Sunday 24 January 2016 09.00 GMT
Oil workers in Aberdeen will be watching events in the Hague this coming Wednesday as closely as anyone.
They will be hoping that some miracle occurs so that Dutch and other international investors in Shell suddenly swing against the £35bn merger with rival BG that is coming up for a final vote.
Ben van Beurden, the Shell chief executive, will almost certainly win the day and that could result in many Scottish oil workers being sacrificed in a blitz of job cuts needed to justify the tie-up.
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