The UK’s workplace safety watchdog has reprimanded Shell following a gas leak on the Brent Bravo platform in November.

Written by Mark Lammey – 17/01/2018 11:38 am

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) said Shell has failed to “prevent the uncontrolled release of flammable or explosive substances”.

Its inspector accused the oil major of failing to ensure valves on the rig were kept in “efficient working order and in good repair”.

Shell has been given until March 8 to comply with the improvement notice.

A spokesman for Shell UK said: “Shell UK can confirm that we were issued with an HSE improvement notice on 8^th December 2017 in relation to a small hydrocarbon release on our Brent Bravo platform in the North Sea. read more

By John Donovan 

After all the Royal Dutch Shell senior management promises to improve safety on Shell North Sea platforms, serious incidents continue to occur. 

EnergyVoice.com is reporting that Shell workers have today been evacuated from the Brent Alpha and Bravo platforms after a crane dropped a large container into the North Sea. 

Extracts

The container, which was in the process of being winched onto a support vessel when the incident unfolded, initially rested dangerously close to a mass of subsea pipelines which connect into the Far North Liquids & Associated Gas System (Flags) pipeline. read more

A safety audit on the Brent Bravo platform in 1999 led by Bill Campbell exposed a “Touch F*** All” culture with safety records routinely falsified. The damning audit report was passed to then Shell EP director Malcolm Brinded, who made promises to remedy the situation that were not kept. Instead Brinded decided to put profits before safety. Hence the subsequent deadly explosion followed by a cover-up at the highest level of Royal Dutch Shell. It seems from recently published articles that despite all the pledges and the appointment of a so-called safety Czar, nothing has changed.

By John Donovan

In 2005, Shell received a record breaking fine of £900,000 at Stonehaven Sheriff Court, for a series of safety failings on the Brent Bravo platform, which led to a gas leak inside the giant platform’s utility leg and the tragic avoidable deaths of offshore workers.

A safety audit on the Brent Bravo platform in 1999 led by Bill Campbell exposed a “Touch F*** All” culture with safety records routinely falsified.

The damning audit report was passed to then Shell EP director Malcolm Brinded, who made promises to remedy the situation that were not kept. Instead Brinded decided to put profits before safety. Hence the subsequent deadly explosion followed by a cover-up at the highest level of Royal Dutch Shell. read more

“BG Group chief executive Chris Finlayson has been ousted by the oil and gas explorer’s board following a disastrous 16 months in the job….” No one can say that we did not repeatedly warn BG Group about the competence and ethics of Chris Finlayson…

By John Donovan

The news media is reporting that former Royal Dutch Shell executive Chris Finlayson has quit as CEO of BG Group.

Actually, he was unceremoniously fired.

Extract from article published by The Independent: “BG Group chief Chris Finlayson resigns after 16 months at the helm”

BG Group chief executive Chris Finlayson has been ousted by the oil and gas explorer’s board following a disastrous 16 months in the job.  He is understood not to have another job to go to… In an unusually blunt statement Gould said: “The board felt that it was in the best interests of the group to accept Chris’ resignation and seek fresh leadership.” Since taking over Finlayson has presided over a succession of profit warnings and a 37% slump in annual profits… read more

Entirely the wrong man to entrust with an oversight function in relation to the safety of rail passengers. He was shunted out of Shell under a cloud. If that is a model of the Shell Prelude in the background of the photograph, it is not an encouraging omen.

Mining giant BHP Billiton has appointed former Royal Dutch Shell executive Malcolm Brinded to its board as a Non-executive Director.  He is also a Non-executive Director of the Network Rail Board in the UK, where he chairs the Safety, Health and Environment Committee. (Information published today)

Ironic bearing in mind the evidence assembled by Bill Campbell, the highly respected former HSE Group Auditor of Shell International confirming that Brinded already has the blood of Shell offshore employees on his hands. The evidence relating to Shell’s notorious “Touch F*** All” safety culture on the Brent Bravo North Sea Platforms while Brinded was in charge, includes tape recorded conversations with senior Shell officials. read more

Despite all promises to the contrary, Shell is still putting monetary considerations before safety. Just read some of the recent articles about Shell’s reckless conduct in offshore Alaska. It put the lives of offshore workers and the environment at risk to avoid a potential multimillion dollar tax bill. Personally, I do not believe enough attention has been drawn to the ethical issue of Shell deliberately putting peoples lives at risk in a calculated gamble.

Royal Dutch Shell Safety Last, not First

By John Donovan

Despite all promises to the contrary, Shell is still putting monetary considerations before safety.

Just read some of the recent articles about Shell’s reckless conduct in offshore Alaska.

It put the lives of offshore workers and the environment at risk to avoid a potential multimillion dollar tax bill.

This extract from a US News & World Report article published yesterday is typical of the many comments published elsewhere:

Notably, in September 2012, a Royal Dutch Shell drilling rig ran aground in Alaska as workers attempted to tow it beyond the state’s waters. A Coast Guard report released Friday found that the Anglo-Dutch oil company decided to move the rig – and insisted on doing so through dangerous stormy weather – to avoid paying new Alaskan taxes. The report also detailed myriad safety issues. read more

OFFSHORE EXPERT: “Having read this Prelude document a few times to take it all in, it seems to me that the main issue is how do you design for a 10,000 year event?” COMMENT: “I am not an expert and would only say that so-called 10,000 year weather events seem to be occurring annually at the moment. If Noah was still around, and residing in Southern England, he might well be looking for his carpentry tools.”

COMMENT FROM A RETIRED SHELL OFFSHORE MANAGER

John,

Regarding recent discussions on this website about Shell Prelude FLNG project, information available via this link provides useful input.

The 28 page section of a 75 page Shell document gives a description of the development and goes into great detail, providing answers to most of the issues raised by a fellow Shell Retiree.

Having read this Prelude document a few times to take it all in, it seems to me that the main issue is how do you design for a 10,000 year event?

The many issues raised with respect to cyclonic activity, waves, wind and the ability to weather vane are answered.  There are two thrusters located near the stern with a total power of 6 megawatts or 8,000 HP.  More than ample to ensure the heading of the facility is optimum at all times. Other issues with respect to Green house gas emissions during operations and other environmental are dealt with in detail. read more

In summary, and there was evidence in 1999 to support this to a degree, Finlayson saw himself as a victim of a brutal regime run out of Seafield House where the TFA mode was born and his MD Malcolm Brinded who was frantically doing everything in his power to suppress all this because he was seen by the Audit to be the principal architect of the demise in standards throughout the oilfield.  Finlayson in my book was weak, and ineffective, promoted in my opinion into a position he wasn’t competent or willing to handle.

EMAIL SENT 21 OCT 2013 TO A THIRD PARTY BY BILL CAMPBELL, RETIRED HSE GROUP AUDITOR, SHELL INTERNATIONAL

Subject: Chris Finlayson

My dealings with Chris were a long time ago during an Audit in 1999.  This Audit uncovered remarkably bad behaviour in the then Shell Expro organisation stemming from the business drivers and messages coming from the top of the organisation.

I spent some hours in the presence of Aberdeen auditors trying to get Finlayson to retract his statements made to journalists and the BBC North reporter Colin Wight that the Touch F All concerns raised by workforce representatives were unwarranted whilst in fact the situation was worse, much worse than anyone outside the organisation could have envisaged.  Last December on his appointment as the BG Chief the Independent newspaper (Mark Leftly) run a article on Finlayson titled if I can remember BG Chief breached safety rules when he was at Shell.  Subsequently I wrote a couple of articles putting the meat on the bones of this which John Donovan published.  BG given the right to reply made no comment and to date have not requested the evidence to support although this was offered to them.
 
In summary, and there was evidence in 1999 to support this to a degree, Finlayson saw himself as a victim of a brutal regime run out of Seafield House where the TFA mode was born and his MD Malcolm Brinded who was frantically doing everything in his power to suppress all this because he was seen by the Audit to be the principal architect of the demise in standards throughout the oilfield.  Finlayson in my book was weak, and ineffective, promoted in my opinion into a position he wasn’t competent or willing to handle. read more

By John Donovan

In view of the announcement made today about former Royal Dutch Shell executive Mark Carne (right) being appointed as the next Chief Executive of Network Rail, it would seem at opportune moment to republish our previous articles about him. But first the Reuters article carrying news of his appointment, then our own articles publishing insider information.

Network Rail says Mark Carne to be its next CEO

(Reuters) – Britain’s Network Rail on Thursday said Mark Carne, a former Royal Dutch Shell executive, would become its next chief executive. read more

The crisis in my book, and we are far from the endpoint in this, is that RDS officials lied in that the decision to move Kulluk was not related to tax avoidance when it was.  Perhaps that is why the RDS CEO has taken a closer interest in his family and the sustainability of his future.

ARTICLE BY BILL CAMPBELL, RETIRED HSE GROUP AUDITOR, SHELL INTERNATIONAL

In the new Shell, that which developed in the days of post transformation, group dancing in that nice hotel near the Het Loo Palace, with the dear leader Watts arriving from space etc around the same time, who can forget those heady days.  Is that when to lie and deceive became the norm in the head sheds of The Hague. Is that when the growth of VP’s started, not the Joe Biden variety, the Shell model, we currently appear to have more VP’s than indian meals sold in Bradford on a Friday night. read more

Mr Van der Veer (shown right) is no fan of this website. In January 2008, as was reported in The Times, we published a leaked email from him in which he forecast that world demand for oil and gas would outstrip supply within 7 years. Events has shown that he was talking nonsense on that occasion as well.

By John Donovan

The fuelfix headline encapsulated the theme of the speech given last Thursday by former Royal Dutch Shell CEO Jeroen van der Veer at the KPMG Global Energy Conference in Houston:

Former Shell CEO: Safety must come first. And second. And third.

This qualifies as sheer hypocrisy on his part.

On his watch, Shell had an absolutely atrocious safety track record for which he was publicly criticised.

(Shell CEO Jeroen van der Veer “hurt” by criticism: 3 Sept 2007)

On his watch, even lifeboats serving Shell North Sea platforms were found to be unseaworthy. read more

In addition to the £2.9m for his Netherlands home, “Brinded, 60 tomorrow, pocketed £2.7 in salary and severance for the four months he worked last year. He also walked away with £9.7m in shares and a £19m pension pot.” So, with wonderful timing, Brinded received a package worth £34.3 million as a spectacular birthday present.

By John Donovan

The Sunday Times published an article today by Danny Fortson on the front page of its business section, under the headline: Shell buys chief’s £2.9m home in golden goodbye

I believe our headline is more accurate.

The sacked “Chief” who is the beneficiary of Shell’s immense generosity with shareholders money is Malcolm Brinded, forever associated with Shell’s notorious “Touch Fuck All” approach to its North Sea Platforms and the safety of its offshore workers. read more

By John Donovan: SHELL’S ARCTIC DEBACLE IS TURNING INTO A REPUTATIONAL DISASTER BEARING IN MIND THE LATEST DEVELOPMENTS REPORTED BY THE ANCHORAGE DAILY NEWS. I AM NOT GOING TO PRETEND THAT WE ARE SHOCKED, BECAUSE WHAT IS HAPPENING IS IN LINE WITH OUR EMAILED WARNINGS TO UK MP’S BEFORE SHELL’S CLAPPED OUT DRILLING FLEET EVEN SET SAIL. ITS “TOUCH F*** ALL” APPROACH TO OFFSHORE SAFETY HAS DROPPED THE COMPANY IN DEEP S*** AND THE U.S. COAST GUARD HAS CALLED IN THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE. PETER VOSER AND HIS HAPLESS INCOMPETENT CREW, INCLUDING ODIOUS ODUM, SHOULD BE FIRED. IN THE RECENT PAST, CORNER-CUTTING SHELL EXECUTIVES DID NOT EVEN BOTHER TO ENSURE THAT LIFEBOATS ON SHELL NORTH SEA RIGS WERE SEAWORTHY. WIDOWS OF SHELL NORTH SEA OFFSHORE WORKERS (THE UNFORTUNATE VICTIMS OF SHELL’S TFA POLICY) WERE ENTICED INTO CONFIDENTIALITY AGREEMENTS DESIGNED TO BUY THEIR SILENCE. SHELL PREFERS TO BURY ITS MISTAKES. THIS TRACK RECORD TELLS YOU ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE INTEGRITY OF ROYAL DUTCH SHELL.

WASHINGTON — The Coast Guard has found serious safety and environmental violations on a Shell drilling rig used in the Arctic waters off Alaska, another blow to the company’s controversial bid to harvest oil in the petroleum-rich but sensitive region. The Coast Guard said Friday that it has turned over the matter to the U.S. Department of Justice…

Coast Guard finds violations on Shell Arctic drilling rig

By Sean Cockerham — Anchorage Daily News

WASHINGTON — The Coast Guard has found serious safety and environmental violations on a Shell drilling rig used in the Arctic waters off Alaska, another blow to the company’s controversial bid to harvest oil in the petroleum-rich but sensitive region.

The Coast Guard said Friday that it has turned over the matter to the U.S. Department of Justice, which had no comment.

The Coast Guard found 16 violations on the Noble Discoverer, one of Shell’s two drilling rigs for Alaska’s Arctic waters. The company’s other rig, the Kulluk, has its own troubles. The Kulluk broke free from towlines during a New Year’s Eve storm and was grounded for several days off Kodiak Island. read more

By John Donovan

“…emergency procedures in the event of a structural incident were lacking and the agency also found that an analysis stating that “the constructions can resist all forms of explosion” was “misleading and gave an incorrect risk picture”

Steve Marshall: 18 February 2013 13:09 GMT

Shell has been pulled up by Norway’s safety watchdog for failings related to the integrity of load-bearing structures on its Draugen field platform.

The Petroleum Safety Authority (PSA) reported that it has identified a number of regulatory non-conformities after carrying out a recent audit of measures implemented by the Anglo-Dutch operator to ensure the technical integrity of the concrete-based facility in the Norwegian Sea.

The inspection was intended to determine how Shell prevents structural failure, with a focus on barrier management in relation to the integrity of load-bearing structures. read more

The problem is when the corruption stems from the boardroom as witnessed by the lead up to the Shell reserves crisis and the protracted cover-up of the Shell Touch F*** All scandal, all is lost.  You only have to look at recent history of how organisations fail due to internal corruption of essential controls by the men in suits in the Boardroom.  Enron, the banking system on both sides of the pond, the current crisis in the NHS are just a few examples. 

COMMENT BY BILL CAMPBELL, RETIRED HSE GROUP AUDITOR, SHELL INTERNATIONAL

The myth of governance

Many pages exist explaining the need for the Shell organisation to have effective governance over its worldwide operations if it hopes to meet its stated objectives across the business.  The governance process is owned by the Board, executive and non executive.  By having essential management controls in place is the fundamental safeguard to meeting objectives including compliance with the applicable laws in the regions in which Shell operate.

The problem is when the corruption stems from the boardroom as witnessed by the lead up to the Shell reserves crisis and the protracted cover-up of the Shell Touch F*** All scandal, all is lost.  You only have to look at recent history of how organisations fail due to internal corruption of essential controls by the men in suits in the Boardroom.  Enron, the banking system on both sides of the pond, the current crisis in the NHS are just a few examples.   read more

Now we have his equally scandal tainted successor, Peter Voser, Chairman of the UBS Audit Committee at the time when UBS was engaged in all kinds of criminal activity.

Posting on Shell Blog by LondonLad on Jan 17th, 2013 at 19:56

In all honesty can the Donovan’s kindly list some of the past and present senior executives of Royal Dutch Shell that they would support for their good work, honesty, ability to abide by country HSE requirements, etc. etc. More and more it seems that if you work for RDS at a (very) senior level they’ll get shafted via real AND tabloid reporting on this website, Greenpeace (dick-heads), and other tree hugging websites. We (the countries around the world) need to advance, risks need to be taken as a result…. read more

Despite his scandal-ridden record at Shell, Chris Finlayson was recently appointed as Chief Executive of BG Group plc. We have already published articles relating to his involvement in the Shell reserves fraud and his time as head of Shell in Russia, when he played a starring role in the Sakhalin 2 debacle, which cost Shell untold billions. This article takes us back even further, to his time as a director of Shell’s North Sea operations and his involvement in the notorious “TOUCH FUCK ALL” policy…

CHRIS FINLAYSON’S SCANDAL-RIDDEN TIME AT SHELL: ONE CAN OF WORMS AFTER ANOTHER

By John Donovan

Despite his scandal-ridden record at Shell, Chris Finlayson was recently appointed as Chief Executive of BG Group plc.

We have already published articles relating to his involvement in the Shell reserves fraud and his time as head of Shell in Russia, when he played a starring role in the Sakhalin 2 debacle, which cost Shell untold billions.

This article takes us back even further, to his time as a director of Shell’s North Sea operations and his involvement in the notorious “TOUCH FUCK ALL” policy adopted by Shell Expro, which ruthlessly put production and profits before the safety of employees. read more

Botts was in charge of Southern as GasDirector UEG with his buddy Finlayson as Oil Director UED. It’s interesting the connection with Wood Group as one of the guys killed by the combined neglect of Birnie, Bayliss, Berget, Finlayson, Botts, Hill and their mentor TFA Brinded was a Wood Group employee, who of course was blamed for contributing to his own demise…

John,

Thought you may like this press release in todays Scotsman and also Aberdeen Press and Journal.

Botts was in Aberdeen following Finlayson so he continued the TFA policy during his tenure. Shortly after his departure the Brent B fatalities took place sliding the blame on his successor!  

Botts implemented Brindeds ruthless staff reductions and dilution of retained skill levels resulting in todays Management profiles of the inability to do anything.

Botts finished up in Houston overseeing the Motiva refinery expansion resulting in a massive cock up on start up costing many millions and months of delayed start up read more

By John Donovan

News update on Kulluk ship wreck debacle: Security guards are stationed outside the command post set up in The Best Western Kodiak Inn trying to stem the leaks of information feeding a media firestorm. Does that sound like the actions of a company wishing to be completely open about the crisis which has engulfed its $multi-billion  Arctic drilling misadventure? On the subject of leaks, Shell claims that the flooding below decks on the grounded ship comes from open hatches, not due to cracks or holes in the hull. That’s okay then. Shell shareholders can relax. Shell has admitted that the Kulluks generators are wrecked. The weather forecast for today is strong winds and high seas. In other words, more of the same conditions that led to the order to abandon ship in the first place and drove the ill-fated ancient vessel onto the rocks, and likewise Shell’s reputation (already holed by its past notorious “Touch F*** All” culture on North Sea platforms, putting production and profits before the safety of offshore workers). read more

By John Donovan 

The following are extracts from a warning email we sent to every UK MP in April 2012. We rung the alarm bells very loudly. As I said just days ago, Shell’s jinxed Monty Python Arctic Follies, plagued by misfortune and mismanagement, continues… with news today that the drilling ship Kulluk has run aground on Sitkalidak Island, in the Gulf of Alaska. Thankfully there are no reported fatalities this time.

EXTRACTS

TRUSTING SHELL TO DRILL IN THE ARCTIC OCEAN

ROYAL DUTCH SHELL SENIOR MANAGEMENT HAS HAD ADVANCE SIGHT OF THIS EMAIL AND THEREFORE THE OPPORTUNITY TO SEEK AN INJUNCTION IF ANYTHING STATED IS UNTRUE read more