Mar 31st, 2011
by John Donovan.
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Posted on 31 March 2011
The Russian government must oppose the development of a proposed oil and gas platform off Russias Sakhalin Island because the project has not been subject to appropriate environmental risk assessments, according to an international coalition of leading NGOs.
The coalition, which includes WWF, International Fund for Animal Welfare, Pacific Environment and Sakhalin Environment Watch, will submit a Statement of Concern to the Russian Inter-departmental Working Group on the Conservation of Western Gray Whales, a group of oil industry representatives and Russian government officials meeting Friday to discuss off-shore oil exploration near the feeding grounds of the critically endangered Western gray whale.
The project may have a potentially devastating impact on the critically endangered Western gray whales, the statement says. Sakhalin Energy has a legal, social and ethical responsibility to ensure the project does not have unacceptable levels of damage to the marine environment, and the fragile species that live within it.read more
Mar 31st, 2011
by John Donovan.
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April 2011
Free Preview
The oil industry is worried that new US corporate-transparency legislation will undermine the EITI and its strategy of good governance, Anthea Pitt reports from Paris
AS THE Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) nears its 10th anniversary, the mechanism is unwittingly at the centre of a war of words over how best to ensure financial transparency in the resources sector. The dispute centres on new legislation in the US, which demands more transparency from companies than even the EITI requires and oil companies don’t like it.read more
HOUSTONU.S. regulators have granted approval for Royal Dutch Shell PLC to drill a new well in the deep-water Gulf of Mexico as part of the oil company’s recently approved exploration plan for the area.
This marks the first time since last year’s Deepwater Horizon rig explosion that the government has approved plans to drill new oil-and-gas resources. Previously, regulators had approved only wells that were being drilled at the time the administration’s moratorium went into effect.read more
Mar 31st, 2011
by John Donovan.
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By John Donovan
Many people fondly remember the advertising slogan…
“You can be Sure of Shell”
The legendary crooner, Bing Crosby, sung the praises of Shell in the 1950’s.
MICHAEL HOLIDAY VERSION
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IdhOXh_g7s
Our research indicates that the slogan
“YOU CAN BE SURE OF SHELL”…
was first used in Great Britain by Shell in 1937 (right) months after the forced resignation of Sir Henri Deterding, the man most responsible for the creation and global success of the Royal Dutch Shell Group. read more
Mar 30th, 2011
by John Donovan.
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Tony Hayward faced a barrage of criticism when US politicians claimed that he stonewalled their questions last year
By David Usborne in New York Wednesday, 30 March 2011
Managers of BP could face manslaughter charges when prosecutors in the United States finally conclude their criminal investigation into the Deepwater Horizon explosion in the Gulf of Mexico last April that killed 11 rig workers and triggered the worst oil spill in US history.
The mere possibility that these and other charges may now be on the table at the US Justice Department, first reported last night by Bloomberg News, put new pressure on the shares of the energy giant.read more
Mar 30th, 2011
by John Donovan.
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March 30, 2011
By Andreas Späth
Shell wants us to believe that in exploring for and extracting natural gas from underground layers of shale in the Karoo using the polluting and extremely water-intensive technique of hydraulic fracturing or fracking, they have all of our best interests as well as those of the environment at heart.
They must also think us the most gullible halfwits this side of the Niger Delta.
In a recent full-page newspaper ad, the multi-billion dollar oil giants Bonang Mohale writes passionately about his companys commitments to the Karoo, promising not to despoil and pollute it in the way fracking has been documented to mess up formerly pristine landscapes and water sources elsewhere. He describes natural gas as a more environmentally friendly option and a cleaner energy source and twice refers to its role in building a sustainable energy future.read more
Mar 29th, 2011
by John Donovan.
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MARCH 29, 2011
LONDON (Dow Jones)–Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSA.LN) Tuesday announced it has signed a sales and purchase agreement for its 270,000 barrel-per-day Stanlow refinery in the U.K. and certain associated local marketing businesses with Essar Oil Ltd. for $1.3 billion.
MAIN FACTS:
-The proposed sale covers oil products, chemicals manufacturing and access rights to certain distribution terminal assets, plus the commercial fuels bulk fuels and local marine fuels businesses associated with the refinery.read more
FYI Enron was populated by a host of former Shell USA managers who were let go by Shell in the early 1990’s as part of Shell USA’s reorganization and downsizing program (Shell USA had finally managed to manage the company into a serious financial problem with a host of bad decisions).
So, it comes as no surprise to anyone familiar with the two organizations that RD Shell had it own financial scandal a few years later. The reserves scandal at Shell was a long time in coming but the ‘problem’ was known about internally for many, many years. Shell USA knew it had a credibility issue with its reserve bookings in the mid-1980’s. read more
Mar 27th, 2011
by John Donovan.
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JON GAMBRELL Associated Press
First Posted: March 27, 2011 – 10:49 am
PORT HARCOURT, Nigeria Posters show smiling students posing after receiving university scholarships. New roads appear on formerly potholed mud tracts. Millions of dollars are promised to improve the lives of the desperate poor.
These campaigns by oil company Royal Dutch Shell PLC and other foreign firms make it seem they are running for office in crude-rich Nigeria, which will hold crucial presidential, federal and local elections in the coming weeks. The multinational firms have spent hundred of millions of dollars toward projects they advertise as improving the life of those living in the country’s troubled Niger Delta.read more
Mar 26th, 2011
by John Donovan.
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By Tom McGhie and Will Stewart
26 March 2011, 7:03pm
BP is under intense pressure to settle the dispute with the four oligarch shareholders in its Russian joint venture that threatens the company’s future, after it emerged that rival Shell was holding talks with Kremlin-owned oil giant Rosneft about Arctic exploration.
Rosneft’s powerful chairman and Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister, Igor Sechin, said the company preferred to do a deal with BP, but that whatever happened its policy of exploiting Arctic oil and gas reserves would go ahead.read more
Mar 26th, 2011
by John Donovan.
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The Irish Times – Saturday, March 26, 2011
LORNA SIGGINS, Marine Correspondent
ONE OF the last outstanding consent applications for the Corrib gas project was completed yesterday when Minister for the Environment Phil Hogan granted a foreshore licence to Shell EP Ireland.
The foreshore licence, which is subject to conditions, allows the lead developer to construct the final 8km section of pipeline linking the gas field to the terminal built inland at Ballinaboy.
An Taisce, which has sought a judicial review of the recent An Bord Pleanála decision to approve the pipeline route through a special area of conservation, said it was unhappy that Mr Hogan had made his decision while legal proceedings were still in train.read more
Mar 26th, 2011
by John Donovan.
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By John Donovan
In October, the Daily Mail reported a “blistering attack on beleaguered rival BP over the devastating Gulf of Mexico oil spill.”
EXTRACT FROM THE ARTICLE
“Peter Voser said his company would never have made the mistakes that led to the death of 11 workers on the Deepwater Horizon rig and the biggest environmental disaster in US history.
Shell clearly would have drilled this well in a different way and would have had more options to prevent the accident from happening, he said.”
Mar 26th, 2011
by John Donovan.
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Shell is very different from Enron. We were criticized for that some time ago and Im glad we have a absolutely rock-solid way we do business. And, if you read our annual report, you read our footnotes and all the details, everything is in there. Its all completely transparent, as far as Shell is concerned.
Sir Phillip Watts, Group Chairman, Royal Dutch Shell Group
By John Donovan
During a Bloomberg interview in 2002, with the then Group Chairman of Royal Dutch Shell, Sir Phillip Watts, reference was made to the core Royal Dutch Shell business principle of complete transparency. read more
Mar 25th, 2011
by John Donovan.
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DUBLIN | Fri Mar 25, 2011 10:34am EDT
(Reuters) – Ireland on Friday granted oil major Royal Dutch Shell a license to complete a controversial pipeline to an offshore field it says can provide up to 60 percent of Irish gas needs.
The pipeline will link the north-west coast of Ireland to the Corrib gas field, which is estimated to contain 1 trillion cubic feet of gas.
The environment ministry said in a statement that it had granted a pipeline foreshore license, the last government permission needed for work to begin on the project, which has been beset by protests and delays since its discovery in 1996.read more
Mar 25th, 2011
by John Donovan.
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MARCH 25, 2011
By Alexis Flynn Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
LONDON (Dow Jones)–Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSA) said Friday it is examining strategic opportunities in Russia, including some with state-run Russian oil company OAO Rosneft (ROSN.RS), but it declined to comment on a report that it had offered to work with Rosneft in the Arctic shelf in the last three months.
The story, in Friday’s Vedomosti, comes in the wake of an arbitration ruling late Thursday that blocks rival BP PLC’s (BP) own Arctic exploration deal with Rosneft.read more
BP PLC came within 1.4 inches or less of preventing the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history, say engineers studying the safety device that failed in last year’s Gulf of Mexico disaster.
The device, known as a blowout preventer, was a massive set of valves that sat on the sea floor nearly a mile beneath the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, which floated on the surface. It was equipped with powerful shears designed to cut through pipe and seal off the well in an emergency. Why the device failed has been one of the central mysteries of last year’s disaster.read more
Mar 24th, 2011
by John Donovan.
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By John Donovan
Remember the current Shell CEO Fat Cat super critical of BP, claiming the Gulf of Mexico disaster couldn’t happen to Shell with their Utopian well and Utopian standards? It seems it almost did, with an uncanny similarity between events in the North Sea and in the Gulf, the difference being the former ended quietly.
Tom Feilden | 09:21 UK time, Tuesday, 7 December 2010
An internal safety review passed to the Today programme shows that Transocean – the company operating BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico – narrowly avoided a similar accident in the North Sea, four months earlier. read more
Mar 24th, 2011
by John Donovan.
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The Defendant has gone on wild rampage with Alfred Donovan to consider any wrongdoing done by any Shell company around the world. He then extrapolates from the particular – individual instances of impropriety anywhere in the world – and reaches a general conclusion that the 8 Plaintiffs have been dishonest, engage in criminal conspiracy and criminal conduct generally.
Comment by Shell General Counsel Thavakumar Kandiah Pillai about reserves whistleblower, Dr John Huong, a production geologist read more
Mar 22nd, 2011
by John Donovan.
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TDs unite outside Dáil to back Shell to Sea campaign
Tuesday, March 22, 2011 – 04:22 PM
Twenty-two TDs gathered at the gates of Leinster House in Dublin today to call on the Government to overturn consents granted by former Minister Pat Carey to Shell E&P Ireland on the day of the recent General Election.
Speaking at the press conference, Dublin Shell to Sea spokesperson Caoimhe Kerins criticised Mr Careys decision, saying: These consents were issued in a highly dubious manner on the day of the recent general Election.read more
Mar 22nd, 2011
by John Donovan.
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The current opacity on how money changes hands has cooked up predictable outcomes. According to Nigerias corruption agency, as much as $400-billion (U.S.) in oil cash has been stolen or wasted during the past 50 years…
TOBY HEAPS
From Tuesday’s Globe and Mail Published Tuesday, Mar. 22, 2011 2:00AM EDT
The simultaneously shifting sands under the feet of North African despots and resource companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange provide an extraordinary opportunity for Canada to become the gold standard for corporate transparency.
Canada punches way above its relative lightweight status in the global economy (2 per cent of global GDP) because more than two-thirds of the worlds mining companies are listed on our stock exchange. Since acquired by Suncor, Petro-Canadas $1-billion signing bonus to the Gadhafi regime is only the tip of the iceberg. From Burma to Madagascar, there are more than 25 despotic states where Canadian-listed companies are the No. 1 foreign investor.read more
Mar 22nd, 2011
by John Donovan.
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...the decision faces an almost-certain legal challenge from conservationists who say the government's review was weak and that it is acting prematurely by not waiting until it completes a lengthy post-spill environmental study of the Gulf of Mexico that could take until next year.
Mar 22nd, 2011
by John Donovan.
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Royal Dutch Shell has won approval to drill the first new deepwater oil wells in the Gulf of Mexico almost a year after a spill by rival BP halted the industry’s expansion.
An offshore crude oil rig platform (left) sits peacefully in the Gulf of Mexico, USA. By contrast, the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, is seen burning after an explosion last April.
US authorities have given the green light to the Anglo-Dutch company’s plan to drill three wells to a depth of about 2,950 feet in a field 130 miles off the coast of Louisana.
Shell will still be required to apply for specific permits for each well it drills.
The award is significant because the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) has so far only handed out a small number of deepwater permits to resume work on wells on which work had started before last April’s explosion at BP’s Macondo well.read more
Mar 22nd, 2011
by John Donovan.
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CALGARY, Alberta, March 21 (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s (RDSa.L: Quote) 100,000 barrel per day expansion of its Athabasca Oil Sands Project in northern Alberta will be fully ramped up in the second quarter, the head of the company’s Canadian unit said on Monday.
Lorraine Mitchelmore, president of Shell Canada, said the expansion will boost output at the mining and upgrading project to 255,000 bpd when complete.
“In Q2 we’ll be up and running at 255,000 barrels per day,” Mitchelmore told Reuters.read more
Mar 22nd, 2011
by John Donovan.
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BEIJING, March 20 (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L: Quote) is drilling 17 wells in China, including for tight gas and shale gas, Chief Executive Peter Voser told Reuters on Sunday.
If the drilling is successful, Shell aims to spend $1 billion a year over the next five years on shale gas in China, he said on the sidelines of a forum, adding that it was already spending $400 million on unconventional gas in China this year.
(Reporting by Chen Aizhu)
� Thomson Reuters 2011 All rights reservedread more
WASHINGTON — Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement Director Michael Bromwich announced Monday that, for the first time since the Deepwater Horizon disaster, the bureau has approved a deepwater oil and gas exploration plan, submitted by Shell Offshore Inc., following the completion of a site-specific environmental assessment.
As explained by Salazar and Bromwich, an exploration plan describes all exploration activities planned by the operator for a specific lease or leases, including the timing of these activities, information concerning drilling vessels, the location of each planned well, and other relevant information that needs to meet important safety standards. Once a plan is approved, additional new applications for permits to drill can be issued.
According to BOEMRE, Shell’s plan supplements its original exploration plan for the same lease in the company’s Auger field, which was approved in 1985. This plan would allow for the Shell to seek permits to drill three exploratory wells in about 2,950 water depth, 130 miles off the coast of Louisiana.read more
Mar 21st, 2011
by John Donovan.
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JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA – Mar 21 2011 11:19
A group of Karoo residents and farmers intend to oppose Shell South Africa’s bid to explore for shale gas in the Karoo, Beeld reported on Monday.
Derek Light, a lawyer representing about 200 people against gas exploration in the Karoo, on Saturday told a public meeting that the process Shell and its consultants, Golder Associates, had been following was unlawful.
He was speaking at a public gathering in Middelburg, in the Eastern Cape, called by Shell to discuss its proposed environmental management plan for exploration of 95 000 square kilometres in the Karoo.read more
Mar 21st, 2011
by John Donovan.
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Friends
Get this to key people around Ireland to participate in this on 24th March – people should attend, disrupting the whole evening with appropriate questions and comments, making it most uncomfortable for Mr Nolan so that it becomes a time wasting exercise for the enemy, the Bankster Shell – and also protest outside!
Above message received from Shell to Sea Campaigner
Date: Thursday March 24, 2011
Venue: Minerva Suite
Opening Hours:
7.00pm
Admission:
The next lecture in the RDS Energy Lecture Series continues with a presentation by Mr Terry Nolan, Managing Director, Shell Ireland. Currently, Ireland is at the end of a very long pipeline, importing 96% of its gas supplies from Europe. In the event of political instability or an interruption of Russian gas supplies to Europe gas supplies to Ireland may be severely affected. The importance of securing Irelands energy supply has come into stark focus.read more
Mar 20th, 2011
by John Donovan.
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Sunday March 20, 2011
BEIJING, March 20 (Reuters) – A rethink about nuclear energy after Japan’s earthquake could boost demand for natural gas, the head of Royal Dutch Shell said on Sunday.
This would play to Shell’s strength because it produces more gas than oil, Chief Executive Peter Voser told Reuters.
But he cautioned that it would take time to draw firm conclusions about the impact of Japan’s nuclear crisis on global energy markets.
“We need to see how the nuclear policies of various governments and countries will evolve and the lessons that need to be taken into account from Japan,” he said. “There will be higher demand for gas in the medium term and longer term.”read more
Mar 20th, 2011
by John Donovan.
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“I also have doubts about the wisdom of allying yourself so closely and obviously to the Donovans, who seem to have raised Shell-baiting to such a level of vituperation (cleverly mixed with plenty of apparent balance and reasonableness) that it is difficult to see how either side can compromise without losing an unacceptable amount of face (Shell) or a rich and ongoing stream of damages (the Donovans).”
Richard
INTERESTING POSTINGS ON THE “TELL SHELL” INTERNET DISCUSSION FORUM FOR UNCENSORED, OPEN AND LIVELY DEBATE (BEFORE IT WAS FIRST SECRETLY CENSORED BY SHELL LAWYERS AND THEN CLOSED DOWN BY SHELL). POSTINGS MADE IN OCT 2005
Posted By Dr. John Huong (right) nickname: “none”: Subject: Wakey Wakey on Freedom of Expression under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948 (United Nations): 01/10/2005 14:53:23
Wow, I’ve just read the posting below about the 2005 Accountability Rating – the article by Alfred Donovan- the owner of the worlds self proclaimed ultimate gripe site, ShellNews.net. I am baffled why Shell allows him to comprehensively tear Shell management to pieces on countless postings all over the Internet, including Shell’s own website – while I am not allowed the freedom to make criticism of Shell, my former employer of 29 years.
There has not been a peep from the Shell webmaster on this or any other issue for some time as fellow contributors have noticed. We seem to be on our own here guys!read more
Mar 20th, 2011
by John Donovan.
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By Tom Mcghie
Last updated at 10:15 PM on 19th March 2011
Attractive prospects: Stanlow oil refinery in Cheshire has huge storage depots
Shell is to sell its Stanlow oil refinery, the second-biggest in Britain, to fledgling Indian energy giant Essar Energy in a deal worth more than £700 million.
The refinery on the 1,900-acre site in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, will be sold for £217 million while the oil and petrol in the refinery will be sold off separately for nearly £500 million.
When the deal is completed all 960 workers will be retained and, in an unusual concession by an employer, will be able to keep their generous and increasingly rare final salary pension scheme.read more
Mar 19th, 2011
by John Donovan.
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Just four years after the merger of Royal Dutch and the Shell Transport and Trading Company, Shell Canada was incorporated in Montreal in 1911 with startup capital of $50,000 and six employees.
Mar 19th, 2011
by John Donovan.
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When the company that was to become Shell Canada Ltd. was established in Montreal 100 years ago, on March 21, 1911, the potential for the country's energy industry was in its infancy, with few aware of the vast resources Canada had locked away.
Mar 19th, 2011
by John Donovan.
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LONDON (Dow Jones)–U.K. energy giant Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSA) said Friday it is working to bring increased supplies of liquefied natural gas to help meet the expected rise in Japanese demand, as the world’s third-largest economy scrambles to cover its power requirements following the shutdown of nuclear plants across the country.
Shell said two shipments of LNG from Brunei have unloaded in Tokyo in the last 24 hours, with further cargoes from other locations to follow in the coming days.read more
Mar 18th, 2011
by John Donovan.
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Patti Epler | Mar 17, 2011
Shell Oil Co. wants a federal judge to speed up the government’s process for dealing with oil exploration in the Chukchi Sea.
The oil company on Thursday filed a motion in the ongoing court battle over Lease Sale 193. The company is protesting a schedule set out in an earlier filing by the federal Interior Department that stretches out the government’s plans to make a decision on Chukchi Sea oil drilling until late October.
Shell has already said that long of a delay would jeopardize its plans to explore for oil in the area in 2012. Now, according to the new court filing, the company wants the court to order the government to be done with a new environmental impact statement by July.read more
Mar 18th, 2011
by John Donovan.
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By John Donovan
Criminal Investigation arising from Shell Brent Bravo Explosion
On 17 March 2011, I sent an email to Mrs Anne Currie (right), the Area Procurator Fiscal for Grampion in Scotland.
Its purpose was to find out why the accused company Shell, not the Procurator Fiscal, notified former Shell International Group HSE Auditor, Mr Bill Campbell, of the outcome of the investigation.
This seemed odd to say the least, bearing in mind that it was his complaint to Grampion Police, which sparked the corruption investigation allegedly involving Shell and HSE officials. read more
Mar 17th, 2011
by John Donovan.
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By John Donovan
We have published below our recent correspondence with senior officials of Royal Dutch Shell on allegations of corruption involving Shell and the Health and Safety Executive. The allegations arose from the aftermath of the deadly Brent Bravo explosion, which itself resulted from Shell’s notorious “Touch F*** All safety culture on North Sea Rigs.
EMAIL FROM JOHN DONOVAN TO MR MICHIEL BRANDJES, COMPANY SECRETARY & GENERAL COUNSEL CORPORATE, ROYAL DUTCH SHELL PLC
From: John Donovan [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: donderdag 10 maart 2011 11:31
To: Brandjes, Michiel CM RDS-LSC
Cc: [email protected]; Voser, Peter SI-GLOBAL; Ollila, Jorma RDS-RDS/CH; Brinded, Malcolm A RDS-ECMB
Subject: Letter from Bill Campbell to UK and Scottish MP’s – March 2011read more
Mar 17th, 2011
by John Donovan.
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“It is my intention, when I update Trade Union officials et al, to inform them that I made you aware of this matter and I would expect Geoffrey, if he has any of that difficult to obtain substance in our modern world, called honour, to apologise for the fact that your were duped and misled.”
Bill Campbell referring to Geoffrey Podger (right), Chief Executive of the Health & Safety Executive
This correspondence is directed to Lord Browne of Ladyton and concerns issues raised by him on my behalf in a Letter to Lord McKenzie at that time an Under Secretary of State at the DWP on 23 August 2007. At the time Des Browne was the Secretary of State for Scotland.
Dear Mr Browne
At the time Lord McKenzie answered your letter, with the standard reply to some 15 other MP’s who had raised concerns directly with him. This was as a result of a open letter that I had copied to all MP’s in 2007. I have highlighted in the attachment (in bold) how these concerns were handled both by HSE and DWP but suffice to say you were given unambiguous assurances that the concerns raised by me were unfounded.
The position taken by Geoffrey Podger is described in the attachment, he was apparently not involved in the process and did not authorise the HSE information passed to DWP which was then used to give you assurance. The HSE information was also not authorised or indeed discussed by the then Head of the Offshore Division in Aberdeen, he confirmed this to me in writing. The HSE information passed to DWP was written by an HSE official within the Offshore Division whose actions (amongst others) were the subject of the criminal investigation. The issue is that the information passed to you was false and misleading, or lies if you like the dictionary definition.read more
Mar 16th, 2011
by John Donovan.
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Two years on from the biggest shareholder revolt on pay the London market has seen and things are getting back to normal at Royal Dutch Shell.
Shell had its moment back in 2004 with its reserves scandal but from 2005 embarked on a reconstruction involving a big increase in investment. Photo: GETTY IMAGES
By Damian Reece, Head of Business 6:10AM GMT 16 Mar 2011
Peter Voser, the chief executive, earned £4.8m in 2010, four times as much as his rival Bob Dudley at BP.
But then the companies’ fortunes could not have been more different over the past couple of years. BP workers were killed yet again after a fatal safety lapse and the company’s Macondo well created a fissure in the earth’s surface that spewed pollution into the Gulf of Mexico.
BP’s shares have underperformed the All Share by 60pc as a result while Shell has lagged by 22pc, although it has outperformed its oil peers by 9pc. BP has underperformed the same group by 30pc. Shell’s total market capitalisation across its two classes of share is £132bn and BP £86bn – a gap I doubt Dudley will close in his time as chief executive and it will be beyond his successor too.read more
Mar 16th, 2011
by John Donovan.
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The Associated Press March 15, 2011, 10:10PM ET
Water board orders Shell to clean up neighborhood
LOS ANGELES
A California water board has ordered Shell Oil Co. to clean up a Carson neighborhood built on top of an oil storage facility that could hold up to 140 million gallons of crude oil.
The Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board required the company to come up with plans to clean up the site that the board will review. The soil contains dangerous levels of cancer-causing benzene, naphthalene and benzopyrene.
“The order requires Shell to clean the site to the most stringent standards for residential use in order to protect public health,” Samuel Unger, the board’s executive officer, said of the move Friday.read more
Mar 16th, 2011
by John Donovan.
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Joint Statement from Shell, Essar and the Employee Representatives from the consultation meeting held 14th March 2011
Shell and Essar management have today formally met for the second time to consult with the employee representatives for Stanlow refinery and the associated marketing businesses.
This has included sessions with both non-unionised and unionised representatives on general terms and conditions (as outlined at the first meeting) plus a joint session on pensions.
In response to concerns raised on pensions, Essar recognised the value that Stanlow employees attach to the pension provision and have revised their defined benefit pension proposals. These now provide for the replication of the Shell pension benefits in the Essar pension plan, so that existing staff will retain their current pension benefits.read more
Mar 16th, 2011
by John Donovan.
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*SHELL DEALING WITH THE DEVIL AGAIN:
Voser insisted the North African dictatorship was ‘still under development and is evolving into democratic structures over time’. And despite saying Libya was ‘rather small for Shell’, he refused to profess any discomfort at the firm’s cosy relationship with Gaddafi, based on a £ 375m exploration deal signed in 2005 with the blessing of former Prime Minister Tony Blair
Fuelling a growth support
By Rob Davies
Last updated at 3:35 AM on 16th March 2011
Shell boss Peter Voser said the oil supermajor stood ready to ship extra gas to tsunami-hit Japan but has refused to distance the company from the regime of Libyan tyrant Colonel Gaddafi.
Speaking as he showed off an ambitious $100bn ( £ 62.2bn) growth plan, the Swiss chief executive said Shell had diverted boatloads of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Japan, to address the power shortfall caused by its nuclear crisis.
But he offered no firm stance on Libya, saying Shell would ‘see things unfolding … and then we’ll take a decision’ on how to proceed.
Voser insisted the North African dictatorship was ‘still under development and is evolving into democratic structures over time’.read more
Mar 16th, 2011
by John Donovan.
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??By Sarah Arnott
Wednesday, 16 March 2011
Peter Voser, the chief executive of Shell, saw his earnings rocket by 62 per cent to $7.3m (£4.5m) last year.
The increase reflected his first full year in the top job, but the majority of it came from bonus payments after the oil giant beat its targets for cash flow, project delivery and gas production and safety, Shell’s annual report said.
Shell chief executive Peter Voser’s pay for 2010 totalled 5.4m. Photograph: Guido Benschop/AFP/Getty Images
Less than two years ago, nearly 60% of Shell shareholders voted down the oil group’s plans to award millions of pounds of shares to executives, even though performance targets had been missed that should have reduced the payouts to zero. The chairman of the group’s remuneration committee was forced to step down and, as it tried to rebuild bridges with angry shareholders, the company froze salaries last year.read more
State water regulators have ordered Shell Oil to clean up and monitor pollution in soil under the Carousel neighborhood of Carson.
Testing found benzene and hydrocarbons – chemicals known to cause cancer – four years ago.
The neighborhood sits where Shell maintained crude oil in reservoirs for decades.
The Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board says Shell must make a plan to clean soil under some of the nearly 300 homes to a depth of 10 feet.read more
Just two years after Shell faced one of the biggest rebellions ever seen over pay at a FTSE 100 company, the oil major today rewarded chief executive Peter Voser with a 19% increase in his pay packet.
Last year, the oil giant froze its executive pay-outs in response to investors in 2009 voting down its plans to award millions of pounds of shares to bosses despite missing performance targets.
Today, however, in its annual report, Shell said that last year Voser was rewarded with a 19% jump in remuneration, with his 1.5 million (£1.3 million) salary being supplemented with a 3.75 million bonus. That took his total pay to 5.25 million, up from 4.4 million the previous year.read more
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.
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Shell and BP take a beating as bank woes hit crude pricesMarch 15, 2023 17:36Proactive InvestorsBP PLC (LSE:BP.) and Royal Dutch Shell PLC (LSE:SHEL, NYSE:SHEL) shares have taken a hit, dropping over 8%, due to a sell-off in the banking sector.
The natural resources market has been volatile, with Brent Crude and West Texas Intermediate falling by 4- …
Shell CEO Pay Up 50%March 9, 2023 21:23Manufacturing Business TechnologyCEO of Royal Dutch Shell Ben van Beurden speaks at a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, June 21, 2017. Shell paid outgoing Chief Executive Ben van Beurden a total of 9.7 million pounds ($11.5 million) in 2022 as the …
Former Shell CEO's pay jumped 53% to $11.5m in 2022March 9, 2023 11:17Gulf NewsBen van Beurden, chief executive officer of Royal Dutch Shell, speaks during the 26th World Gas Conference in Paris, France, June 2, 2015
Image Credit: Reuters
London: Shell's former chief executive, Ben van Beurden, received a pay package of 9.7 …
Big Oil Goes Green: Shell Acquires VoltaFebruary 9, 2023 06:03Law Street MediaIn Big Oil’s latest foray into green energy, Shell has announced its acquisition of Volta, Inc. for $169 million.
Expected to close during the first half of 2023, the all-cash deal “builds on the momentum in electric mobility by combining one of the …
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.
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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?