Mar 30th, 2018
by John Donovan.
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Royal Dutch Shell has continued to build interests on the UK Continental Shelf after buying acreage from Siccar Point Energy.
Shell, which has been building stakes in licences that lie to the northwest of the Shetland Islands, is one of the largest oil and gas producers in the world with operations spanning more than 70 countries and interests including fuel distribution and petrol stations.
Many of the bigger energy groups are focusing their interests on larger North Sea fields while selling holdings in other sites to smaller independent players.read more
Mar 30th, 2018
by John Donovan.
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RIO DE JANEIRO, March 29, 2018 /PRNewswire/ — Shell Brasil Petroleo, a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell plc (“Shell”), today won four additional deep-water, exploration blocks in the Campos and Potiguar basins, bringing its total operated presence offshore Brazil to 18 blocks. In the 15th deep-water bid round organized by the Brazilian National Petroleum Agency (ANP), Shell secured one exploration block on its own and three in joint-bids with Chevron Brazil, Petrobras, and Petrogal Brasil. Of the newly acquired blocks today, Shell will operate two.read more
The Dutch government says it will phase out gas production at the Groningen field by 2030 as part of efforts to reduce the danger caused by small but damaging earthquakes.
Production is set for 21.6B cm this year, already down from a peak of 53.8B cm in 2013, and is planned to fall to below 20B cm for the production year beginning October 2018 and to below 17.5B cm for the 2019 year, assuming average temperatures, then to 12B cm in the coming 4-5 years and to zero at the end of the 2020s.read more
Royal Dutch Shell has done a rather unusual thing – for one of the biggest oil and gas companies in the world and thus one of the biggest emitters of greenhouse gases.
It has just published a scenario, which it calls Sky, of what the energy industry could look like if society is to meet the requirements of the Paris climate change agreement and hold the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C.
Between now and 2070, it says, there will need to be:
A change in consumer mindset so that people choose low-carbon, high-efficiency energy options.
A step-change in the efficiency of energy use.
Carbon-pricing mechanisms adopted by governments globally over the next decade, leading to a meaningful cost of CO 2 embedded within consumer goods and services.
A tripling of the rate of electrification of energy across the economy, with global electricity generation reaching a level nearly five times today’s level.
New energy sources growing up to fifty-fold, with primary energy from renewables eclipsing fossil fuels in the 2050s.
Net-zero deforestation and an area the size of Brazil being reforested, offering the possibility of limiting warming to 1.5°C, the ultimate ambition of the Paris Agreement.
Most controversially, some 10,000 large carbon capture and storage (CCS) facilities must be built, compared to fewer than 50 in operation in 2020.
Sky recognizes that simply extending current efforts will not be enough for the scale of change required. There will need to be both big changes in climate policies to encourage investment and innovation, and mass deployment of disruptive new technologies. No single factor will be enough – rather, the scenario “relies on a complex combination of mutually reinforcing drivers being rapidly accelerated by society, markets, and governments.”read more
Mar 29th, 2018
by John Donovan.
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In March, Shell complained to the Energy Department after finding high levels of H2S in a cargo the company bought as part of a 6.2 million-barrel purchase from the U.S. government in January…
Catherine Ngai: MARCH 29, 2018
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Three firms that bought crude oil last year from U.S. emergency stockpiles raised concerns about dangerous levels of a poisonous chemical in the cargoes, according to internal Energy Department emails and shipping documents reviewed by Reuters.
Problems with crude quality would make the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) less useful in an emergency because refiners would need to spend time and money removing contamination before producing fuel. The reserve is the world’s largest government stockpile, currently holding 665 million barrels.
Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) occurs naturally in crude and natural gas, but oil producers typically decontaminate such products before delivery to buyers. High levels of H2S can corrode refinery parts and pipelines – and can be lethal to humans in gas form.read more
Mar 29th, 2018
by John Donovan.
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By Jared Stonesifer : Posted Mar 28, 2018 at 5:00 PMUpdated Mar 28, 2018 at 5:00 PM
Shell Chemicals has received nearly $4 million from the state to help the company perform improvements to a 10-mile stretch of railroad track between Aliquippa and Potter Township.
The money came from the Rail Transportation Assistance Program and the Rail Freight Assistance Program through the state Legislature.
In a news release announcing the money, Gov. Tom Wolf said Shell will receive $3.8 million “to transport construction materials for Shell’s plant and outbound products from the completed plant, which will improve the efficiency of operations and safety.”read more
Mar 28th, 2018
by John Donovan.
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A bank account linked to Robinson was frozen by the Attorney-General in Switzerland after requests for legal assistance from the Dutch and Italian authorities, people familiar with the matter said last week. Several hundred million Swiss francs were in the account…
Oil giant filed a criminal complaint to Dutch authorities
Peter Robinson already facing corruption charges in Italy
Royal Dutch Shell Plc referred a former vice president for sub-Saharan Africa Peter Robinson to the Dutch authorities, suspecting he may have committed crimes related to an asset sale in Nigeria.
The allegations of criminal misconduct by one of its employees come at a difficult time for Shell. Europe’s largest energy company and several former executives, including Robinson, are already facing a criminal trial in Milan over an alleged bribery scheme related to the separate purchase of a Nigerian oil block called OPL 245. read more
LONDON (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell’s (RDSa.L) U.S. boss, Bruce Culpepper, will step down at the end of the year and be replaced by former Maersk Oil Chief Executive Gretchen Watkins, the company said in a statement on Tuesday.
Shell’s head of unconventionals, Greg Guidry, who oversees the Anglo-Dutch company’s shale production in North America and Argentina, will step down on June 31, when he will be replaced by Gretchen.
Watkins will retain her role as head of unconventionals when taking over as Shell U.S. country chair, the company said.read more
Mar 27th, 2018
by John Donovan.
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Gretchen Watkins, incoming President and U.S. Country Chair, Shell Oil Company
HOUSTON, March 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ — Royal Dutch Shell (Shell) today announced a series of changes to the makeup of its U.S. leadership team.
Following a 36-year career with the company, EVP Unconventionals, Greg Guidry, will leave his role on June 31, 2018.
Guidry will be succeeded by Gretchen Watkins, former CEO of Maersk Oil. Watkins will officially join Shell on May 1, 2018, and will be appointed EVP Unconventionals effective July 1, 2018. She will report to the Upstream Director and be based in Houston.read more
Shell’s Sky scenario is designed to imagine a world that complies with the goals of the Paris climate agreement, managing to hold global warming to “well below” a rise of 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels; the world’s consumption of oil would rise through 2025 before starting to decline in the 2030s and fall below current levels in 2040.
The company stresses that Sky is only a scenario – a possible future dependent upon many assumptions – not a reality that definitely will be realized.
Royal Dutch Shell on Monday outlined a scenario in which, by 2070, we would be using far less of the company’s own product — oil — as cars become electric, a massive carbon storage industry develops, and transportation begins a shift toward a reliance on hydrogen as an energy carrier.
The company’s Sky scenario was designed to imagine a world that complies with the goals of the Paris climate agreement, managing to hold the planet’s warming to “well below” a rise of 2 degrees Celsius, or 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit, above preindustrial levels. Shell has said that it supports the Paris agreement.read more
Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A, RDS.B) likely will face a shareholder resolution calling at its May annual meeting for a radical shift away from fossil fuels, highlighting mounting pressure on big oil companies over global warming, Financial Times reports.
Shell has gone further than most peers by announcing last November a goal to reduce its carbon footprint by 50% by 2050, but climate activists are disputing its claim that its goal is in line with the Paris agreement.
“The ambitions announced by Shell are inconsistent with the Paris agreement, in particular when taking into account expected global energy demand growth,” according to Follow This, the shareholder group that has submitted a resolution calling for more aggressive targets.
Activists say Shell’s goal for a 50% reduction actually would be 25% in absolute terms if the company maintains its share of a global energy market that is forecast to grow by 50% by 2050.
Mar 26th, 2018
by John Donovan.
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The world’s largest oil companies have survived a life-changing crisis, and are now poised to reap the rewards, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said.
Big Oil is in a sweet spot with rising oil prices and low operating costs, leaving them with the biggest cash-flow growth in two decades and boosting earnings, Goldman said in a report Monday. That will increase their attraction for investors after years of elevated spending followed by crude’s slump sent their weighting in global equity indexes to a 50-year low, according to the bank. read more
Mar 26th, 2018
by John Donovan.
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Cutting emissions won’t be enough to keep the planet from warming by more than 2 degrees Celsius: to achieve that goal, according to Royal Dutch Shell Plc, will require sucking carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere.
A scenario report from the Anglo-Dutch oil major describes a world woefully unprepared to meet the goals set out in the Paris Climate Agreement. Shell says that by 2060, carbon capture and storage must exceed global emissions as the company sets a course for pre-industrial pollution levels. For decades after, such facilities would need to work at breakneck pace to inhale the carbon dioxide spewed by previous generations. read more
A new hydrogen pump has been installed at Beaconsfield services on the M40, the second on Britain’s motorway network and the first to be built ‘under the canopy’ at an existing petrol station.
The machine has been supplied to Shell by Sheffield-based energy company ITM Power. It can be used by motorists to refuell hydrogen fuel cell cars such as the Toyota Mirai, Hyundai Nexo and Honda Clarity.read more
The Department for Transport has awarded £8.8million in funding, with £4.3million going to clean energy firm ITM Power.
It will use the funds to create four new hydrogen refuelling stations in the UK, and upgrade five existing ones to help support a larger fleet of hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles.
ITM Power is joined by Shell, Toyota, Honda and Hyundai in the consortium.
The government funding will be also be used to create nearly 200 clean energy vehicles which will be used by taxi drivers and the police.read more
Shell is expected to face a shareholder resolution calling at its annual meeting in May for a radical shift away from fossil fuels, highlighting mounting pressure on the world’s largest oil and gas companies over their contributions to global warming. The Anglo-Dutch group has gone further than most peers by announcing an “ambition” last November to reduce its carbon footprint by 50 per cent by 2050… FULL FT ARTICLEread more
Mar 25th, 2018
by John Donovan.
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The Anglo-Dutch energy giant is preparing for a world where its main product is much less in demand
Simon Duke: March 25 2018, 12:01am
Despite Shell’s move towards renewable energy, oil will continue to grease its wheels for years to come: ILLUSTRATION: HAYLEY DALRYMPLE
Ben van Beurden, a three-decade veteran of the oil industry, did something that went completely against the grain. Last year the chief executive of Royal Dutch Shell traded in his diesel-guzzling car — these days he motors around the Hague in a plug-in Mercedes-Benz S500.
His switch to a hybrid vehicle encapsulates the quandary facing Britain’s largest listed company: the future may be electric, but oil is the mainstay of Shell’s £200bn empire and will continue to sustain its vast profits for years to come.read more
Mar 23rd, 2018
by John Donovan.
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Reuters Staff: MARCH 23, 2018
(Reuters) – Oil major Royal Dutch Shell on Friday agreed to sell its entire stake in Iraq’s West Qurna 1 oilfield to Japan’s Itochu Corp for $406 million.
The deal comes shortly after the Anglo-Dutch company agreed to exit the Majnoon oilfield, one of the largest fields in OPEC member Iraq, and hand over its operation to state-run Basra Oil Co (BOC) by end-June.
Shell EP Middle East Holdings B.V. will sell the entire share capital of Shell Iraq B.V. (SIBV), which holds a 19.6 percent stake in the oilfield to a unit of Itochu, the Anglo Dutch company said.read more
In a California court case this week, Judge William Alsup asked the two sides to provide him a climate science tutorial. The plaintiffs are the coastal cities of San Francisco and Oakland. They’re suing five major oil companies (Chevron, ExxonMobil, Shell, ConocoPhillips and BP) to pay for the cities’ costs to cope with the sea level rise caused by global warming. FULL ARTICLE
Mar 23rd, 2018
by John Donovan.
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Four and a half years after moving to Vancouver to ready the massive LNG Canada project for a final investment decision, or FID, Andy Calitz likens the state of the mega-energy venture to that of a peak-performance Olympic athlete in the final seconds of a gold-medal race.
It’s beating competitors at that point that makes the difference between winning and losing, said the Royal Dutch Shell PLC executive, one of the world’s top guns in LNG development.
It’s a good thing, then, that after a tortuous seven-year struggle to find a way to deliver Canadian LNG at the lowest possible price to Asia, the South African engineer is feeling optimistic about building an LNG export terminal in Kitimat, B.C.read more
Mar 23rd, 2018
by John Donovan.
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A model at the LNG Canada offices in Kitimat, B.C., shows the proposed liquified natural gas liquification plant and marine terminal.ROBIN ROWLAND/THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES
March 22, 2018 | Last Updated: March 22, 2018 1:46 PM MDT
VICTORIA — British Columbia is offering new conditions and rebates for liquefied natural gas projects in the province.
Premier John Horgan made the announcement Thursday ahead of a final investment decision on LNG Canada’s $40-billion project, which would include a natural gas pipeline built from northeast B.C. to a new terminal in Kitimat.
“Potential opportunity is extraordinary. Potential risks are significant,” Horgan said. “I believe LNG Canada is working diligently to address those risks and I believe it’s the responsibility of the government to make sure we’re working to develop those opportunities for all British Columbians.”read more
Mar 22nd, 2018
by John Donovan.
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Nigeria: Oil Communities Storm NASS, Protest Against Land Re-Acquisition Fees By Shell
21 March 2018
By Henry Umoru
Abuja — OIL Producing Communities under the aegis of Landlords of Shell Oil Producing Communities of Niger Delta, yesterday, stormed the National Assembly, protesting the non-payment of land owners by an oil company, Shell Petroleum Development Company, SPDC.
The protesters who besieged the main gate of the National Assembly Complex in Abuja yesterday, decried the discriminatory payment for land re-acquisition and rentals for land by the oil company, just as they accused the company of divide and rule.read more
Mar 22nd, 2018
by John Donovan.
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Sky’s Ian King explains a change in attitudes among oil majors to the petrol station forecourts carrying their brands.
Wednesday21March2018
Ever wonder what happened to all the petrol stations in Britain?
It’s no secret that the number has fallen substantially during recent years, with just over one in three petrol stations closing since the beginning of the century.
At the end of November last year, according to the Petrol Retailers Association, the UK was down to 8,407 sites, just over half of which trade under the BP, Shell, Esso and Texaco brands.
Going further back, the numbers are even more stark. Since 1970, three-quarters of petrol stations have shut.read more
HOUSTON — In a setback to Trump administration efforts to increase offshore oil production, the industry responded with only modest interest on Wednesday in a federal auction covering a record 77 million acres in the Gulf of Mexico.
Companies bid on only 1 percent of the acreage, and the winning bids yielded a mere $125 million for the government.
The results reflected broad uncertainty among oil executives that global oil prices can remain at current levels over $60 a barrel, as well as a general preference for drilling in onshore shale fields that require smaller investments and are less risky.read more
Mar 22nd, 2018
by John Donovan.
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Yaacov Benmeleh: 21 March 2018: Updated 22 March 2018
(Bloomberg) — Royal Dutch Shell Plc is weighing a 15-year contract to buy natural gas for its liquefied natural gas plant in Egypt from offshore fields in Cyprus and Israel.
Shell is in talks to purchase 6 billion cubic meters of natural gas a year from the Aphrodite field, located in Cypriot waters, according to Delek Drilling LP’s annual report Wednesday. A potential deal also could include gas from the neighboring Leviathan reservoir, Israel’s largest pool, which is expected to start production by the end of 2019.read more
Mar 21st, 2018
by John Donovan.
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David Levine: 21 MARCH 2018
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Five of the world’s biggest energy producers will be questioned by a federal judge on Wednesday about climate change science, part of a lawsuit that accuses the companies of misleading the public for years about their role in global warming.
The cities of San Francisco and Oakland, California sued Chevron Corp (CVX.N), Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N), ConocoPhillips (COP.N), Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSa.L), and BP PLC (BP.L) last year, seeking an abatement fund to help the cities address flooding they say is a result of climate change.read more
Royal Dutch Shell expects its chemicals division to earn between $3.5 billion to $4 billion annually by 2025, and Beaver County’s ethane cracker plant will likely play a role in that.
Shell executives made those remarks Wednesday during an open house for investors. The event was designed to highlight the gains being made in Shell’s many downstream businesses, which includes the chemicals sector.
The company, which is in the midst of building a $6 billion cracker plant in Potter Township, has repeatedly maintained its Beaver County project will be ready for production sometime early in the next decade.read more
Mar 21st, 2018
by John Donovan.
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Shell sees downstream annual organic free cash flow of $6-$7 bln by 2020
Reuters Staff: MARCH 21, 2018
March 21 (Reuters) – Oil major Royal Dutch Shell on Wednesday reiterated its expectation to generate $6 billion to $7 billion annual organic free cash flow by 2020 for its downstream business.
The business, including refining, trading, marketing and chemicals has proved its importance during the oil industry’s downturn since 2014, providing the bulk of Shell’s profits as the price of crude collapsed.
Shell has in recent years transformed its downstream business by selling some plants and upgrading others, helping the company ride out oil price fluctuations and shifts in demand and deliver double-digit returns on capital employed.read more
Mar 21st, 2018
by John Donovan.
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UPDATE 2-Mubadala advances $1 bln Malaysia Pegaga gas field project
Reuters Staff: MARCH 21, 2018
KUALA LUMPUR, March 21 (Reuters) – Mubadala Petroleum, Petronas and Royal Dutch Shell will spend more than $1 billion to develop Malaysia’s Pegaga gas field, aiming to produce gas by the third quarter of 2021, Abu Dhabi-based Mubadala said on Wednesday.
The project in Block SK320, located in the Central Luconia province, offshore the East Malaysian state of Sarawak, will now proceed to the construction and installation stage, the company said in a statement.read more
Mar 21st, 2018
by John Donovan.
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A federal judge presiding over lawsuits accusing big oil companies of lying about global warming is turning his courtroom into a classroom in what could be the first court hearing to study the science of climate change.
March 21, 2018, at 2:35 a.m.
FILE – In this Feb. 28, 2018 file photo, students rally for clean energy in front of San Francisco City Hall. A federal judge presiding over lawsuits accusing big oil companies of lying about global warming is turning his courtroom into a classroom. U.S. District Judge William Alsup has asked lawyers for two California cities and five of the world’s largest oil and gas companies to come to court on Wednesday, March 21, 2018 to present “the best science now available on global warming.” (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File) The Associated Pressread more
LONDON (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell is placing a big bet on petrol stations and convenience stores in China, India and Mexico as it looks to shore up profits during the electric car revolution.
By 2025, the oil and gas giant plans to grow its global network of roadside stations by nearly a quarter to 55,000, targeting 40 million daily customers, Shell said in a statement on Wednesday.
It will add another 5,000 convenience stores selling coffee and snacks, with growth focused on rapidly growing economies in emerging markets.read more
Mar 21st, 2018
by John Donovan.
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U.K. figures on gender pay gaps show that female employees at Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s trading unit earn 62 percent less in bonuses than male colleagues.
Commodity houses must do more to get women into top jobs, according to Vitol Group, the biggest independent oil trader, and a firm that like others in the industry staffs its leadership committee entirely with men.
“We accept that it’s not good enough,” Chairman Ian Taylor said in an interview in Lausanne, Switzerland. “It’s an industry problem.”
There are no women on the executive leadership committees of Vitol, Glencore Plc or Trafigura Group Ltd., the three biggest independent oil traders and two biggest metals traders. Bloomberg News reported this week that of the top 40 commodity trading houses, only 4.2 percent of such jobs are held by women.read more
Mar 21st, 2018
by John Donovan.
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Daniel Fisher: Writer and communications consultant and former senior editor with Forbes magazine; 21 March 2018
Five of the world’s largest oil and gas producers have filed a motion to dismiss a climate change lawsuit against them by the cities of Oakland and San Francisco even as they prepare to deliver an unusual “tutorial” on climate science to the federal judge overseeing the case.
In a 45-page filing on Tuesday, Chevron, BP, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil and Royal Dutch Shell urged U.S. District Judge William Alsup to dismiss the lawsuit seeking billions of dollars to pay for costs associated with global warming. The oil companies argue the U.S. Supreme Court and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit have repeatedly rejected similar lawsuits against oil companies, the auto industry and electric utilities because Congress has given authority to regulate CO2 emissions exclusively to the Environmental Protection Agency.read more
Mar 20th, 2018
by John Donovan.
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Royal Dutch Shell Plc is rolling out a program in Europe that will allocate as much as 2 cents per litre from the sale of gasoline at its stations to replant forests. NATIONAL POST
CALGARY – You could soon be able to wash away your carbon footprint at your gas station.
Royal Dutch Shell Plc is rolling out a program in Europe that will allocate as much as 2 cents per litre from the sale of gasoline at its stations to replant forests. The initiative could come to Canada soon, as the company plans to roll it out to the general public.read more
Mar 20th, 2018
by John Donovan.
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Reuters Staff: MARCH 20, 2018
RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) – Anglo-American oil giant Royal Dutch Shell is interested in new natural gas projects in Brazil, the company’s chief executive for Brazil said at an event in Rio de Janeiro on Tuesday.
“We are interested. Natural gas is strategic for the company,” Andre Araujo said.
Mar 20th, 2018
by John Donovan.
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Sputniik International (Russian Publisher) 19 March 2018
WARSAW (Sputnik) – Poland will try to convince Germany to reconsider the Nord Stream 2 pipeline in the wake of the nerve agent attack on former Russian intelligence officer Skripal in London, Polish Secretary of State for European Affairs Konrad Szymanski said Monday.
“[Nord Stream 2] will surely be the most important issue of the talks, because after Salisbury we have a new situation. It is, beyond doubt, one of the aspects of Russian policy regarding Europe, not regarding the UK. And we should consider once again whether Russia is a trustworthy partner… Nord Stream 2 carries only negative consequences, but Germany is an independent state as much as Poland,” Szymanski told RMF FM radio.read more
Mar 19th, 2018
by John Donovan.
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Management thinks the things it has done in recent years will set it up to deliver huge returns for shareholders.
Tyler Crowe (TMFDirtyBird) Mar 19, 2018
It’s hard for a $250-billion-plus business to change its stripes, but Royal Dutch Shell’s(NYSE:RDS-A)(NYSE:RDS-B) has done a rather incredible job over the past few years transforming the company into one of the most compelling investments in the integrated oil and gas industry.Now that Shell has weathered the storm of low oil prices and is back to generating returns, management has plans both within and without the oil industry to preserve what it calls a “world-class investment case.” Here are several quotes from the company’s most recent earnings conference call that highlight some of the efforts Shell is taking to both grow the business and make the stock a better investment.
Diversifying the business away from oil
One thing that is becoming a larger fixture of every investor conference call for Shell and other big oil companies is touting one’s alternative energy strategy. Shell is around the middle of the pack when it comes to shifting away from oil and gas, but CEO Ben van Beurden was quick to point out some of the investments the company made recently as well as the framework for its alternative investment strategy.
So we expect our capital investment in New Energies to be $1 billion to $2 billion on average per year until the end of the decade. But as it is dependent on both organic and inorganic investment opportunities, this might be a little bit more or a little bit less depending on the year. But that’s, of course, without changing the overall group capital investment budget for that year.read more
Mar 19th, 2018
by John Donovan.
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Published by Will Owen, Editorial Assistant Monday 19 March 2018
Shell and Gazprom representatives have held a working meeting in St Petersburg to discuss the state and prospects of their strategic cooperation in the gas sector.
Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee, led the Gazprom delegation; and Maarten Wetselaar, Member of the Executive Committee of Royal Dutch Shell, and his associates represented Shell.
During the meeting, particular attention was paid to joint efforts in the LNG industry, especially the construction of the third train of the LNG plant within the Sakhalin II project.read more
Mar 19th, 2018
by John Donovan.
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Summary
Shell declared an income of $13.4 billion compared to $4.8 billion in 2016.
Merger with BG was a game-changer for Shell.
Shell has now positioned itself as an energy company that is ready to embrace new challenges.
Headquartered in the Hague, Netherlands, Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE:RDS.A) (NYSE:RDS.B) has established itself as one of the most prominent oil and gas companies in the world. Although the last few years have been tough for the energy giant, Royal Dutch Shell has now started making the right moves, which will reap benefits in near future.
In its recently published Annual report for 2017, Shell declared an income of $13.4 billion compared to $4.8 billion in 2016. Although it must be noted that high oil and natural gas prices contributed to this yearly gain, a year-on-year increase of 279% is commendable.read more
Mar 19th, 2018
by John Donovan.
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Lithium could be a lifeline for oil majors as the energy industry shifts toward lower-polluting alternatives to fossil fuels, said Jeff McDermott of Greentech Capital Advisors LLC.
“Their specialty is resource extraction,” McDermott, managing partner of the New York-based boutique investment bank advising energy companies and investors, said in an interview in London. “They should buy lithium miners, get involved in the upstream of core battery technology.”
This suggestion marks out one solution to the existential question some of the world’s biggest energy companies are facing about how to survive as governments clamp down on the fuels they produce. As the curbs on carbon emissions tighten, a key issue for fossil fuel producers are how much oil and gas demand is at risk.read more
Mar 14th, 2018
by John Donovan.
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By Ejiofor Alike: 13 March 2018
The recent judgment by the UK Appeal Court on the dispute between Shell and two Niger Delta communities underscores the need for people of the environmentally-polluted region to seek redress in disputes that do not require international arbitration within Nigeria’s judicial system.
Some communities in the Niger Delta and other interest groups in the region have expressed frustration with the recent judgment of the Court of Appeal in London, which ruled that two Nigerian communities cannot pursue Royal Dutch Shell in English courts over oil spills in Nigeria’s Delta region.read more
Mar 14th, 2018
by John Donovan.
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After a decade planning the world’s largest floating gas export plant, Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s supplies could get tapped by a competitor first.
Shell and Japan’s Inpex Corp. are both targeting gas from a connected reservoir in Australia’s remote Browse Basin, about 200 kilometers (125 miles) off its northwest coast, according to consultant Wood Mackenzie Ltd.Meeting its planned start up date this month would give Inpex’s Ichthys LNG project an edge over Shell’s Prelude LNG.
“The difference between Prelude starting six months before versus six months after Ichthys could be a few percent of their reservoir stake,” Wood Mackenzie analyst Saul Kavonic said in an email. “That is a material amount.”read more
Half of Britain’s imports of liquefied natural gas so far this year have come from Russia… Two of the shipments have been brought to the UK by Malaysia’s Petronas… The other was brought in by Royal Dutch Shell earlier this month… FULL ARTICLE
The potential deal is the latest evidence that the eastern Mediterranean Sea’s extensive reserves of natural gas may be nearing the reach of the world’s big oil companies; gas reserves in the waters off Israel, Cyprus and Egypt total an estimated 125T cf, according to energy consultant Wood Mackenzie.
U.S. diplomacy has worked for years to try to knit together the economies of once-hostile nations such as Israel, Egypt and Jordan, and developing the eastern Mediterranean as a natural gas hub to lessen Europe’s dependence on Russian energy; a breakthrough occurred last month when Noble Energy and its partners signed a $15B deal to supply gas from two Israeli gas fields to an Egyptian firm.
HOUSTON — Major oil companies Royal Dutch Shell Plc and BP Plc are taking another hard look at carbon capture storage much to the alarm of Alberta which sank more than a billion dollars in the technology but was heavily criticized for pursuing an expensive method to rein in carbon emissions.
“I’m fairly surprised,” Alberta Energy Minister Marg McCuaig-Boyd said of the widespread enthusiastic touting of CCS investments at CERA Week, an important Houston energy conference organized by IHS Markit at the beginning of March.read more
The U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) has released its final report on the 2016 leak at Shell’s Glider field in the Gulf of Mexico, which resulted in the release of an estimated 80,000 gallons of oil.
The leak resulted from a fracture in a load limiting joint on the field’s well #4 jumper. The load limiting joint is a pipe fitting that is designed to fail in a known manner when placed under excessive stress, thereby preventing damage to complex, hard-to-repair parts of the subsea production system.read more
OVER 500 EXTERNAL PUBLICATIONS CITING OUR SHELL WEBSITES
See our link list of over 500 articles by the FT, Wall Street Journal, Reuters, Bloomberg, Forbes, Dow Jones Newswires, New York Times, CNBC etc, plus UK House of Commons Select Committee Hansard records, information on U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission websiteetc. all containing references to our Shell focussed websites, or our website founders Alfred and John Donovan. Includes TV documentary features in English and German, newspaper and magazine articles, radio interviews, newsletters etc. Plus academic papers, Stratfor intelligence reports and UK, U.S. and Australian state/parliamentary publications, also citing our Shell websites. Click on this link to see the entire list, all in date order with a link to an index of over 100 books also containing references to our websites and/or our activities.
John Donovan, the website owner A head-cut image of Alfred Donovan (now deceased) appears courtesy of The Wall Street Journal.
JOHN DONOVAN, THE OWNER OF THIS AND SEVERAL OTHER SHELL FOCUSSED WEBSITES
SHELL PRELUDE TO DISASTER
The links below are to a series of articles, many triggered by a well-placed whistleblower directly involved in the pioneering Royal Dutch Shell Prelude project. Includes articles by Mr Bill Campbell above, the retired distinguished HSE Group Auditor of Shell International and another retired Shell guru with a track record of spotting potential pitfalls in major Shell projects.
The campaign waged on this website by John Donovan to persuade Edward Heerema to rename the worlds biggest ship, The Pieter Schelte - which he named after his late father, Pieter Schelte Heerema, a former Officer in the German Waffen-SS - has been successful. On Friday 6 February 2015, Allseas announced that it was changing the ships name, and on 9 February announced the new name - Pioneering Spirit.
GLOBAL NEWS COVERAGE: FEBRUARY 2010
MORE INFORMATION: Contact details for over 176,000 employees and contractors of Royal Dutch Shell reached John Donovan and some environmental and human rights groups, ostensibly from disaffected Shell staff calling for a “peaceful corporate revolution” at the company. The database, from Shell’s internal directory, contained names and telephone numbers for all the company’s work force worldwide, including some home numbers. It was supplied with a 170 page covering note, explaining that it was being circulated by “116 concerned employees of Shell dispersed throughout the USA, the UK, and the Netherlands”, to highlight the harm done by the company’s operations in Nigeria. John Donovan brought the leak to the attention of Shell. Tests proved that the data was authentic and he destroyed the database after being informed by Mr. Richard Wiseman, the then Chief Ethics & Compliance Officer of Royal Dutch Shell Plc, that the confidential information if publicly disclosed, could put Shell employees and contractors in real danger.
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Shell Breaking News
Shell Renewables Head to Leave Amid Fossil Fuel ShiftJune 30, 2023 14:49Financial PostBreadcrumb Trail Links PMN Business Shell Plc’s European renewable power boss Thomas Brostrom has decided to leave the company as the oil supermajor revises its strategy to focus more investment into fossil fuels. Author of the article: Bloomberg News …
Shell and BP take a beating as bank woes hit crude pricesMarch 15, 2023 17:36Proactive InvestorsBP PLC (LSE:BP.) and Royal Dutch Shell PLC (LSE:SHEL, NYSE:SHEL) shares have taken a hit, dropping over 8%, due to a sell-off in the banking sector.
The natural resources market has been volatile, with Brent Crude and West Texas Intermediate falling by 4- …
Shell CEO Pay Up 50%March 9, 2023 21:23Manufacturing Business TechnologyCEO of Royal Dutch Shell Ben van Beurden speaks at a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, June 21, 2017. Shell paid outgoing Chief Executive Ben van Beurden a total of 9.7 million pounds ($11.5 million) in 2022 as the …
Former Shell CEO's pay jumped 53% to $11.5m in 2022March 9, 2023 11:17Gulf NewsBen van Beurden, chief executive officer of Royal Dutch Shell, speaks during the 26th World Gas Conference in Paris, France, June 2, 2015
Image Credit: Reuters
London: Shell's former chief executive, Ben van Beurden, received a pay package of 9.7 …
SHELL’S ROLE IN NIGERIAN OPL 245 BRIBERY SCANDAL
Whatever fig leaves they might be trying to use to hide the truth, Shell and Eni paid over $1bn to a company called Malabu for the OPL 245 licence. Even though the payment was channelled through the Nigerian government, it was clear that Shell knew that the ultimate beneficiary was Dan Etete, the former minister of petroleum. Etete is the owner of Malabu, to whom he awarded the licence when he was Nigerian Minister of Petroleum.
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.
MORE INFORMATION
Shell appeased and collaborated with the Nazis. The oil giant instructed its employees in the Netherlands to complete a form giving particulars about their descent, which for some, amounted to a self-declared death warrant. Shell used slave labor and was a close business partner in Germany of I.G. Farben, the notorious Nazi run chemical giant that also used slave labor and supplied the Zyklon-B gas used during the Holocaust to exterminate millions of people, including children. Shell continued the partnership with the Nazis in the years after the retirement of Sir Henri and even after his death. It was money generated on Shell forecourts around the world, profiteering from cartel oil prices, that funded the Nazi party and saved it from financial collapse. Evidence about Shell's Nazi connections can be found in extracts from "A History of Royal Dutch Shell" Volumes 1 and 2 authored by historians paid by Shell, who had unrestricted access to Shell archives. There are 67 pages in total, so takes some time to download.
Photograph (full size here) shows a Swastika flag flying at the head office of Royal Dutch Petroleum, 30 Carel van Bylandtlaan, The Hague, during the Nazi occupation of the in World War II (From Image Database Hague Municipal)
Sir Henri Deterding, the founder of the Royal Dutch Shell Group - known as "The Most Powerful Man in the World" - who became an ardent Nazi and financial supporter of Hitler and the Nazi party.
Reading between the lines in various legal documents, it seems that the allegations are that after the technology in question had been disclosed to a Shell company in the USA, the information was passed to Shell in the Netherlands in breach of confidentiality. And Royal Dutch Shell subsequently exploited the technology without payment or credit to the company holding the rights; Newton Research Partners. The inference seems to be that Twister B.V. was founded by Shell partly on trade secrets stolen from Bloom/Newton.
DISCLAIMER: This is not a Shell website nor is it officially endorsed by or affiliated with Royal Dutch Shell Plc. Originally co-founded by the late Alfred Donovan and his son John, it is now operated by John, Shell's "No.1 Enemy", aided by an expert team, with invaluable support from retired Shell senior executives and officials as guest contributors and leaked information from Shell insiders. (JOHN DONOVAN, WEBSITE OWNER) For nearly a decade, we have operated globally under the Royal Dutch Shell Plc top level domain name, dealing on Shell’s reluctant behalf with job applications, business proposals, Shell pension enquiries, shareholder enquiries, complaints, invitations to speak at conferences, an approach from the Dutch Defence Ministry and even terrorist threats. All meant for Shell. Prospect magazine has aptly described this website as being:"An open wound for Shell": WIPO proceedings by Shell to seize the domain name failed. NO SUBSCRIPTION CHARGES: All of our watchdog activities monitoring Royal Dutch Shell, including operating this website, are carried out on a non-profit basis. Any advertising revenues generated are used to recover and/or defray operational costs. We are a news aggregator and original content website. All information is available free for educational and research purposes. SHELL TACIT ENDORSEMENT: WHAT A WELL INFORMED SHELL OFFICIAL SAID ABOUT US:
"John and Alfred Donovan well known in UK/Hague. They perceive Shell played them and so have made it their mission to embarrass,belittle and criticize Shell, which they do quite well. Their website, royaldutchshellplc.com is an excellent source of group news and comment and I recommend it far above what our own group internal comms puts out."
WARNING TO SHELL EMPLOYEES: Shell Global Affairs Security "CAS") is spying on Shell employees globally trying to trace who is visiting, posting, or leaking information to this website from Shell premises. Threats, including death threats, have allegedly been made against conscience driven Shell whistleblowers supplying us with information. The worlds biggest leak of employee details as part of a claimed corporate revolution by 116 Shell employees, suggest the espionage operation, threats and draconian litigation have not been entirely successful in cutting off the supply of information to this website. The insider leaks had already cost Shell billions on the Sakhalin Energy project and the loss of SEIC Deputy Chairman, David Greer. We publish our own carefully researched articles about Shell e.g. "How Royal Dutch Shell saved Hitler and the Nazi Party". MEDIA COVERAGE: Prospect Magazine, The Sunday Times, and The Guardian, have all published major articles about us: "Rise of the Gripe Site";"Two men and a website mount vendetta against Shell' and "92-year-old's website leaves oil giant Shell-shocked”. SHELL PETROL STATION images displayed in the website header panel are licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Information on copyright issues here.
John Donovan can be contacted at [email protected]
SHELL’S $500,000 WEDDING GIFT TO CORRUPT BRUNEI ROYAL FAMILY
EXTRACT FROM ASIAN JOURNAL ARTICLE IN LIST OF LINKS BELOW: "Fireworks will light up the sky for three nights. The local unit of oil giant Royal Dutch Shell has donated 500,000 Brunei dollars (US$292,400; euro 243,700) for the display, and for cultural events to be hosted by popular performers from Malaysia."
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:
THIS IS WHAT IT SAID:
Subject: This could be the most important whistleblower email you have ever received.
Some unfortunate Royal Dutch Shell workers have already lost their lives. More lives are at stake.
My name is Bill Campbell. I am a former Group Auditor of Shell International. I am writing to you on a matter of conscience in an effort to avert the inevitability of another major accident in the North Sea. The consequences could potentially impact on families in many constituencies, including your own.
As Royal Dutch Shell and the Health & Safety Executive would acknowledge, I am an expert on safety matters relating to offshore oil and gas platforms. In 1999, I was appointed by Shell to lead a safety audit on the Brent Bravo platform. The audit revealed a platform management culture that basically gave a higher priority to production than the safety of Shell employees. To our astonishment we discovered that a "Touch F*** All" policy was in place. Worse still, safety records were routinely falsified and repairs bodged.
I personally brought the shocking situation to the attention of senior management including Malcolm Brinded, the then Managing Director of Shell Exploration & Production. I revealed that ESDV leak-off tests were purposely falsified, not once but many times and that Brent Bravo platform management had admitted responsibility for the dangerous practices being followed. In response to my team ringing alarm bells, management pledged to rectify the serious problems which had been uncovered.
When I later complained that the pledges were not being kept, I was removed from my oversight function.
Four years later, a massive gas leak occurred on the platform. Two workers lost their lives. I have no doubt at all that the inaction of the relevant Asset Manager, the General Manager, the Oil Director and Malcolm Brinded, contributed in some part to the unlawful killing of two persons on Brent Bravo in September 2003.
Shell subsequently pleaded guilty to breaches of the HSE regulations and a record-breaking £900,000 fine was imposed. I thought this would bring about a real change in policy to put the emphasis on safety.
Unfortunately I was wrong. Although I supplied the evidence related to 1999, and the fact that there had been a collapse in controls of integrity from 1999 to 2003 on all 16 of Shell's North Sea offshore installations covered in a post fatality integrity review to the HSE for review by the Procurator Fiscal, none of this evidence was presented before the Sheriff at the subsequent Inquiry. The situation is explained in a letter to the Procurator Fiscal and the Sheriff (on 24th February 2007).
Shell management has engaged in spin to try to pretend that it is getting to grips with its safety problem. However, its atrocious safety record - the worst in the North Sea in terms of accidental deaths and absolute number of enforcement actions – tells a different story. This fact has resulted in a number of newspaper articles.
I have had meetings with senior Shell people including its CEO Mr. Jeroen van der Veer. I regret to say that I have found him to be economical with the truth. He prefers to support cover-up and deceit rather than confronting the underlying problems. Brinded is now Executive Director of Shell Exploration & Production. He believes in burying evidence.
My family and friends would probably prefer me to give up on this matter and enjoy my retirement after so many years working for Shell.
However, by writing to every MP in the UK, no one can ever say that I did not do my best to avert an inevitable further major accident event in the North Sea. When it happens (I pray that I am wrong) I will make this warning communication available to the media together with the vast amount of evidence in my possession.
At least my conscience is clear. I have done everything possible to ring the alarm bells about Shell management and its unscrupulous attitude to the safety of its employees.
Yours sincerely
Bill Campbell
ENDS
(Malcolm Brinded and Jeroen van der Veer are no longer with Shell. The Oil Director referred to in the email is Chris Finlayson, who left Shell to become Chief Executive of British Gas before being fired - his photo immediately below)
SIR PHILIP WATTS, THE GROUP CHAIRMAN OF ROYAL DUTCH SHELL GROUP, FORCED TO RESIGN IN 2004
Shell’s reputation was destroyed in 2004 after FIVE consecutive cuts to its hydrocarbon reserves covering 55% of its total reserves. US and UK financial regulators imposed $150 million in fines on Shell for securities fraud. Shell was also rocked by class action lawsuits. Sir Philip Watts
and Walter van de Vijver (whose headcut images appear courtesy of The Wall Street Journal) were among the Shell executives forced to resign. More details at the foot of this column.
MORE DETAILS: The Shell reserves scandal brought about
the end of the Royal Dutch Shell Group in its original form as an Anglo-Dutch partnership.
Shell Transport & Trading Co and Royal Dutch Petroleum were unified into a single Dutch owned company - Royal Dutch Shell Plc.
Sir Philip turned to religion and is now a very wealthy priest after receiving a payoff/pension package from Shell reportedly worth $18.5 million. Walter van de Vijver in contrast was the victim of a sadistic sacking by his Shell senior management backstabbing colleagues.
Displayed below are some of the spectacular promotional campaigns my company Don Marketing created for Shell in the 1980s and 1990s. This was before the series of SIX high court actions we brought against Shell for stealing ideas (4) and for defamation (2) - all settled by Shell. This website is a permanent response by me to the malicious underhand tactics, including treachery, espionage and intimidation, used by Shell during and after the bouts of litigation. More information is printed at the foot of this column.
MORE DETAILS: After a solicitor acting for Shell threatened to make the litigation "drawn out and difficult" with the intention of draining the resources of a financially weaker opponent, my late father (Alfred Donovan) and I decided to mount a wide-ranging campaign as a counter-measure. We jointly founded the Shell Corporate Conscience Pressure Group, which nearly 15% of Shell UK retailers joined. We regularly conducted ethical surveys involving up to 1500 Shell petrol stations. All responses were opened and authenticated by an independent solicitor who supplied Affidavits confirming the results. In whole page announcements in trade magazines (examples above) we challenged Shell to commission and publish the resuits of independent research asking the same questions and offering respondents GUARANTEED anonymity. Shell never took up the invitation. Instead it asked the UK Advertising Standards Authority to investigate our Shell surveys. No problems were found. The head-cut image of Alfred Donovan appears courtesy of The Wall Street Journal.
SHELL CONTROVERSIES
selection of memorable warnings/articles/images associated with the controversial track record of Royal Dutch Shell.
WARNING: DO NOT DISCLOSE YOUR IDEAS TO SHELL GameChanger OR SHELL Ideas360 WITHOUT TAKING EVERY POSSIBLE PRECAUTION. Shell management has ample funds to pay for intellectual property but prefers to steal it from small businesses and in our experience, gives its full backing to dishonest managers willing to do its bidding. We have sued Shell repeatedly in the High Court for the theft of our Intellectual Property. It is doubtful if anyone can match our dire experience in dealing with this ruthless unscrupulous serial poacher of other parties ideas. Expect threats, legal machinations and sinister action from Shell and its spooks if you object to having your ideas stolen.
Some years ago extensive documentary evidence was brought to the attention of Malcolm Brinded above, when he was Chairman of Shell UK, proving beyond any doubt that Shell executives had conspired to rig a tender for a major contract. A number of innocent firms were deliberately lured into signing confidentiality agreements and disclosing Intellectual Property to Shell under false pretences, in a carefully contrived plot. The firm which was awarded the contract never took part in the tender. One objective of the Machiavellian plan was to stop/delay IP trade secrets owned by the participants in the tender from being disclosed to Shell's rivals. This was achieved by outright deception, without paying a cent to the firms involved, who wrongly believed they were participating in an honest tender. Instead of sacking the ring leader, AJL - who had a personal relationship with the firm which miraculously won the race in which it never ran - Shell senior directors, including Brinded, gave AJL their full backing. Some of the Shell executives involved, including for example, Tim Hannagan, still hold high positions inside Shell - in his case, Global Brand and Visual Identity Manager. If Shell does not accept that this is a true, provable account of what happened, then it should sue for libel. How on earth is such predatory conduct compatible with Shell's claimed business principles?