Dow Jones Newswires: Published October 28, 2012
Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSA) is struggling to settle the over $1 billion it owes Iran for oil purchases after options such as financing a gas pipeline or paying for food shipments were rejected, people familiar with the matter said over the weekend.
“There have been several options examined. None has been successful,” one person said.
Anglo-Dutch oil giant Shell’s $1 billion plus debt to Iran is due to a European Union embargo that started July 1, which prevents the transfer of payments to the Islamic Republic.
Shell’s failure so far to find a way to repay the debt isn’t only bad news for Iran, which is facing a steep economic crisis amid mounting sanctions over its contested nuclear program but also for the Anglo-Dutch major. It needs to find a solution if it wants to return to the oil-rich Middle-Eastern nation once the standoff with the West is over.
In a recent attempt, Shell contacted U.S. commodities trader Cargill Inc. to pay for its deliveries of cereals to Iran in order to settle the debt, the people familiar with the matter said.
“But Cargill declined. It has its own financial channels to get paid and doesn’t need Shell,” one person said.
Shell hasn’t ruled out the option of food bartering to pay its debts, sources familiar with the matter said.
Earlier, Iran had asked Shell to repay the debt by financing a natural gas pipeline, the people said. The idea was to fund part of a route receiving Iranian natural gas but in a neighboring country, such as Turkey or Iraq in order to bypass sanctions, they said. But Shell refused that proposal, they added.
Shell declined to comment. But a person familiar with the company said it “complies with all applicable sanctions.”
Officials at Iran’s oil ministry and the National Iranian Oil Co. declined to comment.
The National Iranian Gas Export Co.–which manages its sales of natural gas abroad–, Cargill and the European Union didn’t return requests for comment.
Write to Benoit Faucon [email protected]
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Copyright © 2012 Dow Jones Newswires
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.
