Shell, XOM to seek arbitration against Netherlands: report

May 29, 2020

Shell and ExxonMobil will file an arbitration claim against the Netherlands government over compensation for the early closure of gas field, according to Global Arbitration Review (GAR).

The companies operate the Groningen gas field through NAM — a 50-50 Dutch joint venture. Production from the onshore gas field causes earthquakes affecting local communities, which has prompted the government to shut it down early.

NAM is working with the Dutch government and other stakeholders to fulfill its obligations to residents of the area, which include compensation for damage caused by the earthquakes. read more

OPL 245: How Italian Prosecutors Hid Vital Information from Judge

By Davidson Iriekpen: May 18, 2020 4:24 am

Facts have emerged that the lead Italian prosecutor in the criminal case involving Shell and ENI over the OPL 245 affair, Dr. Fabio De Pasquale, concealed a significant material fact from the Milanese court concerning the former Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Mr. Mohammed Bello Adoke, THISDAY has learnt.

In the transcripts of the hearing with Criminal Proceeding No. 54772/13 RGNR, the prosecution witness, Ferri Alessandro, had told the court that Adoke owned the property at No. 271, Cadastral Zone A06 Maitama, Abuja, for which he had collected a mortgage of N300 million from Unity Bank in 2011. read more

Malabu Oil Block: ex-minister Orubebe’s wife quizzed over N360m deals

MAY 15, 2020

From Yusuf Alli, Abuja

Former Niger Delta Affairs Minister Godsday Orubebe’s wife Maureen, has been grilled by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over a N500 million deal linked to the $1.092 billion Malabu Oil Block scandal.

Mrs. Orubebe is also being investigated for alleged money laundering.

She was alleged to have bought three assets from the company of one of the suspects on trial over the Malabu Oil Block Settlement Agreement.

The assets were alleged to be part of those which over $523 million (out of $1.06b) was used for. read more

Shell adding more workers to Beaver County construction site

By: Paul J. Gough – Reporter, Pittsburgh Business Times
Updated: May 14, 2020 – 5:13 PM

BEAVER COUNTY, Pa. — Shell Pennsylvania Chemicals is planning to reintroduce more workers to its Beaver County construction site, which had been temporarily shut down in March over Covid-19 safety concerns.

Several weeks ago, Shell began to add more workers from the 300 or so that had remained there for security and other approved purposes even after the construction had been temporarily halted. It now has 800 workers there as it adds employees, but it’s a small portion of the 7,000 or so it had two months ago. read more

By Matthew Green: MAY 6, 2020

LONDON, May 6 (Reuters) – Britain’s advertising watchdog has ruled Royal Dutch Shell’s ad campaign on petrol pumps promising customers they can “drive carbon neutral” is acceptable, following complaints.

The Anglo-Dutch oil major said in October it would become the first petrol retailer in Britain to offset the carbon dioxide emissions from customers’ fuel purchases at its service stations at no extra cost by backing forestry schemes.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said in March it had launched an investigation into an accompanying advertising campaign after receiving complaints from people who thought it was misleading given the role of oil in climate change. read more

Apr. 23, 2020 3:20 PM ET|About: Royal Dutch Shell plc (RDS.A)|By: Carl Surran, SA News Editor

Royal Dutch Shell paid the American Petroleum Institute, the industry’s most powerful lobbying group, at least $12.5 million in 2019, the oil giant revealed.

Driving the news: The tally, which Shell tells Axios is consistent with recent years, shows up in a report Shell published yesterday on its trade group memberships.

Why it matters: The report, posted the same day Shell announced new climate pledges, provides a look at how much a major oil company pays to be part of various associations. read more

Royal Dutch Shell Plc plans to eliminate all net emissions from its own operations and the bulk of greenhouse gases from fuel it sells to customers by 2050.

The energy giant is following in the footsteps of its peers BP Plc and Repsol SA, which have already set similar targets. Shell’s move indicates that, despite the turmoil caused in the industry by the coronavirus, major oil and gas companies aren’t abandoning the transition to cleaner energy. read more

Ron Bousso: APRIL 8, 2020

LONDON (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell’s greenhouse gas emissions declined in 2019 to their lowest in four years, according to data provided by the energy company.

At the same time, burning of unused natural gas in Shell’s upstream oil and gas operations, a process known as flaring, rose last year by 13.5%, the data showed.

The increase in flaring was due mostly to an “unanticipated spike” in flaring during the start-up of the giant offshore Prelude liquefied natural gas plant in Australia, it said. read more

Bloomberg News: Laura Hurst: April 7, 2020(Bloomberg)

— Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s greenhouse gas emissions edged lower last year due to asset sales, while the amount of natural gas burned off wastefully from its facilities — known as flaring — increased.

Shell’s direct emissions fell to 70 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2019 from 71 million a year earlier, it said Tuesday in a report. That’s the lowest since 2016.

“The main reasons for the decrease were divestments (for example, in Argentina, Canada, Iraq, Malaysia, Norway and the U.K.),” the report said. “These decreases were partly offset by the startup of the Prelude floating liquefied natural gas facility in Australia.” read more

Shares in Shell and BP still part of the scheme

Jon Stone Policy Correspondent @joncstone: 24 March 2020

The parliamentary pension fund for MPs is still investing in fossil fuels despite parliament declaring a climate emergency, new figures show.

The fund is still heavily invested in Shell (£8m) and BP (£4.4m) despite over 350 current and former MPs backing a campaign to set a good example by diverting cash elsewhere.

MPs have however welcomed news in the fund’s latest filings that it is increasingly shifting its cash towards renewable energy – with five per cent of investments going to the green sector for the first time. read more

By Alex Kimani – Mar 15, 2020, 10:00 AM CDT

Global oil giants are facing ever-increasing public pressure and higher levels of scrutiny over their responsibility to curb harmful greenhouse emissions. Yet, in the sprawling oilfields of Texas, New Mexico and North Dakota, an industry-old practice of burning off unwanted natural gas has refused to die.

The burning off (flaring), as well as the intentional release (venting) of natural gas, is proving to be a black eye that Permian producers just can’t get rid of. read more

The humongous amount represents the punitive measures slammed on Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) Limited for devastating the community and its environs and ecosystem with oil spillage.

By Akin Akinwale: 8 March 2020

Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court, Abuja, has made a garnishee order compelling the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to pay the people of Ejama Community in Eleme Local Government Area of Rivers State a total sum of N182.7 billion. The amount is to be deducted from the account of First Bank of Nigeria Plc. in the custody of the CBN.

Lawyers to Ejama community told THISDAY last night they have since served the CBN the garnishee order absolute.

The humongous amount represents the punitive measures slammed on Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) Limited for devastating the community and its environs and ecosystem with oil spillage. read more

BY DAILY SABAH: ISTANBUL BUSINESS: Mar 05, 2020

Shell & Turcas Petroleum company is facing a TL 2.7 million fine by Turkey’s Energy Market Regulatory Authority (EPDK) over making limited fuel delivery before price rises, the authority announced Thursday.

An investigation was launched into the company over its limited fuel supply to petrol stations and an initiative to manipulate prices initially in Sept. 17, 2019.

The regulator stressed then that no distribution company, regardless of its name, will be allowed to manipulate and victimize customers over fuel prices set in free-market conditions, adding that it will not hesitate to take the necessary steps regarding such moves that disrupt market activities. read more

TORONTO (Reuters) – Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday called for a peaceful solution to end rail blockades by indigenous rights groups protesting the construction of a natural gas pipeline.

Indigenous communities across Canada have blocked key rail lines for nearly two weeks to oppose construction of the Coastal GasLink pipeline in British Columbia, which has forced Canada’s biggest railroad, Canadian National Railway Co, to shut operations in eastern Canada.

Trudeau, who called off a planned Barbados trip to resolve the escalating pipeline protests, told his top cabinet ministers that this “urgent situation needs to be approached in a way that builds trust and respect toward an immediate resolution with all parties.” read more

FEBRUARY 12, 2020

WINNIPEG, Manitoba (Reuters) – Protests broke out in many parts of Canada over the past week, triggered by arrests of dozens of protesters on traditional indigenous land along a route for TC Energy Corp’s (TRP.TO) planned Coastal GasLink pipeline.

The demonstrations have disrupted freight and passenger rail and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Wednesday urged protesters to find a quick solution.

WHAT ARE THE PROTESTS ABOUT?

The flashpoint was police arrests that started last week in northern British Columbia of protesters who oppose the pipeline’s construction on traditional land of the Wet’suwet’en indigenous people. read more

ROYAL Dutch Shell boss Ben van Beurden has said he sees no reason for the oil giant to curb investment in the North Sea amid concern about climate change insisting it has a key role to play in tackling the problem.

The Anglo-Dutch firm has come under attack from climate change campaigners who have disrupted operations off Scotland and blockaded the company’s North Sea headquarters in Aberdeen.

The company reckons it can support the development of clean energy systems while helping reduce emissions associated with the production and consumption of oil and gas that will be required to meet the needs of consumers and industry. read more

ROBERT STEYER

Participants in a Shell Oil Co. 401(k) plan sued the company and plan fiduciaries alleging multiple violations of their fiduciary duties for selecting investment options, monitoring the plan, setting fees and dealing with the plan’s record keeper.

The participants also sued the record keeper, Fidelity Investments, plus its parent company, FMR LLC, and several other Fidelity units, claiming that Fidelity also violated guidelines outlined in the Employee Income Retirement Security Act. They accused Fidelity of exploiting its role as a record keeper to cross-sell products to participants that weren’t part of the Shell DC plan. read more

JANUARY 29, 2020

Yusuf Alli, Managing Editor, Abuja

THE Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has asked the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory for a warrant of arrest to enable it extradite a former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Dauzia Loya (Dan) Etete and two others.

The others are Munamuna Seidougha and Amaran Joseph.

The anti-graft agency has preferred charges against the three suspects before the High Court over the $1.09billion Malabu Oil Block (OPL 245) Settlement Agreement.

The EFCC alleged that Rasky Gbinigie, Munamuna Seidougha (at large), Amaran Joseph sometime in 2013, in Abuja “dishonestly used as genuine the forged form CAC 7 and Board Resolution of Malabu Oil and Gas Limited and the letter of resignation of one Mohammed Sani, which they then knew to be forged documents, to open a bank account No. 2018288005 to receive $401,540,000.00 . read more

Nord Stream 2 Pins Hope on Germany to Clear EU Gas Rule Hurdle

Brian Parkin: Jan 21 2020, 9:30 AM

(Bloomberg) — Nord Stream 2 expects regulators to decide by May whether its contested natural gas pipeline linking Germany to Russia will be able to operate as planned.

Already suffering U.S. sanctions, the project led by Gazprom PJSC is pinning its hopes on Germany’s Bnetza regulator to help it clear hurdles erected by European Union competition authorities.

The consortium is being financed by Royal Dutch Shell Plc; Uniper SE and Wintershall AG in Germany; France’s Engie SA; and Austria’s OMV AG. read more

By Nicholas Reimann

The unusually large streak of fire visible recently in the sky over St. Charles Parish should be gone within the next few days, according to a spokesman for Shell Oil Co.

For more than a week, the company’s Shell Norco complex has been in a state of “elevated flaring,” creating what at times has been a flare over its facility large enough that it can be seen for miles.

Shell has said the flaring — which can also be accompanied by loud rumbling noises — was necessary after the complex experienced a series of power dips as a line of storms moved through the area on Jan. 11. read more

JANUARY 17, 2020

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Gazprom Neft, Russia’s third largest oil producer, believes Moscow’s cooperation with OPEC on output will continue into the long term, Deputy Chief Executive Vadim Yakovlev told reporters on Friday.

He praised the decision by OPEC and non-OPEC nations, a group known as OPEC+, to exclude Russian gas condensate from Moscow’s quotas under their latest agreement to curb output, a move that allows Gazprom Neft to expand its condensate production. read more

Extinction Rebellion: The more successful fossil fuel companies like Shell are, the worse our future is going to be.

Climate change activists have blocked the entrance to the headquarters of oil giant Shell in Aberdeen.

Extinction Rebellion Scotland members began their protest at the premises on Altens Farm Road at 6.30am on Thursday and said they plan to stay there all day.

The group say they have secured the entrances with lock-on equipment and the main entrance with XR Scotland’s big purple boat, named Amal Gous.

Harm

They said they plan to shut the building down to disrupt business and hold Shell to account for its role in the climate crisis. read more

Shell pays £0 corporation tax and plans huge hike in fossil output

Michael Johnson, Leeds Socialist Party:

Faced with increasing scrutiny worldwide, oil giant Shell has revealed it paid no UK corporation tax in 2018. This is despite Shell also earning nearly £557 million in pre-tax profits in the UK over that year, with global pre-tax profits being $35.6 billion.

This has come about due to Shell receiving huge tax refunds for decommissioning its North Sea oil platforms. To help balance the expenses of plugging and abandoning their (highly profitable) oil wells and removing their equipment, the government lets energy companies deduct costs from their taxable profits or claim back tax they had previously paid! read more

Rod Nickel: JAN 7, 2020

Jan 7 (Reuters) – Construction of the C$6.6-billion Coastal GasLink pipeline in western Canada resumed on Tuesday, after an indigenous group that opposes the project had ordered its workers off their territory.

Coastal GasLink, to be operated by TC Energy Corp, will move gas from northeast British Columbia to the Pacific Coast, where the Royal Dutch Shell-led LNG Canada export facility is under construction.

While less contentious than oil pipelines, Coastal GasLink faces opposition from some leaders of the Wet’suwet’en people, who say the project interferes with their hunting and trapping rights. read more

Activists urge UK government to ‘tell the truth’ about impact of fossil fuel industry

Three members of Extinction Rebellion Scotland have climbed aboard the Valaris 122 rig in Dundee ( Extinction Rebellion Scotland )

Conrad Duncan: 6 JAN 2020

Climate activists have boarded a gas mining rig in Dundee in an attempt to stop it from heading out to the North Sea.

Extinction Rebellion (XR) Scotland has said three of its members had climbed aboard the Valaris 122 rig and intended to there for as long as possible to prevent it from operating.

The environmental group added that the trio had taken all necessary safety precautions and informed police of their “peaceful occupation”. read more

Russia is not forcing Shell to buy its gas. Shell is also a big investor in solar power and is a 50% owner in offshore wind farms Atlantic Shores in New Jersey and the Mayflower Consortium in Massachusetts.

Kenneth Rapoza Senior Contributor: Dec 28, 2019

Last week’s announcement from the White House of a cease and desist order for the foreign firms building the Russia-to-Germany natural gas line may come about a year too late.

Nord Stream 2 was always seen as a slap in the face to Ukraine, once a main route into Europe for Gazprom’s natural gas from Russia. But Russia and Ukraine have since gone their separate ways, pulled closer into Europe and the U.S.’s orbit by both Washington and Brussels, and now Russia has opted to look for alternatives. read more

European companies involved in the project include German energy firms Wintershall and Uniper, French multinational Engie, British-Dutch oil and gas giant Royal Dutch Shell, and Austrian energy company OMV.

The above extracts are from Trustpilot, Facebook Group: Shell Energy (formerly First Utility) – the worst customer service ever?? and First Utility Reviews

The Shell Energy gripe website is being launched in response to consumer horror stories involving debt collectors and bailiffs, with complaints posted online by outraged Shell Energy customers like the damning examples quoted in the above header.

By John Donovan

Shell and its shareholders will not welcome the news that I am launching another website later this month focussed on Shell. This time the target is Shell Energy, a global brand of rapidly growing importance and value to the parent company – Royal Dutch Shell Plc – in its quest to move away from an increasingly toxic fossil fuel-based business. Part of the gathering flight of ethical investors deserting Big Oil, in Shell’s case a transition into becoming a global energy and broadband company, instead of a dying oil giant. read more

Environmental lawyers at ClientEarth have criticised The Pensions Ombudsman’s (TPO) decision not to uphold a complaint against the Shell Contributory Pension Fund’s (SCPF) climate risk policies.

Concerns were raised as TPO did not ask the SCPF to release information to the claimant about how it deals with the financial risks posed by its investments in fossil fuels and its sponsorship by an oil and gas company.

SCPF member Christoph Harwood had been seeking reassurance that the scheme is properly dealing with risks posed to members’ pension as a result of their policies. read more

December 8, 2019

THE International Police (INTERPOL) has rejected the request of former Attorney-General and Minister of Justice Mohammed Bello Adoke for release from its custody in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE).

It said it could not grant the request because it deals with states and not individuals. Adoke’s lawyers wrote the INTERPOL, seeking his release based on what they called the vacation, on October 25, of the warrant of arrest issued against him by Justice Danlami Senchi of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in Abuja. read more

(Alliance News) – Royal Dutch Shell PLC is mounting an appeal after a judge in Nigeria made a GBP33 million damages award following an oil pipeline rupture half a century ago.

Bosses are preparing to challenge the 2010 ruling, made after a hearing in the Federal Court of Nigeria, in the Nigerian Supreme Court.

Detail of the appeal was outlined on Thursday in a ruling by a judge who considered issues in the case at a High Court hearing in London.

Judge Jason Coppel heard that a lesser ranking judge in London had earlier this year “registered” the Nigerian ruling in England. read more

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.

“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

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SHELL RELATED EXTRACTS FROM AN ARTICLE BY JACOBIN PUBLISHED UNDER THE HEADLINE “THE NIGERIAN ACTIVIST WHOSE DEATH SHAMED SHELL”

AN INTERVIEW WITH ROY DORON / TOYIN FALOLA: 10 NOV 2019

Twenty-four years ago today, environmental activist Ken Saro-Wiwa was executed by the Nigerian state. His death brought international attention to the rapacious behavior of oil companies like Shell — and their complicity in the most violent forms of repression.

Born in 1941, Ken Saro-Wiwa came of age as Nigeria gained independence and became a lifelong advocate for the importance of minority rights within a unified national identity. A member of the Ogoni ethnic group, who at only half a million hold little sway in a country of two hundred million, Saro-Wiwa was central to mobilizing a popular movement that demanded accountability for companies like Shell that were extracting oil in the creeks of the Niger Delta. read more

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Q & A WITH ESTHER KIOBEL (The lead plaintiff in litigation by four Ogoni 9 widows currently suing Shell in the Dutch courts for alleged complicity in the murder of their husbands and other alleged crimes and abuses of human rights in Nigeria.)

1) Twenty-four years ago, your husband was one of the Ogoni nine executed by Abacha. How have you and the family been coping?

HMMMMMM! WE LIVE BY THE GRACE OF GOD THAT STRENGTHENS US.

2) What exactly was your husband’s offence?

MY HUSBAND’S OFFENSE WAS HIS REFUSAL TO BETRAY HIS PEOPLE IN AN EXECUTIVE MEETING AT GOVERNMENT HOUSE. THEY SAID ON FALSE CHARGES THAT HE, MITEE, AND KEN SARO WIWA CONSPIRED TO KILL THE FOUR PROMINENT OGONIS WHO WERE HAVING MEETING AT GIOKOO. JUST FALSE ALLEGATION TO GET THEM KILLED FOR NO JUST CAUSE. read more

Bloomberg News

(Bloomberg) — Slumping energy prices, sluggish global demand and shrinking chemical margins are weighing on the oil industry as its biggest names prepare to announce quarterly results to investors demanding ever-higher payouts.

The so-called supermajors — Exxon Mobil Corp., Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Chevron Corp., Total SA and BP Plc — are expected to disclose a 42% plunge in third-quarter earnings, on average, when they post results this week. That drop-off is too steep to blame on the 18% decline in crude oil prices, which means executives will have some explaining to do. read more

Why it is hard to be a saint in the city

Greta Thunberg’s speech at the UN’s Climate Action Summit last month stirred a lot of the world’s views about the environment and this is creeping more and more into our everyday lives.

I saw one headline last week stating that “climate change is the most serious issue for the majority of voters” but notably it added that these same voters are reluctant to meet the cost of tackling the crisis.

As a financial adviser, I must say my experience is that investing and ethics typically don’t go hand in hand. I must, however, add there has noticeably been more of a focus on socially responsible investments (SRI) from my clients in recent times. read more

SELECTION OF WEBPAGE HEADER IMAGES ALL FROM WEBSITES OPERATED BY JOHN DONOVAN, ALL FOCUSSED ON ROYAL DUTCH SHELL

Header images on royaldutchshellplc.com

Header images on royaldutchshellgroup.com

Greenpeace activists climb Shell North Sea platform saying ‘clean up your mess’

By Ron Bousso

LONDON (Reuters) – Greenpeace activists boarded two Royal Dutch Shell oil platforms in the British North Sea on Monday in protest against plans to leave parts of the giant structures in place after production shuts down.

Pictures provided by Greenpeace show two people in yellow hats scaling one of two giant, rusty structures and unfurling a banner reading “Clean up your mess, Shell!”

Shell confirmed that protesters boarded the Brent Alpha platform and the Brent Bravo concrete legs. read more

Shell to offset fuel carbon emissions at UK petrol stations

Oil giant Shell has announced plans to offset carbon emission from fuel at a number of its UK petrol stations.

The new project will see Shell offset the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from customers’ fuel purchases on their behalf.

The energy firm is planning to roll the initiative out across 1,000 Shell UK service stations.

Sinead Lynch, Shell UK country chairwoman, said: “Switching to an electric vehicle is the best way for drivers to reduce their CO2 footprints and they can now charge on a growing number of our UK forecourts with 100% renewable electricity.

“But today the majority of people still use petrol and diesel. We can help them address the impact of their emissions by offsetting their fuel purchases, starting now.” read more

Anjli Raval, Senior Energy Correspondent: 27 Sept 2019

The preceding three years offered plenty to talk about. Oil prices had collapsed; Shell had embarked on a complex $53bn takeover of natural gas giant BG Group and the company’s offices had been raided over a controversial Nigerian deal. Shell’s top brass were wrestling with a dilemma that has since beset every major oil and gas company. How should a company that generates most of its profits by meeting the world’s still-robust demand for oil and gas navigate the future as the political tide turns increasingly against fossil fuels. read more

Nigeria: Shell Decries Crude Theft, Vandalism in Niger Delta

With a daily loss of about 10,000 barrels of oil from its pipelines to crude oil theft, Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC) has cried out for help from government, communities and other stakeholders to stem the incessant attack on oil assets in the Niger Delta.

“These are critical national assets with 55 percent government interest and they produce the crude oil that accounts for over 90 per cent of Nigeria’s foreign exchange and the bulk of government revenue. Hurting these assets means hurting the nation’s revenue, the economy of the states, the health of the people and the environment,” SPDC’s General Manager External Relations, Igo Weli, said yesterday at a media workshop on Pipelines Right of Way Encroachment and Vandalism held in Port Harcourt, Rivers State capital. read more

Marissa Luck Sep. 6, 2019 Updated: Sep. 6, 2019 6:55 a.m.

When car enthusiast John Hennessey started a YouTube channel more than a decade ago, he just wanted his Sealy auto modification shop to keep up with the times.

Fast forward 12 years and Hennessey’s social media presence has exploded to 340,000 YouTube subscribers and 1 million Instagram followers watching his mechanics modify high-end cars and trucks to go ridiculously fast. Hennessey, who describes himself as the“Chief Horsepower Evangelist” at his company, rubs elbows with famous Indy 500 and NASCAR drivers at automotive industry events. read more

Shortly before President Trump visited the Royal Dutch Shell plant in Pennsylvania on Aug. 13, thousands of workers received a memo from Shell about the company’s expectations of the event. The memo informed them that their attendance at the speech was “not mandatory,” but that if they did not scan in to work that morning, they would not receive their pay for the day. They also would lose eligibility to receive the 16 hours of overtime pay built into their workweek.

Although some workers chose not to attend, Trump spoke before a warehouse packed with Shell employees. At one point, the president turned to the union leaders and demanded that they support his reelection campaign. Trump told the workers that if the leaders refused to back him, they should “vote them the hell out of office because they’re not doing their job.” read more

By Maggie Haberman: Aug. 17, 2019

Thousands of union workers at a multibillion-dollar petrochemical plant being built outside Pittsburgh were given the choice of attending a speech by President Trump on Tuesday or staying away — and losing some of their pay for the week.

“Your attendance is not mandatory,” one of the construction site’s contractors wrote in rules for the speech that were shared with its employees, according to The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, which first reported on the matter. But the rules said that only those who arrived at 7 a.m., had their work IDs scanned and then stood waiting for the president for several hours would get paid for the time. read more

Royal Dutch Shell’s New Plastic Plant Stirs Debate

AUGUST 13, 2019

Royal Dutch Shell has announced plans to open a huge new plastic plant in Pittsburgh’s Beaver County. Not everyone is pleased with this development. Plastic Passion As reported by The New York Times, oil company Royal Dutch Shell is building a $6 billion plastic factory near Pittsburgh that will create 3.5 billion “tiny pellets that can be turned into items like phone cases, auto parts and food packaging.” While the factory would be a boost for the local economy, environmental activists argue that there is already far too much plastic in the world as it is, as many towns in America struggle with recycling. Re: Recycling Shell argues that the problem is not plastic, but plastic that is not properly disposed of. It donated to extend the hours of a local recycling center near the plant, but like in much of the country, Pennsylvania’s Beaver County has to limit the type of plastic it can accept, because there aren’t many buyers who want to repurpose it. Gas It Up This investment in plastic is seen as a move by both Shell and Pennsylvania to diversify, as the prices have fallen for the natural gas the area was known for, and the energy industry is looking for ways to get ahead of the demand for clean energy, low fuel prices and the increasing popularity of fuel-efficient automobiles. Petrochemical giants like Exxon Mobil and Dow have also made similar moves in recent years. Still, investors and analysts continue to see plastic as a risky investment, as shareholders are increasingly voicing concerns about plastic waste. -Michael Tedder Photo: Arnd Wiegmann / REUTERS read more

According to Shell’s records, the community has been impacted by at least 40 oil spills from Shell’s pipelines and equipment since 1989, including 23 spills in the past 4 years. Shell’s pipelines and infrastructure in Ogale are several decades old and in a poor state of repair making the area vulnerable to oil spills which have caused, and continue to cause, long-term contamination of the land, swamps, groundwater and waterways in the Community.

The Supreme Court hearing will appeal a judgment from February 2018, from the Court of Appeal in London, which upheld an earlier High Court judgment, that the English Court does not have jurisdiction over the claims.

Lawyers representing 40,000 Nigerian farmers and fisherman from two communities in the Niger Delta have been permitted to take their legal claim against the oil giant Shell to the UK Supreme Court.

The decision will allow the two communities from Bille and Ogale in the Niger Delta to appeal to the UK’s highest court, having suffered from decades of pollution from Shell’s pipelines.

They have taken their case to the English Courts on the basis that Royal Dutch Shell (RDS), which is headquartered in London, is legally responsible for the environmental failures of the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC), a subsidiary of RDS. read more

FILE PHOTO: Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) meets with Ben van Beurden, CEO of Royal Dutch Shell company, in Moscow, Russia June 21, 2017. REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin/File Photo

JULY 18, 2019

ST PETERSBURG (Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet Royal Dutch Shell Chief Executive Ben van Beurden in St Petersburg later on Thursday, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said.

Ushakov did not say what the two men would talk about. read more

AMSTERDAM, July 12 (Reuters) – Dutch prosecutors said on Friday they were investigating whether producers at some of the country’s small gas fields had exceeded the amount they were licensed to produce.

Gas production limits have become a sensitive issue in the Netherlands as the country tries to reduce production at its large Groningen gas field that has caused damaging earthquakes.

Prosecution spokeswoman Marieke van der Moolen confirmed a report by regional broadcaster RTV Drente that investigations in several locations were ongoing and were taking place in collaboration with the country’s State Supervisor of Mines. read more

By Emmanuel Addeh in Yenagoa 12 July 2019: — Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC) has said security remains a major challenge occasioned by continuing crude oil theft and vandalism of oil and gas facilities in parts of the Niger Delta.

SPDC’s General Manager, External Relations, Igo Weli, who spoke in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, at the media launch of the 2019 edition of the Shell in Nigeria Briefing Notes, an annual publication detailing the activities of the business interests of the global energy giant, noted that the illegal activities result in the loss of 11,000 Barrels Per Day of crude oil. read more