The Times

Shell should be broken up, says US investor Daniel Loeb

Oil major cannot be ‘all things to all people’

A US corporate raider has amassed a large stake in Royal Dutch Shell and called for a break-up to end the oil major’s efforts to be “all things to all people”.

Third Point accused Shell of attempting to “do it all” amid conflicting demands for the Anglo-Dutch group to invest in renewable energy while capitalising on its legacy oil and gas assets.

Shell should be split into at least two businesses, Third Point argued on the eve of the company’s latest results, to draw a line under a “difficult two decades” for its shareholders. read more

JUNE 17, 2019 / 2:17 PM

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – A Dutch court on Monday ordered Royal Dutch Shell to pay a 2.5 million euro ($2.8 million) fine for failing to prevent an explosion at its Moerdijk facility in 2014 and for breaching emissions limits at the plant.

The district court in Den Bosch said Shell had not done enough to prevent an incident on June 3, 2014 which resulted in a series of explosions and a large fire at the Moerdijk chemical plant.

“The factory, employees, the surroundings and the environment were subject to great danger that day”, the court said. “This justifies a significant punishment.” read more

MAY 21, 2019 / 2:51 PM

THE HAGUE (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell revealed on Tuesday that in 2018 only its gas subsidiary NAM paid corporate tax in the Netherlands, where it is headquartered, following Dutch parliamentary demands that it attend a hearing on tax avoidance.

“By giving openness before the round table, hopefully room will be created for the conversation to be about the substance,” Shell said, adding that it paid $10 billion in corporate tax globally in 2018 and had an effective tax rate of 33 percent. read more

Ben Van Beurden’s total pay package soared by 126% last year: Last year, over a quarter of Shell’s investors voted against Mr van Beurden’s pay at the energy giant’s annual meeting

By JANE DENTON FOR THISISMONEY:PUBLISHED:16:01, 14 March 2019 | UPDATED:16:04, 14 March 2019

The boss of oil and gas giant Royal Dutch Shell received a 126 per cent pay rise last year.

Chief executive Ben Van Beurden pocketed over £17million, including a long-term incentive plan linked sum of £12.8million, up from £7.6million, and a £2.5million bonus.

In its latest results, the group said: ‘As a consequence of the LTIP vesting in particular, the single figure of remuneration for the CEO is significantly higher this year than in previous years.’ read more

Former Shell CEO Peter Voser is an unlucky man. He had the incredible misfortune to be in charge of the bad guys at both corporate giants, Shell and UBS Bank simultaneously, while presumably being personally innocent of any criminal acts? What are the chances of that happening? The question of managerial negligence, twice-over, must surely be another matter?

By John Donovan

Printed below is an article published yesterday by BBC News reporting that the “Swiss banking giant UBS has been fined €3.7bn (£3.2bn; $4.2bn) in a French tax fraud case.”

The article goes on to say that “Following similar cases in the US in 2009 and Germany in 2014, the bank accepted large fines.”

During the period of criminal activity the then Chief Executive Officer of Royal Dutch Shell Plc – Peter Voser – was paid millions of Swiss francs in his role as a director of UBS AG. He was also a member of the governance and nominating committee and of the strategy committee. read more

By Ivana Kottasová, CNN Business

Updated 0832 GMT (1632 HKT) February 12, 2019

London (CNN Business)Climate activists are preparing legal action aimed at forcing Royal Dutch Shell to exit the oil business.

A coalition of environmental groups in the Netherlands said Tuesday that they will hand over a court summons on April 5 if Shell does not change its business model to comply with the Paris climate accord. read more

NO, IT’S NOT MALCOLM BRINDED. HIS BRIBERY & CORRUPTION TRIAL (RE OPL 245) ALSO RELATING TO NIGERIA, IS STILL IN PROGRESS. 

Those sentenced alongside the SPDC managing director are Shell’s Secretary and Head of legal and the Deputy Country Head of Legal/Managing Counsel Global litigation sub-Sahara Africa.The judge directed the Nigerian Police Force and other law enforcement to effect immediate arrest of the aforementioned Shell officials who were absent in court and send them to prison.

By Ernest Chinwo in Port Harcourt: OCTOBER 10, 2018

A Port Harcourt High Court yesterday sentenced the Managing Director of Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), Mr. Osagie Okunbor, and two others to three months’ imprisonment with hard labour for disobeying court order.

But reacting to the court judgment, the SPDC’s spokesman, Bamidele Odugbesan, said the oil giant did not accept the judgment and had appealed it. 

“We do not accept that SPDC has disobeyed any lawful order of court and have accordingly appealed this judgement.  read more

Newly found documents from the 1980s show that fossil fuel companies privately predicted the global damage that would be caused by their products.

The documents make for frightening reading. And the effect is all the more chilling in view of the oil giants’ refusal to warn the public about the damage that their own researchers predicted. Shell’s report, marked “confidential,” was first disclosed by a Dutch news organization earlier this year. Exxon’s study was not intended for external distribution, either; it was leaked in 2015.

Nor did the companies ever take responsibility for their products. In Shell’s study, the firm argued that the “main burden” of addressing climate change rests not with the energy industry, but with governments and consumers. That argument might have made sense if oil executives, including those from Exxon and Shell, had not later lied about climate change and actively prevented governments from enacting clean-energy policies. read more

Seán McCárthaigh: August 2, 2018

The release of odourless gas into the national network last September, meaning 10,000 homes had to go without gas for days, was due to poor operating procedures at the Corrib gas refinery in Co Mayo.

A report by the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU) concluded that the emergency on September 21, 2017, was due to a technical failure at the Shell E&P Ireland terminal at Bellanaboy. The CRU said it had followed up its findings with enforcement actions against both Shell and Gas Networks Ireland (GNI), which operates the national gas network. read more

CAIN BURDEAU: July 19, 2018

CASTELBUONO, Sicily (CN) – Nigeria could learn Friday at a court in Milan whether it can pursue damages against oil giants Shell and Eni in a sprawling international corruption case.

The trial centers on a $1.3 billion bribery deal Royal Dutch Shell Plc. and Italy-based Eni S.p.A. executives allegedly entered into in 2011 with Nigerian officials, including then-President Goodluck Jonathan, to purchase a much-coveted oil field off the coast of Nigeria.

In December 2017, Italian judges in Milan ordered the companies and a number of individuals, including top executives at Shell and Eni, to stand trial. The trial has been slow to unfold and remains in preliminary hearings. read more

The five defendants are the world’s largest investor-owned oil companies: Chevron Corp., Exxon Mobil Corp., ConocoPhillips, BP PLC, and Royal Dutch Shell PLC.

Five oil companies are due to ask a federal judge on Thursday to dismiss a pair of climate change lawsuits filed by the cities of Oakland and San Francisco.

U.S. District Judge William Alsup will hear arguments on the companies’ motions for dismissal in his San Francisco courtroom at 8 a.m. Thursday.

The lawsuits filed last year claim the corporations created a
public nuisance by producing “massive quantities” of oil and natural gas and promoting their use while knowing they lead to global warming and rising sea levels. read more

Alys Key: Retail and leisure reporter: Tuesday 15 May 2018

More shareholder rebellions are brewing as a summer of AGM revolts gets underway, with oil and gas companies the latest to face the music.

Shareholders in BP are being urged to vote against the “unacceptable” pay of chief executive Bob Dudley, whose remuneration is 48 times higher than the company’s average employee.

Advisory service Pensions & Investment Research Consultants (Pirc) advised shareholders to oppose the company’s remuneration report at the annual general meeting on 21 May. read more

Shell and Italian oil giant, Eni, are also defendants in the charge of ‘Aggravated international corruption,’ leveled against the oil executives in the trial which began in Milan, Italy on Monday.

BY SAHARA REPORTERS, NEW YORK: MAY 11, 2018

Two retired secret agents of British Mi6 identified as Collegate Guy Jonathan and John Coplestone De Carteret, are among the executives of Royal Dutch Shell under prosecution in the ongoing trial of bribery allegation in the purchase of lucrative Nigerian Malabu oil block.

Shell and Italian oil giant, Eni, are also defendants in the charge of ‘Aggravated international corruption,’ leveled against the oil executives in the trial which began in Milan, Italy on Monday. read more

Extract from the ebook “John Donovan, Shell’s Nightmare” (now available on Amazon websites globally)

(BACKGROUND INFORMATION ABOUT SHELL’S EPIC 25 YEAR FEUD WITH JOHN DONOVAN – which puts the extracts below in overall context.)

Extract below from pages 55, 56, 57 & 58 consisting of an informed damning judgement (in June 2004) on Shell management by Dr. John Huong a Shell Production Geologist. He blew the whistle internally on the reserves fraud that resulted in the forced merger of Shell Transport and Trading and Royal Dutch Petroleum, into Royal Dutch Shell Plc in 2005. He was fired for being a person man of high integrity. Eight companies in the Shell group jointly sued him for defamation, but eventually, six years later, settled that action along with his claim against Shell for wrongful dismissal.

Extract Begins

CONTENT OF A LEAFLET PUBLISHED ON OUR WEBSITE AND CIRCULATED IN JUNE 2004 AT THE SHELL CENTRE, LONDON. ALL EXTRACTS FROM COMMENTS MADE BY DR. JOHN HUONG

“I will supply for publication further informed comment and revelations in the run up to Shell’s AGM on 28 June. It will include examples of the toxic combination of arrogance, greed, dishonesty, and blatant disregard for all ethical norms by Shell Management, that has culminated in the current shame heaped upon the once proud Shell name.” read more

…face trial alongside four Royal Dutch Shell staff members including Malcolm Brinded CBE, former Executive Director for Upstream International and two former MI6 agents employed by Shell….The prosecutor further alleges that money was also channelled to Eni and Shell executives…

BY GLOBAL WITNESS: DEC 20, 2017

Royal Dutch Shell and Italian oil giant Eni have been ordered to stand trial in Milan on charges of aggravated international corruption for their role in a 2011 $1.1bn deal for Nigerian oil block OPL 245. Mrs Justice Barbara handed down the ruling today. The judge set March 5 as the date for the trial to begin.

Eni’s current CEO Claudio Descalzi, former CEO Paolo Scaroni, Chief Operations and Technology Officer Roberto Casula were also ordered to face trial alongside four Royal Dutch Shell staff members including Malcolm Brinded CBE, former Executive Director for Upstream International and two former MI6 agents employed by Shell. read more

Mr. Brinded said: “I have done nothing wrong and believe that will become clear in any legal proceedings. I stand by my view that there is absolutely no basis for the charges against me.”

By Eric Sylvers in Milan and Sarah Kent in London Published December 20, 2017 FeaturesDow Jones Newswires

An Italian judge Wednesday indicted Royal Dutch Shell PLC, the chief executive of the Italian oil-and-gas company Eni SpA and other industry executives on corruption charges connected to a 2011 deal to acquire drilling rights off the coast of Nigeria.

Prosecutors say in court documents that Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi and the other executives at both Shell and Eni knew that most of the $1.3 billion Eni and Shell paid to the Nigerian government to acquire the drilling rights would be distributed as bribes. Prosecutors will argue that Goodluck Jonathan, the Nigerian president at the time of the deal, received part of the kickbacks, according to court documents. read more

Oil giants Eni and Shell will stand trial in Italy over allegations of bribery and corruption in the 2011 purchase of an offshore oil block in Nigeria.

…email exchanges between Shell management cited in a report by corruption watchdog Global Witness, and seen by AFP, suggest that Shell was aware the money was likely to be funnelled to individuals, including Etete and Jonathan.

By AFP: PUBLISHED: 11:25, 20 December 2017

Italian giant Eni and fellow petroleum company Shell will stand trial in Italy over allegations of bribery and corruption in the 2011 purchase of an offshore oil block in Nigeria.

A judge in Milan ordered Eni, Shell and key figures such as Eni chief Claudio Descalzi and his predecessor Paolo Scaroni to stand trial in proceedings to begin March 5. read more

The Anglo-Dutch company, whose former upstream director Malcolm Brinded is among those facing trial, acknowledged in April that it was aware of the destination of part of the payments…

Eni SpA and Royal Dutch Shell Plc and senior executives will face trial over a $1.1 billion bribery scandal in Nigeria, an Italian judge ruled on Wednesday.

The trial will start on March 5 in Milan, judge Giusy Barbara told reporters. The long-awaited decision, initially expected several months ago, will not only affect the two companies but 11 individuals including Eni Chief Executive Officer Claudio Descalzi.

The case is related to the acquisition of a deepwater oil-prospecting license by Eni and Shell in the Gulf of Guinea in 2011. Prosecutors allege that the two companies’ payment of almost $1.1 billion into a Nigerian government escrow account was later distributed as payoffs. While energy producers have come under scrutiny for bribery and corruption in the past, a trial centered around the sitting CEO of an oil major is rare. read more

LONDON (Reuters) – A Dutch law firm has asked the public prosecutor in the Netherlands to file a case against Royal Dutch Shell, its CEO and former executives of over what it says were criminal actions relating to a 2011 oilfield purchase in Nigeria.

The Dutch authorities are already investigating the oilfield deal, alongside Italian prosecutors, who want to take Shell and Italy’s Eni to trial over alleged corruption on the same oilfield.

Shell and Eni have denied any wrongdoing. Shell said on Tuesday it did not believe there was any basis to prosecute the company or any current or former employee. read more

Specifically, the criminal complaint is aimed at Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Shell Petroleum N.V., and former or current directors Peter Voser, German Burmeister, Simon Henry and Ben van Beurden.

Prankken d’Oliveira, a group of Amsterdam-based lawyers, on Tuesday, submitted a criminal complaint against Shell and some of the company’s former directors in relation to Shell’s dodgy acquisition of the exploitation rights to the Nigerian oil block, OPL245, from Malabu Oil and Gas, a Nigerian shell company suspected to have been illegally awarded the licence to Mr. Dan Etete, while he was Nigeria’s Petroleum Minister. This was disclosed in a statement issued by the lawyers on Tuesday.

BY SAHARA REPORTERS, NEW YORK: DEC 05, 2017

Prankken d’Oliveira, a group of Amsterdam-based lawyers, on Tuesday, submitted a criminal complaint against Shell and some of the company’s former directors in relation to Shell’s dodgy acquisition of the exploitation rights to the Nigerian oil block, OPL245, from Malabu Oil and Gas, a Nigerian shell company suspected to have been illegally awarded the licence to Mr. Dan Etete, while he was Nigeria’s Petroleum Minister. This was disclosed in a statement issued by the lawyers on Tuesday. read more

Esther Kiobel poses with a picture of her late husband, one of nine men executed by Nigeria’s military government after a peaceful uprising in 1995 against Shell’s widespread pollution in Ogoniland. Photograph: Amnesty International

Multiple news stories: Amnesty International demand criminal investigation of Shell complicity in Nigerian murder, torture and rape

The Guardian: Amnesty seeks criminal inquiry into Shell over alleged complicity in murder and torture in Nigeria

Extract: Amnesty International is calling for a criminal investigation into the oil giant Shell regarding allegations it was complicit in human rights abuses carried out by the Nigerian military. Amnesty is urging the UK, Nigeria and the Netherlands to consider a criminal case against Shell in light of evidence it claims amounts to “complicity in murder, rape and torture” – allegations Shell strongly denies. read more

November 8 2017

On 21 November 2017, the Court of Appeal will hear an appeal on behalf of over 40,000 villagers from the Ogale and Bille communities from the Niger Delta in the latest stage of their legal battle against the oil giant Shell.

The villagers claim that they have been severely impacted by years of oil pollution from pipelines owned by Shell and that both the London based parent company, Royal Dutch Shell Plc., and its Nigerian subsidiary, Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria, are responsible for the pollution. read more

By Kelly Gilblom and Fred Pals: 13 July 2017

Judge to consider demands to close Europe’s largest gas field

Groningen has contributed almost 300 billion euros to budget

What was once a blessing is now an expensive curse

Officials are also considering criminal charges against NAM executives

Ebe Treffers’s dog was antsy for hours before the boom sounded and the house began to shake, scattering dishes across the kitchen floor.

Like other residents of the Groningen region near The Netherlands’ North Sea coast, the retired art teacher was used to the subtle tremors caused by decades of extraction at Europe’s largest gas field. But nobody was prepared for the magnitude 3.6 earthquake that struck after dark on Aug. 16, 2012, assured by both state and project officials that there was nothing to fear. read more

Amnesty said that Esther Kiobel is bringing the civil case at a court in The Hague along with Victoria Bera, Blessing Eawo and Charity Levula. The women are seeking a public apology and compensation.

Their husbands were among nine activists from the Ogoni tribe, led by writer Ken Saro-Wiwa, who were hanged in 1995 for the murder of four political rivals. Supporters say they were really targeted because of their involvement in protests against environmental damage by Shell’s Nigerian subsidiary. read more

Oil giant Shell stands accused of complicity in the unlawful arrest, detention and execution of nine men who were hanged by Nigeria’s military government in the 1990s, Amnesty International can reveal today, following the launch of an explosive new case against the company in the Netherlands over four of the executions.

The civil case has been brought by Esther Kiobel, the widow of Dr Barinem Kiobel, and three other women. Esther has pursued Shell for 20 years over the death of her husband. He was hanged in 1995 along with the writer and human rights activist Ken Saro-Wiwa, and seven other men, collectively known as the Ogoni Nine. At the time the executions sparked a global outcry. read more

Royal Dutch Shell is facing a fresh legal challenge over alleged complicity in the execution of nine people killed by the Nigerian government after protests against the oil industry in the 1990s.

Esther Kiobel the widow of one of the “Ogoni nine”, has brought a civil case in the Netherlands. She fought a legal battle to have the case heard in the United States, but it was rejected in 2013.

In 2009 Shell agreed to pay $15.5 million to settle a separate action over the deaths, but it denied the allegations. read more

Shell was alleged to have helped in the arrest of Nigerian men who had sought to peacefully disrupt oil development in the region because of health and environmental impacts

Four Nigerian women are taking legal action in the Dutch courts against Anglo-Dutch oil giant Shell accusing it of complicity in the 1990s executions of their husbands by the Nigerian military, Amnesty International said Thursday.

The civil case has been brought by Esther Kiobel, the widow of Barinem Kiobel, who was hanged in 1995 along with writer and campaigner Ken Saro-Wiwa and seven others. Three other widows are also joining the action in The Hague.

A writ was set to be placed before a civil court in The Hague on Thursday alleging that Shell was complicit “in the unlawful arrest, detention and execution of nine men who were hanged by Nigeria’s military government in the 1990s,” Amnesty said in a statement. read more

Fresh Revelations of Alleged Shell Corruption to be Heard in Italian Court

By Chloe Farand • Thursday, April 20, 2017

Court proceedings are due to begin in Italy today to determine whether oil giant Shell will face trial on corruption charges over the purchase of one of Africa’s most valuable oil blocks.

Italian prosecutors claim Shell and Italian oil major Eni concluded a deal for the rights to exploit the Nigerian deepwater oil block OPL 245 with knowledge that the money would fall into the hands of a convicted money-launderer and be turned into political kickbacks. read more

“This is a huge U-turn that reveals Shell’s duplicity,”

By Idris Akinbajo and Samuel Ogundipe: 10 April 2017

After repeated denials in various countries, Anglo-Dutch oil giant, Royal Dutch Shell, on Monday finally admitted it had foreknowledge that the $1.3 billion itself and ENI paid to Nigerian government for the OPL 245 oil block licence would ultimately be used to settle convicted former Minister of Petroleum, Dan Etete.

“Over time, it became clear to us that Etete was involved in Malabu and that the only way to resolve the impasse through a negotiated settlement was to engage with Etete and Malabu, whether we liked it or not,” The New York Times quoted Andy Norman, a spokesperson for Shell, as saying in an email Monday. read more

Current chief executive Ben Van Beurden has also been caught up in the investigation. He was not in position when the deal was complete, but after Shell’s Hague offices were raided in February last year, Dutch authorities wire-tapped a call between Van Beurden and then chief financial officer Simon Henry in which Van Beurden allegedly urged Henry not to disclose the raid to shareholders.

Wiretap: After Shell’s headquarters in the Hague were raided in February last year, ceo  Ben Van Beurden urged chief financial officer Simon Henry not to disclose the raid to shareholders

By Sabah Meddings For The Daily Mail: PUBLISHED: 21:51, 10 April 2017

Shell was last night accused of taking part in ‘one of the worst corruption scandals the industry has ever seen’ after buying an oil field in Nigeria.

The Anglo-Dutch giant joined forces with Italian rival Eni to acquire the site off the coast of the West African country for £1billion – giving it access to 9bn barrels of oil, worth nearly half a trillion dollars at today’s prices. But leaked documents suggest it knew much of this cash would fall into the hands of a convicted money launderer and be used to bribe government officials. read more

A trove of internal Shell emails seen by the Financial Times and dated between 2008 and 2010 leave no doubt that senior people within the company knew that most of the $1.3bn paid together with Eni for OPL 245 was destined for Malabu, and that much of the money would end up with Mr Etete and associates. Shell had previously said only that the money was paid to a Nigerian government escrow account.

In the intercepted phone call with Mr Henry, Mr van Beurden acknowledged Shell’s own investigation uncovered “unhelpful” and “stupid” email exchanges among former UK intelligence agents hired by the company to help negotiate the OPL 245 deal. read more

Top executives at Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A, RDS.B) last year were worried that a controversial Nigerian oil deal may have violated an agreement with the U.S. Justice Department and would prompt an investigation, according to a recorded phone call between CEO Ben van Beurden and Simon Henry, the company’s CFO at the time.

In the call, van Beurden said he was worried that Shell’s own investigators had discovered internal emails that could cast the company in a negative light and widen the investigation by drawing in U.S. authorities; the call was recorded and has now been made public. read more

Jonathan Webb, CONTRIBUTOR. I write about the supply chain and corruption: 10 APRIL 2017

A recent publication of leaked emails has found evidence that Shell knowingly bribed ministers in the Nigerian government. Global Witness, an anti-corruption NGO, described the episode as “one of the worst corruption scandals in the history of the oil industry”.

The affair relates to OLP 245, an offshore oilfield in Nigerian waters that is estimated to hold nine billion barrels of oil, valued at over half a trillion dollars at current prices. read more

By STANLEY REEDAPRIL 10, 2017

LONDON — Just hours after the Dutch police raided the offices of Royal Dutch Shell last year as part of an investigation into a controversial $1.3 billion Nigerian oil deal, Ben van Beurden, the chief executive of the oil giant, placed a worried call to its chief financial officer.

The investigators were “quite forceful and brusque” and “rattled a few people,” Mr. van Beurden told the finance chief at the time, Simon Henry, when Mr. Henry returned his call. But Mr. van Beurden said he was also worried about something else: Shell’s own investigators had discovered internal emails that could cast the company in an even more negative light and widen the investigation by drawing in the United States law enforcement authorities. read more

Simon JackBusiness editor

The BBC has seen evidence that top executives at Shell knew money paid to the Nigerian government for a vast oil field would be passed to a convicted money-launderer.

It also had reason to believe that money would be used to pay political bribes.

The deal was concluded while Shell was operating under a probation order for a separate corruption case in Nigeria.

Shell said it did not believe its employees acted illegally.

OPL 245 is an oilfield off the coast of Nigeria whose estimated nine billion barrels of oil are worth nearly half a trillion dollars at today’s prices. Shell has been active in Nigeria for nearly 60 years and was keen to acquire the field. read more

By L.M. Sixel: April 5, 2017

Crockett Oaks III, a former FBI agent who led the U.S. security operations of Shell Oil Co., was part of a selection committee that last year recommended the hiring of a 53-year-old man with a military background as a security adviser. But when the company directed the committee to find a younger female candidate, Oaks objected to hiring based on age or gender and was subsequently fired.

Those allegations are contained in a lawsuit filed by Oaks that is testing the limits of employee confidentiality agreements. Shell Oil, the U.S. subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell, last week obtained a temporary court order blocking Oaks from revealing potentially damaging information about Shell’s personnel practices to support his claim. read more

A whistleblower has accused oil giant Shell of concealing data on the health effects of two major oil spills on communities in Nigeria. 

In a letter seen by the Independent, Kay Holtzmann, a former employee at the company, said data gathered in the Bodo community which was devastated by two huge oil spills in 2008 and 2009, showed levels of pollution were “astonishingly high”. He also accused the company of refusing to make the findings public. 

Mr Holtzmann was the former director in charge of Shell’s project to clean up oil spills in the Bodo community, which is located in the oil-producing Niger Delta region.  read more

MORE INFORMATION – PLEASE READ IN CONJUNCTION WITH THESE ARTICLES…

Climate of fear at Shell Nyhamna Gas Plant in Norway

SHOW TRIAL OF A SHELL NORWAY SAFETY REP

Translated script that Nyhamna Gas Plant Manager read from at staff canteen meeting filmed by Shell

Informers regime at Shell Nyhamna Gas Plant

# the company’s so-called Facts Survey was carried out by a lawyer and a psychologist hired by Shell and working within ”Terms of the Reference” created by Shell. It is clear with hindsight that the real purpose of making a Facts Survey about the work environment was actually to seek grounds for the dismissal of the elected Main Safety Delegate, Runar Kjoersvik, perceived by management as a troublemaker. He was too conscientious and too diligent on behalf of co-workers who elected him as their Main Safety Delegate. read more

Everyone present was well aware that the person referred to variously as “someone”, “an employee”, “HVO”,  “safety delegate”, and “Main Safety Delegate”, but never actually named, was the elected Main Safety Delegate, Runar Kjoersvik. He was also present for his cringe-making humiliation in front of around 150 co-workers called to the meeting by Shell. The reference to “Terminate” was a reference to him. Again, everyone assembled for the surely unprecedented event with some resemblance to a show trial knew this.  read more

By AFP PUBLISHED: 04:02, 26 January 2017

More than 40,000 Nigerians will on Thursday discover if London’s High Court can rule on their pollution claims against Anglo-Dutch oil giant Shell over spills in the Niger Delta.

Lawyers for the claimants are demanding action from Shell to clean up spills that have devastated their communities for decades, but the multinational argues that the claims should be heard in Nigeria.

The firm’s lawyer Peter Goldsmith told judge Peter Fraser during a hearing in November that the cases concerned “fundamentally Nigerian issues”, and shouldn’t be heard in London. read more

Published By: Myrna Salomon on January 6, 2017 10:52 am EST

Oil & gas companies have been in a celebratory sentiment since OPEC meeting in Vienna last year; the results of the meeting led to a wave of optimism in the global energy market. Energy majors around the world are now looking to increase their exploration and production (E&P) activities.

The past couple of years have dented financial profiles of oil & gas companies, given the low crude environment and economic slowdown. However, the latest rally in the oil prices has come as a golden opportunity for energy giants to mitigate their losses. read more

Author: Adeola Opeyemi: 6 Jan 2017

– An indictment released by Italian prosecutors has linked former President Goodluck Jonathan to the Malabu oil scam

– Others named in the reports include Diezani Alison Madueke, Mohammed Adoke, Aliyu Gusau and Bayo Ojo

– The report alleged that Goodluck Jonathan and others mentioned shared in the $1.3b fraudulent oil deal

An investigative report by Italian prosecutors has alleged that ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, former minister of petroleum Diezani Alison-Madueke, former Attorney Generals Mohammed Adoke and Bayo Ojo, former Minister of Defense and ex-National Security Adviser, Aliyu Gusau as well as numerous other senior government officials shared hundreds of millions of dollars. read more

Heading into 2017, the presence of Royal Dutch Shell plc (ADR) (NYSE:RDS.A) is coming under intensified observation. Out of the many foreign energy giants operating in the Niger Delta, Shell is one that is the fulcrum of civil lawsuits, both existing and delayed.

Charges on the Anglo-Dutch oil & gas major are inclusive of corruption, violence of human rights, and environmental damage. The company is reported to have performed inhuman acts, demeaning treatment. Shell’s senior management cannot state that this came as a surprise, as it has been repeatedly warned.  read more

By John Donovan

Printed below are extracts from a communication received from a Shell Civil Engineer who, until recently, worked on the construction of the ill-fated Kashagan oil field.

He says his dire warnings in regard to construction issues were escalated to Shell top management, including Andy Brown, but were ignored.

He has also raised the subject of Shell depriving sacked workers tax breaks on redundancy pay. A policy he describes as theft.

The same source supplied related, apparently authentic, Shell emails. read more

Text of a Statement By Legborsi Saro Pyagbara, President of MOSOP,  on the Occasion of the Memorial Service held  on November 11, 2016, in Bane, Ogoniland, for the 21^st Anniversary Commemoration of Ogoni Martyrs and the passing away of Ken Wiwa Jr.

On 10^th November 1995, the Ogoni nation suffered a devastating blow. The Nigeria government and Shell murdered nine Ogoni sons in cold blood for standing up for the truth and for justice. That action routed the world to see things for the first time in the way that we saw things. That singular action exposed the deep abyss of bestiality and brigandage in which Nigeria had sunk. That action signaled to the world that groups like the Ogoni people are imperiled and may not get justice, dignity and any sense of decency in this country called Nigeria. It demonstrated that the Nigeria system was not working for most of its people. read more

The 10th of November 2006 was chosen by the Shell to Sea campaign as a suitable day of action as it marked the anniversary of the hanging of Ken Saro Wiwa and 8 other Ogoni activists who opposed Shell in Nigeria.

In 2007, following the baton charge and other incidents in which people were injured, GSOC sought to do a “policies and practices” investigation into the policing of Shell/Corrib protests. However, the then Minister for Justice Brian Lenihan denied GSOC permission to carry out this investigation. As the 2010 Frontline report stated this created “the impression that the State does not want the Garda Síochána held properly to account over the policing of the Corrib dispute”. [2] read more

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

Regular visitors to this website will be aware of the admittance made by a Shell “Mr. Fixit” contractor on the Corrib Gas development in Ireland, that at Shell’s behest, they distributed bribes to smooth the path of the controversial project. On one occasion, €30,000 was splashed out on free booze for the Irish police (the Garda).

Interesting then to see a recent article published by The Irish Times, reporting  that a whistleblower – a serving police officer – has made bribery allegations implicating 50 Garda officers in a tale of corruption involving the pub trade. Cheers. read more

Esther Kiobel filed a briefin the Southern District of New York on October 12 seeking permission to issue subpoenas against Cravath, Swaine & Moore. The request was for the production of documents for a lawsuit expected to be filed in the Netherlands. The lawsuit is connected to a previous case in which Kiobel was a lead plaintiff, Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum. In this case, Kiobel alleged human rights and civil liberty violations against the oil and gas giant’s operations in Nigeria’s Ogoni region. The Dutch case, expected to be filed in late 2016, intends to allege that Royal Dutch conspired with the Nigerian government to commit human rights violations against the Ogoni people. Cravath represented Royal Dutch in the U.S lawsuits and this application intends to obtain the discovery from those cases. read more