Bloomberg News
May 7, 2009, 8:22P
Royal Dutch Shell, Europes largest oil company, may be forced to cut jobs further in the event of a severe economic slowdown.
We dont know how long the recession will last, Chief Executive Officer Jeroen van der Veer said Thursday in an interview in Lausitz, Germany. We have additional cost savings and that can be jobs.
Shell, which posted a 62 percent drop in first-quarter earnings, is seeking to reduce costs after oil prices plunged more than $100 from a record. Chief Financial Officer Peter Voser, who will take over from Van der Veer in July, expects gearing, the ratio of debt to equity, to triple by the end of the year as Shell funds the industrys biggest spending program.
Shells CEO declined to give a figure on possible job cuts or say where they would come from. Shells workforce shrank to 102,000 last year from 119,000 in 2003, according to Bloomberg data.
It is for every refinery manager to make sure that he is from a work force point view efficient, and that applies for an oil rig, an oil installation, Van der Veer said at the Shell Eco-marathon Europe event.
The oil producer has already delivered important cost savings by renegotiating contracts with suppliers, he said, without elaborating.
Oil prices are likely to be depressed for the next 12 to 18 months, Voser said last month. U.S. oil futures, down 60 percent from Julys record, traded at $57.59 a barrel today.
BP, Shells smaller rival, shed about 3,000 posts last year as part of an internal re-organization designed to help close a performance gap with rivals. BP has said it will meet a company target of reducing the overall headcount by 5,000 by June.
Van der Veer declined to comment on criticism from a shareholder adviser over his pay last year, saying its up to the board to set salaries.
Shell shareholders should vote against a remuneration package for management at their May 19 meeting as certain performance targets havent been met, Pensions Investment Research Consultants Ltd. said Wednesday.
Van der Veer received total compensation of $15.1 million last year, Shell said in its annual report in March. His base salary and bonus was $8.34 million. That compares with compensation of $8.96 million in 2007, including pension benefits and share-option gains, according to Bloomberg calculations. Shell didnt disclose Van der Veers total 2007 compensation in its report
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.
