Dec 11th, 2022
by John Donovan.
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The Sunday Times Business Person of the Year 2022: The shortlist
The Sunday Times
In a year buffeted by war, falling markets and government upheaval, we present the shortlist for the business person who has stood out above the rest
Ben van Beurden, Shell
The Dutchman will call time on a 40-year career at Shell in 2023, having spent nine years in the hot seat. He gambled early in his tenure on the £36 billion takeover of gas giant BG Group, relocated Shell’s head office to London, and cut its dividend when the oil price tanked during Covid. But the company has surged this year on the back of higher oil prices stoked by the Ukraine war. Van Beurden, 64, leaves Shell in a fitter state and with plans to embrace green energy —read more
Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A+0.2%) is considering whether to make it mandatory for workers in some operations to get COVID-19 vaccinations or fire them on refusal – Reuters.
The energy company, employing some 86,000 workers in more than 70 countries, will weigh the pros and cons of the policy at an executive committee meeting today.
The company is also actively exploring the introduction of the policy for offshore workers in the Gulf of Mexico.
The company has already adopted a “soft enforcement” vaccination policy in the Gulf of Mexico and in the onshore Permian shale basin operations under which employees and contractors must produce a negative COVID-19 test or proof of vaccination to access Shell sites.
Apr 29th, 2021
by John Donovan.
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Shell raises dividend for second time in six months after first-quarter earnings beat forecasts
Sam Meredith: PUBLISHED THU, APR 29 20212:09 AM EDT
KEY POINTS
The Anglo-Dutch company reported adjusted earnings of $3.2 billion for the three months through to the end of March. Analysts had expected $3.1 billion, according to Refinitiv.
Shell also raised its dividend by around 4%, its second increase in six months.
It comes as energy majors seek to reassure investors that they have gained a more stable footing in recent months.
LONDON — Oil giant Royal Dutch Shell on Thursday reported slightly better-than-expected first-quarter earnings, amid stronger commodity prices and growing expectations of a fuel demand recovery.
Shell also raised its dividend by around 4%, its second increase in six months, as the oil major seeks to reassure investors it has gained a more stable footing. It comes after Shell slashed its payout for the first time since World War II in April last year.read more
NORTH Sea oil and gas minnow Deltic Energy has seen its shares rise around eight per cent after the company won a fresh vote of confidence from the mighty Royal Dutch Shell.
Shell has decided to go ahead with a plan to drill a well with Deltic, on a prospect that has generated lots of excitement.
The companies have confirmed to the North Sea regulator that they have made a firm commitment to drill a well on the Pensacola prospect, which is set for next year.read more
The Australian boss of global energy giant Shell sees demand for liquefied natural gas exports continuing to grow until at least the late 2030s even as COVID-19 hastens the shift away from planet-warming fossil fuels.
Shell, which believes its oil output may have hit a peak in 2019 and is now likely to gradually decline, has revealed a brighter outlook for its liquefied natural gas (LNG) assets including those in Queensland and off Western Australia.read more
Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A, RDS.B) says its $6B petrochemical complex in northwest Pennsylvania is now more than 70% complete and projected to be operational sometime in 2022.
Shell previously projected the startup in this year’s H1 after suspending work in March 2020 due to pandemic concerns.
The project is one of the largest construction sites in North America and includes a 1.6M mt/year cracker and three polyethylene plants with a combined capacity of 1.6M mt/year.
Portions of the site’s water treatment facility are being commissioned and the site’s 250 MW power plant will soon follow, the company says.
Shell has “hit peak oil, but not peak opportunity,” as its impressive portfolio of assets should drive long-term shareholder returns in the tens of billions of dollars, The Value Portfolio writes in a bullish analysis posted on Seeking Alpha.
Executives from major oil companies clashed over the prospects of oil and gas for the future at the first virtual edition of the CERAWeek conference in Houston.
While BP’s Bernard Looney and Shell’s Ben van Beurden boasted about their shift away from their core business and into renewable energy, Baker Hughes, Hess Corp., and Spain’s Repsol were among those believing that fossil fuels have yet to leave the scene for good, the Houston Chronicle’s Paul Takahashi reports.read more
Feb 12th, 2021
by John Donovan.
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Shell LNG Canada’s coronavirus restart plan approved
·
Feb 12 (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell’s LNG Canada export project in British Columbia has won approval from health officials for construction to ramp back up with improved coronavirus protection measures.
Work at the site was curtailed last month by an order from the Provincial Health Officer which applied to five major industrial projects in British Columbia, including LNG Canada.
“Our approved restart and measured workforce increase at the project site will continue over the coming months,” LNG Canada and JGC I Fluor, the engineering joint venture building the project, said in a statement on Thursday.read more
Feb 8th, 2021
by John Donovan.
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Hedge funds bet on oil’s ‘big comeback’ after pandemic hobbles producers
FILE PHOTO: A combination of file photos shows the logos of five of the largest publicly traded oil companies; BP, Chevron, Exxon Mobil, Royal Dutch Shell, and Total. REUTERS/File Photo
TORONTO (Reuters) – Hedge funds are turning bullish on oil once again, betting the pandemic and investors’ environmental focus has severely damaged companies’ ability to ramp up production.read more
Feb 6th, 2021
by John Donovan.
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Oil giant Shell follows rivals into huge loss
“2020 was an extraordinary year,” said Chief Executive Ben van Beurden. “We have taken tough but decisive actions,” he said, with Shell having already announced plans to axe up to 9,000 jobs, or more than 10 percent of its global workforce.
Published on: Friday, February 05, 2021: By AFP
LONDON: Royal Dutch Shell on Thursday became the latest oil major to reveal huge annual losses as the coronavirus pandemic slashed energy demand and prices in 2020.
Shell dived into a net loss of $21.7 billion (18.1 billion euros) last year as factories shut and planes were grounded.read more
Feb 5th, 2021
by John Donovan.
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Shell makes record loss in 2020 after more write-offs
Published date: 04 February 2021
Shell posted a record loss in 2020 after it booked more hefty write-offs in the fourth quarter.
Excluding inventory effects, Shell made a loss of $4.48bn in the October-December period, compared with a profit of $871mn a year earlier. The quarterly loss was largely driven by pre-announced, non-cash post-tax impairment charges of $2.7bn and charges of $1.1bn mainly for “onerous contract provisions”.read more
New York — Shell Chemical announced that construction at its $6 billion petrochemical complex in Pennsylvania is expected to be completed in 2022, Shell CEO Ben Van Beurden said during an earnings call Feb. 4.
Shell previously expected the Pennsylvania project to start up in the first half of 2021 after suspending work in mid-March 2020 due to coronavirus pandemic concerns.read more
Feb 4th, 2021
by John Donovan.
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Oil major Shell reports sharp drop in full-year profit, raises dividend
Sam Meredith@SMEREDITH19: PUBLISHED THU, FEB 4 20212:31 AM EST UPDATED THU, FEB 4 20213:18 AM EST
KEY POINTS
Shell reported adjusted earnings of $4.85 billion for the full-year 2020. That compared with a profit of $16.5 billion for the full-year 2019.
The company said it would raise its first-quarter dividend to $0.1735 per share, reflecting an increase of 4% from the previous quarter.
The results come as energy giants seek to reassure investors about their future profitability, following a dreadful year for the global oil and gas industry by virtually every measure.
LONDON — Oil giant Royal Dutch Shell on Thursday reported a sharp drop in full-year profit as the coronavirus pandemic took a heavy toll on the global oil and gas industry.
Shell reported adjusted earnings of $4.85 billion for the full-year 2020. That compared with a profit of $16.5 billion for the full-year 2019, reflecting a drop of 71%. Analysts polled by Refinitiv had expected full-year 2020 net profit to come in $5.15 billion.read more
Dec 27th, 2020
by John Donovan.
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2020 Was One of the Worst-Ever Years for Oil Write-Downs
Royal Dutch Shell’s Prelude floating facility has struggled to deliver income. PHOTO: ROYAL DUTCH SHELL AUSTRALIA/REUTERS
By Collin Eaton and Sarah McFarlane: Dec. 27, 2020 9:00 am ET
The pandemic has triggered the largest revision to the value of the oil industry’s assets in at least a decade, as companies sour on costly projects amid the prospect of low prices for years.
Oil-and-gas companies in North America and Europe wrote down roughly $145 billion combined in the first three quarters of 2020, the most for that nine-month period since at least 2010, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis. That total significantly surpassed write-downs taken over the same periods in 2015 and 2016, during the last oil bust, and is equivalent to roughly 10% of the companies’ collective market value.read more
HOUSTON, Dec. 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — As the number of COVID-19 cases surges across the country, Shell Oil Company (Shell) has announced it will contribute more than one million pieces of PPE to communities and medical care facilities from coast to coast. Extra face shields, non-medical masks and nitrile gloves are now arriving in some of the hardest hit areas of the country.read more
Dec 21st, 2020
by John Donovan.
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Shell fourth quarter 2020 update note
| Source: Shell International B.V.
The Hague, December 21, 2020 − This is an update to the fourth quarter 2020 outlook provided in the third quarter results announcement on October 29, 2020. The impacts presented here may vary from the actual results and are subject to finalisation of the fourth quarter 2020 results.
This update note is presented based on prevailing commodity prices and forward curves, further movements and volatility till the end of the year are likely to impact earnings and CFFO.read more
Dec 19th, 2020
by John Donovan.
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Layoffs at shuttered Shell Convent, Louisiana, refinery to begin in late Feb -sources
By Reuters Staff: DECEMBER 18, 2020
HOUSTON (Reuters) -Layoffs of hourly workers at Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s shuttered Convent, Louisiana, refinery are scheduled to begin on the last day of February, said sources familiar with plant operations.
The next round of layoffs is scheduled for March 31, the sources said.
A Shell spokesman did not reply to a request for comment.
About 350 hourly workers will leave jobs they have performed for years at the 211,146 barrel-per-day (bpd) refinery located 46 miles (74 km) west of New Orleans.read more
Oct 29th, 2020
by John Donovan.
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Shell to axe refining plants and focus on dividends and debt reduction
Philip Whiterow: 07:31 Thu 29 Oct 2020
Royal Dutch Shell PLC (LON:RDSB) has unveiled a huge restructuring of its refining and chemical operations as part of a strategic overhaul that places dividends at its centre.
The Anglo-Dutch giant said its fourteen refining sites will be reduced to six integrated chemical parks, with a switch in focus to performance chemicals and recycled feedstocks.
Shell’s marketing arm will also be strengthened with the development of the integrated power business and hydrogen and biofuels.read more
In 2016, Shell set an ambitious goal to invest $4bn to $6bn in clean energy projects by 2020, though the Guardian recently reported that it was unlikely to meet that target. So, why is Big Oil still dragging its feet…
Every time an oil and gas major announces a major foray into renewable energy, the skeptics come out like clockwork and lambast the sector for merely trying to burnish its green credentials.read more
The past few years have been historic for as far as crude oil forecasts are concerned. Back in 2015 the view that crude oil demand could peak during the 2020s or 2030s was still met with disbelief (and some ridicule…). Economic growth had been pushing crude oil demand up ever year for decades already, so why would things become different, so the reasoning went. Today, however, essentially all major energy forecasters, including BP, Shell, Total, DNV-GL, the IEA and even OPEC, have come round and acknowledge Peak Oil Demand as a realistic possibility.read more
More than a dozen workers have been removed from a North Sea platform after a colleague tested positive for Covid-19.
Energy giant Shell confirmed that a crew member, who was demobilised from the Nelson platform on Friday, subsequently tested positive for the virus.
Contact tracing then found another 14 people had come into close contact with the individual, who were all removed from the installation on Sunday as a precaution.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?