new graduates has risen for the third year running — vacancies are up 10 per cent year-on-year — and there were at least a thousand employers competing on campus to hire the best graduates during the 2005-06 recruitment season.
With many organisations now close to filling their vacancies for autumn 2006, recruiters were in buoyant mood for last week’s annual celebration of Britain’s most sought-after employers, The Times Graduate Recruitment Awards 2006. Now in their ninth year, the awards recognise the graduate employers of choice in each of the major employment sectors.
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The NHS and Procter & Gamble were the only employers to win awards in more than one category — for general management and human resources, and marketing and sales respectively. The accountancy sector was dominated by the Big Four professional services firms, headed by PricewaterhouseCoopers. The BBC was a runaway winner in the media sector and IBM a clear favourite for finalists interested in IT. Shell overtook last year’s engineering employer of choice Rolls-Royce and despite fierce competition from Aldi, Marks & Spencer held on to the award for the top retail employer. Clifford Chance retained its position as the legal employer of choice, as did HSBC for finance, Accenture for consulting and GlaxoSmithKline for research and development.
read more
• RWE may build a clean-coal power plant in the South-East for as much as £800m to cut its emissions of carbon dioxide from power generation.
• An independent audit of Nigeria’s oil industry found gaps between the amount held in the central bank and what companies such as Royal Dutch Shell and Chevron said they paid.
• Interconnector, owner of a reversible natural gas pipeline linking England and Belgium, will change the direction of its flow so gas is exported from the United Kingdom, after customers’ demands. read more
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GAZPROM has delivered its first liquefied natural gas cargo to the UK market as it expands into LNG through gas swaps, writes Martyn Wingrove.read more
Nasdaq Stake in LSE May Push The Exchange to Fight or ExpandInto Other Financial Arenas
By AARON LUCCHETTI in New York, EDWARD TAYLOR in Frankfurt, CHARLES FLEMING in Paris and ALISTAIR MACDONALD in LondonApril 13, 2006; Page C1
The New York Stock Exchange faces a dilemma in London.
Should the exchange, owned by NYSE Group Inc., challenge its archrival Nasdaq Stock Market Inc. in pursuit of Europe's biggest stock exchange, or make a different move to further the consolidation of the world's financial markets?
The NYSE's pickle was created by Nasdaq's purchase of a nearly 15% stake in London Stock Exchange PLC earlier this week, which gave the smaller Nasdaq a big say over the London exchange's future and a head start in making any bid.read more
By Peter Gelling International Herald Tribune THURSDAY, APRIL 13, 2006
JAKARTA The more than 50 million cars, trucks, busses and motorbikes overwhelming Indonesia's urban streets have long held the interest of foreign gasoline companies.
So when the government deregulated the consumer market in 2001, companies like Royal Dutch Shell and Petroliam Nasional, Malaysia's state oil and gas company, quickly set plans in motion, and in the past few months opened Indonesia's first foreign-owned gas stations in Jakarta.
The stations opened with much fanfare, with talk of hundreds more in Indonesia. But the companies have not met their sales expectations and the government's decision to prohibit foreign operators from selling subsidized fuel, which accounts for more than 90 percent of the market, has stalled expansion.
Shell and Petronas, as the state company is called, knew they would be denied access to the subsidy sector when they applied for licenses, but were given indications by the government that the block would be lifted by 2005.
“It could mean we don't invest much more,” Bob Moran, chairman of Shell Indonesia, said of the inability to sell subsidized fuel.
For more than 30 years, the government has used state funds to defray fuel costs. Before President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono cut fuel subsidies last year, they had accounted for more than a quarter of the national budget. But the policy is widely supported by Indonesians, who are accustomed to paying some of the lowest prices in the world.
The number of motor vehicles in Indonesia has increased by an average of 20 percent a year over the last five years. Indonesia's potential, said Moran, is on par with India and China. Indonesia, he said, is becoming an important market for his company, which also has outlets in Malaysia, India, China and Singapore.
“We have thus moved relatively quickly here to start up our retail fuels business, despite the risks still associated with the regulatory environment,” he said.
Shell has opened three stations in Jakarta and plans to open several more before the end of year. Petronas opened its first station in March and is aiming for as many as 20 outlets by in 2007.
Most Indonesians still rely on Pertamina, Indonesia's state-owned fuel company, the sole provider of subsidized fuel. Fuel is a major expense for the more than 110 million Indonesians living on less than $2 a day.
Analysts said it is unlikely that services like ATMs, convenience stores and fast-food restaurants, or even guarantees of quality, will attract these customers to Shell or Petronas, whose specially formulated fuels are more expensive.
The big, brightly lit foreign-owned stations draw motorists from all over Jakarta, some driving more than an hour. When the stations first opened, cars waited in long lines to sample the new brand. But company officials said current customers are a wealthy minority and if they want their businesses to grow, Indonesia must continue to open up the market.
“At the moment, we cannot gain access to 90 percent of the demand,” Moran said.
The government deregulated the industry to move toward a more open market and encourage foreign investment. Subagyo Nafrizal Sikumbang, director of Bph Migas, Indonesia's market regulator, said the government was still committed to a level playing field and that opening up subsidized fuel was “just a matter of time.”
But how much time is unclear. The government extended Pertamina's monopoly on subsidized fuel for another year.
Moran said Shell was committed to invest in Indonesia, but large- scale investment would depend on the establishment of a “properly functioning, market-based system” in Indonesia.
“The distribution of subsidized fuels,” he said, “is a critical issue that needs to be addressed by the government.”
LONDON (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell said on Wednesday it has yet to carry out an assessment of an offshore oil field in Nigeria, a step required before it restarts output shut since February by rebel attacks.
On Monday, Shell said that it hoped the assessment of the EA field in Nigeria, which pumps 115,000 barrels a day, could take place as early as this week.
“The pre-resumption assessment indeed has not taken place yet,” Shell spokeswoman Caroline Wittgen said. She said production would resume “as soon as possible and when it's safe to do so.”read more
DAYS after being spared another stint in jail, the Rossport Five are adamant that they will continue to resist the laying of the Corrib Gas pipeline along its proposed route.
Speaking to The Mayo News on Monday, Willie Corduff, one of the five men who spent 94 days in Cloverhill Prison last summer for breaching a court order, vowed that the proposed gas pipeline is ‘not going to happen’ – unless Shell E&P alter their plans substantially.read more
LONDON (AP) — Britain's Financial Services Authority on Tuesday fined Deutsche Bank AG 6.4 million British pounds ($11.2 million) for market misconduct, the third largest penalty the watchdog has ever imposed.
The fine relates to two improper transactions by Deutsche Bank, Germany's largest commercial bank, in March 2004 involving shares of Swedish truck maker Scania AB and of Swiss biotechnology firm Cytos Biotechnology AG.read more
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — University of Texas senior Thuan Phan switched majors from computer science to geological sciences, figuring the field trips would make it more fun. Now his degree turns out to be lucrative, too.
''Big Oil'' has been doing some big recruiting on U.S. campuses this year — as have many smaller companies in the petroleum and natural gas business. The combination of high prices, an aging work force and a tight pipeline of trained workers has the industry desperate for talent. Phan accepted a $55,000-per-year offer in Houston at Schlumberger Ltd., an oilfield services firm.read more
Supply fears fuel trading frenzy and record oil prices
Lloyds List; Apr 12, 2006
OIL prices climbed to record levels yesterday on the back of supply fears in Nigeria and Iran, writes Martyn Wingrove.
Traders in London and New York ploughed into the market to buy light crude oil as they anticipated growing demand for gasoline in the summer and a shortfall in capacity.
Fears of a disruption in supplies due to continued troubles in Nigeria and a confrontation in Iran pushed London's Brent crude prices to all-time highs.read more
The Times: Banker departs as Deutsche is fined £6m over Scania
By Tom Bawden
DAVID MASLEN, the banker at the centre of a controversial share sale that landed Deutsche Bank with the City watchdog’s third-largest ever fine, left the bank abruptly only days before the fine was made public yesterday.
Mr Maslen was Deutsche Bank’s head of European cash trading when, in March 2004, Volvo hired the bank to sell £1.1 billion of shares that it owned in Scania, the Swedish lorry maker.
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The Financial Services Authority (FSA) fined the bank £6.3 million for “failing to observe proper standards of market conduct”. Mr Maslen was fined £350,000 for “being knowingly concerned in the failure to observe proper standards of market conduct”.
Deutsche Bank confirmed that Mr Maslen had left the company, but declined to say whether he had been dismissed. A spokesman for Mr Maslen denied suggestions that he had been sacked and said that his contract was “terminated by mutual agreement”.
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Deutsche fined £6.3m for market misconduct By Robert Miller (Filed: 12/04/2006)
The London arm of Deutsche Bank has been fined £6.3m for market misconduct by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) the third-largest penalty ever levied by the City watchdog.
David Maslen, former head of European Cash Trading at Germany's biggest bank, was personally fined £350,000, the highest FSA penalty to be levied on an individual.
The watchdog's disciplinary action relates to two separate deals in March 2004. In the first Deutsche, which employs 6,626 staff in London, agreed to buy nearly 64m shares in Sweden's Scania for £1.1bn from Volvo and sell them on through an accelerated book-building exercise. read more
The Financial Services Authority has slapped a £6.4m fine on Deutsche Bank, the third largest imposed by the financial markets' watchdog.
The bulk of the fine, some £5.9m, was imposed for market misconduct and a further £500,000 for failing to conduct business with “due care, diligence and skill”.
The FSA also fined David Maslen, the former head of cash trading at Deutsche Bank, £350,000. It said the size of the fine imposed on Mr Maslen, who has left the bank, took account of the disciplinary action taken against him by Deutsche Bank including cutting his 2004 bonus by €1.83m (£1.27m).
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Terry Macalister Wednesday April 12, 2006 The Guardian
Shell was ordered yesterday by a court in Lagos to end its practice of “flaring” off excess natural gas at oil fields in Nigeria within 12 months.
The company has been given six weeks to come up with a detailed plan for the Iwherekan region to halt flaring, considered one of the worst causes of global warming.
The ruling follows an earlier judgment in favour of local resident Jonah Gbemre and the Iwherekan community. Nigeria is the world's biggest gas flarer and the practice is said to provide more greenhouse gas emissions than all other combined sources in sub-Saharan Africa.
Published: April 12 2006 03:00 | Last updated: April 12 2006 03:00
Royal Dutch Shell, the Anglo-Dutch energy group, is holding “preliminary discussions” with the Iraqi government to overhaul its oil metering system, blamed for allowing billions of dollars in revenues to be siphoned-off.
BP, the UK-based energy company, was also reported to be talking to the Iraqi oil ministry about participating in the work. However, the company said it had “not signed anything” relating to the metering contract with the Iraqi government.
Shell and BP are already conducting separate technical work for the Iraqi oil ministry, studying the Kirkuk and Rumeila oilfields respectively. A contract to fix the metering system would help the companies increase their foothold in the country, which has the second-largest oil reserves after Saudi Arabia.
Shell is also conducting technical studies on the Maysan oilfield in the south of Iraq and helping the country draw up a gas “masterplan”, the company said. Like other companies, it is doing most of its work from neighbouring countries because of security concerns.
A watchdog led by the UN has, for two years, been calling for the installation of proper metering equipment to halt oil smuggling.
The International Advisory and Monitoring Board criticised the US administrator of Iraq in mid-2004 for delays in installing metering equipment to measure how much oil was being pumped.
However, Iraqi government officials have said the project could take another two years to complete.
Both Shell and BP have signed memorandums of understanding with Iraq's oil ministry to provide technical assistance to Iraq's oil ministry.
Russian energy minister discusses gas projects with Mitsubishi
19:23
11/ 04/ 2006
MOSCOW, April 11 (RIA Novosti) – Russia's industry and energy minister has discussed natural gas and electric power projects with representatives of Japan's Mitsubishi Corporation, the ministry's press service said Tuesday.
Mitsubishi representatives said they were interested in the development of oil and gas fields in Russia and LNG supplies to North America.
Viktor Khristenko said the corporation's experience and potential would be of great value to projects.
“One of the current projects is Sakhalin II, which includes the construction of Russia's first and the world's largest plant for the production of liquefied natural gas,” the press service said. read more
April 11, 2006 Passage to India By Shaun Walker Russia Profile
Russia Looks to Meet India’s Growing Energy Needs
The topics of volatile energy markets and the Sino-Indian economic boom often overlap. As these two new regional powers emerge, they will develop greater demands for energy to fuel their expanding economies, pushing up the price of oil further and putting more strain on the markets. For Russia, however, with its vast energy reserves, higher demands for oil and gas do not present the same worry as they do for Western Europe and the United States. Still, for a country anxious about its bleak demographic outlook, the growing populations of India and China, who together make up one-third of the world’s population, have to be a cause for concern.
Russian Ambassador to India Vyacheslav Trubnikov seemed to be unfazed by the burgeoning populace of India and China, and their unrelenting procession towards superpower status. Instead, he emphasizes the idea that Sino-Indian demands for energy are in fact a positive factor for Russia. “Yes, both India and China have tremendous human resources, rich histories and unique cultures, and they are both developing very fast in the most advanced spheres of industry,” said the ambassador. “But they lack energy resources, so both countries remain dependent on the rest of the world.”
To this end, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told journalists after meeting with Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov in New Delhi on March 17 that India hopes to receive one million barrels of oil a day from Russia by 2010. “The necessary infrastructure for this is already in place,” the Indian prime minister said.
When it comes to gas, the partnership is already in full swing, with Indian energy giant ONGC owning a $2.7 billion 20 percent stake in the Sakhalin-1 oil and gas development project, as well as expressing great interest in the proposed Sakhalin-2 and Sakhalin-3 sites. “India is prepared to take all the gas from the Sakhalin-1 site – probably in liquefied from, and probably on the basis of a swap agreement, to make it economically viable for three countries – for example by involving Japan,” said Ambassador Trubnikov. “We have very good experience with India here – when Iraq sold oil to India at our expense, and we sold our oil to the West at Iraq’s expense. We had a similar deal with Venezuela and Cuba during Soviet times. These swap deals are very efficient and this is an option to deal with the gas in Sakhalin.”
Another giant project that could come to fruition during the next decade is the long-discussed Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline. “This pipeline is tremendously important for India, though I think we are still some years away from its realization yet,” said Jyotsna Bakshi, a specialist on Russo-Indian relations at the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses in New Delhi.
Although the three countries still have many issues to sort out before the pipeline becomes a reality, one major obstacle was removed recently when long-held U.S. objections to the pipeline were tentatively dropped during U.S. President George W. Bush’s visit to South Asia in March. “Unlike some other global powers that have been trying to pursue a policy of dictating to India and Pakistan with which of their neighbors they may or may not establish long-term relations in the oil and gas sector, Russia has always supported the pipeline project,” said Trubnikov. He refused to see the potential pipeline as a threat to Russian interests: “The pace of development in this region is so high that it will easily absorb any amount of hydrocarbons supplied to it, so we in no way see the gas pipeline hampering any future plans to deliver Russian crude oil or liquefied natural gas to India. Moreover the unique experience of Russian companies in pipeline construction with the Blue Stream project means that we are very interested in cooperating on this venture.” Gazprom representatives traveled with Fradkov to Delhi in March to begin discussions on construction of the pipeline, which is expected to cost around $7 billion.
For all the attempts to increase oil and gas imports, India is clearly aware of the dangers of fully relying on imports to fuel its economy. “At the moment we have to import 70 percent of our energy, and so it’s not a good strategy to remain reliant on hydrocarbons,” Bakshi said. “For successive Indian leaders, the nuclear issue has been hugely important to the strategy of Indian national development.”
Russia is currently at work on the construction of the nuclear plant at Kudankulum in India’s southern Tamil Nadu region, which will feature two reactors of 1000 megawatts each, and will be commissioned in 2008. Sergei Kiriyenko, head of Federal Atomic Energy Agency (Rosatom) was in India on April 6 to inspect the plant and hold talks with Indian officials. He became the first Rosatom head to visit the site of India’s nuclear plant, and promised that the Russian specialists aimed to have the plant up and running as soon as possible.
There are 24 Russian specialists working at the plant, and 70 percent of the equipment will be imported from Russia. The station has created 8,000 jobs for local residents. Kiriyenko spoke with local schoolchildren and explained to them that the plant would help boost the local economy. He also reinforced the importance of the Russo-Indian partnership, and took a swipe at unnamed Western countries, saying that Russia and India had a robust and friendly mutual relationship, and “unlike some countries, we actually reinforce it with action.”
Currently, Russia is unable to increase cooperation with India due to the informal requirements of its membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG). India is not a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), and NSG members are not supposed to supply nuclear fuel to non-member states. As it is, the Russian supply of uranium to the Indian reactor irritated other NSG countries. But after visits to New Delhi by the French and U.S. presidents recently, all signs indicate that this could change.
“Russia fully supports the recent U.S. steps, and wants India to be treated differently from other non-signatories to the NPT, because it sees India as a reliable country,” said Vladimir Orlov, director of the PIR Center, a Moscow-based think tank dealing with nuclear issues. “I think that if France, Russia and the United States are agreed that there should be a new approach to India from the NSG, this is something the other members will find very hard to ignore.”
Likewise, Trubnikov welcomed the U.S. initiatives, suggesting that they were more likely to prompt further co-operation with Russia than squeeze the Russians out of the market. “We are not worried about other countries entering the market for civilian nuclear energy in India, because the market is huge,” said the ambassador. Moreover, Russia is in a prime position to win new contracts “The role of nuclear energy in India is going to significantly increase in the near future,” Sudhinder Thakur, the executive director of the Nuclear Power Corporation of India told RIA Novosti. “The fact that Russian companies are already working in India clearly gives them an advantage over companies from other countries,” he said.
Trubnikov expressed hopes that other countries will follow Russia’s lead in recognizing the uniqueness of India’s situation. “Russia has long been trying to convince its partners that the status quo with regard to India should be changed,” the ambassador said. “India has asserted itself as a country with an impressive democratic setup, a good non-proliferation track record, and strong export control over nuclear technology.”
PRESS RELEASE April 11, 2006 Posted to the web April 11, 2006
Lagos
The Nigerian High Court decided today that oil giant Shell must stop flaring gas in the Iwherekan community in Delta State by April 2007, in a welcome victory for the mostly poor people affected by the damaging and wasteful practice of flaring in the oil-rich Niger delta.
Shell's managing director in Nigeria and the Nigerian Minister for Petroleum have to appear in person before the judge in open court on May 31 in Benin City with detailed plans for putting gas flares out by April 2007.read more
On Friday 7th April the “Rossport 5” were back in court before the President of the Irish High Court, Mr Justice Finnegan.
The “Rossport Five” – brothers Philip and Vincent McGrath, Willie Corduff, Michael O Seighin and Brendan Philbin became national heroes in Ireland after being jailed for contempt of court in June 2005 at the behest of Shell, which obtained compulsory purchase orders for land in relation to the laying of the Corrib gas pipeline.
This was the first time in Irish history that such an order was granted to a private company. It was intended that the five landowners/protestors would remain in jail until they undertook not to interfere with construction of the pipeline. read more
WASHINGTON (AP) — Summer driving will be expensive, with gasoline costs likely to stay high after jumping nearly 20 cents over the past two weeks.
The cost of gasoline averages $2.68 nationwide for a gallon of regular. Some analysts say motorists may pay $3 a gallon this summer if there are unusual disruptions in supply.
The Energy Department was to release its summer outlook for motor fuel prices at a news conference Tuesday.
Prices at the pump have been climbing since February when the cost of regular grade gasoline averaged $2.25 a gallon. The average price of $2.68 a gallon last week is 40 cents a gallon higher than a year ago.read more
SYDNEY (Reuters) – Oil surged through $69 on Tuesday, with London Brent crude hitting record-highs, on increased tensions between the United States and Iran over Tehran's nuclear aims and Nigerian supply disruptions.
U.S. May crude (CLc1) traded up 37 cents at $69.11 a barrel by 0523 GMT, an 11-week high, adding to Monday's 2 percent rally to take prices in sight of August's $70.85 record.
Brent crude (LCOc1) traded up 31 cents to $69.06 a barrel, an all-time record for the contract.read more
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THE sixth round of India's New Exploration and Licensing Policy for oil and gas exploration has attracted considerable interest from both domestic and foreign companies, writes Shirish Nadkarni, Mumbai .read more
Oil nears $69 as Iran tensions mountBy Chris Flood and Peter Garnham
Published: April 10 2006 11:15 | Last updated: April 10 2006 18:32
Oil prices shot back towards record levels on Monday amid growing tensions over Iran’s nuclear ambitions after weekend press reports claimed that the US government was studying military options for action.
An article in the New Yorker magazine said US officials were considering the possibility of using nuclear bombs against Iran’s suspected underground nuclear facilities.
Barclays Capital said that although the Bush administration insisted that it was seeking a diplomatic solution to its dispute with Iran, its statement fell short of an outright denial, leaving market fears free to grow.
“Geo-political tensions look capable of bringing about further tests of the $70 a barrel region in the weeks ahead,” said Kevin Norrish, an oil analyst at Barclays Capital. In New York, Nymex West Texas Intermediate rose $1.35 to settle at $68.74 a barrel. IPE Brent for May hit an all-time peak of $68.90, up $1.61, before closing at $68.75, up $1.46.
Crude prices were also supported by aggressive rhetoric from militants in Nigeria who have threatened to kill workers who have returned to oil platforms that were shut by earlier attacks. About 0.5m barrels a day of Nigerian output has been lost because of attacks by militants.
Royal Dutch Shell, operator of about 90 per cent of the lost Nigerian output, said it aimed to restart production in Nigeria soon but the company has declined to return staff to the region until the violence abates.
The increase in global tensions in the oil market helped propel gold higher, with bullion rising to a fresh 25-year high of $598.10 a troy ounce before easing to $592.60/$593.40 by mid-afternoon in New York.
Traders said it appeared to be only a matter of time before gold breached the $600 a troy ounce level.
“Although the outlook remains positive, gold could pause in consolidation below $600, gathering sufficient momentum to break psychological resistance and resuming its inexorable march towards $625,” said analysts at Standard Bank.
Continued speculation about the imminent launch of an exchange traded fund helped push silver to $12.50 a troy ounce, its highest level since August 1983. The metal eased back to settle at $12.38/$12.41 by late afternoon in New York.
Dealers reported that a fresh wave of buying by funds had pushed base metals prices higher. Copper moved to within a whisker of $6,000 a tonne, rising $215 to a record high of $5,940 a tonne after a further fall in LME inventories, which have fallen to critically low levels globally. Zinc jumped $104 to another record of $2,915 a tonne. Aluminium rose $58 to $2,598 a tonne.
Shell LNG Project May Get EBRD Environmental Approval by May
April 11 (Bloomberg) — Royal Dutch Shell Plc's $20 billion Russian natural-gas venture may win environmental approval for European Union-backed loans by May, helping to advance financing from other lenders, bankers said.
Public hearings by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development probably won't delay a positive environmental assessment for loans to the Sakahlin-2 project, Mark King, the EBRD's head of environmental policy, said yesterday at a meeting in Sapporo, Japan. Approval may precede any Russian government decision to accept a doubling of the project's development costs.
Ecologists oppose the project, citing concern about oil spills and disruptions to marine life and indigenous communities. The EBRD will decide later this year whether to grant Sakhalin-2 more than $100 million, a move the bank says will influence larger loans totaling about $6 billion from government and private-sector lenders in Japan, the U.S. and Europe.
“We aim to conclude the process by the end of May,'' Andrey Ryjenko, a senior banker at the EBRD said in an interview in Sapporo. “After that, it's up to the management to decide whether they want some issues analyzed further or take it to the board for a decision.''
Public Hearings
The EBRD invited public reaction to the project over four months ending April 21, and had hearings in London, Moscow, Sakhalin Island and Japan. The EBRD may lend as much as $200 million, Alistair Clark, the head of the bank's environment department, said at a March 14 hearing in Moscow.
Any failure by the EBRD to approve loans for the project's operator Sakhalin Energy Investment Co. may prompt other lenders such as the Japan Bank for International Cooperation and the U.S. Export-Import Bank to withhold loans.
Shell has a 55 percent stake in Sakhalin Energy, Mitsui & Co. 25 percent and Mitsubishi Corp. 20 percent. Sakhalin-2 is expected to supply oil and liquefied natural gas to Asian countries including Japan and Korea as well as to North America.
“The EBRD plays a lead role in a group of potential public lenders'' including JBIC and the U.S. Export-Import Bank, the London-based bank said on its Web site in February. “It is likely that other public lenders and private banks would determine the suitability of investing in Sakhalin-2 based on the EBRD's opinion.''
G8 Summit
Lenders want to agree the loans before a summit meeting of the Group of Eight in St. Petersburg in July, Project Finance International magazine said in its April 5 issue. Commercial banks such as BNP Paribas SA and units of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. and Mizuho Financial Group Inc. are expected to provide a 16-year, $1.6 billion loan without guarantees from state lenders and insurers, the report said.
The Russian government has not yet approved Sakhalin Energy using oil and gas deposits to pay back additional costs for developing Sakhalin-2. Shell announced a doubling in costs last July. Loan agreements would probably come before the Russian government has made a decision on how it will treat the increase, the EBRD's Ryjenko said. The bank is also studying the environmental impact of expanding the project, he said.
“There might be a mismatch in terms of timing when the government approves finally the cost and the lenders have to make the decision and they have put in systems to deal with that,'' he said. “We would encourage Sakhalin-2 to engage with the other operators and provide the most economic solution and that would be chosen as the best way forward by the Russian government as well.''
Sea of Okhotsk
Sakhalin Energy is developing offshore oil and gas fields in the Sea of Okhotsk northeast of the island and building two LNG production plants with a combined annual output of 9.6 million tons of LNG. There is space for at least one more plant at the site. Oil and gas pipelines run from the northeast of the island down to the liquefaction plants and export terminal on the coast facing Japan's main northern island of Hokkaido.
Ecologists say the pipeline network being built by Sakhalin Energy could kill off the world's last 100 western gray whales by disturbing feeding grounds in the Sea of Okhotsk, near the venture's rigs. On land, they say the pipeline's river crossings could damage salmon spawning grounds and the livelihoods of indigenous people. Sakhalin Energy has agreed to move the underwater links further from the whales' feeding grounds.
“There is nothing that has arisen during consultation meetings to date that would require any extension of our due diligence process,'' the EBRD's King said. “We are comfortable with the process. There are still a number of issues which are open to discussion and finalization with the company but these do not require us to extend the consultation period.''
To contact the reporter on this story:
Hector Forster in Tokyo at [email protected].
ANDREW FULTON, the former head of MI6 in Washington, has been appointed chairman of GPW, a leading firm of corporate investigators.
Mr Fulton, 62, was thrust into the limelight in 2000 when he was revealed to be a former spy and forced to step down as legal adviser to the Lockerbie Commission.
A visiting professor at Glasgow University, Mr Fulton had been appointed to the school’s panel of legal experts briefing the press on the trial of two Libyans accused of the 1988 bombing. read more
Crude Tactics As Oil Supplies Are Stretched, Rebels, Terrorists Get New Clout
Media-Savvy GuerrillasRoil Global Oil Prices in FightWith Nigerian Government
'Mr. Gbomo' Fires Off Emails
By CHIP CUMMINSApril 10, 2006; Page A1
WARRI, Nigeria — The list of people with big influence over the $2 trillion-a-year global oil market has long been an exclusive one, topped by Saudi princes and American presidents. This year, someone calling himself Jomo Gbomo emailed his way into the club.
Since January, the obscure Nigerian rebel group that he claims to speak for has battled Nigeria's military, blown up oil facilities and kidnapped foreign oil workers. All the while, Mr. Gbomo (pronounced BO-mo) has fired off emails to the international media taking responsibility for the attacks or threatening new ones — and often roiling global oil prices in the process. (See a timeline of attacks and emails.)read more
SYDNEY (Reuters) – Oil climbed toward $68 on Monday as tension ratcheted up between the West and Iran over its nuclear program and militants threatened further violence against oil workers in Nigeria.
U.S. crude oil futures rose 31 cents, or 0.46 percent, to $67.70 a barrel, having traded as high as $67.80, to recover some of Friday's 55-cent losses. London Brent crude was up 39 cents, or 0.58 percent, to $67.68 a barrel.
The U.S. government insisted on Sunday its priority was to seek a diplomatic solution to the nuclear dispute with oil-rich Iran, but did not deny comments made by unnamed officials in a magazine report suggesting it had stepped up military planning.read more
New oil fund deemed too risky for average investors
BRAD FOSS Apr 09, 2006
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A new financial instrument aimed at those pining to profit from the multiyear surge in oil prices is distressing energy and stock-market experts because of the allure and risks it presents to average investors.read more
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ASK a roomful of schoolchildren the gender of an engineer and the likely popular answer would be “a man” – such is the job stereotype that men and women have that still prevails today.read more
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Senan Molony,Political Correspondent
THE Centre for Public Inquiry which probed national controversies and raised hackles among politicians, leading to a blazing Dail row, will be formally put into liquidation on Wednesday.read more
By Richard Orange
09 April 2006
VENEZUELA’S populist president Hugo Chavez loves nothing more than to rank himself alongside South America’s historical revolutionaries.
Last week, we were back in the 1970s. Chavez seized two oil fields from France’s Total and Italy’s Eni, the first time Venezuela, even under Chavez, has gone to such extremes since it renationalised its oil industry in 1976.
The national oil company, PdVSA, last weekend sent officials to the two fields, which produce a total of 85,000 barrels of oil a day (bpd), and took control.
More striking even than the seizures, though, has been the international oil companies’ spinelessness. Of the 22 oil companies whose deals Chavez announced he was rewriting in April 2005, only four – Exxon Mobil, Statoil, Total and Eni – have stood firm.
Exxon and Statoil sold their fields rather than capitulate to his demand that they turn
the agreements into joint ventures. The deadline was April this year. Total and Eni have ignored his demands.
Exxon has few worries. Venezuela accounts for 1.7% of its production, the loss of the field is less damaging than the potential loss of face internationally.
The question is how Total and Eni will react to the seizures. Patrick Esteruelas at Eurasia Group in New York argues that Total will throw in last-minute concessions and win back its Jusepin field. It has already yielded to some of Chavez’s terms, paying $19.4m (E15.7m, £11.0m) in plainly unjustified back taxes. And it has far more significant investments in Venezuela than Eni, with a large stake in the Sincor heavy oil field. Total has more incentives to capitulate – it doesn’t want to lose the chance to make more of Sincor. And Chavez needs Total more.
The 60,000 bpd Dacion field is Eni’s only real investment, and it has shown little willingness to yield to Chavez’s demands. Expect it to walk away, leaving a barrage of ugly lawsuits.
Chavez’s move in April 2005 part reversed the Apertura, or opening, of the mid-1990s, when Venezuela signed 32 agreements which gave international oil companies control of conventional oil fields for the first time since the 1970s. These fields produce 500,000 bpd.
In one regard, the oil companies’ willingness to let him get away with it justifies his move.Venezuela’s large oil reserves are obviously still attractive and Chavez has already increased royalties and hiked taxes on the companies from 34% to 50%.
But from another point of view the oil companies could bargain more agressively.
For all his rhetoric, Chavez cannot afford to repeat the renationalisation of the 1970s. Credit Suisse estimates that total foreign investment in Venezuela in 2005 dropped by almost three-quarters to $536m from $1.9bn in 2004. And output from the 32 fields run by foreign companies has fallen to around 460,000 bpd from roughly 500,000 bpd at the start of 2005.
And while Venezuela claims its output is 3.1m bpd, experts argue the reality is closer to 2.2m bpd, a big drop. Chavez has been courting Chinese, Russian and Indian companies, but when it comes to developing Venezuela’s reserves of heavy oil, western companies like Total, Chevron and Royal Dutch Shell have the skills.
At today’s prices, Chavez can afford to take risks. Oil revenues surged 51% in 2005 to more than $48bn, leaving Venezuela with a current account surplus of $24.4bn. But if the price falls, Chavez may find himself forced to treat international oil companies a little more politely.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: 
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A head-cut image of Alfred Donovan (now deceased) appears courtesy of The Wall Street Journal.
