09/12/16 

ROYAL DUTCH SHELL PLC

COMPANY SECRETARY CHANGE

Royal Dutch Shell plc announces the appointment of Linda Szymanski as Company Secretary with effect from January 1, 2017. Ms Szymanski succeeds Michiel Brandjes who retires at the end of the year after 36 years of service with the Shell group, of which 13 years was as General Counsel Corporate and Company Secretary.

NOTE

Linda Szymanski (right) is a US national. She was appointed General Counsel Corporate with effect from August 1, 2016 and will continue in this role upon her appointment as Company Secretary. Prior to her appointment as General Counsel Corporate, she served as General Counsel of the Upstream Americas business based in the USA and, prior to that, as the  Group Chief Ethics & Compliance Officer based in the Netherlands. She has held various legal positions within Shell Oil Company, including Chemicals Legal Managing Counsel and other senior roles in the labour/employment, litigation, and commercial practice areas. read more

EMAIL FROM JOHN DONOVAN TO SHELL: 15 SEPT 2016

From: John Donovan <[email protected]>

Subject: STRICTLY PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL?

Date: 15 September 2016 at 12:51:41 BST

To: [email protected]

Cc: Michiel Brandjes <[email protected]>

To Mr. Gary P. Thomson SI-LSC/KCompany Secretarial Advisor 

Corporate Secretariat 

London 

Dear Mr. Thomson

Thank you for your email dated 26 July 2016 and your subsequent letter dated 30 August 2016, the content of both stated by you to be “Strictly private and confidential”.

An attachment was marked as being “Confidential”. read more

LINK TO ARTICLE

JOHN DONOVAN SAR APPLICATION LETTER TO SHELL INTERNATIONAL LIMITED UNDER THE DATA PROTECTION ACT 1998

19 July 2016

Mr. Gary Thomson SI-LSC/K
Shell International Limited
40 Bank Street
London E14 5NR

Dear Mr Thomson

Data Protection Act 1998 – Subject Access Request (SAR)

Thank you for your email dated 19 July 2016.

Please find enclosed completed application forms together with a postal order for £10 made out to Royal Dutch Shell Plc.

I obtained it before finding out that the fee can now instead be paid to a charity.

As you are aware, I operate royaldutchshellplc.com – a website focussed on the activities of Shell. read more

By John Donovan

Extract from an email received from a knowledgeable source who wishes to remain anonymous:

…your subscribers might be interested in the following:

The cost of Phase I in BG’s QGC LNG project was approximately £20bn. BG borrowed approximately 65% of this money by issuing Corporate Bonds to a level somewhere between £12Bn and £14Bn to fund this. Shell acquired this debt when it bought BG Group.

BG’s Western Delta Deep Marine gas fields in the western Nile Delta produce approximately 20,000BBL/Day of contaminated water. When the fields were operated by BG this water was driven by road tanker and dumped somewhere in the desert. Have Shell done anything to address this environmental issue? read more

I would have thought that Simon Henry’s position as CFO should now be untenable, in view of the apparent lack of effective financial governance in Nigeria while he was CFO. 

By John Donovan

A large number of press articles have appeared recently mentioning Ben van Beurden. 

Since these articles are presumably fed to the press by Shell’s PR team, and Shell is not a one-man company, I checked to see whether other Shell directors have appeared recently in press releases.

The results are somewhat curious. For example, searching for Matthias Bichsel on Google News shows that articles were published about him at least weekly until October last year, but the articles then stopped abruptly. References to Simon Henry seem to have dried up a few weeks ago – until mid-March there were articles on Henry on an almost daily basis, but recently there has been nothing. Harry Brekelmans seems to have had a low profile since his appointment, so it is harder to see whether any change has occurred. Andy Brown has almost as many press articles as Ben van Beurden.  read more

EMAIL RECIPIENTS AT BG GROUP AND ROYAL DUTCH SHELL PLC ARE AS LISTED

From: THE OSSL COMPANY <[email protected]>

Subject: Ethical BG …is Shell a good fit …given that The Corrib Project stinks all the way to the top

Date: 6 January 2016 at 14:22:57 GMT

To: [email protected], [email protected], tobybates <[email protected]>, [email protected], [email protected], “<[email protected]>” <[email protected]>, “<[email protected]>” <[email protected]> read more

By John Donovan

Interesting to read the allegations that the Sultan of Oman’s intelligence services are spying on Shell.

More specifically, the local operations of Shell involving the JV company, Petroleum Development Oman (PDO).

This information is unsurprising given the content of leaked secret cables from the US Embassy in Muscat published by WikiLeaks in December 2010, suggesting a degree of hostility or unease towards Shell. 

The Sultan was at that time considering taking gas fields away from PDO  (34% owned by Shell) and awarding them to BG Group, or BP. 

The growing hostility towards Shell from within PDO Oman was the subject of an email I sent in 2011 to Mr Michiel Brandjes, the Company Secretary of Royal Dutch Shell Plc.  read more

10th Anniversary of Spectacular Domain Name Win Over Shell

By John Donovan

Ten years ago, in May 2005, Shell International Petroleum Company Limited served proceedings in New York against my late father Alfred Donovan, via The World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) in an attempt to seize the top level (.com) domain name for its newly merged company, Royal Dutch Shell Plc.

The new company had arisen from the ashes of the hydrocarbon reserves scandal, which in January 2004, had engulfed The Shell Transport and Trading Company and Royal Dutch Petroleum Company. read more

John Donovan, Co-Founder Royal Dutch Shell Plc.com

By John Donovan

Corporate espionage: Shell Cloak and Dagger activities spanning more than two decades – much of it directed against me 

SHELL ALSO

• Infiltrated spies into the Nigerian government 
• Was responsible for covert operations against Greenpeace and other perceived enemies, using a serving secret service agent freelancing for a private spy firm closely connected with Shell
• Employed private security contractors on the Corrib Gas Project to carry out surveillance operations in Ireland against the public and the press
• Secretly applied pressure to The Sunday Times and The Financial Times in an attempt to suppress news coverage about me

In a recent Daily Mail article about Shell’s takeover bid for the BG Group, reference was made to a  ‘cloak and dagger’ meeting between Shell’s chief executive Ben van Beurden and the chairman of BG Group, Andrew Gould, at The Dorchester Hotel.

It was obviously an important commercially sensitive meeting, but it hardly compares with the real ‘cloak and dagger’ activity for which Shell has been responsible over the decades, some of it directed at me and my late father, Alfred Donovan. read more

Photo: John Donovan: Co-founder Royal Dutch Shell Plc.com

EMAIL FROM JOHN DONOVAN CIRCULATED TO EVERY IRISH T.D. ON 6 APRIL 2015

Response from The Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission on 2 April 2015

SHELL CORRUPTION OF IRISH POLICE, AS ADMITTED BY ITS AGENT/CONTRACTOR: OSSL

(£30,000 worth of free alcohol given as a Christmas Gift to Garda officers.)

On 25 March 2015, I sent an email to the GSOC at the written invitation of Irish Justice Minister Ms Frances Fitzgerald T.D. supplying new evidence pertaining to the OSSL allegations against Shell E&P Ireland.  

It was in the form of an audio file and related transcript of a covertly recorded meeting between OSSL directors and their Dublin solicitor, Mr Marc Fitzgibbon. He suspected that the meeting was being recorded by OSSL, but said he was not concerned if it was. The alcohol was mentioned over 60 times in the recorded meeting. read more

Email Dated 4 March 2015 from Mr Bill Campbell, Retired HSE Group Auditor, Shell International, to Mr Billy Gordon, a senior officer of Police Scotland

The Case against Malcolm Brinded CBE: 

Dear Mr Gordon

Firstly, I would like to thank you for your continual support especially over the period when the Fiscal Anne Currie was carrying out her investigation into the conduct of Shell and HSE officials (2009 – 2011), Appendix C of the attached refers. If you check your files you will bring to mind that early in 2012, I sent a joint communication copied to you and the Royal Dutch Chairman (RDS) Jorma Ollila and his Legal Counsel Michiel Brandjes. We discussed in some detail the contents of a conversation that took place shortly after Shell had issued a press release (Appendix A) with a complete denial of the claims made both on BBC Scotland TV and the oil and gas industry trade Magazine Upstream. As a result of this communication, and by April 2012 ,Malcolm Brinded was released from the employ of RDS, his release initiated by his employer. For the record, as you are aware I was not allowed to come to Aberdeen to make a statement or to convey the many pages of evidence in what is a complex business. Acting to the instruction of the Fiscal Anne Currie the evidence was passed by Grampian police to her. read more

Plea to Shell from students of the International School of the Stockholm Region 

COPY OF AN EMAIL SENT TO MICHIEL BRANDJES, JOHN DONOVAN AND OTHERS

Dear Shell,

We are students from the International School of the Stockholm Region and we are writing to express our concern about how your company is affecting our environment. Each year you release an enormous amount of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, which lead to catastrophic consequences. It is predicted that in 15 years, mankind will have emitted enough carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases to rise Earth’s temperature by at least 2 degrees Celsius; exceeding the limit agreed by several governments in the Copenhagen Accord. Petroleum companies are one of the major contributors of these emissions, and your corporation is likewise enriching the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Therefore, we have brought it upon ourselves to urge you to come forth with an applicable plan which could reduce greenhouse gases emissions. read more

To its credit Shell has not given in to the subsequent money demands, but neither has it apparently reported the matter to the Irish Police. One can see the difficulty. How do you go about asking the Irish police to investigate a blackmail plot over free alcohol worth over €35,000 given to the Irish Police accused of being “Shell’s Cops” and acting brutally towards people protesting against the controversial project?

JOHN DONOVAN EMAIL TO SUPERINTENDENT PATRICK DISKIN OF THE IRISH POLICE, THE GARDA

From: John Donovan <[email protected]>
Subject: OSSL BLACKMAIL PLOT AGAINST SHELL

Date: 16 November 2014 20:43:08 GMT
Cc: [email protected], Ed Vulliamy <[email protected]>, Lorna Siggins <[email protected]>, Dan Griffin <[email protected]>, Áine Ryan <[email protected]>, Paul O’Donoghue <[email protected]>, “Boucher-Hayes, Philip” <[email protected]>, Olga Cronin <[email protected]>, Erlend Skarsaune <[email protected]>
To: [email protected] read more

APPLICATIONS INVITED FOR A PENDING VACANCY AT ROYAL DUTCH SHELL PLC FOR THE POSITION OF COMPANY SECRETARY AND GENERAL COUNSEL CORPORATE. THE VACANCY ARISES FROM THE PENDING RETIREMENT OF THE CURRENT HOLDER, MR MICHIEL BRANDJES (ABOVE).  GENEROUS SALARY, CHAUFFEUR, PRIVATE JET AND BONUS SCHEME FOR THE RIGHT PERSON.

ESSENTIAL REQUIREMENTS

• Must have flexible integrity, a wiliness to bend rules and regulations, communicate in double Dutch, participate in cover-ups (e.g. the Brent Bravo scandal), mislead financial regulators and shareholders (reserves scandal), ignore emails, even from Shell shareholders; delay issuance of profit warnings; put the best interests of crooked Shell directors first, in the confident knowledge that they are insured against incompetence, negligence and dishonesty, and can still walk away with an $18.5 million payoff (Sir Philip) even if they ruin the company.
  
• Be prepared to conspire with colleagues, anticipating potentially embarrassing questions that might be raised at the Shell AGM and devising deliberately evasive and misleading answers.
• Willing to have tea and biscuits with Messrs Kane and Rooney when they make their annual OSSL blackmail pilgrimage to the Shell AGM,  demanding payment for alcohol used to bribe Irish cops on Shell’s behalf.
• Vigorously defend Shell’s whitewash of its support for Hitler and the Nazi.
• Fend off all claims that Shell has stolen Intellectual Property.
• Be prepared to authorise private undercover spies to infiltrate and destroy/undermine perceived enemies, such as Greenpeace and anyone that sues Shell.

This assessment of ideal requirements is based on the current occupant of the office of Shell Company Secretary and his recent predecessors.

Interested?

This is the link you need to use for all Shell job applications. 

http://www.shell.com/global/aboutshell/careers.html

Note from John Donovan. The timing of this invitation is based on my information that Mr Brandjes is 60 years old in December and will be retiring from Shell. If this is wrong, then he only needs to let me know and it will be removed immediately. I would send him an email to double check but he never bothers to reply even though I am a Shell shareholder. Nonetheless, I hope that he has a long enjoyable retirement whenever that day arrives. read more

By John Donovan

Since 22 October 2014 I have been updating an article posing the question: “Shell being blackmailed?”

Top people at Royal Dutch Shell  have all spoken directly to a director of a former Shell “Mr Fixit” company in Ireland, OSSL, which has bombarded Shell with money demands to settle a dispute that Shell says it has already settled.

To be specific, Desmond Kane of OSSL has spoken in person to Peter Voser, Ben van Beurden, Jorma Ollila, Michiel Brandjes, Michael Crothers (and other senior people at Shell). read more

UPDATED FRIDAY 24 OCTOBER 2014 – SEE BLUE TEXT BELOW

ORIGINAL ARTICLE PUBLISHED 22 OCTOBER 2014

By John Donovan

There is evidence, some of it covertly obtained, that Royal Dutch Shell Plc may be the victim of a sustained blackmail operation.

Shell has not called in the police to investigate. Why not? Because certain information held by the party making repeated money demands to Shell, including directly to Ben van Beurden and other senior Shell executives, is true and if the current cover-up unravels, will result in a scandal of epic proportion involving Shell and a host government. read more

By John Donovan

On 12 October 2014, The Sunday Times Business Section published a front page article about the departure of Jonathan Lloyd, the company secretary of Tesco:

See Tesco turmoil grows as key executive quits

His position at Tesco seems to have been identical to MIchiel Brandjes, the Company Secretary and General Counsel Corporate of Royal Dutch Shell Plc.

“…Lloyd was listed as part of the board on Tesco’s website…” He advised the board on legal and governance issues. read more

“Printed below is an email received from a Mr Bruce Hubbard. Does Shell wish to comment? If you tell me that its is all false, or contains false information, then I will not publish it. If I receive no response within 7 days I will assume Shell does not take issue with the allegations and has no comment to make.”

By John Donovan

I have printed below the content of an email I received from Mr. Bruce Hubbard together with a related email I sent to Mr. Michiel Brandjes, Company Secretary and General Counsel Corporate, Royal Dutch Shell Plc. As can be seen, I gave Shell the opportunity to deny the allegations. I have not received any response. 

EMAIL RECEIVED BY JOHN DONOVAN FROM BRUCE HUBBARD

From: Bruce Hubbard <[email protected]>
Subject: Shell smashed to bits across Adelaide, South Australia
Date: 6 August 2014 04:32:17 BST
To: [email protected] read more

By John Donovan

OSSL, the company that admits supplying free alcohol to Irish police on behalf of Shell EP Ireland is challenging senior Irish police officers, who apparently deny receiving the goods said to be worth tens of thousands of Euros, to take lie detector tests. 

The challenge is contained in an email sent earlier today to senior executives of Shell including the Company Secretary of Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Mr Michiel Brandjes.

OSSL directors say that they are prepared to take lie-detector tests themselves with Shell representatives in attendance.  read more

By John Donovan

On 4 June I wrote to Shell GameChanger advising I had been contacted by a gentlemen who claims to have disclosed a variety of potentially highly lucrative innovative ideas to Shell GameChanger over more than 15 years.

The person in question who does not wish to disclose his identity at the moment has made a number of allegations and supplied examples of his email correspondence with Shell GameChanger as proof that he has been in contact with the organisation.

I supplied Shell with examples of his email correspondence with Shell GameChanger.  read more

The Corrib corruption scandal and cover-up will  be raised at the Shell AGM on Tuesday. I can state on good authority that Shell lawyers have already prepared a script for Ben van Beurden to use for evasion purposes when confronted by OSSL directors. It mentions waiting for the outcome of the investigation by the Irish Police Ombudsman. Van Beurden can either continue with the cover-up tactics, or pick up the phone and ask Michael Crothers or Brian Foley to tell him the truth. Although unpalatable, it will emerge sooner or later. 

By John Donovan

REPLY TO POSTING ON SHELL BLOG BY LONDONLAD

LondonLad, no doubt by accident, you have misconstrued what OSSL stated. They never said that the allegation was first made 5 years ago. Please read it again. It is not an important point, but if something inaccurate is stated in print, then it is best to correct any such mistake immediately.

The first I heard about any of the relevant allegations was on 10 Sept 2012 when a long detailed email from OSSL to Brian Foley, the Contracts Manager for the highly controversail Corrib Gas Project, was forwarded to me without explanation. read more

“We are in possession of a massive database containing contact information for every Shell employee throughout the world.  It was supplied by an organized group of over 100 Shell employees from the USA, the UK and the Netherlands intent on a corporate revolution inside your company.”

By John Donovan

The news media has reported that Payroll details of 100,000 Morrisons staff have been published on the web.

The  UK supermarket chain launched an internal investigation after information about its 100,000 employees was allegedly leaked by an insider and posted on to the internet. According to The Daily Mail, “The company has set up a hotline and dedicated email address for staff who are worried about the possibility of their information falling into the hands of scammers.” read more

However, unbeknown to Van de Vijver, Michiel Brandjes (right), who was alarmed by the findings of the report, sent a copy to a New York law firm Cravath, Swaine & Moore. This meant that events were no longer in the control of Shell. Instead, Shell’s most sensitive issue since its close association with Adolf Hitler and the Nazis several decades ago, had been disclosed to an outside firm, that had to consider and protect its own reputation.

By John Donovan

In May 2003, Frank Coopman, the then Chief Financial Officer of Shell EP, delivered bad news about Shell’s operations in Nigeria to the Chief Executive of Shell EP, Walter van de Vijver.

Van de Vijver sent Coopman back to Nigeria to investigate further.

The subsequent findings, set out in a status report, were even more devastating, revealing an overstatement of 1.1 billion boe.

Van de Vijver had instructed a team led by Coopman to work on the reserves issues.

The team included a top Shell lawyer, Michiel Brandjes, the then Company Secretary of Royal Dutch Petroleum. read more

We can only speculate about the sudden resignation of Peter Rees QC days after Ben van Beurden took up his new role as Chief Executive Officer of the company. Since then, Shell’s image and reputation has undergone a transformation from a successful multinational to a company in crisis, having issued a profits warning, abandoned mega projects and embarked on a massive fire sale of assets. The temporary appointment of a non lawyer to be head of Shell’s legal department, as announced today, further undermines confidence in the stability of Royal Dutch Shell Plc.

By John Donovan

The Lawyer reports today that Hugh Mitchell, the head of Shell HR (an executive director of Royal Dutch Shell Plc) is now in temporary charge of Shell legal assisted by Michiel Brandjes, Company Secretary and General Counsel Corporate.

Sounds like desperation stakes bearing in mind that Mitchell is not even a lawyer and is also a member of the executive committee responsible for the current meltdown at Shell.

He also  has ultimate responsibility for Shell internal and external communications, Shell real estate, Shell global security, Shell health and Shell aircraft. Now head of legal without any legal qualifications. Jack of all trades… read more

INTRODUCTION BY JOHN DONOVAN: Royal Dutch Shell Plc (Company Secretary Michiel Brandjes) and Allseas were given advance sight of the article below on Tuesday and notified of my intention to publish today. They were offered the opportunity to point out any factual inaccuracies plus an invitation to supply comment for publication on an unedited basis alongside the article. I stated that if no response was received by today, Friday 31 January, I would take that as confirmation that Shell and Allseas do not challenge the facts as stated. No response was received from either company.

EXTRACT FROM THE ARTICLE: “So we are now in this twisted historical situation that a company with a heavy burden on its shoulders regarding supporting Nazi Germany during and after the leadership of Deterding in the 1930’s, has ordered a company with an equally dubious history to decommission Shell oil platforms using a ship named in honour of a former SS officer.”

By Ton Biesemaat

You cannot escape history: Royal Dutch Shell and Allseas

Two companies with a dubious past history come together. One is Royal Dutch Shell, which under her chief managing director Sir Henri Deterding financially supported Nazi Germany. The other one is Allseas, owned by Edward Heerema. He is the son of Pieter Schelte Heerema, pioneer of the offshore business and a former Waffen SS member and diehard Nazi.

Allseas has ordered a South Korean ship builder to produce one of the largest ships in the world for decommissioning obsolete oil platforms in for example the North Sea. European legislation, which originates from the famous Brent Spar affair, obliges oil companies to dismantle these oil and gas platforms in an environmentally safe way. A whole new multi billion dollar business in the North Sea and Gulf of Mexico is emerging. The mega ship from Allseas is now in its test phase. read more

Jochen Piehl tragically killed in a road accident

Against their wishes, Shell sent another franchise owner to stand in for them supposedly on a temporary basis, then refused to allow them to return. Shell’s alleged treachery ruined the family financially making the situation even more distressing at the worst possible time. Colleen says: “We were so lost and weak and broken with our son’s death that we could not even put up a ‘fight’ at the time.” Her damming assessment of the oil giant: “Shell have no morals or scruples and don’t care how and who they destroy.”

By John Donovan

Over a decade ago, Frank and Colleen Piehl were the first tenants of the Shell owned Sibonelo filling station based at Ngwenya, Swaziland at the Oshoek border post of South Africa (Oshoek) and Swaziland.

The family mortgaged their home and invested their life savings into what was becoming a thriving business, despite unusual onerous terms attached to the lease arising from an interest held by a consortium of landowners.

In 2001, their only son, Jochen, was killed in a road accident at the age of 13. read more

WHISTLEBLOWER INFORMATION SUPPLIED TO CHIEF SUPT. BILLY GORDON OF THE SCOTTISH POLICE BY BILL CAMPBELL, RETIRED HSE GROUP AUDITOR, SHELL INTERNATIONAL. INCLUDES SHELL INTERNAL DOCUMENTATION MARKED “STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL”.

EXTRACT FROM ONE STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL SHELL INTERNAL DOCUMENT – circulated to Chris Finlayson and Tom Botts

There was evidence of false and misleading information in maintenance records for safety critical equipment, for example the Brent Bravo ESDV which failed its leak-off test in April 1998 was recorded as ‘NO FAULT FOUND’.

EMAIL FROM BILL CAMPBELL TO SUPT. BILLLY GORDON, SENT 27 SEPT 2013. COPIED TO MICHIEL BRANDJES, COMPANY SECRETARY & GENERAL COUNSEL CORPORATE, ROYAL DUTCH SHELL PLC

From: [email protected]
Subject: Bundle C and D
Date: 27 September 2013 11:29:54 GMT+01:00
To: [email protected]
Cc: [email protected], [email protected]

This covers Emergency Shutdown Valves (ESDV), fire and gas detection systems designed to operate on ESDV in an emergency and unapproved temporary repairs.  This data is not disputed by Shell as being their data. This data supports the articles sent to you a few days ago. read more

ABOVE IS AN ATTACHMENT TO A BRIEF OSSL EMAIL (BELOW) SENT TO SENIOR EXECUTIVES AND OFFICIALS OF ROYAL DUTCH SHELL EARLIER TODAY

From: THE OSSL COMPANY <[email protected]>
Subject: LAST NIGHT AT IRISH GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS …YOU SHAME THE NAME OF SHELL …
Date: 20 September 2013 07:19:41 GMT+01:00
To: Michael Crothers <[email protected]>, John Shell News <[email protected]>, Michiel Brandjes <[email protected]>, Peter Voser <[email protected]>, [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], Neil Rooney <n[email protected]>, [email protected], [email protected] read more

By John Donovan

I have published within this article the latest OSSL emails and attachments sent to Shell regarding the Shell Garda alcohol scandal.

OSSL claims that they have actually sent 678 emails to Shell alone requesting payment for the alcohol in question, which was supplied on Shell’s instructions.

They say that copies of the emails are available on request “just ask” – and that the figure does not include emails sent to the Garda on the same subject.

The failure of Royal Dutch Shell senior management to deal with this huge continuing embarrassment is breathtaking. Shell appears to be being run by fools who do not have a clue about crisis management. read more

Posting on our Shell Blog 19 Sept 2013:

The practice of accusing Shell of something outrageous and then claiming that lack of rebuttal equates to proof of that claim is getting quite tiresome. Does anyone agree? (ref. OSSL emails to Shell and Irish Police18 Sept 2013)

By John Donovan

A posting on our Shell Blog this morning by “supershell” makes a fair point…

The practice of accusing Shell of something outrageous and then claiming that lack of rebuttal equates to proof of that claim is getting quite tiresome. Does anyone agree? (ref. OSSL emails to Shell and Irish Police18 Sept 2013)

It is relevant to note that the first OSSL email of today to Supt Thomas Murphy (copied to various Shell executives and lawyers) that I have printed below, claims that 434 out of 435 emails OSSL sent on the alcohol subject to the Garda, Shell, or associates parties, went unanswered. read more

THIS STATEMENT BY MR BILL CAMPBELL, RETIRED HSE GROUP AUDITOR OF SHELL INTERNATIONAL, WAS SUPPLIED TO ROYAL DUTCH SHELL PLC COMPANY SECRETARY AND GENERAL COUNSEL CORPORATE, MR MICHIEL BRANDJES IN ADVANCE OF ITS PUBLICATION TODAY. THUS SHELL HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO SEEK AN INJUNCTION TO PREVENT PUBLICATION

By Bill Campbell, statement embargoed for publication on 11 September 2013

Death by Sandblasting – how production concerns, versus safety of employees, caused offshore deaths

 

The Shell Chairman and his Legal Counsel accepts that the evidence held by police that offshore staff were afraid to raise permits and had been conditioned by onshore managers to ignore safety procedures over a prolonged period is authentic

 

This story is about behaviour, bad behaviour.  It is about how offshore workers were bullied, coerced, harassed by onshore management to keep oil and gas production going at all costs and over a prolonged period of time.  It’s about how operators will do what is expected of them if they are put under unreasonable pressure.  It’s about how under these conditions deviation, or bending of rules, leads to breaking rules, and eventually to ignoring rules altogether.  Ignoring rules, despite the consequences, becomes just the normal way of doing things in the Brent oilfield. read more

By John Donovan

A month has passed since the death of my father, Alfred Donovan, at the age of 96. A war disabled and decorated veteran who spent 12 years in the British Army.

I have received many moving tributes and messages of condolences from friends and critics, for which I am most sincerely grateful.

But not one word from Shell. No gallantly shown towards a formidable opponent of Shell in recent decades (and the Japanese invaders in Burma during World War 2).

The company has been well aware for several years that if it stipulates that a communication sent to me is not for publication, that stipulation would be respected. So it could have said something off the record, but chose not to make even that minimal gesture of respect. read more

AN OPEN LETTER TO MR MICHIEL BRANDJES, COMPANY SECRETARY & GENERAL COUNSEL CORPORATE, ROYAL DUTCH SHELL PLC.

SUBJECT: THE DEATH OF MY FATHER, ALFRED DONOVAN

From: John Donovan <[email protected]>
Subject: THE DEATH OF MY FATHER, ALFRED DONOVAN
Date: 2 August 2013 12:46:37 GMT+01:00
To: [email protected]

AN OPEN LETTER

Dear Mr. Brandjes

I am disappointed, but perhaps not surprised, that Shell management has not been gallant enough to make any comment about the death of my father, a 96 year old 2nd World War veteran who had a business relationship with Shell stretching back over 50 years, the majority of which was mutually beneficial and friendly. read more

Because of the “royaldutchshellplc.com” domain name, we regularly receive job applications, business proposals, pension enquiries, and sometimes even terrorist threats meant for Shell. We deal with all such matters as agreed with Mr Brandjes, sometimes corresponding with third parties on behalf of Shell, occasionally passing on correspondence to him.  We have been offered oil wells and coalmines by third parties wrongly believing that we are Shell.

LETTER DATED 24 JUNE 2013 FROM ALFRED & JOHN DONOVAN TO SHELL INTERNATIONAL LIMITED

24 June 2013

Mr. Gary Thomson

Shell International Limited

Shell Centre

London SE1 7NA

UK

Dear Mr Thomson

Data Protection Act 1998 Subject Access Request (SAR)

Thank you for your letter dated 19 June 2013.

Please find enclosed completed application forms together with cheques based on a fee of £10 per applicant, if that is appropriate.

The application is made on an annual basis in joint names; the formula sensibly requested by your former colleague Mr Richard Wiseman and agreed to by us.

The categories of  “Particular Personal Data” you have brought to our attention in the standard form supplied are not appropriate to our application. You do not have any category that is relevant to our relationship with Shell, which is unique. read more

In summary, Finlayson (right) sees himself as a victim to the goings-on in 1999, just one of many victims in the then Shell Expro, described in our Audit notes as a hostile environment of extreme denial.  I can concur that Chris was a victim, when for example he made light of the Touch F-All scandal in various press statements of which there is an audio record he did so because his Brent Field Manager Jorn Berget misled him.  He soon realised this but despite many attempts by me and his Internal Audit Manager he would not retract the statement.  In fear, no doubt for his job, his future promotion prospects etc, and led by the ear by his mentor and boss Malcolm Brinded he toed the line. read more

Astonishingly, none of these Shell officials, nor John Gilligan, Alan Shatter, or anyone else in the Irish government, police, or any oversight body, has asked me to supply the voluminous evidence. No one seems shocked, or even interested. There have been no denials issued, nor have I received any threats of litigation, as could be anticipated if the allegations were without foundation. This seems to be a rotten state of affairs? I am now beginning to wonder if Shell has bought the whole Irish Establishment?

EMAIL SENT BY JOHN DONOVAN TO EVERY MEMBER OF THE IRISH PARLIAMENT (THE DAIL)

From: John Donovan <[email protected]>
Subject: SHELL INDUSTRIAL SCALE CORRUPTION OF THE IRISH POLICE
Date: 6 May 2013 15:32:09 GMT+01:00
To: [email protected]

Irish Police corruption, booze and violence sponsored by Shell

Dear Mr Shane Ross TD

I am writing to you and all other members of the Dail on an exceptional basis concerning a matter that should be a cause of great concern.

I sent an email to your Justice Minister Mr Alan Shatter over a month ago concerning alleged widespread corruption of the Garda by Shell E&P Ireland.

Mr Shatter is aware that I have in my possession a vast array of what I believe to be related authentic documents and correspondence.  It includes an invoice from a small firm – The OSSL Company – to Shell E&P Ireland for over 35,000 euros (plus VAT) spent on the procurement of alcohol distributed to the Garda by OSSL, on behalf of its long time client, Shell. read more

Under the circumstances, I wondered if a pilot scheme was underway in Ireland already, with Shell sponsoring the Garda? Was some foolish government official or department conned into believing that Royal Dutch Shell is reputable? If so, I would have thought the sponsorship should flow into state coffers, rather than down the throats of apparently very thirsty police officers.

EMAIL TO JUSTICE MINISTER OF IRELAND, MR ALAN SHATTER TD.

From: John Donovan <[email protected]>
Subject: SHELL SPONSORED CORRUPTION OF THE IRISH POLICE
Date: 1 May 2013 19:55:39 GMT+01:00
To: INFO <[email protected]>
Cc: [email protected]

Dear Mr Shatter

As you may be aware, your private secretary has kindly acknowledged receipt on your behalf of three emails I have already sent to you regarding the above subject.

I listened with interest to a segment broadcast on BBC Radio 4 “PM” programme this evening of possible brand sponsorship of the UK police. read more

“…Shell funded alcohol was allegedly distributed to the Police, a gift not conducive to the well-being, safety and demeanor of police officers. The booze was allegedly delivered to senior on duty officers, with delivery being made at Police premises in one instance.”: “Some of the wording on the purported invoice seems strangely reminiscent of the prohibition era in the USA. Somebody trying to conceal the illicit transportation of alcohol.”

EMAIL DATED 15 April 2013 FROM JOHN DONOVAN TO LINDA SZYMANSKI, ROYAL DUTCH SHELL PLC CHIEF ETHICS AND COMPLIANCE OFFICER.

Dear Linda Szymanski

I sent emails to you on 28 March 2013 and 29 March 2013 (also copied to Michiel Brandjes) concerning allegations made by a former Shell supplier OSSL, that Shell E&P Ireland has engaged in widespread corruption of the Irish Police force. According to OSSL and the related purported invoice dated 28 August 2012, Shell funded alcohol was allegedly distributed to the Police, a gift not conducive to the well-being, safety and demeanor of police officers. The booze was allegedly delivered to senior on duty officers, with delivery being made at Police premises in one instance. read more

In case you are not aware, ***I have already supplied Shell insider information and leaked documents to the Department of the Interior. A senior person requested our help on behalf of the DoI, which we were happy to give. We will of course be pleased to assist in any further requests made of us.

EMAIL FROM JOHN DONOVAN TO U.S. INTERIOR SECRETARY KEN SALAZAR: SENT 7 APRIL 2013

Secretary Salazar
Department of the Interior
1849 C street, N.W.
Washington DC 20240

Dear Mr. Salazar

ROYAL DUTCH SHELL SCREW UP IN THE ARCTIC

I am contacting you in your capacity as the Secretary of the Interior.

With my father, who will be 96 this month, I operate an independent, entirely non-commercial website – *royaldutchshellplc.com – that monitors the activities of Royal Dutch Shell.

We regularly publish Shell internal information supplied by a network of insiders who have provided information in relation to what you have aptly described as a “screw-up” by Shell in its Arctic drilling campaign.
read more

OSSL seems to have been used as a “Mr Fixit” for SEPIL, allegedly facilitating the distribution of improper gifts to various parties, including the Garda, who rightly or wrongly, have been accused of acting as an offshoot of Shell security in policing protests against the project. It was also alleged that related invoices were falsified on Shell’s instructions.

Alan Shatter TD, Irish Minister for Justice

Dear Mr Shatter TD

I am contacting you in your capacity as the Irish Government Minister responsible for Justice.

I operate an independent, entirely non commercial website – royaldutchshellplc.com – that monitors the activities of Royal Dutch Shell.

We have many contacts inside Shell and regularly publish Shell internal information supplied by whistleblowers, including employees working on the controversial Corrib gas project. We established that the Shell Corrib emails supplied to us for publication were authentic. read more

By John Donovan

A senior Royal Dutch Shell lawyer has this morning issued a veiled threat of legal action against Bill Campbell, the retired HSE Group Auditor of Shell International.

Michiel Brandjes, the Company Secretary & General Counsel Corporate states in an email received minutes ago that Shell reserves its position in relation to articles drafted by Mr Campbell, but not yet published by us, headed “Misadventures in the Arctic Region in Alaskan waters” and “Shell accepts failures of its internal management controls contributed to its Alaskan misadventures”. Mr. Brandjes has made it clear in a blanket condemnation, that Shell does not accept the accuracy of any points made by Mr. Campbell. read more

EMAIL SENT 25 MARCH 2013 BY BILL CAMPBELL TO MICHIEL BRANDJES, ROYAL DUTCH SHELL PLC COMPANY SECRETARY & GENERAL COUNSEL CORPORATE. MR CAMPBELL IS A RETIRED HSE GROUP AUDITOR OF SHELL INTERNATIONAL. EMAIL CONCERNS LAUGHABLE STATEMENT MADE BY MARVIN ODUM (RIGHT) DESCRIBING THE KULLUK HITTING THE ROCKS AND CONSEQUENTIAL ABANDONMENT OF SHIP AS A ‘MARINE TRANSPORT ISSUE’

With the Kulluk now safely recovered, we’ll carry out a detailed assessment of the vessel to understand what those impacts might be.For now, it’s important to note that this was a marine transit issue that occurred after completion of our exploration program and well outside our theater of operations. It did not involve drilling operations.

Marvin Odum, President, Shell Oil Company

THE EMAIL

Subject: Public Statements by Royal Dutch Shell Alaska

The following is an observation, perhaps RDS find it acceptable to mislead the public but misleading employees is another issue, whether this was by accident or intent it’s for RDS to judge. You will be glad to know it is not my intention to continue with this bombardment. Mr Donovan is free to publish or amend as he sees fit. read more

Michiel Brandjes, Company Secretary & General Counsel Corporate, Royal Dutch Shell Plc

Shell has been prepared to put up with the ignominy of its so-called “No1 Enemy” receiving private communications meant for the company. Several years ago Michiel Brandjes, Royal Dutch Shell Company Secretary & General Counsel Corporate, gave us written permission to vet incoming mail on behalf of Shell, using our discretion to remove and destroy what we consider to be spam and pass on to Shell what we decide they ought to see! No self-respecting company would allow such a bizarre situation to continue. It tells you all you need to know about the competence of Shell senior management. 

By John Donovan

Because Royal Dutch Shell Plc petulantly decided to keep trading under the name Royal Dutch Shell Plc  despite knowing we had registered the RoyalDutchShellPlc.com domain name, a certain amount of unforeseen confusion was probably inevitable.

Shell tried to escape humiliation by attempting to seize the domain name, issuing proceedings, but  lost the case and did not bother to appeal against a unanimous verdict, which resulted in yet more embarrassment.

One unintended consequence of owning the sought after domain name is that we regularly receive job applications including CV’s, plus business proposals, general enquiries, and even terrorist threats, all meant for Royal Dutch Shell Plc. read more

Subject to any intervention/response by Shell, a new article about the starring role of Mr Simon Henry in the Shell reserves crisis will be published here at 4pm UK time today.

By John Donovan

Subject to any intervention/response by Shell, a new article about the starring role of Mr Simon Henry in the Shell reserves crisis will be published here at 4pm UK time today.

Mr Michiel Brandjes, Company Secretary of Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Mr Henry (right), both have copies of the draft article.

This was the content of the covering email:

Dear Mr Brandjes

Printed below is a self-explanatory draft article.

Please let me know by 4pm UK time today if Shell wishes to point out any factual inaccuracy or supply comment for unedited publication alongside the article. read more

By John Donovan

We have received a copy of an email from an irate Shell retailer in India, Sabir Mohammed, accusing Shell management in India of being cheats and liars. He also makes allegations about corruption. He claims many other Shell retailers in India share his concerns. He sent his email to Royal Dutch Shell Plc Chief Executive Peter Voser and company secretary, Michiel Brandjes. The email and associated correspondence can be viewed here.

Seems Shell may be up to it old tricks again, reminiscent in some regards to dire concerns expressed in the past by Shell retailers in the UK and the USA. Including the alleged failure of Shell senior management to honour pledges to uphold Shell’s statement of general business principles promising honesty, integrity, transparency and respect for people, in all of Shell’s dealings. In our experience, all a complete sham.
read more

I want it to be known that all of the nasty activity described in my email to Royal Dutch Shell, including covert attacks, continues to this day, currently on a 24 hour basis. Someone apparently has very deep pockets and is clearly not very fond of us.

By John Donovan

On 11 November 2012, we published an email I had sent to Mr Michiel Brandjes, Company Secretary & General Counsel Corporate of Royal Dutch Shell Plc. Mr Brandjes is our designated contact with Shell. I detailed in the email the various forms of unlawful activity directed at us and our website, including Denial of Service attacks.

I want it to be known that all of the nasty activity described in my email to Royal Dutch Shell, including covert attacks, continues to this day, currently on a 24 hour basis.
read more

Were they aware that Simon Henry was a key player, as Head of Global Investor Relations, in dealing with the reserves data and actually had responsibility to ensure the quality/accuracy of the data before it was disclosed to analysts and investors? As we all know, it turned out that some of the data was not only inaccurate, but fraudulent. He had been warned that a Gorgon 600 million BOE reserves booking was an IR time bomb.

Introduction: A draft of the article below was supplied to Shell in advance, namely to Mr Michiel Brandjes, the Company Secretary & General Counsel Corporate of Royal Dutch Shell Plc and the CFO, Mr. Simon Henry. We invited Shell to point out any factual inaccuracy and/or supply comment for unedited publication with the article. No response other than an automated message has been received.

ARTICLE

By John Donovan

On 13 March 2009, the Financial Times published an article about Simon Henry, who was about to become Chief Financial Officer of Royal Dutch Shell Plc. It said that he had survived the reserves misreporting scandal with his reputation intact. I wonder how much investigation of the facts was undertaken before arriving at that conclusion? read more

By John Donovan

Operating, as we do, under the .com domain name for Royal Dutch Shell Plc inevitably creates some confusion.

For several years, we have been receiving job applications, business proposals and even terrorist threats, all meant for Shell. I have written permission from RDS Plc Company Secretary Michiel Brandjes to deal with such mail on Shell’s behalf.

From time to time, we also receive angry complaints meant for Shell, as per this email from an irate American motorist accusing Shell of corporate greed: read more

For over a year we have received attacks on the site in the form of massive numbers of blog entries being received. They have recently reached a level whereby legitimate blogs are crowded out, effectively blocking criticism against Shell.

EMAIL SENT 11 NOVEMBER 2012 BY JOHN DONOVAN TO MR MICHIEL BRANDJES, COMPANY SECRETARY & GENERAL COUNSEL CORPORATE, ROYAL DUTCH SHELL PLC

From: John Donovan <[email protected]>
Subject: Constant attacks on the website royaldutchshellplc.com
Date: 11 November 2012 15:29:54 GMT
To: [email protected]

Dear Mr Brandjes

I would like to bring another serious matter to your attention.

I refer to the constant attacks on our website royaldutchshellplc.com.

There are three strands to the activity.

DENIAL OF SERVICE ATTACKS

The first is denial of service attacks where the site is flooded with traffic. We have upgraded our server a number of times in an effort to deal with these attacks, but the scale is such that even our latest high capacity dedicated server has crashed due to massive spikes in traffic, which cannot be due to normal activity. read more

Subject to Shell serving an interim injunction and/or replying to our email sent earlier this morning, it is our intention to publish at 3pm today allegations of corruption and related cover-up involving senior Shell executives, managers and officials of Shell EP Ireland. Shell has the opportunity to state that the allegations are entirely without foundation. 

THIS SELF-EXPLANATORY EMAIL WAS SENT EARLIER TODAY TO MR MICHIEL BRANDJES, COMPANY SECRETARY & GENERAL COUNSEL CORPORATE. ROYAL DUTCH SHELL PLC

Dear Mr Brandjes

Printed below is a self-explanatory email received today.

If you wish to investigate this matter kindly let me know by 3pm UK time today. If I receive no response by then, I will assume that the email is authentic and that this is another one of those occasions where Shell does not wish to comment on the allegations being made. Readers will then be able to draw their own conclusions. read more