February 15th, 2008:

Former Shell Exec Paddy Briggs (above) comments on the article…

Indiantelevision.com: Shell launches promotional film in its global brand campaign

February 15th, 2008 10:21

If corporations, especially energy giants like Shell and BP, ever wonder why they are vilified by environmentalists and accused of “Greenwash” one objective viewing of the latest Shell film “Cleaning the Air” should tell them why. This highly professionally made paean to the virtues and responsibility of Shell shows the company seemingly single-handedly trying to solve the problem of city air pollution is a misleading farrago of half-truths and lies. Let’s get out of the way first the overtly “romantic” undertone of the film as handsome young twenty-something male Shell scientist Theo eyes up and then chats up a gorgeous young sceptical female colleague whom he eventually convinces (business-wise anyway) by delivering synthetic diesel fuel for some taxis at the 2004 Athens Olympics. I suppose that the intention here was to show that Shell employs human-beings with all the foibles and fantasises that we all have. The misty images and stolen glances of this embryonic romance, brought to earth (or maybe not) by the revelation that the young woman has a daughter, is as facile as it is irrelevant. If I want romantic escapism I’ll watch a Richard Curtis film thanks. read more

Bill Campbell (above) the retired Group Auditor of Shell International comments on our recent article: –

Shell General Business Principles: a confidence tricksters charter

February 15th, 2008

By Bill Campbell

These comments relate only to the UK and only to health and safety of employees at work whether these employees are employed directly by Shell or indirectly

Far be it from me to question Mr Wiseman but in relation to the UK and the obligations of a Duty of Care Holder (such as Shell) under the various provisions of the Health and Safety at Work Act then he is in my humble opinion wrong if he thinks that the SGBP will not, or could not be used in a British Court, or if he thnks the SGBP are not legally binding. read more

Tony Blair said ‘national security’ was the reason for dropping the inquiry into deals for aircraft such as the Tornado (Getty Images)

By Robert Verkaik, Law Editor
Friday, 15 February 2008

Tony Blair wrongly influenced due legal process when he used “irresistible pressure” to end the Serious Fraud Office’s investigation into alleged bribery and corruption involving arms deals between BAE Systems and Saudi Arabia, it was alleged in the High Court yesterday.

When he was Prime Minister, Mr Blair “stepped over the boundaries of what was permissible” and interfered in the highly sensitive criminal investigation because of threats by the Saudis, said the barrister representing two anti-corruption campaign groups challenging the decision to drop the case. read more

Fri Feb 15, 2008 9:07am EST 

AMSTERDAM, Feb 15 (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L: Quote, Profile, Research) is facing pressure from a Dutch trade union over a new labour agreement, weeks after the oil company announced it had made the biggest-ever annual profit of a European company.

The union said on Friday it had rejected the pay offer for workers at Shell’s Pernis oil refinery and its Moerdijk plant, saying it is too low, and also expressed concern about the firm’s plans to reduce holiday allowances. read more

Convenience Store News: Shell Issues Final Report on 50-City Tour

February 15, 2008

WASHINGTON — At the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute for 21st Century Energy yesterday, Shell Oil Co. president John Hofmeister presented highlights from the national tour his company undertook in June 2006 to meet with American people in all 50 states and discuss energy security. The learnings Shell gained was issued in a report called, “A National Dialogue on Energy Security: The Shell Final Report.” read more

Lake Pontchartrain may share in benefits

Friday, February 15, 2008
By Matt Scallan

A $10 million agreement to clean up polluted Bayou Trepagnier in St. Charles Parish could be the first step toward diverting badly needed fresh water into Lake Pontchartrain.

The 15,500-foot bayou that winds through the LaBranche Wetlands north of Norco is laced with heavy metals and toxic chemicals, the legacy of nearly a century of service as the drainpipe of Shell Oil’s Norco refinery. The refinery, first built in 1920 and now owned by Motiva Enterprises, stopped drainage into the area in 2000. read more

Thursday, February 14, 2008
David Shepardson / Detroit News Washington

WASHINGTON — The president of Shell Oil Co. said today that Americans were unlikely to give up their SUVs, despite a new law requiring automakers to boost the fuel efficiency of the vehicles by 40 percent by 2020.

“The vast majority of Americans love their big cars and I think the auto companies will follow the market,” said John Hofmeister, the president of Royal Dutch Shell PLC’s U.S. unit, in a meeting with reporters here. read more

By Fred Pals

Feb. 14 (Bloomberg) — Workers at Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s 420,000 barrel-a-day Pernis refinery in Rotterdam, Europe’s largest, rejected a wage proposal in a final voting round today, a union official said.

All 500 union members that voted in two sessions today rejected Shell’s offer, said Egbert Schellenberg, head of the FNV Bondgenoten union, in a telephone interview. “We will demand a new proposal from Shell tomorrow,” Schellenberg said. Labor actions, including a strike, can’t be excluded if Shell doesn’t come up with an improved proposal, he added. read more

Every year more barrels are added to the world’s reserves than are used up, says Peter Odell

Peter Odell
Friday February 15 2008

I am utterly perplexed by Jeremy Leggett’s attempt to foretell the impending demise of the oil industry (The great fuel folly, February 5). Unless, of course, he contemplates such a development as being highly favourable to his Solarcentury company. I am one of the economists who, he claims, “tend not to see the problem”. But Leggett seriously understates the ability of the many oil-producing countries to sustain provision of oil and natural gas. read more

· Institutions try to seize control of green agenda
· Listed firms would have to disclose climate cost

Terry Macalister
Friday February 15 2008

Some of the largest institutional investors in the world yesterday called on the US Congress to introduce a mandatory national policy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 90% below 1990 levels by 2050.

It is the latest move that underlines the way business leaders have dramatically seized the environmental agenda and are now pushing politicians to tackle global warming. read more

Terry Macalister
Friday February 15 2008

A carbon price close to $100 per tonne of CO2 – more than three times higher than it is today – is needed before industry will invest in the thousands of carbon-capture-and-storage (CCS) schemes needed for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, Shell warned yesterday.

Jeremy Bentham, the vice president of business environment at the company, also called on the EU to quicken the pace of regulatory change and take vital decisions “within five years” that would largely shape the pattern of energy supply and global warming in coming decades. read more

That alone might not cut it (ESTIF)

February 14, 2008, 3:16 pm
Posted by Keith Johnson
Guy Chazan reports:

In one way at least, Europe resembles the U.S. in clean-energy policy: It’s all talk and little action on clean coal.

Finding a way to keep burning relatively cheap, abundant coal is almost as crucial to Europe’s future energy outlook as it is in the U.S. Capturing carbon-dioxide emissions produced by coal-fired power plants and sticking them underground is seen by many as the best way to mitigate climate change and keep economies running. read more

By Ed Crooks in London and Sheila McNulty in Houston
Published: February 15 2008 02:00 | Last updated: February 15 2008 02:00

Three of the world’s biggest oil companies have called for governments to take a clearer lead on policies for curbing carbon dioxide emissions, warning that uncertainty will damage investment and destabilise energy markets.

However, there are still differences of opinion within the industry over how far policy should go.

Royal Dutch Shell, western Europe’s biggest oil company, yesterday spoke out on the need for agreement on fighting climate change following a similar call from Jim Mulva, chairman and chief executive of Conoco-Phillips, on Tuesday. read more

By Dino Mahtani in London
Published: February 15 2008 02:00 | Last updated: February 15 2008 02:00

Royal Dutch Shell yesterday suspended plans to cut the costs of running its Nigerian operations, a move prompted by the government’s desire to discuss ways to pay its share of investment in oil and gas joint ventures.

Shell last year announced plans to cuts jobs and streamline its three businesses in Nigeria to overcome the government’s funding shortfalls in Shell Petroleum Development Company, its joint venture with Nigeria’s state-owned oil company. read more