Mar 27th, 2023
by John Donovan.
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NL TIMES
Shell: Gas field in Groningen must be completely closed this year, in light of earthquakes
SUNDAY, 26 MARCH 2023
The gas field in Groningen must be completely closed this year, said the CEO of Shell Netherlands, Marjan van Loon. Currently, the gas field is still supplying minimal amounts of gas to keep the wells usable, but she doesn’t think that’s necessary. “It can and must be done, so the field has to be closed,” Van Loon said on the TV program WNL Op Zondag.read more
Feb 25th, 2023
by John Donovan.
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DutchNews.nl
Damning report slams state, oil companies for Groningen gas failures
February 24, 2023 – By Robin Pascoe
The interests of the people of Groningen were systematically ignored by both the government and oil companies, and making money remained the dominant concern when natural gas extraction started causing earthquakes, according to the parliamentary commission set up to investigate.
The worlds of those making the decisions and the locals were ‘miles apart’, commission chief Tom van der Lee said at the presentation of the report into the problems, which has taken two years and hundreds of interviews to complete.
Gas extraction has become an ‘unprecedented system failure’ and both the public and private sector have failed in their duties, Van der Lee said.
Ministers were not properly informed and that meant that MPs could not fulfill their role as guardians of the public interest. The damage, both material and mental, suffered by locals was consistently underestimated and the maximalisation of profit was the guiding force.read more
Feb 25th, 2023
by John Donovan.
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“Gas extraction in Groningen was so successful and lucrative for the Dutch government, Shell and Exxon Mobil that they hardly took any notion of the long-term risks and the ever-clearer signs of the detrimental effects for the people in Groningen…”
REUTERS
Dutch gov’t, Shell and Exxon ignored Groningen risks for years, inquiry finds
AMSTERDAM, Feb 24 (Reuters) – The Dutch government and energy companies Shell (SHEL.L) and Exxon Mobil (XOM.N) ignored the risks of gas production in Groningen for years, to the detriment of people living in the province, a parliamentary inquiry concluded on Friday.
Prime Minister Mark Rutte and others involved “gravely underestimated” the urgency of the problems in Groningen, said the committee set up to investigate the decades of lucrative gas extraction that caused tremors damaging thousands of houses and buildings in the region.
The massive Groningen field is operated by Shell and Exxon joint venture NAM and was one of Europe’s major suppliers of natural gas for decades.
“These are hard and painful conclusions,” Rutte told a news conference. “They make clear there is a lot to do to help the region and to hopefully restore trust.”
The government will take time provide a full response to the report, he said without indicating how long that would take.
A statement from NAM director Johan Atema said: “It is clear that we need to have a better eye for the society in which we work. It is up to us to show that we as a company have learned from this.”read more
A megamerger between either London-listed oil major and either of America’s largest oilers appears increasingly attractive, on valuation terms at least, according to the Wall Street bank.read more
The Dutch government plans to close the Groningen gas field this year despite Europe’s precarious supply position. Groningen is the largest gas field in Europe.
The field is dangerous, a government official from the Hague told the Financial Times, and the government has no plans to boost production from it.
“We won’t open up more because of the safety issues,” Hans Vijbrief told the FT. “It is politically totally unviable. But apart from that, I’m not going to do it because it means that you increase the chances of earthquakes, which I don’t want to be responsible for.”read more
Shell’s chief executive Ben van Beurden has said he regretted not acting earlier on two problems linked to the environment, as he prepares to step down after nearly a decade in charge.
Mr van Beurden said he should have acted in 2015 on data coming out of the Groningen gasfield in the Netherlands.read more
Supermajors ExxonMobil and Shell are looking to sell their 50/50 NAM natural gas producing joint venture in the Netherlands in a potential sale worth up to $1.5 billion, Reuters reported on Tuesday, citing industry sources and a document it had seen.
Shell and Esso set up the NAM joint venture in the 1950s and started producing gas from the giant Groningen field in the Netherlands in the 1960s. According to NAM’s website, the company supplies 75% of the natural gas required by Dutch households and businesses. A total of 93% of all Dutch households use natural gas and gas accounts for 45% of all the energy that is used in the Netherlands.
Shell and Exxon’s decision to sell one of the oldest gas-producing ventures would be part of both companies’ plans to divest aging assets they no longer consider core to their respective operations, Reuters notes.
According to Reuters’ sources, NAM’s assets up for sale – including three gas processing plants, pipeline networks, and offshore gas fields – could be valued at between $1 billion and $1.5 billion.
The two international majors expect that the current dire need for gas supply in Europe and the high natural gas prices could make those assets attractive to prospective buyers, the sources told Reuters.read more
Jun 23rd, 2022
by John Donovan.
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Bloomberg UK
Shell Permits Probed Over Loss of $200 Million in Nigeria
Motion argues state lost revenue through 30-year licenses
Investigation targets joint venture operated by Shell
By William Clowes: 23 June 2022, 13:04 BST
Nigeria’s Senate will investigate Shell Plc’s historic license renewals in the West African state to determine whether they were extended unlawfully and cost the government up to $200 million.
Senate President Ahmad Lawan formed a committee on Wednesday to probe the oil major’s permits that expired in 1989 and 2019, according to a statement emailed by his spokesman. The decision followed a motion submitted by Senator George Sekibo who said the duration of the licenses should have been 20 years rather than 30 years under Nigerian law.
A spokesman for Shell didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.read more
Feb 20th, 2022
by John Donovan.
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REUTERS
U.N. pact may restrict plastic production. Big Oil aims to stop it
By John Geddie, Valerie Volcovici and Joe Brock: Fri., February 18, 2022
A global explosion of disposable plastic, which is made from oil and gas, is increasing carbon emissions, despoiling the world’s oceans, harming wildlife and contaminating the food chain. More than 50 countries, including all 27 members of the European Union, are calling for the pact to include measures targeting plastic production.
That’s a problem for big oil and chemical companies. The industry is projected to double plastic output worldwide within two decades.read more
WASHINGTON, Nov 2 (Reuters) – The head of a U.S. House panel on Tuesday subpoenaed four major oil companies and two lobbying groups for documents related to their actions on global warming as part of a year-long probe into potential climate deception by the energy industry.
Representative Carolyn Maloney, a Democrat and the chairwoman of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, issued subpoenas to Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N), Chevron Corp (CVX.N), BP America (BP.L) and Shell Oil (RDSa.L), and to industry body the American Petroleum Institute (API) and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.read more
Oct 27th, 2021
by John Donovan.
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NL TIMES
Designate Groningen earthquakes a national crisis, Ombudsman says
MONDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2021
The consequences of the fracking earthquakes in Groningen have all the features of a national crisis and should therefore be designated as such, National Ombudsman Reinier van Zutphen said. He wants this to keep attention on the situation in Groningen until homes are reinforced, damages are repaired, and residents feel safe, Trouw reports.
“I wanted to choose words that hit so hard that people think: damn it, now we really have to do something,” the National Ombudsman said in an interview with Trouw. “In one way or another, the attention for Groningen is disappearing. Things are taking too long, and the good things don’t really happen. This is a national crisis, which the government and administration have to deal with differently.”read more
Oct 24th, 2021
by John Donovan.
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Reuters
Big Oil to attend U.S. House climate disinformation hearing
October 22, 20214:21 PM BST
WASHINGTON, Oct 22 (Reuters) – Top executives from Exxon Mobil Corp, BP America, Chevron Corp and Shell Oil will testify on Oct. 28 at a congressional hearing examining whether the fossil fuel industry led an effort to mislead the public and prevent action to curb climate change warming, a House panel said on Friday.
Reporting Valerie Volcovici, Timothy Gardner and Doina Chiacu; Editing by Bill Berkrotread more
Sep 15th, 2021
by John Donovan.
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The Washington Post:
Vermont sues 4 oil companies, alleges false info on climate
By Wilson Ring | AP: 14 Sept 2021 at 2:22 p.m. EDT
BURLINGTON, Vt. — Vermont on Tuesday became the latest state to sue some of the country’s top fossil fuel companies by alleging they misled the public about the impact their products have on climate change.
The suit names ExxonMobil Corporation, Shell Oil Company, Sunoco LP, CITGO Petroleum Corporation and other corporations.
“They have known for decades that the Earth’s climate has been changing because of emissions of CO2 and other greenhouse gases, and that the fossil fuels they sell are the primary source of those emissions,” the lawsuit said.read more
The devastating effects of unchecked global warming were laid bare by this week’s landmark report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
UN secretary-general António Guterres described the report’s findings as “a code red for humanity”.
The world’s major energy companies were already on the front line of the climate change battle, but following this week’s report public scrutiny of the industry can only intensify.read more
Sir Winston Churchill once admonished leaders to never let a good crisis go to waste, and Big Oil has rarely failed to heed the advice. Under normal circumstances, energy downturns have created perfect opportunities for deep-pocketed oil and gas heavyweights to land prime assets on the cheap. A good case in point: the last oil bust of 2016 was followed by a sizable number of huge M&A deals in the sector including the $60B tie-up between Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE:RDS.A) and BG Group, Canadian Oil Sands and Suncor EnergyEnergy, as well as a handful that fell through including the proposed merger between Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) and Baker Hughes (NYSE:BKR).read more
The Acorn carbon capture and storage project in north-east Scotland has signed provisional deals with customers including ExxonMobil, Royal Dutch Shell and a company backed by Kuwait’s sovereign wealth fund, bringing together some of the largest operators in the UK North Sea.
The memorandums of understanding announced on Friday cover two of the three terminals at St Fergus, one of which is jointly owned by ExxonMobil and Shell.read more
Some of the world’s largest fossil fuel companies have lobbied the UK government to support a gas “compromise” ahead of the COP26 UN conference, Channel 4 News can reveal.
Last year, representatives from ExxonMobil, Shell, Chevron, Equinor and BP met with the then UK trade minister for a private dinner in Texas where natural gas was championed as a “vital part of the solution” to tackling climate change, according to a freedom of information request obtained by Greenpeace UK’s investigations unit Unearthed and shared exclusively with this programme.read more
Shell (-2.37%) is reportedly planning to quit its California-based joint venture with fellow oil supermajor ExxonMobil (-3.56%) as it looks to accelerate its transition away from fossil fuels.
Four sources told Reuters that the FTSE blue chip had informed Exxon that it intended to exit subsidiary Aera Energy, in which it holds a 52 percent stake. The firm did not respond to a request for comment.read more
As many know, Big Oil companies have suffered major losses as a result of the pandemic, as oil demand plummeted. Now, however, the prospects for the industry are looking more dismal than ever. As oil supermajors have faced increasing pressure to shift toward more sustainable business strategies, such pressure will certainly result in companies looking to renewables as the solution to this shift.
Recently, both Exxon Mobil and Royal Dutch Shell were hit with critical climate-related decisions. A Netherlands court ruled that Shell must drastically reduce its emissions this decade in what was “the first time a court ordered a private company to, in effect, change its business practice on climate grounds.” This was a seminal moment that will greatly benefit the clean technology space, leading it to become the norm, and no longer the alternative source for power in society.read more
The ‘day of reckoning’ for Big Oil, when events at boardrooms and courtrooms issued last month the starkest warning to oil majors’ license to operate yet, was hailed as a huge victory for climate activists. But the climate celebration may be a bit premature.
Rebel shareholder votes at Exxon and Chevron and a court ruling against Shell delivered a blow to Big Oil in a single day, and environmentalists are ecstatic.read more
Jun 16th, 2021
by John Donovan.
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CBS SF
Supreme Court Allows San Francisco, Oakland Lawsuits Against Big Oil Companies To Proceed
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) – Two more ambitious lawsuits would be hard to image: in 2017 the cities of Oakland and San Francisco filed separate public nuisance lawsuits against five of the world’s biggest energy companies, seeking to hold them responsible for the local effects of sea level rise.
On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to throw the suits out of court, although the cases still face many daunting obstacles ahead.read more
Jun 10th, 2021
by John Donovan.
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THE NEW YORK TIMES
Exxon’s defeat in a boardroom battle is a turning point for social activism.
June 10, 2021, 4:59 a.m. ET
An activist investor successfully waged a battle to install three directors on the board of Exxon Mobil last week with the goal of pushing the energy giant to reduce its carbon footprint. The investor, a hedge fund called Engine No. 1, was virtually unknown before the fight.
The tiny firm wouldn’t have had a chance were it not for an unusual twist: the support of some of Exxon’s biggest institutional investors. BlackRock, Vanguard and State Street voted against Exxon’s leadership and gave Engine No. 1 powerful support. These huge investment companies rarely side with activists on such issues.read more
Just last week, some of the world’s largest integrated energy companies faced the wrath of furious investors and climate activism. Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) lost three board seats to Engine No. 1, an activist hedge fund, in a stunning proxy campaign, while a good 61% of Chevron (NYSE:CVX) shareholders voted to further cut emissions at the company’s annual investor meeting a week ago.
Engine No. 1 has told the Financial Times that Exxon will need to cut fossil fuel production for the company to position itself for long-term success, “What we’re saying is, plan for a world where maybe the world doesn’t need your barrels,” Engine No.1 leader Charlie Penner has told FT.
Meanwhile, a Dutch court has ordered Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE:RDS.A) to cut its greenhouse gas emissions harder and faster than it had previously planned.
Whereas climate change issues are the presumptive reasons behind the latest wave of investor revolts at the oil and gas giants, lurking beneath the surface is a growing sense of apprehension about Big Oil’s strategy and failure to generate adequate returns for shareholders in recent decades.read more
Jun 1st, 2021
by John Donovan.
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REUTERS
OPEC, Russia seen gaining more power with Shell Dutch ruling
Dmitry Zhdannikov: June 1, 2021
Climate activists who scored big against Western majors last week had some unlikely cheerleaders in the oil capitals of Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi and Russia.
Defeats in the courtroom and boardroom mean Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L), ExxonMobil (XOM.N) and Chevron (CVX.N) are all under pressure to cut carbon emissions faster. That’s good news for the likes of Saudi Arabia’s national oil company Saudi Aramco…read more
May 31st, 2021
by John Donovan.
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Seeking Alpha
Big Oil’s Very Bad Wednesday
May 30, 2021 11:55 PM ETBNO, CVX, DBE…MV Financial
Summary
Those paying attention to the market chatter this week may have heard the phrase “Black Wednesday” pass the lips of pundits who study the fossil fuels industry, though the events didn’t result in any kind of immediate panic-selling by investors of energy shares.
At the annual shareholder meeting of Exxon Mobil, the company ceded at least two seats on its board of directors to a climate activist group called Engine No. 1.
At Chevron’s general meeting, shareholders voted on a measure to set strict emissions targets from the products it sells.
A Dutch court in The Hague, Netherlands, ruled that Royal Dutch Shell must reduce its carbon emissions by 45 percent by 2030 against its 2019 levels – on an absolute basis, which is stricter than the carbon intensity targets that the company prefers to use as its benchmarks. Black Tuesday 1929 turned out to be a big deal.
London (CNN Business)A Dutch court has ruled that Royal Dutch Shell must dramatically reduce its carbon emissions in a landmark climate decision that could have far reaching consequences for oil companies.
The company must slash its CO2 emissions by 45% by 2030 from 2019 levels, according to a judgment from a district court in The Hague on Wednesday. That includes emissions from its own operations and from the energy products it sells.
This is the first time that a court has ruled a company needs to reduce its emissions in line with global climate goals, according to Friends of the Earth Netherlands, an environmental campaigning group that brought the case against Shell (RDSA).
The verdict could pave the way for similar cases to be brought in other countries, forcing oil companies to reduce fossil fuel production. It comes just a week after the influential International Energy Agency told oil companies they need to stop drilling for oil and gas right now to prevent a climate catastrophe.
The Anglo-Dutch company announced plans in September to become a net zero emissions company by 2050, a target that includes emissions from its products. It is currently targeting a 20% reduction in carbon intensity by 2030, and 45% by 2035.
“This is a turning point in history,” said Roger Cox, lawyer for Friends of the Earth Netherlands.
“This case is unique because it is the first time a judge has ordered a large polluting corporation to comply with the Paris Climate Agreement. This ruling may also have major consequences for other big polluters,” added Cox.
The impact of the decision will be amplified because the court relied on global human rights standards and international instruments on climate change in arriving at its decision, according to legal experts.
“I can imagine this will inspire a series of other cases against companies, especially those active in the oil extraction industries like Shell,” said Eric De Brabandere, a professor of international dispute settlement at Leiden University in the Netherlands. “It is a groundbreaking decision, it’s really a landmark.”
Mounting pressure
While Shell claims that its carbon intensity targets are aligned with the Paris Agreement — which aims to limit global temperature increases to 1.5 degrees Celsius — Friends of the Earth Netherlands argues that the company’s ongoing investments into oil and gas extraction show that it doesn’t take climate change seriously.
The court found that Shell’s carbon emissions pose a “very serious threat” to Dutch residents, and that the company has an “individual responsibility” to reduce emissions. The court said the company would have “total freedom” to comply with its order and to shape corporate policy.
Shell indicated it would appeal the ruling, which is immediately enforceable, according to De Brabandere.
“We are investing billions of dollars in low-carbon energy, including electric vehicle charging, hydrogen, renewables and biofuels. We want to grow demand for these products and scale up our new energy businesses even more quickly. We will continue to focus on these efforts and fully expect to appeal today’s disappointing court decision,” a Shell spokesperson said in a statement.
Oil companies are facing mounting pressure from shareholders and activists to ditch fossil fuels and invest into cleaner energy sources. The ruling handed down on Wednesday “may sound revolutionary, but, in fact, it is in line with what long term investors are increasingly asking companies to do anyway,” said Cees van Dam, a professor of international business and human rights at the Rotterdam School of Management.
At its annual meeting on Wednesday, ExxonMobil (XOM) will face a challenge from activist investor Engine No. 1, which is seeking to replace
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday ruled in favor of BP PLC, Chevron Corp, Exxon Mobil Corp, Royal Dutch Shell PLC and other energy companies contesting a lawsuit filed by the city of Baltimore seeking monetary damages from them due to costs caused by global climate change.
The 7-1 ruling, authored by conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch, came on a technical legal issue that could help the companies in their effort to have the case heard in federal court, as they would prefer, instead of state court, which the city favors as it is seen as a more amenable venue.read more
May 7th, 2021
by John Donovan.
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NAM director calls for rethink on Groningen earthquake damage
Just 50 not 26,000 homes in the Groningen earthquake area need strengthening to comply with the latest safety standards, according to Johan Atema, director of gas company NAM in the NRC.
So far 2,000 homes have been strengthened because they are vulnerable to the quakes, caused by the ground settling after natural gas has been extracted. And only half the 26,000 homes identified as being problematic have actually been inspected.read more
Apr 22nd, 2021
by John Donovan.
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New York City sues Exxon, BP, Shell in state court over climate change
By Reuters Staff: April 22, 2021
(Reuters) – New York City is suing three major oil companies and the top industry trade group in state court after a federal appeals court this month rejected its effort to hold the companies liable to help pay the costs of harm caused by global warming.
The lawsuit filed on Thursday said Exxon Mobil Corp, BP Plc, Royal Dutch Shell and industry group the American Petroleum Institute “have systematically and intentionally misled consumers” about “the central role their products play in causing the climate crisis.”read more
“We’re sending carbon back where it came from,” Norway’s energy giant Equinor says, describing its efforts to make carbon capture and storage (CCS) commercially viable in a future decarbonized energy system. Equinor is a joint venture partner with two other oil majors, Shell and Total, in developing the Northern Lights project in Norway, which is planned to deliver carbon storage as a service to help third-party industries to reduce emissions.read more
Some of the world’s biggest fossil fuel companies have used advertising to “greenwash” their ongoing contribution to the climate crisis, according to files published by the environmental lawyers ClientEarth. They describe the practice as “a great deception”.
The files compare the adverts produced by ExxonMobil, Aramco, Chevron, Shell, Equinor and others with the companies’ operations and products, overall climate impact and progress toward climate-safe business models.read more
Big oil has a big problem. It’s running out of oil.
Years of under-investment in exploration and a decline in project development has blown a hole in the reserves of the major international oil companies (IOCs), a group that includes ExxonMobil, Chevron and Royal Dutch Shell.
Since 2015 the average reserves of the oil majors has fallen by 25% to now stand at less than 10 years of annual production.
Reserves in the ground is a critical measure of an oil company with a decline seen as a negative by investors.read more
Apr 1st, 2021
by John Donovan.
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Oil Giants Win Climate Suit as Judges Push For Political Fix
Chevron Corp., Royal Dutch Shell Plc and ConocoPhillips were also sued in the case.
Bloomberg News: Chris Dolmetsch and Erik Larson: Publishing date: Apr 01, 2021(Bloomberg) — New York City failed to persuade a federal appeals court to reinstate a climate-change lawsuit against Exxon Mobil Corp., BP Plc and three other oil companies, with the judges saying the problem demands political rather than legal solutions.
The Friday ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals in New York is a setback for those trying to use the courts to hold the industry responsible for costs associated with rising seas and other consequences of a warming planet.
Chevron Corp., Royal Dutch Shell Plc and ConocoPhillips were also sued in the case.
The court said global warming “is a uniquely international concern” that requires the federal government to step in rather than judges. Only the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has the authority to regulate domestic greenhouse gas emissions, the unanimous three-judge panel held.read more
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
Shell has shut down the crude distillation units of its Deer Park refinery due to a malfunction, Reuters has reported, citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter.
The two crude distillation units have a combined capacity of 310,000 barrels of oil daily. According to the Reuters sources, they were shut down after a seal failed on a pump that feeds crude to other units at the refinery.read more
Feb 9th, 2021
by John Donovan.
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How Biden should meet his promise to cut fossil fuel emissions
Full power of US Clean Air Act must be used to cut oil and gas sector’s methane output9 FEB 2021Extracts
It is clear, however, that the oil and gas sector’s concerns over methane emissions have reached a breaking point.
The industry’s shift follows decades of climate denial and obfuscation. The industry eventually turned to voluntary commitments such as the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative, insisting they would suffice in place of the force of law. But under immense investor and public pressure, some of the oil majors, including BP, Shell, ExxonMobil, Total, and Equinor, have now publicly announced support for government regulation of methane pollutionread 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
LAGOS (Reuters) – Nigeria’s state oil company is renegotiating commercial contract terms with major oil firms, its chief told Reuters, in a move that it hopes will keep investment flowing into a sector crucial for its economy at a time when spending is being slashed.
Africa’s largest oil exporter and biggest economy relies on the oil sector for half of its budget and 90% of its foreign exchange. It wants to raise revenue but also attract investment.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
Rating agency S&P has warned 13 oil and gas companies, including the some of the world’s biggest, that it may downgrade them within weeks because of increasing competition from renewable energy. On notice of a possible downgrade are Australia’s Woodside Petroleum as well as multinationals Chevron, Exxon Mobil, Imperial Oil, Royal Dutch Shell, Shell Energy North America, Canadian Natural Resources, ConocoPhillips and French group Total.read more
Jan 21st, 2021
by John Donovan.
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Barrett hears climate case against her father’s ex-employer Shell
BY RACHEL FRAZIN AND JOHN KRUZEL – 01/19/21 03:50 PM ESTAmy Coney Barrett was among the justices who presided over a dispute Tuesday that pitted the city of Baltimore against some of the fossil fuel industry’s biggest players, despite her father’s longstanding ties to Shell Oil Company, one of the defendants in the case.
Barrett participated in the case even though as a lower court judge she recused herself from hearing cases involving Shell, her father’s former employer, in an apparent effort to avoid a possible conflict of interest.
Although the case heard Tuesday turned on the narrow question of whether the dispute properly belongs in state or federal court, how that issue is resolved could have an enormous bearing on potential corporate liability for environmental degradation.read more
(Reuters) – Investors are judging how well energy companies have reoriented their businesses to cut emissions as they weigh activists’ calls for divestment, climate finance specialists said on Thursday.
Growing differences between oil majors have clarified when companies are positioned to achieve “net-zero” emissions, becoming more focused on renewable power and offsetting remaining greenhouse gas emissions with measures like carbon sequestration or conservation efforts, specialists said at a Reuters Next panel held online.read more
Jan 15th, 2021
by John Donovan.
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Shell-Exxon aims at $2.5 bln in Dutch subsidies for carbon storage
Thu, January 14, 2021, 6:17 PM
AMSTERDAM, Jan 14 (Reuters) – A consortium that includes oil majors Royal Dutch Shell and ExxonMobil has requested a total of 2.1 billion euros ($2.55 billion) in subsidies for a project to store CO2 gasses in empty Dutch gas fields in the North Sea, the Dutch Economy ministry said on Thursday.
The subsidies were requested together with industrial gas suppliers Air Liquide and Air Products for a project which aims to capture carbon dioxide emitted by factories and refineries in the Rotterdam port area in order to significantly reduce emissions in Europe’s largest sea port.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
The Empire State’s pension fund is the largest to dump fossil fuel investments ― ever, in the entire world.
New York state announced plans on Wednesday to eject oil and gas stocks from its $226 billion financial portfolio, becoming the first U.S. state and the biggest pension fund anywhere to divest from fossil fuels.
By 2025, the New York State Common Retirement Fund, which disburses some $1 billion in benefits to retirees each year, will sell off its “riskiest” oil and gas stocks, following a review. The state aims to completely eliminate carbon polluters from its portfolio by 2040.read more
Dec 2nd, 2020
by John Donovan.
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Oil majors wipe $80 billion off books as epidemic, energy transition bite
By Ron Bousso:
By Ron Bousso
LONDON (Reuters) – The world’s top energy companies have slashed the value of their oil and gas assets by around $80 billion (60.05 billion pounds) in recent months after revising lower the long-term outlook for fuel prices in the wake of the coronavirus epidemic and the energy transition.
Exxon Mobil, the largest U.S. oil company, announced on Monday it would write down the value of natural gas properties by $17 billion to $20 billion, its biggest ever impairment following the sharp drop in energy prices this year.read more
Nov 16th, 2020
by John Donovan.
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“Fossil fuel companies, like tobacco companies before them, have allowed governments to pay for the harms caused by their products“…
5 legal tactics environmentalists are using to fight climate change
Activists are increasingly using litigation as a tool to influence climate action worldwide. Here’s a look at some of the main tactics they’re wielding to force change on fossil fuel firms and weak government policies.
More than 700 climate lawsuits have been filed around the world since 2015, according to the Climate Change Litigation Databases. That’s a huge increase, considering there have only been about 1,700 of these types of cases since the late 1980s, most of them in the US.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 Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has repaid most of the arrears it owes to international oil companies for joint venture operating expenses, recently repaying US$3 billion to Exxon and Shell, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday, citing a statement from the Nigerian state oil firm.
NNPC works in joint ventures with the major international oil producers in Nigeria, including ExxonMobil, Chevron, Shell, Total, and Eni. However, the stretched finances of the Nigerian company has led to arrears in its payments for contributions to the operating expenses of those joint ventures.read more
Oct 15th, 2020
by John Donovan.
Comments are off for this post
Gas company NAM to cut hundreds of jobs as prices drop and production is squeezed
October 15, 2020
Dutch gas company NAM is cutting its workforce by hundreds of jobs as gas prices fall and production is cut back.
Over the next six months, 200 to 300 of the permanent workforce of 1,300 will be able to take advantage of a voluntary redundancy scheme and a further 300 contract workers will be let go, regional paper Dagblad van het Noorden said.
Director Johan Atema told the paper that the company had been hit by falling gas prices. ‘We are supplying almost as much gas as last year, but our income has halved,’ he said. ‘Then you are talking about a crisis situation.’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 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 …
Big Oil Goes Green: Shell Acquires VoltaFebruary 9, 2023 06:03Law Street MediaIn Big Oil’s latest foray into green energy, Shell has announced its acquisition of Volta, Inc. for $169 million.
Expected to close during the first half of 2023, the all-cash deal “builds on the momentum in electric mobility by combining one of the …
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?