Dec 4th, 2019
by John Donovan.
Comments are off for this post
Wednesday 04 December 2019
Energy company Shell has won a court order to prevent activists from boarding installations in the North Sea.
The company secured an interim interdict against Greenpeace at the Court of Session in Edinburgh on Wednesday.
Shell began the action after environmentalists spent the night on its Brent Alpha and Bravo platforms in October to campaign against leaving parts of them in the sea.The Brent Field is situated 116 miles off the coast of Lerwick, Shetland, midway between the Shetland Isles and the coast of Norway.A Shell spokesman said: “Shell sought this court order only to prevent protesters breaching the statutory 500-metre safety zones around platforms in the Brent field, putting themselves and Shell staff at risk.
“We wholeheartedly support the right to protest peacefully and safely.
“We’re pleased this decision recognises that the existing legal safety zone should be respected by campaigners.”
Shell said of the four Brent platforms, only one – Brent Charlie – is now manned, from which Shell staff could be required to give urgent assistance to any protesters in the event of an emergency but this would also put their teams at risk.read more
Dec 2nd, 2019
by John Donovan.
Comments are off for this post
Royal Dutch Shell is set to plug its last remaining Brent oil wells in the North Sea next year
By Sarah McFarlane: Dec. 2, 2019 6:06 am ET
The world’s most famous oil and gas field—and the backbone of global crude pricing—has dried up. Soon the Brent benchmark will have no Brent oil. Royal Dutch Shell PLC is expected next year to plug the last remaining Brent oil wells, located in the North Sea’s East Shetland Basin, about 115 miles northeast of Scotland’s Shetland Islands. The closures mark the end of an era, as the industry shifts its focus to smaller oil finds near existing infrastructure. FULL WSJ ARTICLE (PAYWALL)read more
Sep 4th, 2019
by John Donovan.
Comments are off for this post
North Sea gains must be sustained, Shell official warns
Sep 3rd, 2019
Offshore staff
ABERDEEN, UK – Excessive complexity held back the North Sea industry for many years, said Shell Upstream Director Wael Sawan during the plenary session at SPE Offshore Europe 2019.
The sector had made progress since the oil price fall in 2014, he acknowledged, helped by improved co-operation with governments in the region. “But we need to continue to innovate if we are to achieve the Oil & Gas Authority’s 2035 vision for the UK.”
Shell has played its part by driving down the costs of its North Sea operations by 45% over the past five years, he said, “and that has fundamentally changed the attractiveness of the investment.”read more
Feb 19th, 2019
by John Donovan.
Comments are off for this post
The UK Government last night refuted claims it has made a decision on whether to back Shell’s plans to leave large parts of three oil and gas platforms on the seabed.
Shell submitted plans in 2017 seeking permission to leave the giant legs of three of its four Brent platforms and some other infrastructure in the North Sea.
It has been reported that the Offshore Petroleum Regulator for Environment and Decommissioning (Opred) has given its support for Shell’s proposal, despite concerns over the marine environment.
However, a government spokeswoman last night said a “decision has not yet been made” on whether to back the plans.read more
Shell’s Brent Charlie, which is 185km (115 miles) North East of Lerwick, Shetland, contacted HM Coastguard just before 5pm on November 27 reporting that they had lost power and were running on backup batteries.
“The Brent Charlie platform was shut down for maintenance and although the 184 crew were safe and well the platform had limited power, meaning no lighting, heating or water,” said a spokeswoman for the Maritime and Coastguard Agency.
“With severe incoming weather HM Coastguard and Shell made the decision to ensure the safety of the crew and to declare an emergency situation and evacuate 135 non-essential crew.read more
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) said Shell has failed to “prevent the uncontrolled release of flammable or explosive substances”.
Its inspector accused the oil major of failing to ensure valves on the rig were kept in “efficient working order and in good repair”.
Shell has been given until March 8 to comply with the improvement notice.
A spokesman for Shell UK said: “Shell UK can confirm that we were issued with an HSE improvement notice on 8th December 2017 in relation to a small hydrocarbon release on our Brent Bravo platform in the North Sea.read more
Shell has launched an investigation after a lifeboat accidentally “descended” from the aging Brent Alpha platform during maintenance.
A Shell spokesperson said that on Saturday morning, a mechanical failure occurred during routine maintenance, “allowing [the lifeboat] to descend into the sea.” The BBC reports that the lifeboat davit’s clutch slipped during work on the boat. No injuries were reported, and the boat was recovered the following day.read more
Oil major Shell has taken 60 people off the Brent Bravo platform in the North Sea.
The firm said that “poor weather” was impacting delivery of diesel.
This resulted in a partial downmanning as a “precautionary measure”, the operator said.
A spokesperson for Shell UK said: “Shell UK can confirm that 60 personnel from the Brent Bravo platform have returned to shore as a precautionary measure.
“Poor weather has impacted the delivery of diesel and we are working to reinstate supplies as soon as possible, weather permitting.”read more
Sep 4th, 2017
by John Donovan.
Comments are off for this post
NEWS FROM JULY 2, 2015 RELEVANT TO RECENT EVENTS
Oil giant Shell was today fined over £6,000 after a diesel leak on board the same North Sea platform where two workers died 12 years ago.
Sean McCue, 22, and Keith Moncrieff, 45, lost their lives when they were overcome by gas while working on the energy firm’s Brent Bravo rig in 2003.
The oil company was previously fined nearly one million pounds admitting safety breaches which led to their deaths.
Yesterday Shell UK bosses returned to the court after approximately 13 to 15 tonnes of diesel spilled into the North Sea despite warnings over the transfer system going back over a decade.read more
Aug 28th, 2017
by John Donovan.
Comments are off for this post
Exclusive: New Energy Institute president ‘fears for North Sea’ if innovation falls by wayside
The Energy Institute’s new president has said he fears for North Sea’s future if industry and government fail to stimulate innovation.
Malcolm Brinded, a former executive director of Shell, also urged the UK Government to provide the greater certainty around energy policy.
In his first interview since becoming Energy Institute (EI) president in July, Mr Brinded warned failure to do so could mean missing out on ambitious oil production targets.
Industry and government are targeting the extraction of another 20billion barrels of oil over the remaining lifetime of the North Sea.
The MER (maximising economic recovery) UK strategy was launched in March 2016 to assist with the task.read more
Royal Dutch Shell has been served a prohibition notice over the potential for “fire and explosion” on the Brent Charlie platform.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) said the supermajor had failed to act under the Offshore Prevention of Fire regulations.
The watchdog said the breach related to the possibility of an uncontrolled release of flammable or explosive hydrocarbons from safety critical pipework in the Column Four leg.
The breach was recorded back in May, with the prohibition notice served at the end of the month.read more
Jun 22nd, 2017
by John Donovan.
Comments are off for this post
One of the brains behind an iconic piece of the North Sea oil and gas landscape will have a last chance to say goodbye before it is dismantled for good.
Shell’s Brent Delta platform was a major part of offshore infrastructure for more than 40 years.
But, last month, the top was removed from the waters, leaving its legs behind, and transported to Hartlepool as part of the decommissioning process.
The huge 24,000 tonne topside, which weighs the same as the Empire State Building, is currently being stored in an Able UK’s shipyard, where it is waiting to be taken apart and recycled.
However, Shell gave some of its former employees the chance to bid farewell to the platform, which generated more than £35billion over its four decades.read more
While the Brent Delta decommissioning is not controversial, Shell’s proposal to leave the concrete and steel structures that support the four Brent topsides in the sea, as well as other materials, are being opposed by environmental groups.
The largest vessel on the planet has successfully carried out the world’s biggest lift at sea, plucking a 24,000-tonne oil rig platform from the North Sea.
The mammoth engineering task was carried out as part of the first phase of decommissioning one of the most important oilfields in the region.
Engineers took hours to position the specially-built £2.4bn Pioneering Spirit into place around the Brent Delta platform.
But it took just seconds for the powerful hydraulic system to lift the topside off its supporting legs, setting a world record in the process.read more
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) said Shell had failed to put appropriate controls in place to protect workers from dangerous gases in one of the platform’s legs.
HSE said the company had identified the risks of exposure to hydrogen sulphide and hydrocarbon gas while accessing the column C1 leg.
But Shell did not adequately describe how control measures would be “organised, controlled, monitored or reviewed”, according to HSE.
The prohibition notice was served early in February.read more
Much of the detail has already been revealed. Shell is aiming to remove the 24,000-tonne “topside” of its Brent Delta platform next summer. A specially designed ship the length of five jumbo jets will then carry the structure to a yard in Teesside for recycling.
However, the focus of the consultation is expected to be on Shell’s plans to leave most of the subsea infrastructure in place, including giant concrete legs each as heavy as the Empire State Building.read more
Littering the North Sea appears a rather emotive statement by the Professor, quite appalling, completely unacceptable etc. He also links the plans for the concrete structures to an outsourcing of jobs from Glasgow which is unrelated to the structures.
Professor Russell previously wrote about the storage cells containing radioactive material also in an exaggerated way, the sludge contains naturally occurring low-level radioactive material which many studies declare does not pose a risk to persons or the environment.read more
Nov 9th, 2016
by John Donovan.
Comments are off for this post
By John Donovan (updated 18 November 2016)
Energy Voice has announced that it has teamed up with Shell to “celebrate 40 years of Brent”.
A series of related “promoted” articles are being published. I take that as meaning Shell is paying for the articles. If this assumption is correct, the only history included will be of the whitewashed variety.
I doubt there will be any reference to the consequences of Shell’s appalling safety record on the Brent platforms, with falsified safety records, a “Touch F*** All” regime in regard to critical equipment maintenance, followed by the cover-up and the deaths on Brent Bravo, leading to a record-breaking fine. Will the unseaworthy lifeboats get a mention? Of course not. Shell continued to put production and profits before safety. Just read this index of related articles.read more
Aug 31st, 2016
by John Donovan.
Comments are off for this post
Two renowned oil industry experts from Scotland have vigorously criticized Shell’s plans to leave major parts of four platforms in the Brent field standing when it decommissions the aged field that gave the name to the most widely used international price benchmark.
Professors Alex Russell and Peter Strachan, respectively chairman of the Scottish Oil Association and researcher at the Robert Gordon University, noted in a paper that the concrete structures will take hundreds of years to disintegrate and represent a potential hazard that local people will have to pay for, rather than the field operator.read more
Shell is preparing to start the decommissioning of its four gigantic oil platforms in the famous Brent field in the Scottish part of the North Sea – a huge undertaking. Unfortunately, write Professor Alex Russell of the Oil Industry Finance Association and Professor Peter Strachan of Robert Gordon University, the company plans to dismantle only the topsides of the platforms. It wants to leave the Eiffel-tower sized legs, including 64 giant storage cells at the base of these structures, in place. They will take hundreds of years to disintegrate. Russell and Strachan call on the UK government and other North Sea governments to call a halt to these plans. They also demand that the Scottish government will have a say in the project.read more
Around 400 North Sea oil workers have downed tools on Shell oil rigs in the sector’s first spate of industrial action in 28 years.
The 24-hour strike began at 6.30am on Tuesday alongside an ongoing refusal to work overtime and will be followed by further stoppages in the weeks to come, trade union Unite warned.
Offshore oil workers employed by Wood Group to work on Shell’s giant Brent oilfield platforms voted overwhelmingly in favour of strike action earlier this month, after talks over plans to bring in longer hours and lower pay broke down.read more
Jul 13th, 2016
by John Donovan.
Comments are off for this post
Markets| Wed Jul 13, 2016 11:53am EDT
* Support for strike over pay and working conditions
* Shell platforms concerned include Brent, Shearwater
As many as seven of Royal Dutch Shell’s North Sea platforms could be hit by the first strike action in the basin in 10 years after Wood Group employees working on the facilities voted on Wednesday in favour of industrial action.
Wood Group workers are employed on Shell platforms to carry out maintenance work. A person familiar with the operations said this meant production from the platforms was unlikely to be affected by potential strikes in the short term.read more
Unions decided to ballot their workers in May after initial talks regarding 30% pay cuts to eight of Shell’s North Sea platforms, including the Brent field, failed to provide a solution. It’s the third pay cut since 2014.read more
Green lobbyists and politicians yesterday accused Shell (LON: RDSB) of shirking its environmental responsibilities with its plans to leave the gigantic legs of its Brent field platforms in the North Sea.
Mark Ruskell, Scottish Greens MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, said the Brent field had generated millions for Shell and its shareholders and should be left in the same condition in which it was found.
On Monday, Shell said it would recommend leaving the 300,000 tonne legs from three of the field’s four platforms in place, along with storage cells, the lower section of the Alpha platform’s jacket, drill cuttings and heavier pipelines entrenched in the seabed.read more
Oil major Shell (LON:RDSB) confirmed its intention to leave the giant legs of its Brent field platforms in the North Sea at the end of its multibillion-pound decommissioning campaign.
Duncan Manning, Shell’s business opportunity manager on Brent Decommissioning, said removing the 300,000 tonne legs would be “riddled with safety risks” and had little merit for the environment.
Mr Manning also said only the upper part of the Alpha platform’s jacket would be taken away as it is too heavy to be removed in one piece.read more
LONDON, July 4 (Reuters) – Anglo-Dutch oil major Royal Dutch Shell will start dismantling its nearly 40-year-old Brent Delta platform in the North Sea in 2017, a senior manager said, delaying the process by around one year.
Brent Delta, as tall as the Eiffel Tower, is the first of four Brent platforms to be decommissioned and one of the first large-scale projects to dismantle a depleted North Sea oil field.
The start of the complex work, which has been planned for 10 years, has been delayed to next year after it took longer than expected to equip the specialist vessel which will transport the 25,000-tonne topside of the platform to Hartlepool harbour where it will be taken apart.read more
Jul 4th, 2016
by John Donovan.
Comments are off for this post
Andrew Ward, Energy Editor: July 4, 2016
Royal Dutch Shell wants to leave behind steel and concrete structures as large as the Empire State Building when it abandons one of the biggest oil and gas fields in the North Sea.
Jul 7th, 2015
by John Donovan.
Comments are off for this post
Worlds biggest ship, Pioneering Spirit, formerly a Nazi named vessel, the Pieter Schelte, is cleared to lift Brent Delta topside in one go
7 July 2015
Oil giant Shell is to press ahead with plans to remove the topside of the Brent Delta platform in a single lift after its decommissioning project was cleared by the UK government.
Shell will use a heavy-lift vessel to remove the 24,200-tonne structure once preparations have been completed.
Work has already started on strengthening the topside in anticipation of a 2016 lift.
UK ministers cleared the project following a 30-day public consultation.
The lift will be carried out by the Korean-built vessel Pioneering Spirit after “thorough preparations and weather assessments”, Shell said.read more
Jul 2nd, 2015
by John Donovan.
Comments are off for this post
Thursday 2nd July 2015
Oil giant Shell has been fined more than £6,000 after a diesel leak on board the same North Sea platform where two workers died 12 years ago.
Sean McCue, 22, and Keith Moncrieff, 45, lost their lives when they were overcome by gas while working on the energy firm’s Brent Bravo rig in 2003.
The oil company was previously fined nearly £1 million after admitting safety breaches which led to their deaths.
Yesterday Shell UK bosses returned to the court after approximately 13 to 15 tonnes of diesel spilled into the North Sea despite warnings over the transfer system going back over a decade. Senior management from the Royal Dutch Shell subsidiary appeared in the public benches at Aberdeen Sheriff Court where the company pleaded guilty to an unlicensed release of fuel.read more
I understand you have received an email from Mr Bill Campbell, the highly esteemed retired HSE Group Auditor of Shell International.
As you are aware, it relates to your alleged contact some years ago with Mr Malcolm Brinded, when he was a Shell Managing Director whose responsibilities included Shell North Sea Platforms. read more
Mar 5th, 2015
by John Donovan.
Comments are off for this post
Email Dated 4 March 2015 from Mr Bill Campbell, Retired HSE Group Auditor, Shell International, to Mr Billy Gordon, a senior officer of Police Scotland
The Case against Malcolm Brinded CBE:
Dear Mr Gordon
Firstly, I would like to thank you for your continual support especially over the period when the Fiscal Anne Currie was carrying out her investigation into the conduct of Shell and HSE officials (2009 – 2011), Appendix C of the attached refers. If you check your files you will bring to mind that early in 2012, I sent a joint communication copied to you and the Royal Dutch Chairman (RDS) Jorma Ollila and his Legal Counsel Michiel Brandjes. We discussed in some detail the contents of a conversation that took place shortly after Shell had issued a press release (Appendix A) with a complete denial of the claims made both on BBC Scotland TV and the oil and gas industry trade Magazine Upstream. As a result of this communication, and by April 2012 ,Malcolm Brinded was released from the employ of RDS, his release initiated by his employer. For the record, as you are aware I was not allowed to come to Aberdeen to make a statement or to convey the many pages of evidence in what is a complex business. Acting to the instruction of the Fiscal Anne Currie the evidence was passed by Grampian police to her.read more
Feb 12th, 2015
by John Donovan.
Comments are off for this post
From a BBC News article published 11 February 2015
Oil firm Shell has been criticised after an offshore worker was seriously injured when a compressed gas cylinder flew through the air and hit him.
The incident happened on the Brent Delta platform in the North Sea on 10 November.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) said Shell did not have a safe system of work, and issued the company with a prohibition notice.
Shell said action had been taken to address the issues raised by the HSE.
RELATED BBC NEWS ARTICLE PUBLISHED 14 June 2006
Shell ‘ignored accident warning’
Oil giant Shell has been accused of operating platforms in the North Sea at dangerously high risk levels.
Former senior manager Bill Campbell, who led a safety review, claimed the company ignored his warning in 1999 that an accident was bound to happen.read more
Feb 5th, 2015
by John Donovan.
Comments are off for this post
UPDATE BY JOHN DONOVAN 6 Feb 2015
According to a Dutch magazine article published today, Shell had a long connection with Pieter Schelte Heerema, who, on May 17, 1942, was promoted by Heinrich Himmler no less, to SS- Untersturmführeris. Shell is currently scheduled to be the largest user of the Nazi named ship. Consequently, Shell has the clout to put immense pressure on Edward Heerema to change the name, under the threat of cancelling the contract. Surely Shell has contingency insurance in place to cover any losses, knowing beforehand that it was playing with fire in contracting to use a ship with such a toxic name? Astonishing similarity with the Brent Spar decommissioning affair, which turned into a PR disaster for Shell and seems destined to happen again in this foreseeable “storm of criticism” unless Shell acts decisively. Regular visitors to this website know that I have been warning Shell for ages about associating itself with this Nazi named ship. It is difficult to avoid the conclusion that the sleazy sinister son, Edward Heerema, is unhinged in relation to this issue. Shell should bear this obvious fact in mind. By naming his pariah ship after his father, Mr Heerema has transformed a relatively obscure Nazi into an internationally infamous Nazi and in the process, drawn a lot of unwelcome attention to himself and his tax affairs. read more
Feb 4th, 2015
by John Donovan.
Comments are off for this post
An article by Steve Turner published on the EqualTimes.org website 4 Feb 2015 under the headline:
“We survivors do not want our past to be our children’s future,” said Roman Kent last week.
He spoke at the site of the Auschwitz death camp, seventy years on from the liberation of those imprisoned in this hell.
Roman was one of 300 survivors, reunited to remember the 1.1 million people who perished there at the hands of the Nazis.
As they gathered, the world’s biggest crane-vessel was preparing for the UK.
The Pieter Schelte is named after a SS officer, a war criminal, a man jailed for the enslavement of 4000 men on the eastern front, a man who allegedly spoke of the Aryan supremacy and in the most abhorrent terms about the Jewish people.read more
Feb 4th, 2015
by John Donovan.
Comments are off for this post
“For Allseas to name its vessel after a convicted Nazi war criminal is utterly shameful…: ”To even countenance honouring a Waffen-SS officer just shows how twisted, arrogant and out-of-touch Allseas management is. The Pieter Schelte should not be permitted to operate until it changes its name.”
Article published by Scoop.co.nz (New Zealand) Wednesday, 4 February 2015, from a Press Release by ITF Press Officer
Allseas Group’s Nazi-honouring vessel ‘must be banned’
The International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) is demanding that Allseas Group SA, the owner of a ship that honours convicted Nazi war criminal Pieter Schelte, immediately change the vessel’s name.
The Pieter Schelte is a Panamanian flag of convenience vessel, contracted by Shell to service its Brent platforms situated on the UK continental shelf. It was named in honour of the Allseas Group’s owner’s father, who was a Nazi Waffen-SS officer.
ITF president Paddy Crumlin said the vessel’s name was a disgrace and it should not be permitted to operate in UK or European waters.read more
Feb 3rd, 2015
by John Donovan.
Comments are off for this post
By John Donovan
Scottish TV news is reporting that the UK National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers, and its sister unions, are outraged by the fact that Shell has awarded the Brent oilfield decommissioning contract to a ship with a Nazi name, The Pieter Schelte.
The unions intend to take coordinated action to stop the continued use of the scandalous Nazi linked name on the high seas.
Numerous articles have been published today as a result of a PR campaign by Shell in which it ironically claims to have learnt the lessons from the Brent Spar debacle. The STV story is the first to mention the Nazi name controversy.read more
Feb 3rd, 2015
by John Donovan.
Comments are off for this post
Article by Peter Campbell On The Brent Delta Rig In The North Sea published by The Daily Mail/This is Money 2 Feb 2015 under the headline:
CITY FOCUS: Shell’s titanic task of breaking up massive North Sea oil structures as life of rigs comes to an end
Even though we are in British waters, the closest train station is Bergen, in Norway. In fact, the rig that we are standing on is so remote that London is three times further away than the Arctic Circle and the nearest landfall, on the Shetland Islands, is more than one hundred miles to the South West.
But Britain has this remote patch of icy water to thank for much of its prosperity over the last three decades. The Delta oil field, only a few miles from the border that divides British waters from Norwegian, has been one of the most productive ever discovered.read more
Jan 25th, 2015
by John Donovan.
Comments are off for this post
NON-PROFESSIONAL TRANSLATION OF AN ARTICLE PUBLISHED BY THE DUTCH FINANCIAL TIMES UNDER THE HEADLINE:
Criticism swells of Heerema’s ‘bad name’ heavy lift
Alexander Weissink
Sunday, January 25th, 2015, 11:26
Updated: Sunday, January 25, 2015, 16:56
The Dutch owner of offshore company Allseas in Delft is increasingly criticized for the naming of its newest vessel. Edward Heerema named the largest floating crane in the world after his father Pieter Schelte who was an officer in World War II in the German Waffen SS before he made his name as an offshore pioneer.
The Guardian
The Guardian Saturday citing various Jewish organizations complained about this tribute. The vessel with a size of eight football pitches and a cost of € 2.4 billion was early this month the subject of a ceremony on its arrival in the port of Rotterdam. In the backwater of Maasvlakte Pieter Schelte is being assembled in the coming months. After that lights the vessel obsolete oil platforms in the North Sea from their pedestal and drains.read more
Jan 16th, 2015
by John Donovan.
Comments are off for this post
By John Donovan
Shell employees can potentially end up financially destitute or in jail for acts of negligence, for lying or falsifying records on behalf of Shell, or when giving misleading evidence on behalf of Shell in a court case.
ARTICLE BY BILL CAMPBELL, RETIRED HSE GROUP AUDITOR, SHELL INTERNATIONAL
Could you really trust ex Shell executives to run a railway network?
In the usual manner *TFA Malcolm the Tank Engine arranged for his apprentice Marc Carne to take over as CEO of Network Rail, but like his disciples Bjorn Berget, Chris Finlayson, Gregory P Hill, dear Marc is a follower, not a leader, how otherwise would TFA Brinded have recruited them as his obedient servants in the first place.
Outside the protected arena of Shell, and in the public domain, we sense their true worth.read more
Nov 21st, 2014
by John Donovan.
Comments are off for this post
By John Donovan
I am not sure that directly comparing the explosive potential arising from the Hindenburg and the Shell Prelude is strictly appropriate. However, what is beyond doubt is that these pioneering ventures both captured the attention of the worlds media and a loss of containment on the Prelude could potentially create another catastrophic event.
The Shell Prelude, by far and away the biggest vessel the world has ever see, is nearing completion in South Korea. A well placed whistleblower says that Shell management has ignored his warnings over shoddy work in the construction and outfitting that puts safety at risk.read more
Nov 14th, 2014
by John Donovan.
Comments are off for this post
APPLICATIONS INVITED FOR A PENDING VACANCY AT ROYAL DUTCH SHELL PLC FOR THE POSITION OF COMPANY SECRETARY AND GENERAL COUNSEL CORPORATE. THE VACANCY ARISES FROM THE PENDING RETIREMENT OF THE CURRENT HOLDER, MR MICHIEL BRANDJES (ABOVE). GENEROUS SALARY, CHAUFFEUR, PRIVATE JET AND BONUS SCHEME FOR THE RIGHT PERSON.
ESSENTIAL REQUIREMENTS
Must have flexible integrity, a wiliness to bend rules and regulations, communicate in double Dutch, participate in cover-ups (e.g. the Brent Bravo scandal), mislead financial regulators and shareholders (reserves scandal), ignore emails, even from Shell shareholders; delay issuance of profit warnings; put the best interests of crooked Shell directors first, in the confident knowledge that they are insured against incompetence, negligence and dishonesty, and can still walk away with an $18.5 million payoff (Sir Philip) even if they ruin the company.
Be prepared to conspire with colleagues, anticipating potentially embarrassing questions that might be raised at the Shell AGMand devising deliberately evasive and misleading answers.
Willing to have tea and biscuits with Messrs Kane and Rooney when they make their annual OSSL blackmail pilgrimage to the Shell AGM, demanding payment for alcohol used to bribe Irish cops on Shell’s behalf.
Vigorously defend Shell’s whitewash of its support for Hitler and the Nazi.
Fend off all claims that Shell has stolen Intellectual Property.
Be prepared to authorise private undercover spies to infiltrate and destroy/undermine perceived enemies, such as Greenpeace and anyone that sues Shell.
This assessment of ideal requirements is based on the current occupant of the office of Shell Company Secretary and his recent predecessors.
Interested?
This is the link you need to use for all Shell job applications.
Note from John Donovan. The timing of this invitation is based on my information that Mr Brandjes is 60 years old in December and will be retiring from Shell. If this is wrong, then he only needs to let me know and it will be removed immediately. I would send him an email to double check but he never bothers to reply even though I am a Shell shareholder. Nonetheless, I hope that he has a long enjoyable retirement whenever that day arrives.read more
To obtain an overall assessment on risks relating to Prelude, the article by Robert Sullivan is best read in conjunction with a series of articles by experts triggered by a well-placed whistleblower directly involved in the equally pioneering Shell Prelude project. Includes articles by Bill Campbell, the retired distinguished HSE Group Auditor of Shell International and Hans Bouman, another retired Shell guru with a track record of spotting potential pitfalls in major Shell projects.read more
Sep 29th, 2014
by John Donovan.
Comments are off for this post
By John Donovan
After all the Royal Dutch Shell senior management promises to improve safety on Shell North Sea platforms, serious incidents continue to occur.
EnergyVoice.com is reporting that Shell workers have today been evacuated from the Brent Alpha and Bravo platforms after a crane dropped a large container into the North Sea.
Extracts
The container, which was in the process of being winched onto a support vessel when the incident unfolded, initially rested dangerously close to a mass of subsea pipelines which connect into the Far North Liquids & Associated Gas System (Flags) pipeline.read more
Aug 28th, 2014
by John Donovan.
Comments are off for this post
A safety audit on the Brent Bravo platform in 1999 led by Bill Campbell exposed a “Touch F*** All” culture with safety records routinely falsified. The damning audit report was passed to then Shell EP director Malcolm Brinded, who made promises to remedy the situation that were not kept. Instead Brinded decided to put profits before safety. Hence the subsequent deadly explosion followed by a cover-up at the highest level of Royal Dutch Shell. It seems from recently published articles that despite all the pledges and the appointment of a so-called safety Czar, nothing has changed.
By John Donovan
In 2005, Shell received a record breaking fine of £900,000 at Stonehaven Sheriff Court, for a series of safety failings on the Brent Bravo platform, which led to a gas leak inside the giant platform’s utility leg and the tragic avoidable deaths of offshore workers.
A safety audit on the Brent Bravo platform in 1999 led by Bill Campbell exposed a “Touch F*** All” culture with safety records routinely falsified.
The damning audit report was passed to then Shell EP director Malcolm Brinded, who made promises to remedy the situation that were not kept. Instead Brinded decided to put profits before safety. Hence the subsequent deadly explosion followed by a cover-up at the highest level of Royal Dutch Shell.read more
Apr 28th, 2014
by John Donovan.
Comments are off for this post
“BG Group chief executive Chris Finlayson has been ousted by the oil and gas explorer’s board following a disastrous 16 months in the job….”No one can say that we did not repeatedly warn BG Group about the competence and ethics of Chris Finlayson…
By John Donovan
The news media is reporting that former Royal Dutch Shell executive Chris Finlayson has quit as CEO of BG Group.
BG Group chief executive Chris Finlayson has been ousted by the oil and gas explorer’s board following a disastrous 16 months in the job. He is understood not to have another job to go to… In an unusually blunt statement Gould said: “The board felt that it was in the best interests of the group to accept Chris’ resignation and seek fresh leadership.” Since taking over Finlayson has presided over a succession of profit warnings and a 37% slump in annual profits…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.
This is not a Shell website. That fact should be abundantly plain from the overall content of this home page and our sister Shell focussed websites, including shellnazihistory.com. Click on the Disclaimer link at top of this page for more information. You Can Be Sure Shell does not endorse or approve of this website. There are no subscription charges nor do we solicit or accept donations. It is an entirely free to use website drawing attention to the negative side of Shell while also publishing positive news about the company. The Shell logo image with the white text used on this website, as per the above example, is in the public domain because its copyright has expired and its author is anonymous. It can be found on WIKIMEDIA COMMONS. Our shellenergy.websitepublishes Shell Energy customer complaints posted on Trustpilot where there is an ample supply. Use this link for Shell’s own website.
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?