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July, 2014:

Shell says its underperforming European refineries to get no mercy

Screen Shot 2014-02-10 at 16.29.29Extract from Reuters article published Thursday 31 July 2014

(Reuters) – Anglo Dutch oil company Royal Dutch Shell will show no mercy to underperforming oil refineries in Europe as it seeks to improve returns, its chief executive said on Thursday.

FULL ARTICLE

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Sanctions: Bloomberg warns of ‘DefCon 5’ reprisal by Russia on Royal Dutch Shell

Screen Shot 2014-07-31 at 11.19.33

By John Donovan

This morning the oil giant Royal Dutch Shell Plc announced its second quarter results.

In subsequent news coverage, Bloomberg commentators said they were stunned by the lack of comment by Shell on the risk of reprisals by Russia to the recent announcement of EU sanctions targeting the Russian  oil and gas industry.

Ryan Chilcote of Bloomberg raised the prospect of what he described as a Def Con 5 reprisal by Putin seizing Shell assets – see screenshot.

Extract

July 31 (Bloomberg) — Bloomberg’s Ryan Chilcote reviews second-quarter results from Shell and looks at the potential negative impact of their exposure to Russia. He speaks on “The Pulse.” 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 Profit Rises on Higher U.S. Oil and Gas Prices

Screen Shot 2014-02-10 at 16.29.29Extracts from a Bloomberg News article by Eduard Gismatullin published 31 July 2014

Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA), Europe’s biggest oil company, said second-quarter earnings rose 33 percent on higher U.S. energy prices and increased production. Profit excluding one-time items and inventory changes gained to $6.1 billion from $4.6 billion a year earlier, The Hague-based Shell said today in a statement. Chief Executive Officer Ben van Beurden, who took over from Peter Voser at the start of the year, is accelerating asset sales and reviewing spending plans to win investor support. He needs a return to profit in the Americas’ operation, where the company is deploying about $80 billion. 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 boosts FTSE 100 after earnings double

Screen Shot 2014-02-10 at 16.29.29Extracts from a MarketWatch article published 31 July 2014

LONDON (MarketWatch) — The U.K.’s benchmark’s stock index rose for the first time in two days on Thursday, getting a lift from shares of Royal Dutch Shell PLC after the oil giant’s earnings jumped in the second-quarter. The oil major said its second-quarter profit more than doubled as it benefited from higher liquid-petroleum prices and higher prices for specific products.

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Woodside’s Buyback Deal With Shell at Risk of Being Blocked

Screen Shot 2014-02-10 at 16.29.29Extracts from a Bloomberg News article by James Paton dated 31 July 2014

Woodside Petroleum Ltd plan to buy back shares from Royal Dutch Shell Plc for $2.7 billion is at risk of being rejected by shareholders as it falls short of the votes needed to proceed. The buyback is part of Shell’s deal last month to raise $5 billion trimming most of its 23 percent stake in Australia’s second-largest oil producer. A no vote would leave Shell with a larger, unwanted stake, and add to Woodside’s frustrations after a plan to invest as much as $2.6 billion in an Israeli gas project collapsed, according to Macquarie Group Ltd. 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’s Pearl GTL: The Largest Gas-To-Liquids Plant In The World

Screen Shot 2014-02-10 at 16.29.29Extract from a Rigzone article published Wednesday 30 July 2014

In 2008, Shell announced it would partner with Qatar Petroleum and build Pearl GTL in order to produce cleaner-burning diesel and kerosene, base oils for top-tier lubricants, a chemical feedstock called naphtha (used to make plastics) and normal paraffin, which is used to produce detergents. Today, the plant in Ras Laffan Industrial City, 80km north of Doha, Qatar, is the largest gas-to-liquids plant in the world. 

FULL ARTICLE

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Harry Brekelmans joins Royal Dutch Shell Plc Executive Committee

Screen Shot 2014-02-10 at 16.29.29Royal Dutch Shell plc today announced the appointment of Harry Brekelmans as Projects & Technology Director with effect from October 1, 2014.

In his new role, Harry will become a member of the Executive Committee and will take over from Matthias Bichsel who will be leaving the company after 34 years.

Harry is a Dutch national and currently Executive Vice President Operated, Upstream International. He joined Shell in 1990 and has held a variety of international management positions.

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 sees ‘robust’ profits rise

Screen Shot 2014-02-10 at 16.29.29BBC News article published 31 July 2014

Oil giant Royal Dutch Shell has described its performance as “robust” after its second-quarter profits more than doubled.

Shell said profits for the period rose to $5.15bn (£3bn) from $2.39bn a year earlier.

Stripping out the impact of one-off charges, underlying profits were still 33% higher at $6.13bn.

Chief executive Ben van Beurden hailed the company’s “recent improved performance”.

The results come in sharp contrast to Shell’s performance in the first three months of the year, when it reported a 44% drop in profits after writing down the value of refineries in Asia and Europe. 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.

BP, Shell, Morgan Stanley seek end of oil price-fixing lawsuit

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Extracts from a Reuters article by Jonathan Stempel published Tuesday 29 July 2014

(Reuters) – BP Plc, Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Morgan Stanley and other companies urged a U.S. judge to dismiss nationwide litigation claiming they conspired for 12 years to fix prices of Brent crude oil, a benchmark for the cost of gasoline and heating oil.

In papers filed on Monday night in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, the defendants said there was no evidence they colluded to manipulate spot prices or intended to do so, in violation of U.S. commodity and antitrust laws.

They also said that because the alleged manipulation took place outside the United States and was governed by foreign law, U.S. courts had no authority to handle the case to begin with. read more

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FLNG Prelude: A New Dawn in the Age of Maritime & Energy

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Extracts from a highly informative MarineLink.com article by Patricia Keefe about the pioneering Shell FLNG Prelude project

Aptly named Prelude, at 488 meters long, 74 meters wide, and clocking in at 600,000 tonnes when fully ballasted, the FLNG facility, which is under construction at the Samsung Heavy Industries shipyard in South Korea, will be the largest object ever floated on the ocean. Bruce Steenson, Shell’s general manager of integrated gas programs and innovation, has been widely quoted as confirming that Shell is working on an even larger design. “That next one will be off the rails,” he told Reuters. Prelude will be sitting out in the middle of nowhere in cyclone alley central. Shell has no intentions of untethering the facility every time a bad wind blows and towing it to shore. Instead, a number of factors are supposed to ensure that Prelude sits tight in savage seas. read more

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BP: Russian sanctions could hurt us

Screen Shot 2013-12-18 at 10.04.21Extract from a Guardian Business Blog article by Graeme Wearden published 29 July 2014

Oil giant BP has warned the City this morning that it could suffer if fresh sanctions are imposed on Russia.

In its latest results, BP cautioned that it would suffer an “”adverse impact” if Western powers hit Moscow with fresh economic restrictions — in response to the crisis in Ukraine.

FULL ARTICLE

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Project Delays Will Cost These Oil Majors Billions

Screen Shot 2014-04-06 at 21.01.34Extracts from a Motley Fool article by Rupert Hargreaves published 28 July 2014

In total, Kashagan is now expect to cost a total of $136 billion, more than 140% above initial estimates. Production has been consistently delayed; the most recent delay, which occurred at the end of last year, concerns the project’s pipelines. At present, the project is being overseen by Italy’s Eni, although ExxonMobil is shortly set to take over. Shell, Eni, and Total all have a 16.8% stake in the project, and Morgan Stanley’s analysts believe that as a result of the delays, these three companies will have their 2016 net income estimates reduced by $500 million each. That is a large figure, even for these oil giants. 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 prospectors shifting focus back to wealthy, more predictable countries

Screen Shot 2014-03-10 at 23.56.16Extracts from a Seeking Alpha article published 28 July 2014

Companies including Shell, Chevron and Exxon are diverting more and more funds to the world’s richest economies, as they grow tired of the risks of working in violent and corrupt places for the reward of finding oil and gas reserves that can be profitably exploited… The companies are pulling out of more conflict-torn and difficult regions: Shell since 2010 has sold $1.8B of its Nigerian assets and last year began talks to sell four oil production blocks and a pipeline there.

FULL ARTICLE read more

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ROYAL DUTCH SHELL PLC AND RUSSIA: BUSINESS AS USUAL

By John Donovan

Shell CEO Ben van Beurden was straightforward in what he publicly stated at the 2014 AGM of Royal Dutch Shell Plc. He said that Shell puts the interests of its shareholders first, above any geopolitical considerations. That is his excuse for Shell’s dealings with evil regimes in Iran and Russia, irrespective of sanctions. You can tell all you need to know about Ben’s priorities from his failure to sign the document “SHELL BUSINESS PRINCIPLES” – it is still signed by his predecessor Peter Voser, who abandoned ship long ago.  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 majors BP and Shell may be ready for more mergers

Some of Shell’s big shareholders are said to be frustrated by the company’s continued spending on expensive far-flung projects that fail to yield healthy returns. Alongside its profit warning at the start of this year, Shell announced that it was halting a controversial exploration programme off the coast of Alaska because the costs had far outweighed the results. Some $4.5bn had been ploughed into exploring in the region since 2005. Rumours continue to swirl that an activist investor is circling Shell with a view to taking a stake and forcing it adopt a more radical strategy. 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 vs. Bodo Community: British Court To Hear Evidence In Nigeria

Screen Shot 2014-02-10 at 16.29.29Extracts from an article by Tunde Oyedoyin published by The Guardian Nigeria on Friday 25 July 2014

A BRITISH court will temporarily sit in Nigeria next year in a bid to determine how much compensation Shell Nigeria should pay to the fishermen of the Bodo community, who were affected by the two massive oil spills that occurred in their area in 2008 and 2009.

Although the decision to hear evidence from the fishermen was taken during a previous sitting on June 20, when the case was heard again Friday in Courtroom 20 of the Technology and Construction Court (TCC), Chancery Lane, Mr. Justice Akenhead confirmed that he will be sitting in Port Harcourt for two weeks, beginning May 5, 2015. 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.

Offshore oil plan could be ‘game over’ for climate

Screen Shot 2014-04-04 at 09.49.25Extract from an article by Professor Richard Steiner published 25 July 2014 by The Arctic Sounder

Already suffering extreme effects of climate change, drilling in the Arctic Ocean would make matters worse by adding significant industrial disturbance, including platforms, pipelines, tankers, ports, ship and air traffic, underwater noise, suspended sediment, and of course oil spills with no hope of cleanup. The area’s remoteness, severe weather and icy seas make drilling here a high-risk, unacceptable gamble.

Just ask Shell Oil. In perhaps the most intensely scrutinized offshore drilling project in history, Shell’s calamitous 2012 Arctic drilling effort off Alaska displayed arrogance, incompetence, and a reckless disregard for the risks involved. 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 Leaves Business Strategy for Russia Unchanged Despite Sanctions

Screen Shot 2014-02-10 at 16.29.29British oil giant is determined to continue its work in Russia and will not change its business strategy in the country, despite the sanctions imposed against Moscow by the United States and European Union, representative of Shell’s press service told RIA Novosti on Friday.

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MOSCOW, July 25 (RIA Novosti) – British oil giant is determined to continue its work in Russia and will not change its business strategy in the country, despite the sanctions imposed against Moscow by the United States and European Union, representative of Shell’s press service told RIA Novosti on Friday.

“Shell continues to run business in Russia both in the upstream and downstream without any changes. We monitor the situation regarding the sanctions. But so far there have been no changes in either the business itself or in the business strategy,” the source said. 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 Co. Removes Toluene Bladder Cancer Lawsuit to Florida Federal Court

Screen Shot 2014-02-10 at 16.29.29Extracts from an article posted by Harris Martin Publishing on 25 July 2014

July 25, 2014

ORLANDO, Fla. –– Shell Oil Co. has removed a toluene exposure lawsuit to a Florida federal court, noting that while it is a Delaware corporation with a principal place of business in Texas, the plaintiff resides in Florida.

Shell Oil Company removed the complaint to the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida on July 18, citing diversity jurisdiction and, further, noting that the amount in controversy exceeds $75,000.

In her lawsuit, plaintiff Celeste Keys contended that her exposure to the chemical compound toluene caused her to develop bladder cancer. 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 vs BP – who wins?

Screen Shot 2014-02-10 at 16.29.29Extracts from an Interactive Investor article by Harriet Mann published Friday 25 July 2014

Although Barclays expects Shell to report the weakest quarterly momentum in the sector, driven by weak European natural gas prices, the City is largely bullish, with Deutsche Bank rating the stock ‘buy’ and JPMorgan and Barclays rating it ‘overweight’.

“With Shell’s financial rehabilitation seemingly underway our sense is that the portfolio and prospects means that the name is, once again, set to be (rightly) viewed as the premium Euro super-major. As the cash cycle moves back towards balance and investors gain confidence in income funding we expect the yield premium at which Shell trades to come,” Deutsche says. 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.

‘Solar’ jet fuel made out of thin air

Screen Shot 2014-02-10 at 16.29.29Extract from a Chemistry World article by Jon Cartwright published 2 May 2014

The dream of producing hydrocarbon fuels from carbon dioxide and sunlight is one step closer thanks to chemists in Europe who have made jet fuel from scratch in a solar reactor for the first time. Although the chemists only produced enough kerosene to fill a glass jar, they believe a full-scale solar concentrator could produce 20,000 litres of jet fuel a day.

Various methods have been tried to effectively remove oxygen from syngas, but the one settled on by the Solar-Jet team was the use of cerium oxide, or ceria. 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 holds crisis talks with Niger Delta community over threat to operations

Screen Shot 2014-02-10 at 16.29.29Extract from an article published by Platts on 24 July 2014 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.

The world is being held hostage

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Screen Shot 2014-02-10 at 16.29.29Extract from a NewsDay article by MARTIN SCHRAM published 23 July 2014 by McClatchy-Tribune News Service under the headline: “Schram: The world is being held hostage” 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 secretly recorded telephone calls to 888-GO-SHELL

Screen Shot 2014-02-10 at 16.29.29Californians: Are you entitled to a share in Shell $2M settlement?

By John Donovan 

Equilon Enterprises, a fully owned subsidiary of Shell Oil, secretly recorded calls from U.S. customers contacting 888-GO-SHELL – a call centre. This included calls originating from California. Customers disclosed private information without being aware of the surreptitious recording of their calls being answered overseas. 

Following a class action lawsuit, Shell has agreed to pay nearly $2 million in settlement for violations of California’s Invasion of Privacy Act.  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.

Europe’s ‘ghost town’ refineries spook oil company results

Screen Shot 2014-07-24 at 00.07.20Extracts from a Reuters article by Christopher Johnson published Wednesday 23 July 2014

LONDON, July 23 (Reuters) – Europe is coming under increasing pressure to close oil refineries as chronic over-capacity hits processing margins, dragging down group profits and hitting share prices.

Poland’s PKN Orlen and Czech processor Unipetrol both announced unexpected large losses on Wednesday after impairment charges at processing plants.

Larger oil peers Royal Dutch Shell, BP and Eni will report next week and refining is expected to weight heavily on the results.

Stephen George, principal consultant at KBC Advanced Technologies and a specialist in global refining economics, says many European refiners will have to close eventually, no matter how strong the political pressure to save jobs. 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.

Royal Dutch Shell Playing Politics with Human Lives?

Screen Shot 2014-02-10 at 16.29.29What is even more appalling is the fact that the oil giant Royal Dutch Shell, is the one behind the scene steering the affairs of the Dutch Government and practically playing politics with ‘human lives.’

By Zik Gbemre

RE: DESPITE ANGER OVER DOWNED JETLINER, EUROPE SHIES AWAY FROM SANCTIONS ON RUSSIA

We find it rather appalling that the custodians’ of society, in this case; the Netherlands, Russia and other European states plus the oil giant-Royal Dutch Shell, are more interested in ‘their pockets,’ thirst for power politics and their economy/business rather than ‘human life’ and high moral values enshrined in the rule of law and rights of its citizenry. That is how best we can describe the pathetic situation playing out between some European nations and Russia and Shell in the middle. Like the above article has noted, it is really sad that “despite anger over downed Jetliner, Europe is shying away from sanctions against Russia.” What is even more appalling is the fact that the oil giant Royal Dutch Shell, is the one behind the scene steering the affairs of the Dutch Government and practically playing politics with ‘human lives.’ 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.

Europe fails to impose tough sanctions on Russia

Screen Shot 2014-02-10 at 16.29.29Extract from a Seeking Alpha article published 23 July 2014

EU foreign ministers failed to impose any tough sanctions against Russia during a meeting of the bloc’s foreign ministers yesterday, NYT reports.

Dependent on Russia’s energy and wary of confrontation, Europe’s leaders have largely decided they will have to live with a newly assertive Russia.

The Netherlands lost at least 193 victims in the Malaysian Airlines crash over Ukraine, but Royal Dutch Shell  is one of the largest foreign investors in Russian gas fields in Siberia; if Shell loses money, the pensions of Dutch teachers, civil servants and many others suffer. 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.

Woodside Chairman Defends $2.7 Billion Buyback Deal With Shell

Screen Shot 2014-02-10 at 16.29.29Extracts from a BloombergBusinessweek article by James Paton and Rebecca Keenan published 23 July 2014

Woodside Petroleum Ltd. (WPL), Australia’s second-largest oil and gas producer, defended a plan to buyback about $2.7 billion of stock from Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA) amid concern investors may reject the deal.

Woodside’s buyback is part of last month’s $5 billion deal in which Shell, Europe’s largest oil company, will trim its 23 percent stake in the Australian company. It’s possible that Woodside investors voting on the transaction Aug. 1 will block the buyback, according to Macquarie Group Ltd. 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.

One of our sources: Joe McGinniss, the famed ‘journalist provocateur’

Screen Shot 2014-07-23 at 00.31.13Extract from a Joe McGinniss email to a PR officer for one of the organizations supporting the plaintiffs in the Wiwa v Shell case, in which Joe (right) criticised the $15.5 million settlement: 

But I can’t help sensing that after finally reaching the point where you were about to show the world the evidence of Shell’s maleficence and perfidy you turned back from the brink, took a token payment, and let them off the hook. There may have been many sound reasons for doing so. Obviously, on balance, you collectively agreed that settlement was preferable to the trial you’d sought for thirteen years. But it was like you had the stake in your hand, and then instead of driving it into their foul and noxious heart you set it down, took their chump change, and walked away, leaving them able to scurry off spouting claims of having been “humanitarian.” 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.

BP a better investment than Shell right now

Screen Shot 2014-01-30 at 00.47.49Extracts from an article by David Thorpe published 22 July 2014 by What Investment under the headline: “M&G: BP is a better investment than Shell right now”

Felton’s reason for not investing in Shell at present is that he believes the company has made a significant strategic blunder.

‘Shell has always been the high cost, low risk producer. They are the archetypal supertanker of the oil industry. But a few years ago, they began to focus on extracting very expensive oil from the Canadian sands. The rationale was that the higher production cost would be offset by the ease of transporting the oil just next door to the US. And that made sense, when the US was the largest oil market in the world, but the rapid acceleration of the fracking industry means that the US could become self-sufficient in energy within one or two years, which means Shell wouldn’t have that market.’ 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 will try to prevent any sanctions against Russia’

Screen Shot 2014-07-18 at 12.28.09

Screen Shot 2014-02-10 at 16.29.29Extracts from a New York Times article by Thomas Erdbrink published 23 July 2014 in the New York edition under the headline: “Despite Anger Over Downed Jetliner, Europe Shies Away From Sanctions on Russia”

Shell, the Anglo-Dutch oil giant, which has its head office in The Hague, is one of the largest foreign investors in Russian gas fields in Siberia. Shell is the largest corporation in the Netherlands, and its stock is widely held in the nation’s pension funds. If Shell loses money, the pensions of Dutch teachers, civil servants and many others suffer.

As a result, the ties between Shell and the government are extremely close, and the company’s welfare inevitably influences policy, analysts said. 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.

Behind the scenes at Greenpeace’s Lego and Shell protest viral video

Screen Shot 2014-02-10 at 16.29.29From an article published by the Guardian newspaper on 22 July 2014

It had more than 4.5m views in its first week…

The film was designed to increase the pressure on Lego to cut its ties with Shell. Arguably it is the way the film subverts and disrupts expectations that explains why more than 4.5 million people have watched it since it was released earlier this month.

FULL ARTICLE

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The elephant in the atmosphere

Screen Shot 2014-03-10 at 23.56.16Extract from an article published by economist.com on 19 July 2014: “Shell, Exxon and carbon: The elephant in the atmosphere”

IN SEPTEMBER 2013 a group of institutional investors with $3 trillion of assets under management asked the 45 biggest quoted oil firms how climate change might affect their business and, in particular, whether any of their oil reserves might become “stranded assets”—unusable if laws to curb emissions of carbon dioxide became really tight. Exxon Mobil and Shell are the most recent to get back with their assessment of the risk: zero. “We do not believe that any of our proven reserves will become ‘stranded’,” says 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.

South African anti-fracking group threatens legal challenge

Screen Shot 2014-03-11 at 14.07.51Extract from a Reuters article by Ed Cropley published 22 July 2014 under the headline: “UPDATE 1-S.African anti-fracking group threatens legal challenge”

JOHANNESBURG, July 22 (Reuters) – A South African anti-fracking group threatened a legal challenge on Tuesday to government plans to grant shale gas exploration licences in the pristine semi-desert of the Karoo, saying the regulatory process had been marked by “patent ineptitude”. Green groups wanting to protect the Karoo, believed to hold significant shale gas deposits, said Pretoria was incapable of ensuring firms such as Royal Dutch Shell, at the forefront of the fracking push, would adhere to the rules. 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’s Ho-Ho pipeline plagued by mechanical issues

Screen Shot 2014-02-10 at 16.29.29Extract from a Reuters article by Catherine Ngai published Tuesday 22 July 2014 under the headline: “Ho-Ho pipeline slow to start but pickup anticipated- traders” 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.

Death of 193 Dutch Strains Russian Relations for Shell, Heineken

Screen Shot 2014-02-10 at 16.29.29

At one point the largest foreign investor in Russia, Shell declined to comment on whether its business would be affected after the downing of the plane. The company lost four employees in the incident, it said yesterday.

BloombergBusinessweek article by Celeste Perri, Maud van Gaal and Fred Pals published 22 July 2014

For centuries, the fortunes of the Netherlands, the wind-swept country carved out of North Sea wetlands, have relied on preserving the peace with its global trading partners. Last week’s downing of an airliner carrying 193 Dutch nationals is testing one of its most important relationships, involving companies from Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA) to Heineken NV. (HEIA)

The Netherlands was Russia’s third-biggest trading partner last year, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The Dutch, home to the busiest container port in Europe and the region’s biggest energy company, send dairy products, meat and machinery to Russia, which the U.S. says is complicit in the attack. 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.

Nigerian Federal Government, Shell and the Ogoni: Treachery all round?

Screen Shot 2014-02-10 at 16.29.29Extract from an article by Ifeanyi Izeze published 21 July 2014 by ngex.com 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.

Qatar’s LNG Dominance Threatened by Shell’s Reported Withdrawal

Screen Shot 2014-02-10 at 16.29.29Extract from an article by Andy Tully published by oil price.com on 21 July 2014

In 2013, however, one Shell well in Block D of the field came up dry, although Qatar had promoted it as a rich source of energy. As a result, Shell decided against even beginning a second exploratory well, anonymous sources told The Wall Street Journal. A person identified by The Journal only as a Shell spokesman said the first well had reached the depth planned to explore for gas, but “it did not encounter commercial volumes of hydrocarbons.” Now, he said, Shell is negotiating with QP and PetroChina on how to withdraw from the venture without drilling the second well. 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.

Protecting Oil Installations in Nigeria

Screen Shot 2014-02-10 at 16.29.29Extracts from an article published 22 July 2014 by ThisDayLive under the headline: Protecting Oil Installations through Community Engagement

At a recent practical dialogue on the security and human rights practices of stakeholders involved in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry, especially within the Niger Delta operational basin, the Global Rights Nigeria disclosed that oil companies in the country might have spent over $53 billion securing their operational facilities between 2007 and 2011.

Global Rights, which is currently headquartered in Washington noted that it was possibile the federal government expended such huge amount of money in securing oil and gas operations within the Niger Delta, owing to the region’s poor history of human rights practices. 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.

Legal challenge launched against Shell Centre decision

Screen Shot 2014-07-22 at 09.13.36Extracts from an article by Elizabeth Hopkirk and Ike Ijeh published by bdonline.co.uk on 22 July 2014

An opponent of Squire & Partners’ Shell Centre development has launched a legal challenge in the High Court. Activist and writer George Turner claims communities secretary Eric Pickles’ decision to approve the £1.3 billion scheme last month was flawed and will unleash a planning free-for-all on the South Bank. He served the challenge on Pickles, as well as the mayor of London, Lambeth council, Shell and developer Braeburn Estates, a joint venture between Qatari Diar and Canary Wharf Group. The defendants now have two weeks to respond. They are expected to contest the validity of Turner’s challenge. 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.

A Horrified Netherlands May Rethink Its Economic Ties With Russia

Screen Shot 2014-07-18 at 12.28.09

Screen Shot 2014-02-10 at 16.29.29Extract from a BloombergBusinessweek article by Carol Matlack published 21 July 2014

The Netherlands, a nation of traders, generally doesn’t like to let politics interfere with business. The death of 193 Dutch nationals in the Malaysia Airlines  jet crash could change that.

Major Dutch companies with business interests in Russia also are drawing fire for their relations with President Vladimir Putin. “In April of this year, when the crisis over Crimea was at its height, [Royal Dutch Shell Chief Executive Officer] Ben van Beurden made a point of visiting Putin and saying that no matter the political situation, Shell and Russia had great plans for the future…” 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.

Will Royal Dutch Shell Be Forced to Skedaddle From Russia?

Screen Shot 2013-10-01 at 07.59.11Extract from a Motley Fool article by David Smith published 21 July 2014 under the headline: “Will ExxonMobil, BP, and Royal Dutch Shell Be Forced to Skedaddle From Russia?”

Amid a crescendo of calls in Washington for the imposition of severely tightened sanctions on Moscow, following last week’s tragic shoot-down of a Malaysian airliner over Ukraine, I’m wondering whether in, say, six months, the likes of ExxonMobil, BP, and Royal Dutch Shell, will retain permission to work side-by-side with Rosneft and other Russian state-controlled energy companies.

Shell has a 27.5% interest with Gazprom in Sakhalin-2 on a desolate, eponymously named island in the Sea of Okhotsk, to Russia’s east. Until 2006 Shell operated the project, but late that year it was forced to sell much of its then majority interest to Gazprom, for what was generally agreed to be a pittance, relative to the $20 billion the company had already invested in the project. 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.

Few limits offshore, Shell says

Screen Shot 2014-02-10 at 16.29.29Extract from a UPI article by Daniel J. Graeber published 21 July 2014

LONDON, July 21 (UPI) –John Hollowell, Shell’s vice president in charge of deep waters in the Americas, told The Daily Telegraph in London there were few limitations to how deep or how far offshore oil companies can drill.

“How far you can go is really technology based,” he said in an interview published Sunday. “When we can’t overcome the technical barriers, that will be the end, but we have yet to reach that stage.”

The company said it’s working according to the terms of the new safety culture that emerged in the wake of the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. 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 whistleblower OSSL challenges Irish police officers to take lie-detector test

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By John Donovan

OSSL, the company that admits supplying free alcohol to Irish police on behalf of Shell EP Ireland is challenging senior Irish police officers, who apparently deny receiving the goods said to be worth tens of thousands of Euros, to take lie detector tests. 

The challenge is contained in an email sent earlier today to senior executives of Shell including the Company Secretary of Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Mr Michiel Brandjes.

OSSL directors say that they are prepared to take lie-detector tests themselves with Shell representatives in attendance.  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.

Kashagan delays mar outlook for Eni, Total and Shell

Screen Shot 2014-02-10 at 16.29.29Extract from FT article by Guy Chazan published 20 July 2014

Three of Europe’s largest oil companies could take a $1.5bn hit to earnings as a result of delays to Kashagan, the $50bn oil project in the Caspian Sea that has been bedevilled by hold-ups and cost over-runs.

FULL FT ARTICLE

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2014.

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 drills deeper in the Gulf of Mexico to meet demand

MARVIN ODUM ,  DIRECTOR OF UPSTREAM AMERICAS

MARVIN ODUM , DIRECTOR OF UPSTREAM AMERICAS

Extracts from a Telegraph article by Scott Campbell published 19 July 2014

It is with some pride that Marvin Odum, the president of Shell Oil and director of its upstream business in the Americas, talks about the rapid pace at which his company is reaching new depths in the Gulf of Mexico. “More people have walked on the moon than have been at the depths we’re exploring,” he boasts.

But standing on the platform – Shell’s sixth-largest tension leg project – Odum, in full fluorescent gear, is keen to emphasise that when it comes to safety, there are no compromises. “It’s the most important thing that we deal with out here and it’s always front of mind for us,” he explains. read more

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It’s try, try, try again for Shell in the Arctic

Screen Shot 2013-11-01 at 09.31.18Extracts from a Petroleum News article by Eric Lidji published week of 20 July 2014 under the headline: “Explorers 2014: It’s try, try, try again for Shell in the Arctic”

Shell has cancelled its past two exploration programs in the Arctic and the 2015 program is uncertain.

As Royal Dutch Shell plc nears the end of its first decade back in Alaska, the company is only slightly ahead of where it started. But it’s still aiming for the bounty of the Arctic.

After four decades of exploration – including pioneering work across the Chukchi Sea, the Beaufort Sea, the Gulf of Alaska, the Bering Sea and Cook Inlet – Shell left Alaska in 1998. The company acquired a bundle of onshore leases in the central North Slope in 2001, but put the leases on the market a year later and ultimately dropped them in 2004. 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 shelves small-scale LNG plans

Screen Shot 2014-02-10 at 16.29.29Extract from an upstreamonline.com article by Luke Johnson published 17 July 2014

Anglo-Dutch supermajor Shell is shelving plans for now to build three small-scale gas liquefaction plants in North America that would produce LNG for transportation fuel.

Access to full article subject to subscription

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OBJECTION TO MR. OSAGIE OKUNBOR AS MD/COUNTRY CHAIR OF SHELL (SPDC) NIGERIA

We consider it a very unwise move by Shell that Mr. Osagie Okunbor, who was said to be the former Vice President (VP) Human Resources, Shell (SPDC), is currently being considered/prepared to assume the position of the Managing Director (MD) and Country Chair of Shell (SPDC) Nigeria. We strongly advise that relevant authorities of Royal Dutch Shell and Shell (SPDC) Nigeria should give this issue raised the needed attention.

Mr. Osagie Okunbor is said to be on cross-posting to The Hague, in other for him to be ‘groomed’ to occupy the said exalted position and take over from Mr. Mutiu Sunmonu, who will soon go on retirement.

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Royal Dutch Shell legal battle ready to roll

Screen Shot 2014-06-21 at 15.33.18Extract from a Motley Fool article by Royston Wild published Friday 18 July 2014 under the headline: The Risks Of Investing In Royal Dutch Shell Plc

Like its industry rival BP, Shell also faces the prospect of being dragged through the courts — and having to incur huge legal penalties — as a result of a major oil catastrophe.

Some 11,000 villagers from the Nigerian village of Bodo are taking action against the business after thefts from the Bomu-Bonny pipeline caused two large oil spills in 2008. Shell had initially offered to compensate claimants to the tune of £30m back in 2011, an offer which it repeated after an initial hearing at the UK High Court in June. 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.