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January 25th, 2012:

Royal Dutch Shell Another Enron?

Shell is very different from Enron. We were criticized for that some time ago and I’m 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. It’s all completely transparent, as far as Shell is concerned.

Sir Philip 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 Philip Watts, reference was made to the core Royal Dutch Shell business principle of complete transparency.

The following is an extract from his exchange with Guy Collins of Bloomberg on 8 February 2002: –

COLLINS: I want to ask you about Enron and any parallels there. Do you have any off balance sheet liabilities? Do you have trigger mechanisms in place that make you vulnerable to changes in the share price or credit ratings? read more

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.

Sir Bill’s treatment at Cairn will make every board quake

The giant oil field sold for a song by Shell… it sold its 50% share to Cairn for $7.5 million, now worth billions…

James Ashton 24 Jan 2012

The momentum gained by the Government’s war on executive pay meant it was bound to claim some victims. The only surprise is that Sir Bill Gammell has become its first. As the chief executive of Cairn Energy, he was a stock market darling. The success he enjoyed after buying an unwanted Indian exploration site from Royal Dutch Shell has passed into oil industry folklore.

Cairn, which now has a market value of £4 billion, can thank the £4.5 million acquisition of an Indian exploration site for its good fortune. Sir Bill, a former Scottish rugby international, saw potential there after the big boys had given up trying. A similar spirit has given it the confidence to hunt for oil in far-flung corners of the world such as Greenland. read more

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.

Brunei Inks Production, Investment Pact With Royal Dutch Shell

The fruits of a $500,000 Brunei dollar wedding gift (bribe) given by Shell to the corrupt Brunei Royal Family…?

Wednesday, 25 January 2012 06:44
Borneo Bulletin

The Hague, Netherlands – The Government of His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam and Royal Dutch Shell Ltd (RDS) as the shareholders of Brunei Shell Petroleum Co Sdn Bhd (BSP) signed the production and investment agreement on Jan 23, 2012 at RDS headquarters in The Hague, Netherlands.

Signing on behalf of the Brunei Government was the Minister of Energy at the Prime Minister’s Office, Pehin Datu Singamanteri Col (Rtd) Dato Seri Setia (Dr) Awg Hj Mohammad Yasmin bin Hj Umar, and for Royal Dutch Shell, Dato Seri Laila Jasa Peter Voser, Chief Executive Officer and Ken Mamoch, BSP Managing Director. The agreement set out between the Brunei Government and Shell focuses on the mechanisms to support, sustain and increase the production of oil and gas by BSP. read more

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.

Dutch Court Throws Lifeline for Non-US Class Action Lawsuits

The court was used once before in a similar case launched in 2007 against Royal Dutch Shell, when investors resolved their claims for €316 million with the oil giant.

Wednesday, January 25, 2012 7:22:02 AM
Pension, endowment funds, and other international shareholders have a new avenue of enquiry to seek damages of alleged corporate fraud thanks to a European court decision.

(January 25, 2012)  —  The first class action lawsuit settlement to be approved for shareholders based outside the United States, since the Supreme Court tightened rules about international investors seeking redress through its legal system in 2010, has thrown a lifeline to asset owners suspicious of corporate fraud.

A case brought by international pension schemes, endowments and other large investors against Swiss reinsurer Converium Holding (now Scor Holding (Switzerland)), was settled out of court with damages of over $58 million being approved for distribution by the Amsterdam Court of Appeal last week. read more

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.

Oil Grab in Falkland Islands Seen Tripling U.K. Reserves: Energy

The world’s largest oil companies like Exxon Mobil Corp. and Royal Dutch Shell Plc face a dilemma: whether the potential of a virgin basin outweighs the risk of a worsening international dispute.

January 25, 2012, 7:20 AM EST

By Brian Swint

Jan. 19 (Bloomberg) — Thirty years after Margaret Thatcher fought a 74-day war with Argentina over the Falkland Islands, the prospect of an oil boom is reviving tensions.

Oil explorers are targeting 8.3 billion barrels in the waters around the islands this year, three times the U.K.’s reserves. Borders & Southern Petroleum Plc will drill the Stebbing prospect next month, one of three Falkland wells that Morgan Stanley ranks among the world’s top 15 offshore prospects this year. Meanwhile, Rockhopper Exploration Plc is seeking $2 billion from a larger oil company to develop the Sea Lion field, the islands’ first economically viable oil find. read more

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.

Fatally flawed Vax V027 Rapide XL Upright Carpet Cleaner

By John Donovan

My low mileage Vax Rapide XL upright carpet washer has come to the end of its life, not because any working part is broken or worn out, but due solely to the fact that it has a fatal design fault.

The machine is far too heavy for the handle at the top of the machine.

The photograph below shows that the handle in question is completely broken in one place and badly fractured at the top.

I contacted Vax customer service, but was fobbed off on the basis that: –

  • The machine is beyond its one year warranty.
  • For health & safety reasons, Vax will not directly supply a replacement Handle assembly. For some reason Vax has not revealed the cost of the new handle assembly.
  • Because it is over 5 years old, Vax will not carry out an in-house repair and instead, suggests that I find an independent repairer. I have pointed out that the costs involved are likely to make it an uneconomic proposition, even if I do manage to find anyone willing to it.

So it appears that the machine is destined for the skip, even though there is nothing wrong with it, apart from the broken handle, which was never fit for purpose. The machine has always felt miles too heavy – a negative factor featuring prominently in user reviews. read more

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.

Davos Delegates Say EU Needs to Show Resolve as Split Over Greece Persists

“We can’t wait too long,” said Peter Voser, chief executive officer of Royal Dutch/Shell Plc. “It’s two minutes before midnight.”

By Simon Kennedy and Simone Meier – Jan 25, 2012 12:52 PM GMT

Europe must show more resolve to fix the debt crisis as officials race to draft rules governing the euro and bridge widening difference over how to keep Greece’s finances afloat, said delegates at the World Economic Forum.

“We can’t wait too long,” said Peter Voser, chief executive officer of Royal Dutch/Shell Plc. “It’s two minutes before midnight.”

Executives and officials are meeting in Davos, Switzerland as bond markets show signs of stabilizing after the European Central Bank last month pumped three-year emergency funding into a banking system that was in danger of seizing up. At the same time, governments, investors and the International Monetary Fund are split on how to restructure Greek debt less than two months before a potential default. read more

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.

Spaced out at Royal Dutch Shell

”SPACE, VISION AND STRATEGY”: Sir Philip Watts, disgraced Shell Group Chairman who once donned a space suit at a meeting in Maastricht, Netherlands, in 1998 to pump up his troops. Subsequently a defendant in various US class action law suits arising from his role in reserves fraud ,which cost Shell shareholders almost $1 billion in lawsuits and fines. Sir Philip was rewarded with a reported $18 million pension pot/settlement for destroying Shell’s reputation.

Spaced out means to be confused or distracted…

REFLECTIONS OF A SHELL RETIREE

During the Mark Moody-Stuart tenure as Group Chairman of Royal Dutch Shell, someone had the brainwave of setting up “hydrocarbon value creation teams”.

The foundations for the reserves scandal were laid.

The company had got (with the explicit knowledge of the top brass) into the hands of people who were only motivated by personal rewards, and who smelled their chance. None of that ‘Enterprise First’ stuff. It was ‘Me first’ and all the snouts were in the trough and nobody wanted to take their snout out of the trough. Anyone complaining or making remarks that things were not right was publicly destroyed and removed. And those with their snouts in the trough started to make promises and ever more ridiculous demands. Explicit instructions to cook the books or ‘err on the high side’ were hardly given in written form or were at least well disguised. It was said and whispered in meetings, conferences and workshops and personal discussions during the annual staff evaluation time. There were clear instructions to aim for the impossible with those stretched targets and anyone who said he could go even further or higher was handsomely rewarded with promotions or fat bonuses. Brinded was a real champion of this, he was #2 and later MD in Shell Expro and I believe they missed their business targets for 7 years in a row under his reign! read more

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.