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July 19th, 2012:

Who Needs Cute? A Jab at Shell and Arctic Drilling

By CLIFFORD KRAUSS: July 19, 2012

Royal Dutch Shell’s plan to drill in the Arctic waters of Alaska next month is no laughing matter for most environmentalists, who still hope the Obama administration will deny the company some permits at the last minute. But Greenpeace is having some fun all the same.

On Thursday, a satirical billboard depicting a family of polar bears went up near Shell’s Houston headquarters. “You can’t run your S.U.V. on cute,” its slogan reads. “Let’s go.” 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.

Was Greenpeace’s Shell Hoax Brilliant Or ‘Villainous’? One Of The Guys Behind It All Speaks.

Kashmir Hill, Forbes Staff: 7/19/2012 @ 3:51PM

Was Greenpeace’s Shell Hoax Brilliant Or ‘Villainous’? One Of The Guys Behind It All Speaks.

The reaction to Greenpeace’s hilarious hijacking of Shell Oil’s online identity has been mixed this week. Greenpeace and Yes Lab created a parody “Arctic Ready” website that closely mirrored Shell’s own site talking about drilling in the Arctic. They then created a “ShellisPrepared” Twitter account, purporting to be Shell’s bumbling social media team trying to contain the negative ads being generated by a social media tool on the site. Many of the people who saw the website and Twitter account assumed they were actually created by Shell, and broadcast them on social media as examples of corporate social media gone horribly wrong. Instead they were an example of activist social media sabotage gone viral. 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.

Organisers of fake adverts have grounds to sue Shell for defamation?

Shell says spoof video and fake adverts are scams

STATEMENT ON SHELL U.S. WEBSITE

Shell not involved in spoof video and fake advertisements

07/19/2012

Journalists, blog readers and YouTube viewers have recently been targeted with scams launched by organizations opposed to energy exploration in Alaska.

Journalists, blog readers and YouTube viewers have recently been targeted with scams launched by organizations opposed to energy exploration in Alaska.   A contest on a mock Shell website promotes the creation of fake advertisements.   A video purports to show a bungled corporate PR event at the Seattle Space Needle.  And a false press release claimed that the company is considering legal action against the scam campaign.   Just in case there is any remaining doubt, Shell did not host, nor participate in an event at the Space Needle.  The video does not involve Shell or any of its employees.  The advertising contest is not associated with Shell, and neither is the site it’s on.  And Shell did not file legal action in this matter.  Our focus is on safely executing our operations. Further, we care that people are not deceived; and in the spirit of intelligent debate on such a serious topic, we continue to offer our own (genuine) views as well as a few real facts about the challenges and opportunities of arctic exploration at www.shell.us/alaska. ENDS

COMMENT BY JOHN DONOVAN

The parties responsible for the fake adverts etc may well have grounds to sue Shell for  a serious defamation, as the term “scams” implies that the purpose of the deception is for monetary gain, when in fact the Arctic related activity is entirely non commercial, except on the part of Shell. The oil giant over-reacted once in response to our campaigning activity by putting posters on display at the Shell  Centre containing libelous comments about the Donovans. Shell senior management has been known to act recklessly when over-excited. We promptly sued Shell for defamation and Shell eventually settled the case. One of our six successful High Court actions against Shell. Two were libel cases.
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.

Moscow Times: Gazprom Rethinks Value of Sakhalin-2

FROM OUR JULY 2005 SHELL NEWS ARCHIVE…

Moscow Times: Gazprom Rethinks Value of Sakhalin-2

Tuesday 19 July 2005

Gas giant Gazprom said on Friday it considered Royal Dutch/Shell’s assets on Sakhalin to be worth less after the oil major doubled the project’s cost estimates last week to $20 billion.

Earlier this month, Gazprom agreed to swap a 50 percent stake in its Siberian Zapolyarnoye gas field for a 25 percent stake in the Shell-led Sakhalin-2 liquefied natural gas project in the Far East.

On Thursday, Shell raised the cost estimate for Sakhalin-2 and postponed the first LNG shipment from the end of 2007 to summer 2008. 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.

New York Times: Court Approves Unification of Shell Group

FROM OUR JULY 2005 SHELL NEWS ARCHIVE

New York Times: Court Approves Unification of Shell Group

“The restructuring came amid a scandal over Shell’s restatement of its oil and gas reserves. In February the company announced the fifth restatement in just over a year. In all, reserves have been cut by 6.85 billion barrels to 11.9 billion barrels at the end of 2004.”

Tuesday 19 July 2005

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — A British court on Tuesday approved the unification of the Royal Dutch/Shell Group of Cos. into one corporation in time for the start of trading a day later.

Shell declared its public exchange offer for all ordinary shares of Royal Dutch unconditional, with nearly 92 percent of outstanding shares in the Dutch arm having been tendered. Stock in the joint company will be traded beginning Wednesday morning in London and Amsterdam as Royal Dutch Shell PLC. 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.

Shell social media oil spill a ‘coordinated online assassination’

Shell social media oil spill a ‘coordinated online assassination’

Asher Moses

Asher Moses: Technology Editor: July 19, 2012 – 12:26PM

Shell’s brand has been hijacked in what marketing experts say is a “social media oil spill” and a “coordinated online assassination of the Shell brand”.

Shell now have the equivalent of a social media oil spill on their hands but one they have no control of. 

It’s a fake PR disaster that has snowballed into a very real one for Shell as web users are under the impression that it is an official company campaign.

It started when an Arctic Ready website appeared online about two months ago that looked almost identical to the Arctic section on Shell’s own site. 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.

Shell Arctic Ready Hoax Website By Greenpeace Takes Internet By Storm

07/18/2012

At first glance, Arctic Ready looks like a legitimate website from Shell. The clean lines, judicious use of white space and the prominent placement of the familiar red and yellow “Shell” logo have all the markings of the oil corporation’s homepage.

But would Royal Dutch Shell really splash “LET’S HIT THE BEACH” across a grey picture of its Noble Discoverer drilling rig that last weekend lost its mooring and drifted close to the shore?

Probably not. 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.

Greenpeace ad campaign targeting Shell Oil is an online spoof that everyone keeps falling for

New York Daily News: Greenpeace ad campaign targeting Shell Oil is an online spoof that everyone keeps falling for

Company says @ShellIsPrepared, which is asking Twitter users to stop passing around the fake ads, has nothing to do with the giant oil company.

By / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS: Wednesday, July 18, 2012, 3:19 PM

The Shell Oil ad campaign hoax is bubbling up again.

A month ago, environmental activist group Greenpeace admitted it was behind a series of fake ads supposedly promoting drilling for oil in the Arctic. It included ads with taglines such as, “Because your gas should come from someplace beautiful,” and “Birds are like sponges … for oil!”

The website, ArcticReady.com, followed the same color scheme and layout as Shell’s real site, Shell.com, and duped many into thinking it was all a public relations move by Shell gone horribly wrong. 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.

Shell Oil’s Social Media Nightmare Continues, Thanks To Skilled Pranksters Behind @ShellisPrepared

Shell Oil’s Social Media Nightmare Continues, Thanks To Skilled Pranksters Behind @ShellisPrepared

Kashmir HillKashmir Hill, Forbes Staff: July 18, 2012

Two months ago, an “Arctic Ready” website appeared online. Festooned with Shell Oil’s logo, it purported to be a site dedicated to educating the public about Shell’s drilling for oil up North. It even included an interactive “ social media” component — an “ad generator” allowing visitors to caption photos supposedly provided by Shell. It looked a lot like Shell’s own Arctic-focused section of its site. But it is and was a fake, created by anti-Shell groups — Greenpeace and the Yes Men. And despite the fact that it has been reported as fake repeatedly, visitors continue to be duped by it and so it continues to generate controversy for Shell. 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.

Return of the 1970s as Shell bring back petrol pump attendants to fill your tank for you

Return of the 1970s as Shell bring back petrol pump attendants to fill your tank for you

By Sara Malm: PUBLISHED: 18 July 2012 |

Motorists stopping to refuel this summer may find themselves transported back in time as it sees the return of the old-school petrol pump attendant.

Three hundred Shell petrol stations across the country are trying out the free service this summer before the company intend to roll it out across the UK next year.

As self-service machines and 24 hour stations are becoming increasingly common the introduction of attendants may be a breath of fresh air for motorists.

Drivers making a pit stop at Shell on Prince Avenue in Westcliff, Essex, can get their tanks re-filled by one of two AA-trained staff will also offer basic car maintenance, such as checking tyres, screen wash and oil. 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.

Online pranksters target Shell’s drilling plans

Greenpeace’s latest attack on the company’s Arctic drilling is a little too effective.

By Kim Peterson 19 July 2012 Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A +0.40%) has a problem on its hands: a little website that looks authentic and for weeks has called attention to the company’s Arctic oil exploration plan.The website, at ArcticReady.com, was expertly crafted to look like a Shell company site. But it doesn’t take much investigating to realize there are hijinks afoot. The picture of a polar bear carrying the bloody head of a baby polar bear in its mouth might give a clue.The site is an elaborate setup by Greenpeace, which has clearly learned that online protests can make more of an impact than some of its other methods. The site is funny, viral, and so effective that it keeps coming back to haunt Shell weeks after it was exposed as a Greenpeace stunt.

The centerpiece of the site is a fake ad generator that lets people add their own captions to photos of the Arctic (the ad generator appears to be down now). You can see the gallery here. The captions that people have added are harsh, and sometimes hilarious. Here are some examples:

  • Birds are like sponges… for oil!
  • We’d drill a crippled orphan’s spine if there was some oil in it.
  • Because you can’t afford to visit pristine wilderness anyway.
  • End polar bear attacks in our lifetime.
  • This fox will murder you unless we kill it first.
  • Because your gas should come from someplace beautiful.

Shell clearly wants all of this to go away — so much so that it said it won’t take legal action against Greenpeace. The company is looking to launch its first offshore Arctic drilling in two decades, and continues to be hammered by environmental groups as a result 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.

Drawing battle lines over impending Arctic Ocean oil drilling

Drawing battle lines over impending Arctic Ocean oil drilling – while House Republicans advance radical offshore drilling expansion bill

Posted on July 16, 2012 by Rick Piltz

Will the Obama Administration bend environmental protection rules and set aside scientific concerns to allow Shell Oil to proceed with Arctic drilling this summer? A Shell drilling ship has failed to meet EPA clean air standards and Shell also has failed to meet Coast Guard certification standards for its oil spill containment barge. Shell has already acknowledged the obvious, that when it ‘encounters’ an oil spill in Arctic waters, it can’t say that it will actually be able to recover oil.  As the battle lines are drawn for a new stage in the fight to protect one of the world’s last wild places from high-risk fossil fuel development, where will the Administration come down?  Meanwhile, continuing to lower the bar for the Administration to look reasonable, House Republicans will mark up a bill this week to allow oil development in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans along most of the East and West coasts, and in Alaska’s salmon-rich Bristol Bay – all off-limits under the Administration’s offshore drilling plan. 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.