May 4th, 2023
by John Donovan.
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Shell makes $9.65 bln profit in first quarter, beating forecasts
REUTERS: May 4, 20237:15 AM GMT+1
LONDON, May 4 (Reuters) – Shell (SHEL.L) made a net profit of $9.65 billion in the first three months of the year, it said on Thursday, dropping slightly from the previous quarter as energy prices cooled but still beating forecasts.
Shell kept its dividend unchanged at $0.2875 per share and also kept the rate of its share repurchase programme stable at $4 billion over the next three months.read more
RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) – Brazil’s three largest fuel distribution companies are under investigation for fixing prices at the pump, police said on Tuesday, reigniting debate over potential collusion among gas station owners in Latin America’s largest oil producer.
The firms targeted by the probe are Petrobras Distribuidora SA (BRDT3.SA), a subsidiary of state oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA (PETR4.SA); Ipiranga, a unit of Ultrapar Participações SA (UGPA3.SA); and Raízen, a Cosan SA (CSAN3.SA) and Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSa.AS) joint venture.read more
Oct 10th, 2017
by John Donovan.
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Ron Bousso, Clara Denina: OCTOBER 10, 2017 / 3:55 PM
LONDON (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L) is seeking to sell its 17 percent stake in the Mukhaizna oil field in Oman, which could fetch up to $200 million, banking sources said.
The sale process is led by investment bank Rothschild, the sources said.
Shell and Rothschild did not respond to requests for comment.
The Mukhaizna heavy oil field, operated by Occidental Petroleum (OXY.N), reached an average oil production rate of 127,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2016, according to Occidental’s annual report.read more
Jul 5th, 2017
by John Donovan.
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ExxonMobil, Chevron, Total, Royal Dutch Shell, and British Petroleum are the five biggest players on the index, which includes 85 other majors. Together, they have lost $115 billion in market value since the beginning of April, Bloomberg reports, according to World Oil.
Operational improvements in shale and non-shale oil drilling, on top of lower expenses for oilfield services and access to pipeline capacity, have driven down the costs of producing the fossil fuel since the 2014 market crash. But the increase in output has forced barrel prices into a deeper bearish market, causing further damage to corporate bottom lines.
This trend is mapped clearly in the MSCI’s World Energy Index, which measures the progress of large and medium sized companies in 23 oil-producing countries on a quarterly basis. ExxonMobil, Chevron, Total, Royal Dutch Shell, and British Petroleum are the five biggest players on the index, which includes 85 other majors. Together, they have lost $115 billion in market value since the beginning of April, Bloomberg reports, according to World Oil.read more
Crude slumped last week after a shock rise in US stockpiles, up 3.3million barrels to 513million, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA).
Brent crude slipped to about $48 a barrel, its lowest level since December, and analysts said it could go sharply lower.
Crude dipped below $27 a barrel in January last year and Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at online trading platform IG, said a repeat of those levels is a distinct possibility: “Crude tends to overshoot on both the upside and the downside.”read more
In a boost to Nigerian oil production, Royal Dutch Shell on Tuesday lifted its force majeure on exports of Forcados crude oil shipments. The force majeure, which allows companies to miss contractual obligations as a result of events out of their control, was imposed on 21 February 2016 following militant attacks.
Nigeria was recovering from attacks which had seen its output drop by over a third in 2016 due to militant attacks, from a peak of 2.2 million barrels per day (bpd). With the Forcados terminal back on track, shipments are set to average around 250,000 barrels a day with output will be set to increase by around 10 per cent, bringing the output of Africa’s largest economy up to around 2 million barrels per day (bpd).read more
Law360, New York (June 8, 2017, 6:44 PM EDT) — A New York federal judge on Thursday nixed multidistrict litigation complaints by derivatives traders and landowners alleging a slew of energy companies manipulated the price of North Sea Brent crude oil and Brent crude futures, saying they haven’t sufficiently linked the activity to any alleged economic harm they suffered. U.S. District Judge Andrew L. Carter said that the antitrust claims against affiliates of BP PLC and Royal Dutch Shell PLC, as well as other energy firms, can’t be sustained because the traders and owners of U.S….read more
Jun 8th, 2017
by John Donovan.
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Royal Dutch Shell Plc lifted restrictions on exports of a key Nigerian crude oil, 472 days after imposing them following militant attacks. The extra flows alone amount to about 20 percent of the supply OPEC has pledged to cut from world markets.
Europe’s biggest oil company ended a force majeure of Forcados crude oil shipments at 4 p.m. London time on Tuesday, a spokesman said. The measure, which allows companies to miss contractual obligations, was imposed on Feb. 21 last year. Shipments this month will average about 250,000 barrels a day, according to a loading program obtained by Bloomberg.read more
Mar 30th, 2017
by John Donovan.
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Mar. 29, 2017 12:57 PM ET|By: Carl Surran, SA News Editor
Royal Dutch Shell’s (RDS.A, RDS.B) VP of crude oil trading is out with a strong defense against accusations that the company’s activity in the North Sea crude market has skewed the benchmark Brent contract that underpins global oil prices.
Shell allegedly traded very aggressively in the region during 2016, with large positions in North Sea crude at times running contrary to clear signs of oversupply in the market, with the buying spree seen potentially pushing up prices.read more
Feb 7th, 2017
by John Donovan.
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The oil-trading boom that cushioned the profits of Royal Dutch Shell Plc and BP Plc through the price slump of 2015 and early 2016 is over.
BP said on Tuesday it made a “small” loss trading oil in the fourth quarter, while Shell last week said trading profits “flattened” in late 2016. The fall off in trading contributed to worse-than-expected fourth-quarter profits at Europe’s largest oil and gas producers.
Although better known for their oilfields, refineries and gas stations, Shell and BP are the world’s top energy traders, handling about 20 percent of global oil demand between them and dwarfing independent trading houses such as Vitol Group BV, Trafigura Group and Glencore Plc.read more
Jan 13th, 2017
by John Donovan.
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By Ed Crooks of the Finacial Times: January 13, 2017
In the 1930s many newspapers carried impressively detailed diagrams showing France’s defences along the German border, described by Popular Mechanix and Inventions magazine as the “world’s greatest underground fortifications”. By the end of May 1940, Hitler had demonstrated that while the Maginot Line might indeed be an engineering marvel, it was also irrelevant, as his panzer divisions swept past it through Belgium and into France. Last year’s agreement between leading oil-producing countries to curb their output had something of the same feel about it this week.read more
It comes as little surprise that Royal Dutch Shell (LSE: RDSB) has rocketed during the fourth quarter, the stock reaching 13-month peaks just last week on the back of the successful OPEC production accord. Shell gained 18% in total during October-December.
The Doha deal has been heralded as a game-changer in addressing the supply/demand imbalance washing over the oil market. And with no little reason. After all, OPEC is responsible for around 40% of global crude output.read more
Dec 30th, 2016
by John Donovan.
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Having brought about production at exceptionally low costs with cash operating costs around $15 per barrel throughout the year, Royal Dutch Shell plc (ADR) (NYSE:RDS.A) is expected to post a commendable cash flow growth in the long cycle. With West Texas Intermediate and Brent crude currently above $50 per barrel, the Anglo Dutch company is likely to benefit. As per the estimates of market watchdogs, the oil and gas major is expected to grow its cash flow position to $25 billion in four years given that oil prices reach $60 per barrel.read more
Oil prices erased early gains to trade almost flat in Asian session on Thursday on mixed U.S. crude stocks data and doubts over OPEC’s implementation of an output cut, although a weaker dollar aided sentiment.
International Brent crude futures were trading up 2 cents at $53.02 a barrel at 0807 GMT. Prices fell to $52.81 a barrel earlier in the session.
U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude was up 3 cents at $49.80 a barrel after dropping to $49.61 earlier.read more
Today I’m looking at the critical reasons to sell out of Royal Dutch Shell (LSE: RDSB).
A drop in the ocean
The oil sector’s major players breathed a huge sigh of relief last week after OPEC — responsible for four-tenths of the world’s oil supply — confounded the expectations of many and agreed to cut its output.
Saudi Arabia brokered a deal that will see production fall by 1.2m barrels per day, to 32.5m barrels beginning in January. The news prompted Brent oil to top the $55 per barrel marker for the first time since the summer of 2016.read more
In 451 CE, the great Roman general Flavius Aetius rallied a motley army of imperial troops and barbarian allies, and halted the advance of Attila’s Huns at the Catalaunian Plains in Gaul, buying the empire some time and temporarily interrupting its long-term decline. This week’s Opec meeting in Vienna had something of the same feel about it.
Opec’s power peaked in the 1970s, and the US shale oil revolution of the past half-decade has threatened to consign the cartel’s influence to history. But by agreeing a deal to cut production on Wednesday, the Opec ministers showed that if they all acted together they could still bend the oil markets to their will, at least for a while.read more
Old disputes between Saudi Arabia and rival Iran resurfaced at a meeting of OPEC experts last week, with Riyadh threatening to raise oil output steeply to bring prices down if Tehran refuses to limit its supply, OPEC sources say.
Clashes between the two OPEC heavyweights, which are fighting proxy wars in Syria and Yemen, have become frequent in recent years.
Tensions subsided, however, in recent months after Saudi Arabia agreed to support a global oil supply limiting pact, thus raising the prospect that OPEC would take steps to boost oil prices.read more
Oct 13th, 2016
by John Donovan.
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Law360, New York (October 12, 2016, 9:50 PM EDT) — Two Royal Dutch Shell PLC affiliates accused of market manipulation told a New York federal court Wednesday that derivative traders lack standing to assert antitrust claims, citing another judge’s recent decision nixing claims in multidistrict litigation accusing Goldman Sachs & Co. and others of manipulating aluminum prices.
The Shell companies are part of multidistrict litigation accusing various oil companies of manipulating the price of North Sea Brent crude oil and Brent crude oil futures, by engaging in fraudulent physical trades and systematically submitting information about those…read more
Sep 30th, 2016
by John Donovan.
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OPEC decision on daily oil output freeze to have no impact on Shell’s strategy
September 29, 2016
Baku-APA. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries’ (OPEC) agreement to freeze daily oil output will not affect Royal Dutch Shell ‘s current strategy, a spokesman for one of the world’s largest oil companies told Sputnik on Thursday, APA reports quoting Sputnik.
On Wednesday, OPEC oil producing countries agreed a preliminary deal on the sidelines of an international energy forum in Algiers, Algeria. The output ceiling was set at 32.5-33 million barrels a day for the whole cartel.read more
Investors in the fossil fuel sector have finally had cause to celebrate this week after OPEC suggested that an output freeze could finally be in the offing.
The idea had initially been tabled at the start of the year as Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Venezuela and Russia got around the table. But Iran’s determination to get the pumps ramped back up to pre-sanction levels put the plan firmly on the backburner.
However, with Tehran’s reluctance to take part in a deal now apparently thawing, stock pickers have become more optimistic over the growth outlook for many of the oil industry’s major players.read more
Aug 25th, 2016
by John Donovan.
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By Kevin Penton
Law360, New York (August 24, 2016, 8:24 PM ET) —
Two Royal Dutch Shell PLC affiliates accused of manipulating crude market prices cannot use the Second Circuit’s recent nix of aluminum futures price-fixing claims to escape the allegations the pair face, landowner and derivatives trader plaintiffs told a New York federal court Wednesday.
The appeals court on Aug. 9 had ruled that manufacturers and buyers of aluminum products could not sue Goldman Sachs Group Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Glencore PLC, because the plaintiffs were not directly targeted in the alleged scheme to fix prices…read more
Jul 25th, 2016
by John Donovan.
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By Cara Bayles
Law360, San Francisco (July 22, 2016, 8:48 PM ET)
Two Royal Dutch Shell PLC affiliates on Thursday tried to escape allegations of European market manipulation from a proposed class of crude oil derivatives traders, arguing in New York federal court that U.S. courts don’t have jurisdiction over conduct by Shell’s international arm in foreign markets.
The reply in support of the affiliates’ motion to dismiss said the traders were trying to “manufacture claims and jurisdiction where neither exists” by blurring the distinction between two “sister subsidiaries” — Shell’s U.S. arm, Shell Trading US Co., or…read more
Mar 13th, 2016
by John Donovan.
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By ANDREW SCOTT COOPER: A version of this op-ed appears in print on March 13, 2016
FOR the past half-century, the world economy has been held hostage by just one country: the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Vast petroleum reserves and untapped production allowed the kingdom to play an outsize role as swing producer, filling or draining the global system at will.
The 1973-74 oil embargo was the first demonstration that the House of Saud was willing to weaponize the oil markets. In October 1973, a coalition of Arab states led by Saudi Arabia abruptly halted oil shipments in retaliation for America’s support of Israel during the Yom Kippur War. The price of a barrel of oil quickly quadrupled; the resulting shock to the oil-dependent economies of the West led to a sharp rise in the cost of living, mass unemployment and growing social discontent.read more
Royal Dutch Shell is lobbying to reform regional oil trading after a series of price squeezes, particularly by Chinese state oil firms.
In a highly unusual move, Royal Dutch Shell has called for greater regulation of the market to improve transparency and avoid price distortion.
Now, Shell is following up its public call with behind-the-scenes efforts to gather support for change, particularly from the regional state oil firms.
“There need to be safeguards to prevent the risk of distortion, and to ensure the Dubai benchmark price mirrors true market supply and demand fundamentals,” a Shell spokesman said. “Due to some of the unique characteristics of the Dubai market, it is susceptible to and can be heavily influenced by a market participant amassing a large portion of the available three crudes deliverable in that month.”read more
Dec 18th, 2015
by John Donovan.
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HOUSTON/BENGALURU| BY LIZ HAMPTON AND ANKUSH SHARMA: Thu Dec 17, 2015
Royal Dutch Shell PLC on Thursday called for tougher regulation of the Dubai crude benchmark, the Middle East’s most important oil-pricing mechanism, after record trade volumes skewed prices.
Industry players have been calling on pricing agency Platts to review its Dubai assessment, saying record trading by Chinese state companies in August during the Market-on-Close process pushed liquidity to the limit and disrupted Dubai’s relationship with other global benchmarks. The Dubai marker sets the prices for more than 12 million barrels per day of Middle Eastern and Russian crude exports to Asia.read more
Dec 8th, 2015
by John Donovan.
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Royal Dutch Shell Plc, BP Plc and Statoil ASA no longer face an European Union investigation into potential manipulation of fuel benchmarks, the regulator indicated on Monday. Photographer: Andrey Rudakov/Bloomberg
EU’s Vestager shows willingness to dump cases going nowhere
Commission retreats from high-profile oil investigation
Days after dropping a high-profile probe into some of Wall Street’s top banks, the European Commission quietly sounded the retreat from an antitrust case that’s embroiled some of the world’s biggest oil producers since 2013.read more
Dec 7th, 2015
by John Donovan.
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Reuters – Mon, 7 Dec 2015 17:58 GMT
By Philip Blenkinsop and Foo Yun Chee
BRUSSELS, Dec 7 (Reuters) – EU antitrust regulators have dropped Shell, BP, and Statoil from an investigation into suspected rigging of ethanol benchmarks, focusing instead on three producers of the biofuel.
The European Commission said on Monday it had opened a formal antitrust investigation into the actions of Spanish company Abengoa SA, Belgium’s Alcogroup SA and Lantmännen ek för of Sweden.
In April, EU antitrust regulators raided several bioenthanol companies and at the same time stepped up a two-year investigation into biofuel price benchmarks. In 2013, it searched the offices of BP, Shell and Statoil too.read more
Crude oil sector no longer under investigation in case
EU steps up case focusing on ethanol benchmarks rigging
Oil companies, including Royal Dutch Shell Plc, BP Plc and Statoil ASA, no longer face a European Union investigation into potential manipulation of crude oil benchmarks.
The European Commission “is currently not investigating further behaviors in price benchmarks for the crude oil sector,” Ricardo Cardoso, a spokesman for regulator said in an e-mail. He said the EU’s current probe focuses “on price benchmarks for the ethanol sector.”
Raids on Shell, BP, Statoil and price publisher Platts in May 2013 over suspected benchmark-rigging echoed probes into banks for trying to fix the London Interbank Offered Rate and foreign exchange markets. EU antitrust regulators levied 1.7 billion euros ($1.8 billion) in fines later that year over Libor manipulation.read more
Dec 7th, 2015
by John Donovan.
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December 7, 2015
OPEC has abandoned all pretence of acting as a cartel. It’s now every member for itself.
At a chaotic meeting Friday in Vienna that was expected to last four hours but extended to nearly seven, the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries tossed aside the idea of limiting production to control prices. Instead, it went all in for the one-year-old Saudi Arabia-led policy of pumping, pumping, pumping until rivals – external, such as Russian and US shale drillers, as well as internal – are squeezed out of market share.read more
Nov 10th, 2015
by John Donovan.
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In 2012, the Senate investigated the contentious Malabu Oil Field transaction. The Upper House re-opened investigation into an allegation of $1.1 billion round-tripping involving the federal government and two international oil companies – Shell and Eni (Agip) – over the sale of a contentious OPL 245 oil block.
The National Assembly has conducted 18 legislative probes into sundry cases of crude theft, pipeline vandalisation, misappropriation, Joint Venture agreements, missing crude revenue in Nigeria’s corruption-tainted oil and gas sector from 1999-2014.
According to the outcomes of the selected major probes in the oil sector, about $15bn was lost to fraud while a whopping $6.8bn subsidy was unaccounted for. The period also witnessed the alleged missing N500bn SURE-P claims for oil subsidy for a period of time.read more
Major oil companies including Royal Dutch Shell Plc and price publisher Platts were told by regulators to redact business secrets from documents obtained during antitrust raids in a sign the European Union may be moving ahead with a two-year-old probe, according to four people familiar with the investigation.
The redaction request could be a precursor to the European Commission sending a formal complaint, or statement of objections, to some of the firms, said the people who asked not to be named because the investigation into fuel-benchmark rigging isn’t public.read more
Royal Dutch Shell plc (ADR) (NYSE:RDS.A) has sided with oil rival BP plc (ADR) (NYSE:BP) in calling on European regulators to step back from enforcing tougher new capital requirements and increased disclosure measures pertaining to oil trading. The Markets in Financial Instruments Directive or Mifid II regulations are being introduced by the European authorities, which will be applied in 2017. The regulations include capital requirement directive (CRD IV) the purpose of which is to mitigate systemic risks in the commodity, fixed income and equity markets.read more
May 21st, 2015
by John Donovan.
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FROM A REGULAR CONTRIBUTOR
Campaigns by or on behalf of Shell
It’s interesting that we have campaigns (one fronted by BP, but backed by Shell, and the other fronted by Shell’s lawyers, de Brauw) which will have the effect of avoiding regulation of oil trading activities, and will also decriminalise fraud for companies in Holland.
Both have been highlighted on your site in recent weeks.
Given the issues surrounding the banks’ manipulation of Libor and Forex, and the complaints by Total to the EU that Platt’s oil prices are not representative of the market, both of these proposals should be given very close scrutiny – the oil companies concerned cannot be trusted (any more than the banks) to exercise control of the market for their primary product.read more
Regulators would achieve undesired effects if companies and trading houses were forced to follow stricter capital requirement rules or be limited in their ability to trade derivatives, Shell VP for trading Mike Muller says, seconding recent statements from BP trading division chief Paul Reed.
Both BP and Shell trading divisions employ hundreds of people and trade millions of barrels of oil and refined products every day, and Shell’s trading business will become even bigger when it finalizes its acquisition of BG Group.
Apr 29th, 2015
by John Donovan.
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(NOW UPDATED WITH 98 PAGE DOCUMENT FILED 24 APRIL 2015 WITH THE U.S. COURTS)
A 194 page Complaint filed in the US Courts two months ago confirms that investigations are underway by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, the EU Commission and the UK Serious Fraud Office into an alleged oil price-fixing conspiracy involving Shell, BP, Statoil and others.
The plaintiffs provide what they describe as “concrete evidence” within the Complaint of oil price manipulation.
A link to the entire 194 page document is provided.
Extracts from 194 page Court document dated 27 Feb 2015
SECOND AMENDED CONSOLIDATED CLASS ACTION COMPLAINT FILED 27 FEBRUARY 2015
Case 1:13-md-02475-ALC Document 308 Filed 02/27/15
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK
I. NATURE OF THE ACTION
1. This action arises from manipulations of North Sea Brent Crude Oil Market (defined herein) by Defendants Shell International Trading and Shipping Company Limited (“STASCO”), Shell Trading US Company, BP pic (“BP”), BP America, Inc., BP Corporation North America Inc., Statoil ASA (“Statoil”), Statoil US Holdings Inc. (“Statoil US”), Morgan Stanley Capital Group, Inc. (“MSCGI”), Trafigura Beheer B.V., Trafigura AG, Phibro Trading LLC (“Phibro”), Phibro Commodities Limited, Vitol, S.A. (“Vitol”), Vitol, Inc., Hess Energy Trading Company, LLC (“HETCO”), Mercuria Energy Trading S.A., Mercuria Energy Trading, Inc., (collectively, “Defendants”) since at least 2002 through the present (the “Class Period”).read more
Law360, New York (April 07, 2015, 6:31 PM ET) — Two Royal Dutch Shell PLC affiliates on Tuesday urged a New York federal court to dismiss them from a multidistrict litigation accusing them of manipulating crude oil futures, arguing that the plaintiffs haven’t alleged facts to justify the affiliates being named in the suit.
Shell Trading (US) Co. and Shell International Trading and Shipping Co. Ltd., which replaced Royal Dutch Shell in the suit after the plaintiffs filed their second amended complaint in February, urged the court to dismiss claims accusing them of participating in a…read more
Oct 10th, 2014
by John Donovan.
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The latest development follows the Libor rigging scandal and the raids carried out in May 2014 on the oil majors BP, Shell and Statoil, seeking evidence of manipulation of oil prices.
By John Donovan
On Tuesday, investigators for the EU Commission raided several companies producing and trading in biofuels.
According to the commission, the surprise inspections resulted from possible collusion when submitting price information to a price reporting agency.
The latest development follows the Libor rigging scandal and the raids carried out in May 2014 on BP, Shell and Statoil, in an investigation seeking evidence of oil price manipulation.
More information can be found in a Financial Times article by Alex Barker: read more
Sep 29th, 2014
by John Donovan.
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By John Donovan
A selection of current news articles about Royal Dutch Shell from around the globe:
Oil price fixing
According to a Bloomberg article published by energyvoice.com, the UK is considering whether to criminalize manipulation of the world’s most-traded crude-futures market.
Extract
The UK is toughening the rules after the rigging of Libor and related gauges resulted in $6.5 billion in fines for at least 10 companies. European Union antitrust authorities raided the offices of companies including BP Plc, Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Statoil ASA in May 2013 amid allegations of collusion and price manipulation in crude, refined products and biofuels markets.read more
Jul 29th, 2014
by John Donovan.
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Extracts from a Reuters article by Jonathan Stempel published Tuesday 29 July 2014
(Reuters) – BP Plc, Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Morgan Stanley and other companies urged a U.S. judge to dismiss nationwide litigation claiming they conspired for 12 years to fix prices of Brent crude oil, a benchmark for the cost of gasoline and heating oil.
In papers filed on Monday night in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, the defendants said there was no evidence they colluded to manipulate spot prices or intended to do so, in violation of U.S. commodity and antitrust laws.
They also said that because the alleged manipulation took place outside the United States and was governed by foreign law, U.S. courts had no authority to handle the case to begin with.read more
May 24th, 2014
by John Donovan.
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By John Donovan
An article published yesterday in Italy reports that Shell Italy SpA been convicted of abuse of a dominant position by using discriminatory practices in the fuel distribution market, affecting retail fuel prices. This was before Royal Dutch Shell sold its Italian retail network to Q8 (Kuwait Petroleum).
Such manipulation cannot possibly be in accordance with Shell’s claimed business principles.
Printed below is a Google translation of the article into English. Happy to substitute a more accurate translation if anyone cares to supply it. read more
May 12th, 2014
by John Donovan.
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By Gaspard Sebag, Lananh Nguyen and Andy Hoffman: Bloomberg News 12 May 2014
Twelve months after raiding oil companies and Platts in a hunt for evidence of possible manipulation of price benchmarks, European Union officials are looking for a breakthrough. On May 14 last year, EU investigators had to leap into a taxi cab to Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA)’s trading floor on the Strand in central London after arriving at the wrong destination — the company’s London head office on the opposite side of the River Thames – according to one person familiar with the antitrust raids on that day. Lawyers say such mishaps are common during so-called surprise inspections — especially where officials lack the guiding hand of an immunity applicant. “All Shell companies fully cooperated with the EU commission during the inspection at our offices and will continue to do so as the commission’s investigation proceeds,” Ross Whittam, a company spokesman said.read more
May 12th, 2014
by John Donovan.
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Shell staff were reminded recently of the obligation to be truthful if called upon to testify under oath. They were also reminded that even when testifying as a Shell employee on behalf of Shell, they were personally liable for the consequences of any untruths or misleading statements that they made.
DEFINITION OF PERJURY: The deliberate, willful giving of false, misleading, or incomplete testimony under oath.
From a Regular Contributor
I heard on the grapevine that Shell staff were reminded recently of the obligation to be truthful if called upon to testify under oath. They were also reminded that even when testifying as a Shell employee on behalf of Shell, they were personally liable for the consequences of any untruths or misleading statements that they made.
It may seem surprising to some people that senior Shell staff needed to be reminded of their legal obligation to be truthful when testifying. I also understand that some Shell employees were surprised to learn that they were personally liable for the consequences of any misleading statements they made when testifying on behalf of their employer.read more
Apr 30th, 2014
by John Donovan.
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Extracts from a Bloomberg News article by Bob Van Voris published 29 April 2014
Mercuria Energy Trading SA and a Hess Corp. (HES:US) unit were added as defendants to a lawsuit claiming they conspired with oil companies including BP Plc (BP/), Statoil ASA (STL) and Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA) to manipulate Brent crude oil prices. “By providing false or inaccurate information and engaging in false or sham trading, defendants undermined the entire pricing structure for the Brent crude oil physical and futures markets,” the investors claimed in their new complaint.read more
Apr 23rd, 2014
by John Donovan.
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Extract from an article by Roland Gribben published by The Telegraph on 22 April 2014
Brent Oil, the pricing benchmark for two thirds of the world’s oil supply, is “crumbling” and is in urgent need of reform, a new study into the market argues. The study emerges as oil companies, traders and agencies responsible for reporting and monitoring prices examine the scope for changes to restore confidence and limit EU or US intervention and regulation they fear would be damaging and costly. A European Commission team raided the head offices of BP, Shell and Statoil as well as the London offices of Platts, the leading price reporting agency, last year in the search for evidence of price fixing and business behaviour similar to the rigging of the Libor benchmark by banks.read more
Apr 7th, 2014
by John Donovan.
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Seems to me that the Kuwait government is being very diplomatic and the word “corruption” should be substituted for “irregularities.” In my experience, despite pledges to the contrary in its sham ethical code, Shell senior management is content to turn a blind eye to corruption. Lets face it, the entire Royal Dutch Shell Group was built on illegal activity, including oil price fixing.
By John Donovan
A question of possible “irregularities” seem to have arisen in relation to an $800 million service contract awarded to Shell by the state owned Kuwait Oil Company.
Extracts from a report filed by the Kuwait News Agency:
Minister of Oil Ali Al-Omair underlined that the government will not condone or cover up any irregularities in petroleum sector deals and it will take all necessary action to protect public funds. Since its signature in February 2010, the five-year contract with Shell was the subject of much debate in Kuwait. The former parliament had formed a special committee to probe procedures leading to the awarding of the enhanced technical services agreement to Shell. The contract was awarded to Shell to help Kuwait develop its newly-discovered non-associated natural gas fields in the north of the country, after initial production hurdles.read more
Mar 25th, 2014
by John Donovan.
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Peter Rees QC
“Rees’ departure from Shell prompted much speculation in the City, given the company’s recent profit warnings, the on-going European Commission investigation into oil price-rigging and the arrival of new CEO Ben van Beurden.”Mr Rees has refused to comment on the circumstances of his unexpected and unexplained departure from Royal Dutch Shell during a financial crisis.
By John Donovan
Peter Rees, until January Legal Director of Royal Dutch Shell Plc and an executive director of the company, has resurfaced at London Chambers “Thirty Nine Essex Street” as a counsel and commercial arbitrator. A considerable fall in prestige. He led a 1,000 strong legal department at Shell.
The reason for his sudden department from Shell days before the company issued a profits warning that shook the markets was said to be known by only three people other than Rees- Peter Voser, the retiring CEO, Ben van Beurden, the incoming CEO, and HR boss, Hugh Mitchell.read more
Mar 23rd, 2014
by John Donovan.
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It would be ironic if Shell, a company that was publicly exposed for engaging in spying, undercover activities and dirty tricks operations against its perceived enemies, such as Greenpeace and John Donovan, are exposed again, this time by government secret surveillance programs.
By Washington Observer
Over the last year or so there have been a number of revelations about the telecom data collection capabilities of the National Security Agency and how those capabilities have been used – see informative Washington Post article index facility: “NSA Secrets.”
We shall presume that given the treaty arrangements between the US and the UK (and Canada, New Zealand, and Australia) that the British Secret Service is also involved in similar activities and that there is a great deal of cooperation between the agencies.read more
Mar 6th, 2014
by John Donovan.
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Extracts from an article byAlex Lawlerpublished on 6 March 2014 by Reuters
BP says U.S., Asia regulators ask for details after EU price probe
(Reuters) – BP Plc said regulators from the United States and Asia have asked it for information after the European Commission’s started an investigation last year into suspected manipulation of oil prices. London-based BP, Europe’s second-largest oil company, made the disclosure in its annual report released on Thursday. Last May, European authorities raided offices of BP, and Royal Dutch Shell and Statoil in an investigation of suspected price manipulation. “Related inquiries and requests for information have also been received from U.S. and other regulators following the European Commission’s actions,” BP said in its 2013 annual report, published on its website.read more
Feb 11th, 2014
by John Donovan.
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Straining to solve a problem that might be illusory, European regulators soon might create real problems by increasing the volatility of an important crude oil price marker. Worried that shenanigans might reach beyond financial markets, the EC expanded its proposal to encompass commodities, including oil. In May, the EC and European Free Trade Association Surveillance Authority unveiled investigations into suspicions that representatives of Shell, BP, and Statoil had distorted trading information they provided Platts. Results of those probes have yet to be reported.read more
OVER 500 EXTERNAL PUBLICATIONS CITING OUR SHELL WEBSITES
See our link list of over 500 articles by the FT, Wall Street Journal, Reuters, Bloomberg, Forbes, Dow Jones Newswires, New York Times, CNBC etc, plus UK House of Commons Select Committee Hansard records, information on U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission websiteetc. all containing references to our Shell focussed websites, or our website founders Alfred and John Donovan. Includes TV documentary features in English and German, newspaper and magazine articles, radio interviews, newsletters etc. Plus academic papers, Stratfor intelligence reports and UK, U.S. and Australian state/parliamentary publications, also citing our Shell websites. Click on this link to see the entire list, all in date order with a link to an index of over 100 books also containing references to our websites and/or our activities.
John Donovan, the website owner A head-cut image of Alfred Donovan (now deceased) appears courtesy of The Wall Street Journal.
JOHN DONOVAN, THE OWNER OF THIS AND SEVERAL OTHER SHELL FOCUSSED WEBSITES
SHELL PRELUDE TO DISASTER
The links below are to a series of articles, many triggered by a well-placed whistleblower directly involved in the pioneering Royal Dutch Shell Prelude project. Includes articles by Mr Bill Campbell above, the retired distinguished HSE Group Auditor of Shell International and another retired Shell guru with a track record of spotting potential pitfalls in major Shell projects.
The campaign waged on this website by John Donovan to persuade Edward Heerema to rename the worlds biggest ship, The Pieter Schelte - which he named after his late father, Pieter Schelte Heerema, a former Officer in the German Waffen-SS - has been successful. On Friday 6 February 2015, Allseas announced that it was changing the ships name, and on 9 February announced the new name - Pioneering Spirit.
GLOBAL NEWS COVERAGE: FEBRUARY 2010
MORE INFORMATION: Contact details for over 176,000 employees and contractors of Royal Dutch Shell reached John Donovan and some environmental and human rights groups, ostensibly from disaffected Shell staff calling for a “peaceful corporate revolution” at the company. The database, from Shell’s internal directory, contained names and telephone numbers for all the company’s work force worldwide, including some home numbers. It was supplied with a 170 page covering note, explaining that it was being circulated by “116 concerned employees of Shell dispersed throughout the USA, the UK, and the Netherlands”, to highlight the harm done by the company’s operations in Nigeria. John Donovan brought the leak to the attention of Shell. Tests proved that the data was authentic and he destroyed the database after being informed by Mr. Richard Wiseman, the then Chief Ethics & Compliance Officer of Royal Dutch Shell Plc, that the confidential information if publicly disclosed, could put Shell employees and contractors in real danger.
This is not a Shell website. That fact should be abundantly plain from the overall content of this home page and our sister Shell focussed websites, including shellnazihistory.com. Click on the Disclaimer link at top of this page for more information. You Can Be Sure Shell does not endorse or approve of this website. There are no subscription charges nor do we solicit or accept donations. It is an entirely free to use website drawing attention to the negative side of Shell while also publishing positive news about the company. The Shell logo image with the white text used on this website, as per the above example, is in the public domain because its copyright has expired and its author is anonymous. It can be found on WIKIMEDIA COMMONS. Our shellenergy.websitepublishes Shell Energy customer complaints posted on Trustpilot where there is an ample supply. Use this link for Shell’s own website.
Shell Breaking News
Shell Renewables Head to Leave Amid Fossil Fuel ShiftJune 30, 2023 14:49Financial PostBreadcrumb Trail Links PMN Business Shell Plc’s European renewable power boss Thomas Brostrom has decided to leave the company as the oil supermajor revises its strategy to focus more investment into fossil fuels. Author of the article: Bloomberg News …
Shell and BP take a beating as bank woes hit crude pricesMarch 15, 2023 17:36Proactive InvestorsBP PLC (LSE:BP.) and Royal Dutch Shell PLC (LSE:SHEL, NYSE:SHEL) shares have taken a hit, dropping over 8%, due to a sell-off in the banking sector.
The natural resources market has been volatile, with Brent Crude and West Texas Intermediate falling by 4- …
Shell CEO Pay Up 50%March 9, 2023 21:23Manufacturing Business TechnologyCEO of Royal Dutch Shell Ben van Beurden speaks at a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, June 21, 2017. Shell paid outgoing Chief Executive Ben van Beurden a total of 9.7 million pounds ($11.5 million) in 2022 as the …
Former Shell CEO's pay jumped 53% to $11.5m in 2022March 9, 2023 11:17Gulf NewsBen van Beurden, chief executive officer of Royal Dutch Shell, speaks during the 26th World Gas Conference in Paris, France, June 2, 2015
Image Credit: Reuters
London: Shell's former chief executive, Ben van Beurden, received a pay package of 9.7 …
SHELL’S ROLE IN NIGERIAN OPL 245 BRIBERY SCANDAL
Whatever fig leaves they might be trying to use to hide the truth, Shell and Eni paid over $1bn to a company called Malabu for the OPL 245 licence. Even though the payment was channelled through the Nigerian government, it was clear that Shell knew that the ultimate beneficiary was Dan Etete, the former minister of petroleum. Etete is the owner of Malabu, to whom he awarded the licence when he was Nigerian Minister of Petroleum.
Royal Dutch Shell conspired directly with Hitler, financed the Nazi Party, was anti-Semitic and sold out its own Dutch Jewish employees to the Nazis. Shell had a close relationship with the Nazis during and after the reign of Sir Henri Deterding, an ardent Nazi, and the founder and decades long leader of the Royal Dutch Shell Group. His burial ceremony, which had all the trappings of a state funeral, was held at his private estate in Mecklenburg, Germany. The spectacle (photographs below) included a funeral procession led by a horse drawn funeral hearse with senior Nazis officials and senior Royal Dutch Shell directors in attendance, Nazi salutes at the graveside, swastika banners on display and wreaths and personal tributes from Adolf Hitler and Reichsmarschall, Hermann Goring. Deterding was an honored associate and supporter of Hitler and a personal friend of Goring.
Deterding was the guest of Hitler during a four day summit meeting at Berchtesgaden. Sir Henri and Hitler both had ambitions on Russian oil fields. Only an honored personal guest would be rewarded with a private four day meeting at Hitler’s mountain top retreat.
MORE INFORMATION
Shell appeased and collaborated with the Nazis. The oil giant instructed its employees in the Netherlands to complete a form giving particulars about their descent, which for some, amounted to a self-declared death warrant. Shell used slave labor and was a close business partner in Germany of I.G. Farben, the notorious Nazi run chemical giant that also used slave labor and supplied the Zyklon-B gas used during the Holocaust to exterminate millions of people, including children. Shell continued the partnership with the Nazis in the years after the retirement of Sir Henri and even after his death. It was money generated on Shell forecourts around the world, profiteering from cartel oil prices, that funded the Nazi party and saved it from financial collapse. Evidence about Shell's Nazi connections can be found in extracts from "A History of Royal Dutch Shell" Volumes 1 and 2 authored by historians paid by Shell, who had unrestricted access to Shell archives. There are 67 pages in total, so takes some time to download.
Photograph (full size here) shows a Swastika flag flying at the head office of Royal Dutch Petroleum, 30 Carel van Bylandtlaan, The Hague, during the Nazi occupation of the in World War II (From Image Database Hague Municipal)
Sir Henri Deterding, the founder of the Royal Dutch Shell Group - known as "The Most Powerful Man in the World" - who became an ardent Nazi and financial supporter of Hitler and the Nazi party.
Reading between the lines in various legal documents, it seems that the allegations are that after the technology in question had been disclosed to a Shell company in the USA, the information was passed to Shell in the Netherlands in breach of confidentiality. And Royal Dutch Shell subsequently exploited the technology without payment or credit to the company holding the rights; Newton Research Partners. The inference seems to be that Twister B.V. was founded by Shell partly on trade secrets stolen from Bloom/Newton.
DISCLAIMER: This is not a Shell website nor is it officially endorsed by or affiliated with Royal Dutch Shell Plc. Originally co-founded by the late Alfred Donovan and his son John, it is now operated by John, Shell's "No.1 Enemy", aided by an expert team, with invaluable support from retired Shell senior executives and officials as guest contributors and leaked information from Shell insiders. (JOHN DONOVAN, WEBSITE OWNER) For nearly a decade, we have operated globally under the Royal Dutch Shell Plc top level domain name, dealing on Shell’s reluctant behalf with job applications, business proposals, Shell pension enquiries, shareholder enquiries, complaints, invitations to speak at conferences, an approach from the Dutch Defence Ministry and even terrorist threats. All meant for Shell. Prospect magazine has aptly described this website as being:"An open wound for Shell": WIPO proceedings by Shell to seize the domain name failed. NO SUBSCRIPTION CHARGES: All of our watchdog activities monitoring Royal Dutch Shell, including operating this website, are carried out on a non-profit basis. Any advertising revenues generated are used to recover and/or defray operational costs. We are a news aggregator and original content website. All information is available free for educational and research purposes. SHELL TACIT ENDORSEMENT: WHAT A WELL INFORMED SHELL OFFICIAL SAID ABOUT US:
"John and Alfred Donovan well known in UK/Hague. They perceive Shell played them and so have made it their mission to embarrass,belittle and criticize Shell, which they do quite well. Their website, royaldutchshellplc.com is an excellent source of group news and comment and I recommend it far above what our own group internal comms puts out."
WARNING TO SHELL EMPLOYEES: Shell Global Affairs Security "CAS") is spying on Shell employees globally trying to trace who is visiting, posting, or leaking information to this website from Shell premises. Threats, including death threats, have allegedly been made against conscience driven Shell whistleblowers supplying us with information. The worlds biggest leak of employee details as part of a claimed corporate revolution by 116 Shell employees, suggest the espionage operation, threats and draconian litigation have not been entirely successful in cutting off the supply of information to this website. The insider leaks had already cost Shell billions on the Sakhalin Energy project and the loss of SEIC Deputy Chairman, David Greer. We publish our own carefully researched articles about Shell e.g. "How Royal Dutch Shell saved Hitler and the Nazi Party". MEDIA COVERAGE: Prospect Magazine, The Sunday Times, and The Guardian, have all published major articles about us: "Rise of the Gripe Site";"Two men and a website mount vendetta against Shell' and "92-year-old's website leaves oil giant Shell-shocked”. SHELL PETROL STATION images displayed in the website header panel are licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Information on copyright issues here.
John Donovan can be contacted at [email protected]
SHELL’S $500,000 WEDDING GIFT TO CORRUPT BRUNEI ROYAL FAMILY
EXTRACT FROM ASIAN JOURNAL ARTICLE IN LIST OF LINKS BELOW: "Fireworks will light up the sky for three nights. The local unit of oil giant Royal Dutch Shell has donated 500,000 Brunei dollars (US$292,400; euro 243,700) for the display, and for cultural events to be hosted by popular performers from Malaysia."
IN JULY 2007, MR BILL CAMPBELL (ABOVE, A RETIRED GROUP AUDITOR OF SHELL INTERNATIONAL SENT AN EMAIL TO EVERY UK MP AND MEMBER OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS:
THIS IS WHAT IT SAID:
Subject: This could be the most important whistleblower email you have ever received.
Some unfortunate Royal Dutch Shell workers have already lost their lives. More lives are at stake.
My name is Bill Campbell. I am a former Group Auditor of Shell International. I am writing to you on a matter of conscience in an effort to avert the inevitability of another major accident in the North Sea. The consequences could potentially impact on families in many constituencies, including your own.
As Royal Dutch Shell and the Health & Safety Executive would acknowledge, I am an expert on safety matters relating to offshore oil and gas platforms. In 1999, I was appointed by Shell to lead a safety audit on the Brent Bravo platform. The audit revealed a platform management culture that basically gave a higher priority to production than the safety of Shell employees. To our astonishment we discovered that a "Touch F*** All" policy was in place. Worse still, safety records were routinely falsified and repairs bodged.
I personally brought the shocking situation to the attention of senior management including Malcolm Brinded, the then Managing Director of Shell Exploration & Production. I revealed that ESDV leak-off tests were purposely falsified, not once but many times and that Brent Bravo platform management had admitted responsibility for the dangerous practices being followed. In response to my team ringing alarm bells, management pledged to rectify the serious problems which had been uncovered.
When I later complained that the pledges were not being kept, I was removed from my oversight function.
Four years later, a massive gas leak occurred on the platform. Two workers lost their lives. I have no doubt at all that the inaction of the relevant Asset Manager, the General Manager, the Oil Director and Malcolm Brinded, contributed in some part to the unlawful killing of two persons on Brent Bravo in September 2003.
Shell subsequently pleaded guilty to breaches of the HSE regulations and a record-breaking £900,000 fine was imposed. I thought this would bring about a real change in policy to put the emphasis on safety.
Unfortunately I was wrong. Although I supplied the evidence related to 1999, and the fact that there had been a collapse in controls of integrity from 1999 to 2003 on all 16 of Shell's North Sea offshore installations covered in a post fatality integrity review to the HSE for review by the Procurator Fiscal, none of this evidence was presented before the Sheriff at the subsequent Inquiry. The situation is explained in a letter to the Procurator Fiscal and the Sheriff (on 24th February 2007).
Shell management has engaged in spin to try to pretend that it is getting to grips with its safety problem. However, its atrocious safety record - the worst in the North Sea in terms of accidental deaths and absolute number of enforcement actions – tells a different story. This fact has resulted in a number of newspaper articles.
I have had meetings with senior Shell people including its CEO Mr. Jeroen van der Veer. I regret to say that I have found him to be economical with the truth. He prefers to support cover-up and deceit rather than confronting the underlying problems. Brinded is now Executive Director of Shell Exploration & Production. He believes in burying evidence.
My family and friends would probably prefer me to give up on this matter and enjoy my retirement after so many years working for Shell.
However, by writing to every MP in the UK, no one can ever say that I did not do my best to avert an inevitable further major accident event in the North Sea. When it happens (I pray that I am wrong) I will make this warning communication available to the media together with the vast amount of evidence in my possession.
At least my conscience is clear. I have done everything possible to ring the alarm bells about Shell management and its unscrupulous attitude to the safety of its employees.
Yours sincerely
Bill Campbell
ENDS
(Malcolm Brinded and Jeroen van der Veer are no longer with Shell. The Oil Director referred to in the email is Chris Finlayson, who left Shell to become Chief Executive of British Gas before being fired - his photo immediately below)
SIR PHILIP WATTS, THE GROUP CHAIRMAN OF ROYAL DUTCH SHELL GROUP, FORCED TO RESIGN IN 2004
Shell’s reputation was destroyed in 2004 after FIVE consecutive cuts to its hydrocarbon reserves covering 55% of its total reserves. US and UK financial regulators imposed $150 million in fines on Shell for securities fraud. Shell was also rocked by class action lawsuits. Sir Philip Watts
and Walter van de Vijver (whose headcut images appear courtesy of The Wall Street Journal) were among the Shell executives forced to resign. More details at the foot of this column.
MORE DETAILS: The Shell reserves scandal brought about
the end of the Royal Dutch Shell Group in its original form as an Anglo-Dutch partnership.
Shell Transport & Trading Co and Royal Dutch Petroleum were unified into a single Dutch owned company - Royal Dutch Shell Plc.
Sir Philip turned to religion and is now a very wealthy priest after receiving a payoff/pension package from Shell reportedly worth $18.5 million. Walter van de Vijver in contrast was the victim of a sadistic sacking by his Shell senior management backstabbing colleagues.
Displayed below are some of the spectacular promotional campaigns my company Don Marketing created for Shell in the 1980s and 1990s. This was before the series of SIX high court actions we brought against Shell for stealing ideas (4) and for defamation (2) - all settled by Shell. This website is a permanent response by me to the malicious underhand tactics, including treachery, espionage and intimidation, used by Shell during and after the bouts of litigation. More information is printed at the foot of this column.
MORE DETAILS: After a solicitor acting for Shell threatened to make the litigation "drawn out and difficult" with the intention of draining the resources of a financially weaker opponent, my late father (Alfred Donovan) and I decided to mount a wide-ranging campaign as a counter-measure. We jointly founded the Shell Corporate Conscience Pressure Group, which nearly 15% of Shell UK retailers joined. We regularly conducted ethical surveys involving up to 1500 Shell petrol stations. All responses were opened and authenticated by an independent solicitor who supplied Affidavits confirming the results. In whole page announcements in trade magazines (examples above) we challenged Shell to commission and publish the resuits of independent research asking the same questions and offering respondents GUARANTEED anonymity. Shell never took up the invitation. Instead it asked the UK Advertising Standards Authority to investigate our Shell surveys. No problems were found. The head-cut image of Alfred Donovan appears courtesy of The Wall Street Journal.
SHELL CONTROVERSIES
selection of memorable warnings/articles/images associated with the controversial track record of Royal Dutch Shell.
WARNING: DO NOT DISCLOSE YOUR IDEAS TO SHELL GameChanger OR SHELL Ideas360 WITHOUT TAKING EVERY POSSIBLE PRECAUTION. Shell management has ample funds to pay for intellectual property but prefers to steal it from small businesses and in our experience, gives its full backing to dishonest managers willing to do its bidding. We have sued Shell repeatedly in the High Court for the theft of our Intellectual Property. It is doubtful if anyone can match our dire experience in dealing with this ruthless unscrupulous serial poacher of other parties ideas. Expect threats, legal machinations and sinister action from Shell and its spooks if you object to having your ideas stolen.
Some years ago extensive documentary evidence was brought to the attention of Malcolm Brinded above, when he was Chairman of Shell UK, proving beyond any doubt that Shell executives had conspired to rig a tender for a major contract. A number of innocent firms were deliberately lured into signing confidentiality agreements and disclosing Intellectual Property to Shell under false pretences, in a carefully contrived plot. The firm which was awarded the contract never took part in the tender. One objective of the Machiavellian plan was to stop/delay IP trade secrets owned by the participants in the tender from being disclosed to Shell's rivals. This was achieved by outright deception, without paying a cent to the firms involved, who wrongly believed they were participating in an honest tender. Instead of sacking the ring leader, AJL - who had a personal relationship with the firm which miraculously won the race in which it never ran - Shell senior directors, including Brinded, gave AJL their full backing. Some of the Shell executives involved, including for example, Tim Hannagan, still hold high positions inside Shell - in his case, Global Brand and Visual Identity Manager. If Shell does not accept that this is a true, provable account of what happened, then it should sue for libel. How on earth is such predatory conduct compatible with Shell's claimed business principles?