Screenshots from a Fox Business video of an interview with Royal Dutch Shell CEO Ben van Beurden on 4 Sept 2014 shows the uncertainty that surrounds Shell. Mr van Beurden bluntly made it clear at the May 2014 Shell AGM that Shell’s priority is what is in the economic interests of Shell shareholders, not geopolitical concerns i.e. the invasion of Crimea. That explains why he happily bowed to Putin days after the annexation. Whatever the spin, ethics and moral issues are ruthlessly put to one side. The lack of scruples by companies such as Shell, has encouraged the Putin regime. Driven by the same motive, access to hydrocarbon reserves, Shell also connived with Hitler in his territorial ambitions. More recently, Shell traded with Iran despite US sanctions and Shell spin to the contrary. Like in relation to Shell’s claimed business principles, it is Shell’s deeds, not the mixed messages, which count.
President Putin
Shell CEO on global turmoil’s impact
Potential Bad News for Royal Dutch Shell and BP
By John Donovan
An article by Matthew Smith published by Seeking Alpha warns about the potential adverse impact on the share value of companies with “exposure” in Russia, such as BP and Royal Dutch Shell.
The CEO of Shell, Ben van Beurden, is well aware of the risk to Shell’s Russian assets and future prospects, which explains his humiliating bowing to President Putin when they met just weeks after the Russian invasion and annexation of Crimea. Obviously a believer in appeasement.
Royal Dutch Shell News Roundup 25 August 2014
RUSSIA
Jeroen van der Veer, the former Royal Dutch Shell CEO who evaded responsibility for his role in the cover-up of the Shell reserves fraud, claims that the sanctions against Russia are not working and are counter-productive. This analysis comes from the man who badly misjudged the Putin regime in 2006 and as a result, ended up meekly surrendering Shell’s majority stake in the Sakhalin 2 project.
- RELATED: Jeroen van der Veer: a candid assessment by Paddy Briggs
- RELATED: Jeroen van der Veer: Hypocrite Supreme
UK
The British government has just introduced a rule requiring oil, gas and mining companies registered in the UK to disclose all payments made to the governments of countries in which they operate. The new rule, which comes into force in 2015, is designed to result in greater transparency, something alien to oil companies such as Shell. Problems may arise in relation to Nigeria where Shell has a decades long history of corruption involving a succession of odious regimes.
Russia Sanctions Failing to Stanch Energy Deals With Japan
By John Donovan
Nato says that Russia has amassed 20,000 combat-ready troops on the border of eastern Ukraine.
The US and the EU have stepped up sanction measures on Russia moving from targeted to sector sanctions.
Unfortunately for Royal Dutch Shell its current business and future prospects depend on maintaining good relations with Putin.
Hence the bootlicking by Shell CEO Ben van Beurden when he met with Putin following the Russian invasion and annexation of Crimea.
The Sakhalin II project in which Shell used to be the majority stakeholder still remains an important asset to the oil and gas giant. Sanctions may yet impact on Sakhalin II.
The grief of Ben van Beurden
Extracts from a Daily Mail/This is MONEY” article by Rob Davies published 31 July 2014 under the headline: “Energy lift boosts shares in Royal Dutch Shell and BG Group after both post strong second quarter results”
Boss Ben van Beurden has vowed to sell underperforming assets and be more selective about spending, after beginning his tenure in January with the firm’s first profit warning in a decade. Van Beurden said Shell was ‘less exposed than some of our rivals’ to the impact of sanctions on Russia after the downing of Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 over Ukraine. But he focused on the emotional impact on Shell, which lost four staff and eight members of their families. ‘As a Dutchman, of course, I grieve for the many compatriots who lost their lives in this crash,’ he said. ‘Then, as CEO of Shell, I grieve together with the other 92,000 Shell staff for the colleagues we lost, together with so many of their family members.’
Shell Leaves Business Strategy for Russia Unchanged Despite Sanctions
British oil giant is determined to continue its work in Russia and will not change its business strategy in the country, despite the sanctions imposed against Moscow by the United States and European Union, representative of Shell’s press service told RIA Novosti on Friday.
MOSCOW, July 25 (RIA Novosti) – British oil giant is determined to continue its work in Russia and will not change its business strategy in the country, despite the sanctions imposed against Moscow by the United States and European Union, representative of Shell’s press service told RIA Novosti on Friday.
“Shell continues to run business in Russia both in the upstream and downstream without any changes. We monitor the situation regarding the sanctions. But so far there have been no changes in either the business itself or in the business strategy,” the source said.
The world is being held hostage
Extract from a NewsDay article by MARTIN SCHRAM published 23 July 2014 by McClatchy-Tribune News Service under the headline: “Schram: The world is being held hostage”
Royal Dutch Shell Playing Politics with Human Lives?
What is even more appalling is the fact that the oil giant Royal Dutch Shell, is the one behind the scene steering the affairs of the Dutch Government and practically playing politics with ‘human lives.’
By Zik Gbemre
RE: DESPITE ANGER OVER DOWNED JETLINER, EUROPE SHIES AWAY FROM SANCTIONS ON RUSSIA
We find it rather appalling that the custodians’ of society, in this case; the Netherlands, Russia and other European states plus the oil giant-Royal Dutch Shell, are more interested in ‘their pockets,’ thirst for power politics and their economy/business rather than ‘human life’ and high moral values enshrined in the rule of law and rights of its citizenry. That is how best we can describe the pathetic situation playing out between some European nations and Russia and Shell in the middle. Like the above article has noted, it is really sad that “despite anger over downed Jetliner, Europe is shying away from sanctions against Russia.” What is even more appalling is the fact that the oil giant Royal Dutch Shell, is the one behind the scene steering the affairs of the Dutch Government and practically playing politics with ‘human lives.’
‘Shell will try to prevent any sanctions against Russia’
Extracts from a New York Times article by Thomas Erdbrink published 23 July 2014 in the New York edition under the headline: “Despite Anger Over Downed Jetliner, Europe Shies Away From Sanctions on Russia”
Shell, the Anglo-Dutch oil giant, which has its head office in The Hague, is one of the largest foreign investors in Russian gas fields in Siberia. Shell is the largest corporation in the Netherlands, and its stock is widely held in the nation’s pension funds. If Shell loses money, the pensions of Dutch teachers, civil servants and many others suffer.
As a result, the ties between Shell and the government are extremely close, and the company’s welfare inevitably influences policy, analysts said.
Death of 193 Dutch Strains Russian Relations for Shell, Heineken
At one point the largest foreign investor in Russia, Shell declined to comment on whether its business would be affected after the downing of the plane. The company lost four employees in the incident, it said yesterday.
BloombergBusinessweek article by Celeste Perri, Maud van Gaal and Fred Pals published 22 July 2014
For centuries, the fortunes of the Netherlands, the wind-swept country carved out of North Sea wetlands, have relied on preserving the peace with its global trading partners. Last week’s downing of an airliner carrying 193 Dutch nationals is testing one of its most important relationships, involving companies from Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA) to Heineken NV. (HEIA)
The Netherlands was Russia’s third-biggest trading partner last year, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The Dutch, home to the busiest container port in Europe and the region’s biggest energy company, send dairy products, meat and machinery to Russia, which the U.S. says is complicit in the attack.
A Horrified Netherlands May Rethink Its Economic Ties With Russia
Extract from a BloombergBusinessweek article by Carol Matlack published 21 July 2014
The Netherlands, a nation of traders, generally doesn’t like to let politics interfere with business. The death of 193 Dutch nationals in the Malaysia Airlines jet crash could change that.
Major Dutch companies with business interests in Russia also are drawing fire for their relations with President Vladimir Putin. “In April of this year, when the crisis over Crimea was at its height, [Royal Dutch Shell Chief Executive Officer] Ben van Beurden made a point of visiting Putin and saying that no matter the political situation, Shell and Russia had great plans for the future…”
Impact on Royal Dutch Shell from Putin’s Missile
The whole geopolitical situation has now become even more precarious following the deliberate shooting down of the Malaysian Airlines Flight MH-17. If that was not bad enough, it transpires that over 170 of the people on board the ill-fated flight were Dutch and three of the passengers were Shell employees. What will Ben van Beurden do if it is confirmed that the Sun front page headline today is accurate, bearing in mind that Putin has already annexed Crimea and is behind the rebels/terrorists trying to grab an even larger slice of the Ukraine for him?
By John Donovan
Shell’s relationship with Russia and the Ukraine became more difficult earlier this week when the USA escalated sanctions against Russia, targeting in particular Russian energy giant Rosneft and Gazprombank, the financial arm of Gazprom.
Rosneft and Gazprom are controlled by the corrupt and aggressive Putin regime. Both companies have important business dealings with Shell.
Shell has already pledged to comply with all international sanctions against Russia, but the pledge seems at odds with grovelling comments made to Putin on 18 April 2014 by Royal Dutch Shell CEO, Ben van Beurden.
Ukraine Discomfort for Shell and Chevron
Shell entered into the deal in 2013 with then Putin puppet President Viktor Yanukovych, before he was ousted. As can be seen in the FT article, Shell and Chevron are now both trying to hide behind claimed business principles. Its a bit late for that.
By John Donovan
The Financial Times has published an article about the uncomfortable position of Shell and Chevron in the Ukraine crisis.
Extract
Getting caught up in a war zone ranks among the worst-case scenarios for an oil company. This has happened to Royal Dutch Shell in eastern Ukraine, where heavy fighting between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian military forces continues.
What is even worse is that both energy giants have Ukrainian partners in shale gas deals with dubious connections to the former regime, in a country famed for corruption.
For Western Oil Companies, Expanding in Russia Is a Dance Around Sanctions
Royal Dutch Shell Plc Chief Executive bows to President Putin during a meeting in Moscow April 2014: Maxim Shipenkov/European Pressphoto Agency
Extracts from a New York Times article by ANDREW E. KRAMER and STANLEY REED published in print 10 June 2014
Despite the push by Western governments to isolate Moscow for its aggression in Ukraine, energy giants are deepening their relationships with companies here by striking deals and plowing more money into the country. Royal Dutch Shell’s chief executive, Ben van Beurden, met with Mr. Putin in April and told him, “Now is the time to expand,” referring to a liquefied natural gas plant project. The companies are taking a calculated risk, given the threat of further sanctions. The risk for energy companies is that the next stage of sanctions, called the third phase, will be broader, cutting off dealings with major sectors of the economy like finance, metals and energy. The United States and its allies proposed such sanctions at a Group of 7 summit meeting in Brussels last week, to be carried out if the violence in Ukraine did not subside within a month.
China gets into bed with Putin
Extract from an Investors Chronicle article published 29 May 2014
In the week in which Prince Charles demonstrated that he had inherited his father’s gift for diplomacy, Russia and China finally signed a $400bn (£238bn) gas supply deal that had been a decade in the making. The timing couldn’t have been better, at least from a Russian perspective. With all the talk centred on the political impasse in Ukraine, and the necessity for Europe to diversify its gas supplies away from Russia, Gazprom promptly turned around and secured a huge new export market at a single stroke. What does the Gazprom deal mean for the likes of BG Group (BG.) and Royal Dutch Shell (RDSB), both of which have expanded their LNG capacity to tap into Chinese industrial growth?
Shell to expand investment in Russia
By John Donovan
Russian energy minister Alexander Novak boasted earlier today that Shell (and ExxonMobil) are expanding operations in Russia and the Russian Foreign Ministry has said energy cooperation should not be damaged by political tensions. See extracts below from a RIA Novosti article.
What the Putin regime is claiming is in absolute accordance with what the Royal Dutch Shell CEO Ben van Beurden was saying on Tuesday at the Shell AGM. He bluntly made it clear that Shell’s priority is what is in the economic interests of Shell shareholders, not geopolitical concerns i.e. the invasion of Crimea. That explains why he happily bowed to Putin on Good Friday after the annexation. Ethics and moral issues are put to one side.
Royal Dutch Shell shameful record of appeasement
By John Donovan
For nearly a hundred years the Royal Dutch Shell Group has appeased and collaborated with evil regimes including Nazi Germany, Nigeria, Brunei, Saudi Arabia, Libya, Iran, Iraq under Saddam Hussein, Apartheid South Africa and with Putin of Russia, despite his annexation of Sakhalin2 and Crimea. Anything to earn a buck irrespective of ethics, human rights abuses and massive corruption. Astonishingly, Shell claims to operate with a set of business principles. Shell’s latest CEO, Ben van Beurden, is shown bowing to Putin on 18 April 2014, soon after Russia had used force to annexe Crimea. No shame. No morals. Its just business. It is what Ben van Beurden describes as Shell’s “economic interests.” Following in the foot steps of the founder of the Royal Dutch Shell Group, the ardent Nazi, Sir Henri Deterding.
In Taking Crimea, Putin Gains a Sea of Fuel Reserves
Extracts from a New York Times article by William J. Broad published in print on 18 May 2014
When Russia seized Crimea in March, it acquired not just the Crimean landmass but also a maritime zone more than three times its size with the rights to underwater resources potentially worth trillions of dollars.
Russia portrayed the takeover as reclamation of its rightful territory, drawing no attention to the oil and gas rush that had recently been heating up in the Black Sea. But the move also extended Russia’s maritime boundaries, quietly giving Russia dominion over vast oil and gas reserves while dealing a crippling blow to Ukraine’s hopes for energy independence.
Oil prices poised to tumble
Extracts from an article by By Andrew Critchlow, Business News Editor of The Telegraph, published 12 May 2014 under the newspaper headline: “Oil prices poised to tumble as US toys with opening reserve stocks”
Oil prices are on the brink of possibly their biggest correction since the global financial crisis after Vladimir Putin’s gamble to use Russia’s crude as a political weapon backfired spectacularly on the Kremlin. A potent energy superpower, Russia had thought that it could use its status as the world’s largest oil producer and biggest exporter of natural gas through cross-border pipelines to intimidate and quite literally bully Western powers into submission over Ukraine. Regardless of the fracking revolution in the US, the world appears to be flooded with crude. Putin appears to have forgotten the lesson of his fallen Soviet comrades of the old communist order, and in meddling with world oil markets, he may have laid the foundations for his own economic demise.
Will Russia Be Royal Dutch Shell’s Savior?
Shell’s Ben van Beurden bows to Putin on Good Friday, 18 April 2014
Extract from an article by
Russia’s acquisition of Crimea has Germany uneasy about its dependence on Russian natural gas. Now Royal Dutch Shell can pat itself on the back for deciding to acquire significantly more LNG liquefaction capacity than its big oil peers by 2017. Europe’s gas situation is very complicated, but Shell is shaping up to be a big beneficiary of the current German-Russian angst.
Shell: not entering new Russia investments
Shell’s Ben van Beurden bows to Putin on Good Friday, 18 April 2014
Extracts from an article by AP Business Writer TOBY STERLING published 30 April 2014
AMSTERDAM (AP) – Royal Dutch Shell PLC says it will not be entering new investments in Russia anytime soon as tensions rise over the country’s confrontation with Ukraine. Chief Financial Officer Simon Henry said the company, Europe’s largest oil company, will continue to oversee its existing operations and will cooperate with any sanctions placed upon Russia by Western powers. Amid the uncertainty, however, it will hold back on starting new projects. Meanwhile, Henry defended a meeting this month between Shell CEO Ben van Beurden and Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying it should not be interpreted as the company taking sides in the Ukrainian crisis.
Bowing to Putin
Shell’s Ben van Beurden bows to Putin on Good Friday, 18 April 2014
By John Donovan
I have checked and thus far have been unable to find any photographs of Rex Tillerson (ExxonMobil) or Robert Dudley (BP) bowing in the slightest to Putin. It seems that only Royal Dutch Shell executives, Jeroen van der Veer, Peter Voser, and Ben van Beurden, have been prepared to stoop that low.
Shell says will comply with all international sanctions
Shell’s Ben van Beurden bows to Putin on Good Friday, 18 April 2014
Extract from a Reuters article by Karolin Schaps published 28 April 2014
Reuters) – Anglo-Dutch oil major Shell said it will comply with all international sanctions, following a United States government decision to impose sanctions against the head of Russian oil producer Rosneft. The U.S. on Monday slapped sanctions on seven Russian government officials and 17 companies linked to Russian President Vladimir Putin…
BP and Shell to be exposed as G7 plans for sectoral sanctions against Russia
Extract from Forex Live article by Mike Paterson published 28 April 2014
…part of the US plans looks likely to have a serious impact on UK energy giants BP and Shell The US Treasury is also eyeing some form of sanction against Gazprombank, the financial arm of the gas monopoly Gazprom. This would greatly complicate Shell’s joint operations with Gazprom…
RELATED: U.S. Sanctions Target Putin’s Inner Circle
Extract
The Obama administration imposed sanctions on seven Russian officials and 17 companies linked to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle involved in banking, energy and infrastructure. The list includes Igor Sechin, OAO Rosneft chief executive officer…
Royal Dutch Shell siding with Putin
Shell’s Ben van Beurden bows to Putin on Good Friday, 18 April 2014
Extracts from a Washington Post article published by The New Zealand Herald on Monday 28 April 2014 under the headline: “Big Oil and Putin’s big plans”
Last week, on the same day that national security adviser Susan Rice threatened that sanctions on “very significant sectors” of the Russian economy would be the price of Putin pushing further into Ukraine, the CEO of Royal Dutch Shell was visiting Putin’s residence, saying, “We are very keen to grow our position in the Russian Federation.” As Putin increasingly acts out his dreams of grandeur – his ridiculous Eurasian Union idea, his fantasies of restoring czarist “novorossiya” or the U.S.S.R. – he is testing the edges of his power. He wants to be seen as too big to fail. Big Oil siding with him could make those dreams come true.
BP and Shell exposed as US prepares first warning shot against Russia’s oil and gas industry
Firms may be forced to curtail operations as G7 
powers prepare to launch new sanctions
Extract from an article by Ambrose Evans-Pritchard published1:28PM BST 27 Apr 2014 by The Telegraph
Britain’s top energy companies face an extremely delicate situation as the world’s G7 powers prepare to launch the next wave of sanctions against Russia, and may be forced to curtail operations or freeze certain commercial ties with the country. The US, Japan, Germany, Britain, France, Italy and Canada have agreed to “intensify targeted sanctions to increase the costs of Russia’s actions” – possibly as soon as Monday… The G7 is for now holding back Iranian-style “stage 3” sanctions against the whole Russian banking system, mining industry, or the oil and gas nexus. This nuclear option… Both BP and Shell said they remain committed to their long-term investments in Russia but are monitoring the situation closely.
Posing with Russia’s president, Vladimir V. Putin
Shell’s Ben van Beurden bows to Putin on Good Friday, 18 April 2014
Extract from a New York Times article by
European Firms Seek to Minimize Russia Sanctions
BERLIN — With the showdown over Ukraine escalating and President Obama warning Moscow of a tough new round of sanctions, Russia and its allies in the European private sector are conducting a separate campaign to ensure that they can maintain their deep and longstanding economic ties even if the Kremlin orders further military action. No European industry has been as open in its support of Russia as the energy industry. Executives have publicly voiced skepticism about the effectiveness of sanctions, lobbied behind the scenes to head them off and traveled to Russia, on at least one occasion to pose with Russia’s president, Vladimir V. Putin.
Shell embroiled in Russian oligarch machinations
Extracts from an article by Josh Lewis published 25 April 2014 by upstreamonline.com under the headline:
“Rosneft ruffled over Gazprom”
Reuters reported that Igor Sechin, at a government meeting, said both Gazprom and Shell, which operate a gas project in the Pacific island of Sakhalin, were denying access to a trunk pipeline for its LNG project. Upstream reported on Friday that Shell is urging Russian President Vladimir Putin to step-in…
Sanctions not enough to deter hydrocarbon-hungry firms
Shell’s Ben van Beurden bows to Putin on Good Friday, 18 April 2014
Extract from a BusinessDay article published 26 April 2014
Shell also expressed commitment to its expansion projects in Russia. Ben van Beurden, chief executive of Royal Dutch Shell told Russian President, Vladimir Putin at a meeting recently. Shell plans to expand Russia’s only liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant with Russian partner Gazprom. Van Beurden said that Shell “are very keen to grow our position in the Russian Federation and we look forward with anticipation and confidence on a very long-term future here in Russia.” He confirmed that Shell had agreed with Gazprom to expand the Sakhalin-2 LNG plant which produces 10 million tonnes of LNG per year. The expansion plan is in line with Putin’s demand to boost production of LNG and double Russia’s global market share to around 10 percent by 2020. Putin said in his response said; “We, of course, will pledge all the necessary administrative guidance and support.”
Leveraging Big Oil to resolve the Ukrainian crisis
Shell’s Ben van Beurden bows to Putin on Good Friday, 18 April 2014
Extract from an article published 25 April 2014 by allvoices.com
Bloomberg’s Business Week reports that even while Western governments and Russia squared off over Ukraine, relations between the major energy companies — such as ExxonMobil, Royal Dutch Shell and BP — and Russia grew even cozier as they pursued the half a trillion dollar oil and gas joint venture deal in the Arctic and Siberia concluded in 2011. The implications are clear: Any comprehensive sanctions against Russia will have adverse effects on major Western energy companies. The strenuous efforts by Big Oil CEOs to reassure Putin that Obama’s sanction threats are empty threats have been noted by close watchers of the energy sector. While Obama and US Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice were threatening sanctions on Russia’s “very significant sectors,” Royal Dutch Shell’s CEO Ben Van Beurden met with Putin at his residence in the outskirts of Moscow and assured him, confidently, that his company’s business interests in Russia would not be sacrificed to international politics.
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A TV documentary feature about our co-founder John Alfred Donovan, has aired in many countries. A related article was published in 10 languages.
John is wrongly credited on zoominfo.com as being the founder, owner and Group Chairman of Royal Dutch Shell. He is, in fact, a long-term shareholder in Royal Dutch Shell Plc and its predecessor, Shell Transport & Trading Company Limited.
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.
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: 
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A head-cut image of Alfred Donovan (now deceased) appears courtesy of The Wall Street Journal.
