Jeroen van der Veer, chief executive of Shell, is holding talks in Beijing about possible joint ventures in Iraq
Royal Dutch Shell is in talks with a number of Chinese companies about a possible joint effort to develop Iraqi oilfields. Jeroen van der Veer, chief executive of the Anglo-Dutch group, said yesterday: We are in the process of forming partnerships for certain bids, and Chinese companies are a part of that.
Mr van der Veer, who was on a visit to Beijing, refused to comment directly on reports that Shell is negotiating with China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) and China Petrochemical Corp, the country’s two biggest government-controlled oil companies, about a project jointly to develop a vast oilfield close to the city of Kirkuk in northern Iraq.
He said that further details would be announced after bids to develop oilfields had been submitted to the Iraqi Government before a deadline of late June or early July.
He added that Shell would not settle on a timescale for developing the oilfields until it had undertaken a full appraisal of Iraq’s security situation and of the safety implications for its workers.
If signed, a tie-up with Shell would represent China’s second big effort to develop Iraq’s vast reserves of oil, which, at 115billion barrels, stand as the world’s third-largest pool after Saudi Arabia and Iran.
CNPC became the first foreign company to sign a significant oil deal with the Iraqi Government after the toppling of Saddam Hussein in 2003, when it signed a $3billion agreement to develop the al-Ahdab field.
Shell is eager to forge closer links with China, the world’s second-largest oil consumer after America, where consumption is continuing to grow despite the recession.
The company is jointly operating the Changbei gasfield in northwest China with CNPC and is bidding for another contract on a gasfield in the southwest of the country.
In Iraq, Shell is forging ahead with a joint venture with the country’s Southern Oil Company to capture gas that is being flared during oil production around the Basra area and use it for local power generation. The group has a number of staff in Iraq involved in this project.
Mr van der Veer said his trip to Beijing was aimed at establishing further areas where Shell might be able to work with Chinese partners. He said that progress was being made, but declined to offer further details.
Peter Voser, chief financial officer of Shell, who is due to take over from Mr van der Veer this summer, said that China was a key target market.
I think China has a lot to offer in terms of future demand and so is very interesting as a country to invest in, he said. China is a key part of the long-term strategy of the Royal Dutch Shell group, and that’s not going to change.
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.
