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.
Who’s in Charge?
Women account for 4.2% of senior management at top commodity traders
Taylor, who handed over the role of chief executive officer to colleague Russell Hardy this month, said his firm aims to address the issue, but added that the nature of commodities trading isn’t always welcoming to female executives.
“It is tough,” he said on the sidelines of the FT Commodities Global Summit. “Trading requires you to be in the office all the time. You can’t do it from home. It is very difficult to do part-time. People want to be flexible. We have quite a few women in support roles because you can be more flexible.”
Taylor acknowledged that oil-producing majors have done better.
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. BP Plc also says its oil trading arm is mostly male, adding to its own pay gap.
“The oil majors have done a slightly better job than we have,” said Taylor, a philanthropist who has supported bringing the arts to underprivileged children, as well as modern dance and opera in London. “It’s a problem and I wish I could solve it.”
Royal Dutch Shell conspired directly with Hitler, financed the Nazi Party, was anti-Semitic and sold out its own Dutch Jewish employees to the Nazis. Shell had a close relationship with the Nazis during and after the reign of Sir Henri Deterding, an ardent Nazi, and the founder and decades long leader of the Royal Dutch Shell Group. His burial ceremony, which had all the trappings of a state funeral, was held at his private estate in Mecklenburg, Germany. The spectacle (photographs below) included a funeral procession led by a horse drawn funeral hearse with senior Nazis officials and senior Royal Dutch Shell directors in attendance, Nazi salutes at the graveside, swastika banners on display and wreaths and personal tributes from Adolf Hitler and Reichsmarschall, Hermann Goring. Deterding was an honored associate and supporter of Hitler and a personal friend of Goring.
Deterding was the guest of Hitler during a four day summit meeting at Berchtesgaden. Sir Henri and Hitler both had ambitions on Russian oil fields. Only an honored personal guest would be rewarded with a private four day meeting at Hitler’s mountain top retreat.
IN JULY 2007, MR BILL CAMPBELL (ABOVE, A RETIRED GROUP AUDITOR OF SHELL INTERNATIONAL SENT AN EMAIL TO EVERY UK MP AND MEMBER OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS: 
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A head-cut image of Alfred Donovan (now deceased) appears courtesy of The Wall Street Journal.
