By Eduard Gismatullin – Jan 25, 2011 12:33 PM GMT+0000
Royal Dutch Shell Plc was accused by Amnesty International and Friends of the Earth International of using discredited and misleading information in blaming the majority of oil spills in the Niger Delta on saboteurs.
The two groups said in an e-mailed report today that they filed an official complaint with the U.K. and Dutch governments against Shell over breaches of basic standards for responsible business set out by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Shell denied the allegation.
The oil producer uses figures that purport to show that as many as 98 percent of oil spills in the Niger Delta are caused by sabotage, Amnesty and Friends of the Earth said. Under Nigerian law, when spills are classified as being the result of sabotage, Shell has no liability, they said. Nigeria is the largest oil producing nation in Africa.
Shells figures are totally lacking in credibility, said Audrey Gaughran, Amnestys director of global issues. The oil spill investigation system is totally lacking in independence.
Every oil spill is independently investigated by a joint inspection team representing the company and government officials along with local community members, Shell said today by e-mail. The 98 percent figure was reported for the spills in 2009 and we stand by these figures and publish them annually because we can back them up if necessary, the company said.
In the past five years, less than 30 percent of spills at Shells joint venture in Nigeria have been due to corrosion, human error and equipment failure, the company says on its website. The majority have been caused by sabotage or theft.
Assessment of damage from crude spills in part of the Niger River delta was being hindered by angry mobs, Mike Cowing, an official of the United Nations Environment Program, said in August. Shells Nigerian unit was funding the study, he said at the time.
To contact the reporter on this story: Eduard Gismatullin in London at [email protected]
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Will Kennedy at [email protected]
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.
