The Guardian

Shell to go ahead with seismic tests in whale breeding grounds after court win

Judgment rules company can blast sound waves in search for oil along South Africa’s eastern coastline

Jillian Ambrose Energy correspondent: Fri 3 Dec 2021 10.45 GMT

Royal Dutch Shell will move ahead with seismic tests to explore for oil in vital whale breeding grounds along South Africa’s eastern coastline after a court dismissed an 11th-hour legal challenge by environmental groups.

The judgment, by a South African high court, allows Shell to begin firing within days extremely loud sound waves through the relatively untouched marine environment of the Wild Coast, which is home to whales, dolphins and seals. read more

Posted by Jennifer Salazar on Sep 16th, 2017

Media stories about Royal Dutch Shell plc (NYSE:RDS/A) have trended positive recently, Accern reports. The research group identifies positive and negative press coverage by monitoring more than 20 million blog and news sources. Accern ranks coverage of public companies on a scale of negative one to one, with scores closest to one being the most favorable. Royal Dutch Shell plc earned a coverage optimism score of 0.27 on Accern’s scale. Accern also gave news coverage about the company an impact score of 46.2619903115752 out of 100, meaning that recent press coverage is somewhat unlikely to have an impact on the company’s share price in the next few days. read more

UNITED STATES TRADEMARK LAW

ENTIRE CHAPTER 11

royaldutchshellplc.com is a Royal Dutch Shell gripe site and blog operated by Alfred and John Donovan, who engaged in several marketing campaigns with Shell during the 1980s and early 1990s. The father and son duo believe Shell violated intellectual property agreements and filed several law suits against Shell prior to starting several websites critical of Shell, including royaldutchshellplc.com. The site has been oft quoted in news sources and is known for its activities as an Internet leak and forum for Shell whistleblowers. read more

REGULARLY UPDATED: Links to over 500 articles (and radio and TV broadcasts) by a host of publishers including the FT, Wall Street Journal, Reuters, Dow Jones Newswires, Bloomberg, New York Times, CNBC, Forbes etc. Plus UK House of Commons Select Committee Hansard records, information on U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission website, legal documents filed in the U.S. Courts, all containing references to the Donovan’s, their Shell related websites, or their former company, Don Marketing. Includes newspaper and magazine articles, newsletters, video clip links and interview transcripts. All in date order. In addition, there are references to our websites and/or our activities, published in over 100 books. In all, over 550 externally published references to date including articles originated by news agencies such as Reuters or Dow Jones, syndicated to a variety of individual publishers such as the New York Times or The Washington Post. Plus over 60,000 Shell related articles published on our own Shell focussed websites.  read more

LINK TO ARTICLE

JOHN DONOVAN SAR APPLICATION LETTER TO SHELL INTERNATIONAL LIMITED UNDER THE DATA PROTECTION ACT 1998

19 July 2016

Mr. Gary Thomson SI-LSC/K
Shell International Limited
40 Bank Street
London E14 5NR

Dear Mr Thomson

Data Protection Act 1998 – Subject Access Request (SAR)

Thank you for your email dated 19 July 2016.

Please find enclosed completed application forms together with a postal order for £10 made out to Royal Dutch Shell Plc.

I obtained it before finding out that the fee can now instead be paid to a charity.

As you are aware, I operate royaldutchshellplc.com – a website focussed on the activities of Shell. read more

By Eric Roston: July 7, 2016

Albert Einstein suggested a century ago that large-scale cosmic violence—two black holes colliding, for example—might send gravitational ripples through the universe like a stone disturbing the surface of a pond. In September physicists in the U.S. conclusively detected gravitational waves for the first time, again proving Einstein right. While it’s a safe assumption he wasn’t thinking about how building a wave observatory might lead to finding oil and gas, two physicists in Amsterdam have started a company betting they can. read more

Mr. Justice Laddie was well aware of our views and was placed in a very difficult position, with his credibility and reputation being publicly called into question and at the highest levels of the state. The various correspondence on the subject ended on 21 April 2005. By coincidence or otherwise, just eight weeks later, Mr. Justice Laddie resigned as a Judge in mysterious controversial circumstances…

By John Donovan

The following is an extract from a news report published on 4 May 2016:

Whistleblowers asked the Fifth Circuit on Tuesday to revive a $266 billion False Claims Act suit involving BP PLC’s Gulf of Mexico-based Atlantis facility, saying a Texas federal judge erred by favoring the company and demonstrated “remarkable and unacceptable hostility” toward them while doing so.

Although it is fair to say that oil companies have far-reaching influence, it remains to be seen if the bias allegations are true in the relevant litigation.  read more

New ebook available globally, including: Amazon.com; Amazon.co.uk; Amazon.fr; Amazon.de; Amazon.nl; Amazon.com.au; Amazon.ca; Amazon.es; Amazon.it; Amazon.in

About: John Donovan, Shell’s nightmare

His ebook tells the truly extraordinary story of a series of battles in an epic feud between him and the oil giant Royal Dutch Shell. It all stemmed from the repeated theft of intellectual property by Shell.

Donovan was chairman of a sales promotion agency, Don Marketing, that devised spectacularly successful forecourt promotions for Shell on an international basis. Many involved budgets of several million dollars. A mutually beneficial relationship lasted for over a decade.

This was followed by two decades of acrimony involving six High Court actions, a County Court case and proceedings via the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO). read more

LONDON | BY RON BOUSSO AND EMILIANO MELLINO: Deals | Thu Jan 7, 2016 1:58pm EST

Royal Dutch Shell has told investors its purchase of BG can work even if oil prices average $50 a barrel for two years, its lowest estimate to date as it seeks to secure shareholder support for the $51 billion deal amid plunging crude markets.

The Anglo-Dutch group is confident investors will back the deal at a Jan. 27 meeting, even though crude prices are languishing near 12 year lows around $32 a barrel and it faces a cut to its credit ratings due to higher debts, sources with knowledge of its meetings with analysts and investors said. read more

10th Anniversary of Spectacular Domain Name Win Over Shell

By John Donovan

Ten years ago, in May 2005, Shell International Petroleum Company Limited served proceedings in New York against my late father Alfred Donovan, via The World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) in an attempt to seize the top level (.com) domain name for its newly merged company, Royal Dutch Shell Plc.

The new company had arisen from the ashes of the hydrocarbon reserves scandal, which in January 2004, had engulfed The Shell Transport and Trading Company and Royal Dutch Petroleum Company. read more

John Donovan, Co-Founder Royal Dutch Shell Plc.com

By John Donovan

Corporate espionage: Shell Cloak and Dagger activities spanning more than two decades – much of it directed against me 

SHELL ALSO

• Infiltrated spies into the Nigerian government 
• Was responsible for covert operations against Greenpeace and other perceived enemies, using a serving secret service agent freelancing for a private spy firm closely connected with Shell
• Employed private security contractors on the Corrib Gas Project to carry out surveillance operations in Ireland against the public and the press
• Secretly applied pressure to The Sunday Times and The Financial Times in an attempt to suppress news coverage about me

In a recent Daily Mail article about Shell’s takeover bid for the BG Group, reference was made to a  ‘cloak and dagger’ meeting between Shell’s chief executive Ben van Beurden and the chairman of BG Group, Andrew Gould, at The Dorchester Hotel.

It was obviously an important commercially sensitive meeting, but it hardly compares with the real ‘cloak and dagger’ activity for which Shell has been responsible over the decades, some of it directed at me and my late father, Alfred Donovan. read more

Indispensable for a fair trial: an independent, impartial Judge

By John Donovan

Last weekend, The Sunday Times devoted almost an entire double-page spread and their main editorial to a series of court cases  involving The Sunday Times that raised questions about whether judges should declare their interests.

The Sunday Times was being sued for libel and malicious falsehood by Peter Cruddas in relation to allegations about a “cash- for-access” report involving the Conservative party. 

After a senior judge Mr Justice Tugendhat, had initially found in favour of Mr Cruddas on all counts in July 2013, The Sunday Times found out that the judge had close family links to the Conservative party. One of his sons, Tom, was being adopted as a Tory candidate.  read more

First, a 30-minute video compilation from the 1980’s: “Shell Promotional Games: Introduced by John Donovan” (Video clips from Michael Aspel show, The Money Programme on BBC TV, Channel 4 News, and various TV commercials. Features many celebrities)

Links to a selection of published independent verifiable information relating to this website or its founders. Includes a TV documentary feature, newspaper and magazine articles, radio interview transcripts, newsletters etc, all also relating to Shell. All in date order. Includes a Newsletter from The One World Trust, an NGO with Special Consultative Status to the UN and a close relationship with the UK Parliament. Some links are to pdf files that may take a little time to download. 

WALL STREET JOURNAL ARTICLE: Shell Wages Legal Fight Over Web Domain Name: 2 June 2005

SHELL INTERNAL CORRESPONDENCE CONTAINING WSJ ARTICLE AND RELATED BLOOMBERG ARTICLE: Shell in Legal Battle Over Name of Web Site, Journal Reports: 2 June 2005 read more

You and your late father seem to have started out trying to hold Shell accountable for its actions. I hope you agree that accountability goes both ways, and it is fair that you should be held accountable for your own actions as well. The energy that fuels your website seems to be a deep resentment, or even hatred.

By John Donovan

I have published below a letter received today from Ireland. It relates to OSSL allegations against Shell.

Although the source is anonymous, the letter writer seems intelligent and genuine.

Otherwise I would not publish it or respond to what is said.

The first version is exactly as received.

In the second version, for ease of reference, I have inserted my comments in red text.

AN ANONYMOUS LETTER WITH A DUBLIN POSTMARK

Sept 4, 2014

Dear Mr Donovan

You and your late father seem to have started out trying to hold Shell accountable for its actions. I hope you agree that accountability goes both ways, and it is fair that you should be held accountable for your own actions as well. read more

Such deliberate misinformation (propaganda, to put it politely) is also totally at variance with Shell’s claimed core business principles. This proves beyond any doubt that the media and the public should not believe anything Shell says. The company even lies to itself.

By John Donovan

Why doesn’t Shell sue Donovan for libel?

I feel sure that this is a question that many visitors to this website have probably asked themselves many times.

It is a question that Royal Dutch Shell put to itself in July 2009. 

Below is an extract from an authentic confidential Shell internal document dated 08 July 2009 in which this very question was raised in relation to “the Donovan’s.” Shell lawyers have redacted names shown on the “Confidential Focal Point”document, other than the names of my late father and myself. A series of questions are posed and then answered, to provide a contingency script if certain anticipated questions were raised by the news media, or at the Shell AGM.  read more

Extract 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

A promotional game devised for Shell by Don Marketing

The threats about defamation, breach of contract, contempt of court, potential action by third parties etc are also duly noted; a fairly typical variety of seasonal greetings from Shell. Is this part of the policy of dealing with me “sympathetically” as promised in writing by Mr Wiseman on 26th November 2002? If this is the compassionate approach, it is frightening to speculate on what I could expect if Shell decided to take a hardline; perhaps a gift-wrapped bomb-tipped walking stick, or an Ebola infected fairy queen to hang on my Xmas Tree?

By John Donovan

I have been looking at our correspondence files with Shell and its lawyers stretching back two decades.

This is in connection with an ongoing project that will come to fruition in 2014.

Since we fought six high court actions against Shell between 1994 and 1999, there were bound to be some interesting episodes.

In 1997, Shell management was enraged that we were bringing yet another claim for breach of confidence and breach of contract  – Shell had already settled our first three actions. read more

By John Donovan

A month has passed since the death of my father, Alfred Donovan, at the age of 96. A war disabled and decorated veteran who spent 12 years in the British Army.

I have received many moving tributes and messages of condolences from friends and critics, for which I am most sincerely grateful.

But not one word from Shell. No gallantly shown towards a formidable opponent of Shell in recent decades (and the Japanese invaders in Burma during World War 2).

The company has been well aware for several years that if it stipulates that a communication sent to me is not for publication, that stipulation would be respected. So it could have said something off the record, but chose not to make even that minimal gesture of respect. read more

“The Observer asked the Garda and Gilligan specifically to deny the delivery, but no denial came, only a repeat of the prepared statement. The Observer replied that, unless a denial was received, we would presume the veracity of OSSL’s story. Silence ensued.”

CLICK TO ENLARGE IMAGES OF FULL PAGE ARTICLE IN THE OBSERVER

PDF OF WHOLE PAGE ARTICLE

HEADLINE: Strange tale of Shell’s pipeline battle, the Garda and £60,000 worth of booze

Shell’s Corrib gas project has been delayed for years by strong resistance in County Mayo. Now claims are emerging of corporate sweeteners, including a consignment of alcohol for police after a clash with protesters

• Ed Vulliamy
• The Observer, Saturday 10 August 2013 12.57 BST

For 10 years, the Shell oil and gas behemoth has endeavoured to bring ashore a pipeline from the Atlantic into the heart-stopping beauty of Ireland‘s County Mayo seaboard. And for 10 years, local people whose ancestors farmed the land and fished the ocean have been determined to stop it.

The struggle has become an epic clash between the Goliath that is Shell, backed by the Irish police, and a group assembled around the umbrella protest group Shell to Sea, whose founder, retired primary schoolteacher Maura Harrington, says that, “thanks in no small measure to the Shell to Sea campaign, the project is 10 years behind schedule and its budget has trebled”. read more

AN OPEN LETTER TO MR MICHIEL BRANDJES, COMPANY SECRETARY & GENERAL COUNSEL CORPORATE, ROYAL DUTCH SHELL PLC.

SUBJECT: THE DEATH OF MY FATHER, ALFRED DONOVAN

From: John Donovan <[email protected]>
Subject: THE DEATH OF MY FATHER, ALFRED DONOVAN
Date: 2 August 2013 12:46:37 GMT+01:00
To: [email protected]

AN OPEN LETTER

Dear Mr. Brandjes

I am disappointed, but perhaps not surprised, that Shell management has not been gallant enough to make any comment about the death of my father, a 96 year old 2nd World War veteran who had a business relationship with Shell stretching back over 50 years, the majority of which was mutually beneficial and friendly. read more

My father, Alfred Donovan, passed away earlier today in Colchester Essex, after a short illness.  “Don”, as he was known to friends and family, served in the UK Regular Army – Royal Corp of Signals (Royal Berkshire Regiment) – for 12 years. From December 1933 until March 1946 he served in the UK, Palestine, Egypt and India, and he fought in the Burma campaign in World War 2. He was a successful businessman operating a chain of garages in East London for many years, before co-founding the sales promotion agency Don Marketing, which had many blue chip clients, including Guinness, Whitbread, BP, Conoco and Royal Dutch Shell. Nearly 10 years ago he was the co-founder of this website. He was everything that anyone would wish their father to be. read more

Because of the “royaldutchshellplc.com” domain name, we regularly receive job applications, business proposals, pension enquiries, and sometimes even terrorist threats meant for Shell. We deal with all such matters as agreed with Mr Brandjes, sometimes corresponding with third parties on behalf of Shell, occasionally passing on correspondence to him.  We have been offered oil wells and coalmines by third parties wrongly believing that we are Shell.

LETTER DATED 24 JUNE 2013 FROM ALFRED & JOHN DONOVAN TO SHELL INTERNATIONAL LIMITED

24 June 2013

Mr. Gary Thomson

Shell International Limited

Shell Centre

London SE1 7NA

UK

Dear Mr Thomson

Data Protection Act 1998 Subject Access Request (SAR)

Thank you for your letter dated 19 June 2013.

Please find enclosed completed application forms together with cheques based on a fee of £10 per applicant, if that is appropriate.

The application is made on an annual basis in joint names; the formula sensibly requested by your former colleague Mr Richard Wiseman and agreed to by us.

The categories of  “Particular Personal Data” you have brought to our attention in the standard form supplied are not appropriate to our application. You do not have any category that is relevant to our relationship with Shell, which is unique. read more

I last wrote to you on 1st March 1999. I did so in the knowledge that your esteemed family is one of the largest single shareholders in Shell. I warned you about what I described as “a culture of deception and cover-up deeply ingrained at the highest levels of Shell”.

FINANCIAL TIMES

EXTRACT

Joanna and the other demonstrator, Hans Maessen of the Dutch Republican Association, were arrested by agents several minutes later after she tried to hoist an expletive-laden sign attacking the royal family for their holdings in Royal Dutch Shell, the Anglo-Dutch oil company.

FULL FT ARTICLE

EXTRACTS FROM A LETTER WE SENT TO QUEEN BEATRIX ON 21 APRIL 2004 ABOUT THE ROYAL DUTCH SHELL RESERVES FRAUD

21 April 2004

HM QUEEN BEATRIX OF THE NETHERLANDS                                 
Huis ten Bosch Palace
The Hague

Your Gracious Majesty

THE ROYAL DUTCH SHELL GROUP

I last wrote to you on 1st March 1999. I did so in the knowledge that your esteemed family is one of the largest single shareholders in Shell. I warned you about what I described as “a culture of deception and cover-up deeply ingrained at the highest levels of Shell”. read more

Christopher Helman, Forbes Staff: I’m based in Houston, Texas. Energy capital of the world.

David Lawrence, the executive vice president directly responsible for Alaskan operations has left the company. A Shell spokesman says that “Mr. Lawrence’s departure from Shell is by mutual consent.” Lawrence had been with Shell since 1984. His departure was first reported on the site started by longtime Shell gadfly Alfred Donovan. So will David Lawrence be enough of a sacrificial lamb for Shell to satisfy investors that it’s learned its lessons? Or should the buck stop higher up the pecking order, perhaps with Marvin Odum, president of the entire Americas division…; If Odum can be this disingenuous about a certified “screw up” then you have to wonder: what else at Shell is subject to subterfuge?

Published 3/26/2013 @ 1:20PM

David Lawrence, the executive vice president directly responsible for Alaskan operations has left the company. A Shell spokesman says that “Mr. Lawrence’s departure from Shell is by mutual consent.” Lawrence had been with Shell since 1984. His departure was first reported on the site started by longtime Shell gadfly Alfred Donovan.

A year ago Lawrence had said that Shell’s planned Arctic drilling “is relatively easy.” So it’s fitting that he was made to answer for the disastrous Alaskan campaign which was marred by a host of delays, accidents and mishaps. The misadventure resulted in a couple of wells being started, then abandoned, and one of Shell’s rigs, the Kulluk, being damaged in a grounding near Kodiak Island. “ Shell screwed up in 2012,” said Interior Secretary Ken Salazar earlier this month. read more

By John Donovan

Shell has for many years supposedly operated within an ethical code which, according to its current shell.com webpage on the subject, was first published in 1976.

This does not tally with the relevant pages in “A HISTORY OF ROYAL DUTCH SHELL, Volume 3,” about the history of the code – known in the 1990’s as the Shell Statement of General Business Principles.

Apparently they were first drafted in 1962, restated and first published in 1976, made freely available to the public from 1981 and reformulated in 1997, for the first time including human rights. read more

FROM OUR SEPT 2005 SHELL NEWS ARCHIVE

ROYAL DUTCH SHELL ROBBERS AND RASCALS

“…Shell shareholders have to foot the bill for lawyers fees run up in the course of defending fat cat crooks, such as Sir Phillip Watts, the disgraced former Group Chairman of the Royal Dutch Shell Group. Sir Phillip ended up with a $18 million USD pension pot AND with all his ongoing legal fees being paid by Shell shareholders. This was after he had LIED AND COVERED UP THE TRUTH ABOUT SHELL’S RESERVES, AND IN THE PROCESS, DESTROYED SHELL’S REPUTATION”

By Alfred Donovan: Monday 12 Sept 2005

The press is having a field day in devising colourful headlines about the scandal ridden Royal Dutch Shell Group. An article in “The Sunday Times” yesterday had a story under the headline: “Shell move robs UK investors”. It reported on the horrendous tax implications for UK Royal Dutch shareholders resulting from the recent Royal Dutch/Shell unification and the dubious way in which Shell has dealt with the controversy thus far.

Yesterdays “Independent on Sunday” used the term “Clever Rascals” about Shell in a headline relating to the Sakhalin project in Russia and the potential ramifications in respect of the critically endangered western grey whale. For the record, the Encarta Online Dictionary definition of a “rascal” is: “dishonest person: somebody, especially a man, who is dishonest or otherwise unethical”. read more

John Donovan, Shell Shareholder

Free access to over 40,000 articles, comment, historical information and news archive relating to corporate tax dodger Royal Dutch Shell, the world’s third largest company by revenue.

A TV documentary feature about our co-founder John Alfred Donovan, has aired in many countries. A related article was published in 10 languages.

John  is wrongly credited on zoominfo.com as being the founder, owner and Group Chairman of Royal Dutch Shell. He is, in fact, a long-term shareholder in Royal Dutch Shell Plc and its predecessor, Shell Transport & Trading Company Limited. read more

It seems to me slightly over-the-top for the Sakhalin Energy source to compare the Russian Federation Government dealings with the Donovans to “another mistake similar to signing The Non-Aggression Pact between the USSR and Germany of 1939…”

By John Donovan

Definition of a “loose cannon” – An unpredictable or uncontrolled person who is likely to cause unintentional damage.

Over the last few days I have received many emails from a disgruntled translator, apparently a lady, who has been involved for some years in the Sakhalin 1 and 2 oil and gas projects.

The number, frequency and length of the emails has increased. An email received yesterday was several A4 pages in length. Eight more emails were received last night.

The most recent emails are all addressed to me and copied to many people in Sakhalin Energy and the ExxonMobil Sakhalin project. read more

Law of the Internet by George B. Delta and Jeffrey H. Matsuura (Oct 2008)

Excerpt from 2011-1 SUPPLEMENT 8-28

“The Sixth Circuit took the position that these negative domain names used in conjunction with Web sites that raised criticism of commercial conduct were forms of expression protected by the First Amendment.93 In some instances, critics of an organization register domain names using marks associated with the target company in order to prevent the company from using those domains or to use the domains to present Web content critical of the target organization. This type of dispute exists between Royal Dutch/Shell Group and Alfred Donovan, involving the domain name www.royaldutchshellplc.com.94″ read more

FROM OUR ARCHIVES…

Another dampener on Shell’s biggest corporate overhaul since the two holding firms tied up in 1907, is a spat over the rights to the web domain “royaldutchshellplc.com.” Disgruntled shareholder Alfred Donovan beat Shell to register the domain name. Shell has sued Donovan for the rights to the domain but while the matter plays out, Donovan uses the site to lambaste Shell management.

The Washington Post: Shell shareholders to back unification

Friday 24 June 2005

All Reuters News DUBLIN (Reuters) – Royal Dutch/Shell shareholders are expected to vote overwhelmingly in favor of scrapping the oil giant’s century-old dual-listed structure on Tuesday.

Shell hopes the unification of its Dutch and British parent companies will improve management efficiency and accountability, areas on which the firm needs to reassure investors after a damaging reserves overbooking scandal last year.

“It’s what investors have been calling for. Hopefully it will sail through … we hope it’s going to augur a new era,” said Richard Lewis, who manages $8 billion, including Royal Dutch shares, for New Star Asset Management in London. read more

Because of the royaldutchshellplc.com domain name, we receive job applications, business proposals, pension enquiries, even threats meant for Shell (as supplied today). We deal with all such matters as agreed with Mr Brandjes, sometimes corresponding with the parties on behalf of Shell, occasionally passing on correspondence to him.  We have been offered oil wells and coalmines.

LETTER SENT TO MR GARY THOMSON, SHELL INTERNATIONAL LIMITED ON 30 May 2012: FROM ALFRED AND JOHN DONOVAN

Dear Mr Thomson

Data Protection Act 1998 – Subject Access Request (SAR)

Thank you for your letter dated 14 May 2012.

Please find enclosed completed application forms together with cheques based on a fee of £10 per applicant, if that is appropriate.

The application is made on an annual basis in joint names; the formula requested by your former colleague Mr Richard Wiseman and agreed to by us. Mr Wiseman informed us that after his retirement as Chief Ethics & Compliance Officer of Royal Dutch Shell Plc., the Company Secretary and General Counsel Corporate, Mr Michiel Brandjes, would be our designated contact with Shell. This has been the case since Mr Wiseman’s departure. read more

The firm was accused in a 2001 Sunday Times article of helping BP Plc and Royal Dutch Shell Plc spy on Greenpeace using a German agent called Manfred Schlickenrieder, who posed as a left-wing film-maker. Free University’s Blancke, who studied the incident, has computer files taken from Schlickenrieder’s room by environmental activists who became suspicious of his behavior. Those files include e-mails from Hakluyt.

By Kit Chellel and Jeremy Hodges – May 24, 2012 12:00 AM GMT+0100

Hakluyt & Co., the corporate investigations firm that hired British businessman Neil Heywood as a consultant in China, has been thrust by his death into a place it promises clients it will never be: the limelight.

“We guarantee complete confidentiality,” Hakluyt director Christopher James told Enron Corp.’s then Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Skilling in 2001, according to an e-mail exchange that was released during a U.S. investigation into the bankrupt energy company. Hakluyt, James wrote, “places an unparalleled private intelligence network at the personal disposal of senior commercial figures.” read more

Derek Brower (Editor, Petroleum Economist): 25 February 2007

It is not the kind of place you would expect to find at the centre of a global energy war. John Donovan’s office is in a modest house in a suburb of Colchester. No electronic maps of Europe adorn his walls, as they do the walls of Gazprom’s Moscow control room. And nor are there any butlers bringing cups of tea and expensive biscuits, as you find at Shell’s head office on the Thames. There is just Donovan’s 89-year-old father, Alfred, in the room next door. read more

The Sunday Telegraph: 10 September 2007

ARTICLE ABOUT GRIPE WEBSITES

EXTRACTS

Today’s activists are giving business a bloody nose from behind their keyboards – not the barricades.

Revolutions used to happen in the streets – these days they take place online. And the targets are more often big businesses than bad governments. Banks, in particular, are feeling the brunt of grassroots internet campaigns.

Courts and trademark bodies are increasingly supportive of individuals and pressure groups when someone registers a domain name similar to that of their target so long as the site is non-commercial, with no subscriptions and no paid advertising. read more

The following extract printed in red text is from a Shell internal email supplied to us by Shell in response to a Subject Access Request we made under the UK Data Protection Act (equivalent of U.S. Freedom of Information law). Some third party information has been redacted by Shell.

FROM A HAPLESS SHELL OFFICIAL:

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, royaldutchsellplc.com is an excellent source of group news and comment and I recommend it far above what our own group internal comms puts out. read more

By Clémence Grison (paris): 29.03.2012

John Donovan, who worked with Shell, reveals damaging information on the oil giant. This personal revenge has already cost the Anglo-Dutch company billions of dollars.

John Donovan, 64, is a meticulous man and very knowledgeable. For several years he has spent most of his time on what he describes as his “super-hobby”: the website royaldutchshellplc.com with scoops on the evils of the multinational.

We simply ask the leaders of Shell to respect the principles they claim to honor already. read more

Shell has been prepared to put up with the ignominy of its “No1 Enemy” receiving private communications meant for the company. Several years ago Mr Michiel Brandjes (right), Company Secretary & General Counsel Corporate, gave us written permission to vet incoming mail on behalf of Shell, using our discretion to remove and destroy what we consider to be spam and pass on to Shell what we decide they ought to see!

By John Donovan

Because Royal Dutch Shell Plc petulantly decided to keep trading under the name Royal Dutch Shell Plc  despite knowing that my father, Alfred Donovan, had registered the RoyalDutchShellPlc.com domain name, a certain amount of unforeseen confusion was probably inevitable.

Shell tried to escape humiliation by attempting to seize the domain name, issuing proceedings against him. Shell lost the case and did not bother to appeal against a unanimous verdict, which resulted in yet more embarrassment.
read more

Some Shell employees complained on their website Royaldutchshellplc.com that a “Swiss Mafia” is running the group.

Meanwhile, staff flocked to Royaldutchshell.com to attack the groups management.

Influential? you bet. The Donovans and their blog are regularly quoted in the mainstream media? no doubt that the father-and-son team is an ongoing headache for Shell.

By John Donovan (article updated end of 2013)

We have published below a selection of links to newspaper, magazine and book extracts featuring comments/reports relating to this website.
read more

A Sunday Times article published in June 2001 detailed Shell/BP undercover activities including infiltration, spying and subversion operations around the world directed at perceived enemies. Contrary to The Sunday Times headline, it was not limited to “green groups”– as can be confirmed by reading the article.

CLICK ON IMAGES TO ENLARGE

By John Donovan

In a Reuters article published today, the UK company Hakluyt & Company Limited is described as “an ultra-secretive firm that is purported to spy on companies in order to gather intelligence in a more covert manner.”

A Sunday Times article published in July 2001 detailed Shell/BP undercover activities including infiltration, spying and subversion operations around the world directed at perceived enemies. Contrary to The Sunday Times headline, it was not limited to “green groups”as can be confirmed by reading the article. The clandestine activity was carried out by Hakluyt & Company Limited.
read more

By John Donovan

GRIPE WEB SITES

At long last, someone has written an invaluable guide on how ordinary individuals can publicly criticize the rich and powerful, including multinational corporations, by using the Internet.

My father and I pioneered the use of websites for exposing Royal Dutch Shell.  Indeed, the author, Robert Eringer, uses our experience as a case study for how David can tackle Goliath.

Moreover, Eringer relates his own case study:  himself against a whole country–the Principality of Monaco.  ([email protected].) read more

EXTRACTS FROM “ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST” BY LORNA SIGGINS

FROM THE FOREWORD (BY FINTAN O’TOOLE)

Though theoretically citizens in a liberal democracy, those who have stood in the way of the exploitation of the Corrib gas field by a consortium led by Shell found themselves with very little protection from their own government. Instead of seeking to negotiate a settlement on behalf of these citizens, Irish governments aligned themselves to an overwhelming extent with Shell, putting the resources of the state behind the acquisition of land and, when locals objected, mounting a policing operation that at one point included the deployment of the navy.
read more

James Gill is the Garda Sergeant who allegedly made a bizarre threat relating to a Shell Corrib protestor: “Give me your name and address or I’ll rape you.”

The Irish Times – Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Protester to appeal defamation ruling

ÁINE RYAN

A CORRIB gas protester who was recently successfully pursued for defamation by a retired garda has appealed the ruling to the Supreme Court.

Fisherman Pat O’Donnell, known locally as The Chief, claims Circuit Court Judge Margaret Heneghan “could be perceived to be biased” in her ruling, because she attended a Co Mayo secondary school for a time in the 1970s with retired Garda sergeant James Gill.

Mr Gill policed the Corrib protests for a number of years and sat on its monitoring committee. read more

POSTING ON SHELL BLOG BY “LONDONLAD” SAT 28 JAN 2012

I am afraid that there clearly is very little news (i.e. aspects of Shell’s work) for the Donovan’s to rant on about recently. A great deal is re-printed as though it’s new but is merely old stories and anti-Shell propoganda that is old history. Yes, we learn from history but we don’t have to regurgitate it repeatedly. The lead story today linking Shell with Jewish skin lamp shades is really gutter press and totally deplorable nonsense from the Donovan’s. read more

Dr Huong was buried in multiple injunctions arising from alleged defamatory postings on our website. Shell also attempted to have him committed to prison and was apparently keen that I should become a fellow prisoner, after they gave up trying to lure my father to Malaysia.

By John Donovan

In 2004, EIGHT companies within the Royal Dutch Shell Group collectively took legal action against Dr John Huong (above), a former Shell production geologist who blew the whistle on the reserves scandal and other nefarious activities carried out by Shell executives in breach of the much proclaimed Shell General Business Principles.

Dr Huong was buried in multiple injunctions arising from alleged defamatory postings on our website. Shell also attempted to have him committed to prison in Malaysia and was apparently keen that I should become a fellow prisoner, after they gave up trying to lure my father to Malaysia. read more

By John Donovan

The Guardian reports today that several hundred senior scientists employed by Shell at the Thornton Research Centre in Cheshire “will be scattered to other offices” in what is described as a more general retreat by Shell from the UK.

Shell staff, who are said to be “seething,” apparently believe the retreat from the UK is a consequence of the reserves scandal that came to light in 2004.

Shell executive directors including Group Chairman, Sir Phillip Watts (above right), were forced to resign. Basically Shell had repeatably filed false Form 20F returns to the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission each year, inflating claimed proven hydrocarbon reserves. read more

My son John Donovan (centre), Chairman of Don Marketing, with two fellow DM directors John Chambers (left) and Roger Sotherton (right), at the launch of the UK Make Money promotion in 1983

Printed below is the background information relating to an article published by Forecourt Trader in January 1995.

By Alfred Donovan

Our High Court action in April 1994 against Shell UK Limited in respect of the Shell Make Money promotion, provides a clear example of bullying, double-dealing and deception by Shell in its dealings with our company, Don Marketing.

In June 1993, Andrew Lazenby, the Shell executive who masterminded the serial theft of intellectual property from companies disclosing proprietary information to Shell, raised the subject of Shell Make Money in conversation with us, as did his boss, David Watson. This was a promotion to which we held joint rights with Shell.
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Shell in their sights …. Royal Dutch Shell online critics John and Alfred Donovan outside the Shell Centre in London October 2009. Photograph: Graham Turner for Guardian newspaper article

By John Donovan

An article published in the Financial Times on 12 January 2012 reported that the Blackstone Group has been using a brand protection firm MarkMonitor to quietly register “hostile web domain names in an attempt to head off online criticism…”

The domain names registered predictably include blackstonesucks.com. read more

On 12th October 2010, I published an article containing the warning: “…it is only a matter of time before the culture of subterfuge and deception at Wikipedia results in a scandal.” My prediction has come to pass…

By John Donovan

Jimmy Wales is to be congratulated on being the joint founder of Wikipedia and for the non-profit basis on which the organization is operated. He is obviously a man of integrity deserving of the highest praise.

Unfortunately, many contributors to Wikipedia do not share his high ethical standards and take full advantage of the fact that it is possible to edit Wikipedia corporate articles completely anonymously for financial reward, removing or suppressing negative information. Parties can completely hide any trace of their identity and motive, even their ISP addresses. read more

Shell Tanker ‘Capulonix’

By Alfred & John Donovan

An article on an alleged murder and cover-up, which allegedly took place on the Shell tanker ‘Capulnix’ many years ago, was republished yesterday on a Dutch website.

It therefore seem appropriate to republish our own article on the subject.

In 1974 it was reported that a Shell employee, Leo Rapmund (36), a crewmember on the Shell tanker, ‘Capulonix’, had gone missing, presumed lost overboard.

Over two decades later Rapmund’s family was contacted by a fellow crewmember at the time of the tragedy who wanted to clear his conscience about his knowledge of what really happened. Basically he revealed that Leo Rapmund had been murdered and there were many eyewitnesses to the crime. read more

MORE FREE NEWS ABOUT SHELL AND ITS LEADING RIVALS THAN ANY OTHER WEBSITE. FREE LIVE NEWS FOR SHELL, EXXONMOBIL, BP, CHEVRON AND RELATED CONTROVERSIAL SUBJECTS – OIL SANDS, OIL SPILLS & FRACKING. FREE access to historical information, news archive and current news articles (subject to subscription required on some third party websites). This is an entirely non-commercial independent website owned and operated by Alfred and John Donovan. No subscription or any other charges. No advertising. No donations solicited or accepted.  2,888, 319 million hits and 1,525,967  million page views in August 2012. read more