Feb 7th, 2023
by John Donovan.
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AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
Nigeria: Shell must clean up devastating oil spills in the Niger Delta
February 2, 2023
Reacting to the news that two Nigerian communities, which have been devastated by oil spills, have filed claims against Shell at the High Court in London, Amnesty International’s Head of Business and Human Rights Mark Dummett, said:
“More than 13,500 residents from the Ogale and Bille communities in the Niger Delta have now filed claims against Shell asking that the company clean up oil spills which they say have wrecked their livelihoods, poisoned their wells, and polluted their land and water, which means they can no longer farm or fish.”
“Amnesty stands by these two communities in the Niger Delta, which have been engaged in litigation against Shell for seven years, asking that the company clean up the damage caused and compensate them for their lost livelihoods.
“Shell announced in 2021 that it plans to sell its onshore oilfields and assets in the Niger Delta after 60 years of highly profitable operations in the area. It is concerning that Shell has not explained how it plans to address the widespread and systemic pollution of Nigerian communities linked to its operations over many years before it sells up and leaves.read more
In 2021, thousands of Dutch citizens took one of the largest carbon emitters in the world to court and won. Together with Friends of the Earth Netherlands (Milieudefensie) they won a historic court case against Royal Dutch Shell, the parent company of Shell Group, forcing the company to take climate action.
The judge ruled that Shell’s current climate policy would contribute to a level of climate change that would be so dangerous that it would impose a threat to human rights.read more
Dec 30th, 2022
by John Donovan.
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Large-scale polluter Shell loses legal battle
The Guardian: Isabella Kaminski: Thu 29 Dec 2022 12.00 GMT
Between 2004 and 2007, the villages of Oruma, Goi and Ikot Ada Udo in Nigeria were polluted with oil from infrastructure built by Royal Dutch Shell. More than 15 years later, in late December, the company finally agreed to pay four farmers and their communities €15m in compensation and install a leak detection system after a court in the Netherlands ruled that Shell’s Nigerian subsidiary was liable and the parent company had a duty of care.read more
Dec 24th, 2022
by John Donovan.
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BBC News
Shell to pay $16m to Nigerian farmers over oil damage
23 Dec 2022
Shell has agreed to pay $16m (£13m) to four Nigerian farmers and their communities to compensate for damage allegedly caused by pollution coming from leaks in its oil pipelines.
The sum was agreed in negotiations between the oil company and campaign group Friends of the Earth.
But it is being given on the basis of “no admission of liability”, a joint statement says.
Nigeria’s oil industry has been a major source of environmental damage.read more
A mob of Extinction Rebellion protesters have swamped London’s Marble Arch, glueing themselves to a limousine and bringing traffic to a standstill.
The eco-fanatic rabble have once again brought chaos to the streets of the capital as they launched a series of ‘disruptions’ on a sixteenth days of protests alongside Just Stop Oil activists.
XR members convened in Hyde Park earlier today before one group – which included two former Olympians – climbed onto a Shell oil tanker at nearby Bayswater, leading to six arrests.read more
Feb 20th, 2022
by John Donovan.
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REUTERS
U.N. pact may restrict plastic production. Big Oil aims to stop it
By John Geddie, Valerie Volcovici and Joe Brock: Fri., February 18, 2022
A global explosion of disposable plastic, which is made from oil and gas, is increasing carbon emissions, despoiling the world’s oceans, harming wildlife and contaminating the food chain. More than 50 countries, including all 27 members of the European Union, are calling for the pact to include measures targeting plastic production.
That’s a problem for big oil and chemical companies. The industry is projected to double plastic output worldwide within two decades.read more
Aug 12th, 2021
by John Donovan.
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12 August 2021
By Alex Enumah
Abuja — Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC), has finally agreed to pay compensation for oil spillages in the Ogoni community of Rivers State, to the tune of N45 billion, after over 31 years of legal battles.
The legal battle, which commenced in 1991, saw judgment in favour of the Ogoni community in 2010 by Justice Ibrahim Buba of the Lagos division of the Federal High Court.
But the oil giant declined payment and proceeded up to the Supreme Court twice; first in 2017 to appeal the judgment of the Court of Appeal, which had upheld the judgment of the trial court and in 2019, seeking a review of the apex court judgment dismissing its appeal.read more
Just last week, some of the world’s largest integrated energy companies faced the wrath of furious investors and climate activism. Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) lost three board seats to Engine No. 1, an activist hedge fund, in a stunning proxy campaign, while a good 61% of Chevron (NYSE:CVX) shareholders voted to further cut emissions at the company’s annual investor meeting a week ago.
Engine No. 1 has told the Financial Times that Exxon will need to cut fossil fuel production for the company to position itself for long-term success, “What we’re saying is, plan for a world where maybe the world doesn’t need your barrels,” Engine No.1 leader Charlie Penner has told FT.
Meanwhile, a Dutch court has ordered Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE:RDS.A) to cut its greenhouse gas emissions harder and faster than it had previously planned.
Whereas climate change issues are the presumptive reasons behind the latest wave of investor revolts at the oil and gas giants, lurking beneath the surface is a growing sense of apprehension about Big Oil’s strategy and failure to generate adequate returns for shareholders in recent decades.read more
Apr 21st, 2021
by John Donovan.
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Officials give notice to Shell refinery on emissions release
ANACORTES, Wash. (AP) — The Northwest Clean Air Agency issued Tuesday a violation notice against the Shell Puget Sound Refinery for the release of emissions in August and September.
The refinery, on March Point near Anacortes, may face a financial penalty because of the incidents, which impacted the surrounding community including the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community, the Skagit Valley Herald reported.
The notice said two flaring events exceeded allowable, visible emissions for more than 5 minutes. The first occurred on Aug. 19, and the second on Sept. 29. The air agency received 12 complaints and verified the presence of odors following the Sept. 29 incident, according to a news release.read more
Feb 10th, 2021
by John Donovan.
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EPA fines Shell Oil $191,000 over release of toxic vapors from Anacortes refinery
by KOMO News Staff:
SEATTLE – The company that operates the Anacortes oil refinery will pay a $191,000 fine for violations of the Clean Air Act stemming from a 2015 release of toxic vapors that sickened dozens of local residents of the area.
The fine, part of a settlement with the Environmental Protection Agency, is in addition to previous fines of over $420,000 levied by the Northwest Clean Air Agency and the Washington Safety and Health Agency against Shell Oil Products U.S. over the incident.read more
The Empire State’s pension fund is the largest to dump fossil fuel investments ― ever, in the entire world.
New York state announced plans on Wednesday to eject oil and gas stocks from its $226 billion financial portfolio, becoming the first U.S. state and the biggest pension fund anywhere to divest from fossil fuels.
By 2025, the New York State Common Retirement Fund, which disburses some $1 billion in benefits to retirees each year, will sell off its “riskiest” oil and gas stocks, following a review. The state aims to completely eliminate carbon polluters from its portfolio by 2040.read more
Jun 4th, 2020
by John Donovan.
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A massive Pennsylvania plastics project, owned by Shell, that President Donald Trump touted during a visit last year faces risks of oversupply and a low price outlook, an energy industry report said on Thursday.
Pandemic exposes cracks in oil majors’ bet on plastic
Joe Brock: JUNE 4, 2020
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – The energy industry’s bet that a petrochemicals boom would support decades of oil and gas sales growth is on shaky ground as an already saturated plastic market is hit by a coronavirus demand shock.
While soaring demand for personal protective equipment and takeaway food containers has boosted sales of some plastics, it is likely to be only a temporary spike, say analysts.read more
Jun 17th, 2019
by John Donovan.
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JUNE 17, 2019 / 2:17 PM
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – A Dutch court on Monday ordered Royal Dutch Shell to pay a 2.5 million euro ($2.8 million) fine for failing to prevent an explosion at its Moerdijk facility in 2014 and for breaching emissions limits at the plant.
The district court in Den Bosch said Shell had not done enough to prevent an incident on June 3, 2014 which resulted in a series of explosions and a large fire at the Moerdijk chemical plant.
“The factory, employees, the surroundings and the environment were subject to great danger that day”, the court said. “This justifies a significant punishment.”read more
May 15th, 2019
by John Donovan.
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MAY 15, 2019
The public prosecution department says Shell should pay the maximum fine of €2.4m for the explosion on the Moerdijk industrial estate in 2014 and a further €250,000 for not taking immediate action to halt the leak of a dangerous gas in 2016.
Shell should pay the maximum fine for the explosion because it had not done all it could to prevent the blast taking place, placing both workers and local residents in danger, the prosecutor said at a court hearing in Den Bosch on Tuesday.read more
The Shell Oil Company has agreed to pay $165,000 as part of an agreement with the Bay Area Air Quality Management District regarding air quality violations at their refinery in Martinez in 2015 and 2016, according to air district officials.
The settlement, which the district announced today, addresses 16 violations over two years including sulphur dioxide and hydrogen sulfide emissions, a shelter-in-place order, a cargo vessel tank that was overdue for emissions inspections and broken seals on a liquid storage tank.read more
Shell Offshore Inc. has agreed to pay a $2.2 million civil fine to the federal government to settle charges that the company violated the Clean Water Act by spilling 1,900 barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico in May 2016 when a subsea pipeline cracked at the company’s Green Canyon oil field.
The fine, announced in the Federal Register on Friday (Feb. 1), will be paid after the expiration of a 30-day comment period. The money will be deposited in the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund, which is used to pay for oil spill cleanups.read more
Dec 8th, 2018
by John Donovan.
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7 December 2018
Dow Chemical Co and Shell Oil Co have been hit with a lawsuit by the city of Arcadia, California accusing the companies of contaminating the city’s drinking water with a toxic chemical found in pesticides the companies once made.
Filed on Thursday in Los Angeles federal court, the lawsuit said the companies knew or should have known that the chemical, known as 1,2,3-trichloropropane, or TCP is toxic and renders drinking water unsafe.
The companies still manufactured and marketed pesticides containing the chemical for years, the lawsuit said.read more
An alert was issued by Shell Canada about an upset at its Corunna plant Thursday morning.
The Aamjiwnaang Notification System says a cat cracker unit trip is causing high flaring and noise.
A Chemical Valley Emergency Coordinating Organization notice was issued.
Imperial says elevated flaring and noise is expected to continue for several more days at the Sarnia refinery while equipment repairs are made.
Company spokesperson Kristina Zimmer said Wednesday afternoon that construction of scaffolding was complete, and a repair plan had been finalized that includes replacement of a line.read more
Law360 (September 24, 2018, 5:05 PM EDT) — The Golden State Water Co. has accused the Dow Chemical Co., Shell Oil Co. and others of product liability violations for contaminating drinking water with unsafe amounts of TCP, a toxic chemical…
Feb 10th, 2018
by John Donovan.
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Law360 (February 9, 2018, 8:37 PM EST) — Shell Oil Co. lost a bid at getting more than $300 million in oil waste cleanup costs reimbursed by a Dole real estate subsidiary when a California court ruled Thursday the regional water board’s order listing the developer as a contributor to the pollution has not…
Shell reported a “mechanical malfunction” that led to flaring of gases at its refinery in Martinez, Calif.
In a statement to the California Emergency Management Agency, the refinery said the flaring happened late Thursday night and caused the release of more than 500 pounds of sulfur dioxide. The flaring event has since stopped, it added.
The 160,000-barrel-a-day refinery is located about 30 miles northeast of San Francisco.read more
An umbrella group for 140 Presbyterian churches in Allegheny County is calling for a halt to the construction of a sprawling petrochemical plant in neighboring Beaver County, saying it would worsen already high levels of pollution and cancer risk in Southwestern Pennsylvania.
“We are part of a faith tradition that has affirmed our responsibility to care for the earth as our home and care for all people, especially our most vulnerable populations,” says a letter signed by officials of the Pittsburgh Presbytery, representing more than 28,000 members of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in Allegheny County.
“This plant, and subsequent plants that are planned for the Ohio Valley, will be mass producing plastic products that have been linked to the death of animals and the diminishment of fragile natural habitats,” said the letter, approved by presbytery representatives at their December meeting.read more
Dec 15th, 2017
by John Donovan.
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By Jimitota Onoyume: 14 Dec 2017
WARRI—No fewer than 1,686,000 victims of Bonga oil field spillage in Rivers State have dragged oil giant, Shell Nigeria Exploration Company, SNEPCO, before a United Kingdom court over its alleged failure to pay $3,600,191,206 as compensation to them and communities affected by the incident.
Director, Oil Spill Victims Vanguard, OSPIVV, Mr Harrison Jalla, who disclosed this to newsmen in Warri, Delta State, said he filed a pre-action notice at the TCC High Court of Justice in London for the victims and communities, noting that it was unfortunate that the oil giant had allegedly failed to cushion the pains suffered by victims of the spill.read more
Dec 8th, 2017
by John Donovan.
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Footage has emerged of a Shell director saying that he was “fundamentally proud” of the company’s actions in Nigeria, only a week before Amnesty International accused the company of being closely involved with human rights abuses in the country.
The remarks were made by Andrew Brown, a member of the Royal Dutch Shell executive committee, at the Shell annual lecture, an event affiliated with the University, at Emmanuel College on the 20th November.
When asked by host Stephen Sackur, a former BBC foreign correspondent, whether he was proud of what Shell had “done over the years in Nigeria”, Brown replied that “I am, I’m fundamentally proud of what happened in Nigeria”.
The comments are likely to raise eyebrows given the controversial nature of Shell’s involvement in Nigeria. On November 28th, Amnesty International called on the British, Dutch, and Nigerian governments to investigate, with a view to prosecution, the role of Shell in human rights abuses in the 1990s.read more
Dec 8th, 2017
by John Donovan.
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7 December 2017
A new study has found that babies have a higher chance of dying in their first few weeks of life if their mothers live close to an oil spill.
Researchers studied information about babies dying and oil spills in the Niger Delta area of southern Nigeria. The researchers described their results as ‘shocking.’
The study comes from scientists from the University of Saint Gallen in Switzerland. They found that babies born in the Niger Delta were two times as likely to die in the first month of life if their mothers lived close to an oil spill before they became pregnant.read more
Nov 22nd, 2017
by John Donovan.
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By Sarah Kent
LONDON – Exxon Mobil Corp. plans to join with other big energy companies in an effort to reduce pollution from natural gas production, according to people familiar with the matter.
The new grouping will also include Royal Dutch Shell PLC and BP PLC, according to the people. While Shell and BP have joined forces with other global players in the past in similar industrywide collaborations on environmental issues, Exxon has more typically stayed on the sidelines.read more
Nov 9th, 2017
by John Donovan.
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Bodo received support from British law firm Leigh Day, which negotiated a 55 million-pound pollution settlement with Shell in 2015.
PORT HARCOURT, NIGERIA — Nearly a decade after two catastrophic oil spills in the Niger Delta, a comprehensive cleanup has finally been launched in the southern Nigerian region.
Oil companies and activists hope it will be a blueprint for wider rehabilitation, but other badly polluted communities are unhappy not to be included.
Earlier this month, crews of young men equipped with high-pressure hoses began to attack the crude oil that has blighted the creeks and mangrove swamps in the area where they live.
The workers from Bodo in Rivers State are beginning a three-year project that claims to mark a new approach to cleaning up the delta, the vast polluted swampland that pumps the oil vital to Africa’s largest economy.read more
Nov 9th, 2017
by John Donovan.
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By Jimitota Onoyume PORT HAR-COURT— 9 November 2017
THE people of Ogoni have again enjoined the Federal Government to ensure that oil giant, Shell Petroleum Development Company, SPDC, does not resume operations in the area.
National Coordinator, Ken Sarowiwa Associates, Chief Gani Tobpa, in a statement in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, also called on companies intending to operate OML 11 to disclose how they will protect Ogoni communities from another round of environmental pollution, adding that they should also indicate how they would create a robust economy for the people.read more
Nov 8th, 2017
by John Donovan.
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Libby George: November 8, 2017PORT HARCOURT, Nigeria (Reuters) – Nearly a decade after two catastrophic oil spills in the Niger Delta, a comprehensive clean-up has finally been launched in the southern Nigerian region.
Oil companies and activists hope it will be a blueprint for wider rehabilitation but other badly polluted communities are unhappy not to be included.
Earlier this month, crews of young men equipped with high pressure hoses began to attack the crude oil that has blighted the creeks and mangrove swamps in the area where they live.
The workers from Bodo in Rivers State are beginning a three-year project that claims to mark a new approach to cleaning up the delta, the vast polluted swampland that pumps the oil vital to Africa’s largest economy.read more
Nov 6th, 2017
by John Donovan.
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Letter from Ayoka Lawani published by The Nation on 6 Nov 2017
SIR: Recently Queen Maxima of the Netherlands visited Nigeria. While there, according to reports, she spoke vigorously about the merits of mobile money. What she came to do on behalf of the UN is not the topic here.
It is who she is that should be the business of all Nigerians. She is married to King Wilhem Alexander of the Netherlands whose mother, former Queen Beartrix ( who abdicated for Alexander in 2013) is the single largest shareholder of the Shell Company. This makes Queen Maxima a major owner of Shell.read more
Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSA RDSB) reported emissions from its Deer Park, Texas, refinery and chemical facility following a leak of benzene.
In a statement to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, Shell said the emissions event happened Wednesday over a four-hour period. The cause, it said, was rooted in an Oct. 10 incident in which “a flange leak occurred at the Phenol 2 unit.”
The refinery said the flange leak is ongoing, and the material released is benzene, which is a component of crude oil that has carcinogenic properties.read more
Oct 7th, 2017
by John Donovan.
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Oct 7, 2017: One of Amazon’s considerations in choosing a location for its second headquarters is quality of life. If Amazon gets wind of what emissions will spew forth from the Shell cracker plant under construction in Beaver County — and surely it knows — it doesn’t bode well. For any of us.
We, Amazon or otherwise, are all downwind of the pollutants yet to come, with intimidating names like VOCs (volatile organic compounds) and NOs (nitrogen oxides), which combine to make ozone, which makes it hard to breathe. The projected amount is three times that emitted at our Clairton Coke Works. The projected emission of CO2, carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, is over 2 million tons annually.read more
Oct 4th, 2017
by John Donovan.
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By Dan Molinski
Royal Dutch Shell reported a leak and emissions Tuesday at its Deer Park, Texas refinery and chemical plant.
“A leak was found on the bottom of debutanizer distillation column. The cause of the leak is still under investigation,” the refinery said in a statement to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. It added that it was “reducing feed rate to unit to minimize emissions.”
Deer Park is located along the Houston Ship Channel, 20 miles east of downtown Houston. The facility includes a 326,000-barrel-a-day refinery.read more
Sep 17th, 2017
by John Donovan.
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This issue with sewer pipes is the latest development in a decade-long saga for Carousel tract residents. Developers of the 285-home community, which borders Wilmington, secretly buried remains of a former Shell Oil tank farm a few feet beneath the homes in the 1960s. The burial was kept secret until routine testing discovered soil pollution in 2008.
Years of state-led environmental investigations into massive oil contamination at Carson’s Carousel tract neighborhood missed a key problem for residents living amid the mess: the sewer pipes under some homes are literally corroded into dust.
Beyond the high cost of replacing sewer lines, the oil-degraded pipelines could present yet another major health concern for residents across the 50-acre community, a new city-commissioned study has found.read more
Sep 10th, 2017
by John Donovan.
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AN ARTICLE PUBLISHED 9 SEPT 2017 BY THE HUFFPOST AUTHORED BY A CONTRIBUTOR TO THAT PUBLICATION
By Evaggelos Vallianatos: Contributor/Historian and environmental strategist: 09/09/2017 07:06 pm ETIn 1977, EPA received a letter from a woman who worked at Stanford Research Institute, which tested pesticides for the giant British oil and chemical company, Shell. This important letter carefully documents corrupt scientific practices favoring the approval of Shell pesticides in the United States. The letter makes Stanford Research Institute and Shell responsible for these unethical practices. Stanford University created SRI in 1946. SRI worked like a lab for tobacco and petroleum companies. In 1970, it became independent.
Labs have been a permanent mechanism of the infrastructure of pesticides and agribusiness. They keep chemical companies and industrialized farmers in business.
This letter highlights the corruption enveloping Shell and SRI preparing pesticides for government approval. It did not matter that their pesticides would poison our food and the natural world.
I quote the 1977 letter. Its language may be awkward but its message is razor-sharp. I only changed the names of the persons appearing in the letter:read more
SAN FRANCISCO – For decades, Shell and Dow hid a highly potent cancer-causing chemical in two widely used pesticides, contaminating drinking water for millions of people in California and beyond, according to lawsuits detailed in a new report from EWG.
The chemical 1,2,3-trichloropropane, or TCP, was formerly an unwanted and ineffective byproduct in Dow’s Telone and Shell’s D-D pesticides. Internal documents uncovered in lawsuits filed by communities in California’s San Joaquin Valley show that the companies saved millions of dollars a year by not properly disposing of TCP, a chemical a Dow scientist once called “garbage,” as hazardous waste.read more
Aug 7th, 2017
by John Donovan.
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December 19th, 2013, Norco Louisiana, A flare from the Shell Refinery illuminates the sky.
Dow Jones Newswires
Royal Dutch Shell Plc said Monday that a fire over the weekend at its Norco refining and chemicals facility in Louisiana has forced it to shut down a unit.
“There is no timetable for the restart of the unit,” Shell said in an emailed statement, without identifying the specific unit. “Operations are stable. For reasons of commercial confidentiality, we do not provide details about the operational status of individual units or information on supply.”read more
Aug 5th, 2017
by John Donovan.
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OIL PRODUCTION: Ogoni people protest against resumption of Shell
By Davies Iheamnachor: ON AUGUST 5, 20174:25 AM
Hundreds of youths, elders, and women of Ogoni ethnic group, yesterday, protested against the resumption of oil exploration activities in their area by the Shell Petroleum Development Company, SPDC, and Nigeria Petroleum Development Company NPDC.
This came a few days to the expiration of a seven-day ultimatum issued by the Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People, MOSOB, to shun it’s planned return to Ogoniland. The protesters, who gathered at Kpobie Junction in Gokana Local Government Area, marched with placards bearing anti-Shell inscriptions.read more
Thousands of Ogoni people, from the four Local Government Areas of Khana, Gokana, Tai and Eleme, yesterday defied the heavy rain to massively protest the return of the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC) to resume crude oil production and laying of pipelines, after the Anglo/Dutch oil giant was sent packing from Ogoniland over 24 years ago.
The protesters, comprising elderly men, women and youths, who were armed with placards, bearing various inscriptions, drumming and singing anti-Shell songs, were led by the President of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), Chief Legborsi Saro Pyagbara.read more
MANHATTAN (CN) — No longer protected by its deals with California prosecutors, BP and Shell must face another lawsuit alleging that its underground storage tanks continue to pollute Orange County’s groundwater with a toxic gasoline additive.
The British and Dutch oil giants were named among the dozens of fossil-fuel companies in hundreds of lawsuits over the chemical methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE).
Used to raise the oxygen level in gasoline, MTBE is banned by more than half of the states in the nation. The Environmental Protection Agency has flagged it as a possible human carcinogen at high doses.read more
Jun 7th, 2017
by John Donovan.
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Shell Must Face ‘Take-Home’ Asbestos Suit, Calif. Court Says
Law360, New York (June 6, 2017, 7:03 PM EDT) —
A California appeals court has reversed itself and revived a lawsuit against Shell Oil Co. filed by a former employee’s wife who alleges she contracted mesothelioma from exposure to asbestos that accumulated on her husband’s work clothing. The decision by the Second Appellate District panel on Friday followed the state Supreme Court’s December finding in Kesner v. Superior Court of California that employers can be held liable for injuries caused by secondhand asbestos exposure suffered by household members of employees. The panel, following the high court’s “take-home” liability…read more
WASHINGTON — Shell Oil Co. and Dow Chemical hid a cancer-causing chemical in two commonly-used pesticides that contaminated the drinking water of millions of people in the state of California, according to lawsuits detailed in a report from the Environmental Working Group earlier this month.
TCP, a poisonous insecticide gas, was used for decades in the pesticide Telone, made by Dow, and D-D, made by Shell.
Shell stopped using D-D in 1984, while Dow ceased usage of Telone during the late 1990s. But “garbage” chemical TCP was found in tap water supplies of about four million people in 13 states between 2013 to 2015, according to the nonprofit group.read more
Apr 11th, 2017
by John Donovan.
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For decades, Shell and Dow hid a highly potent cancer-causing chemical in two widely used pesticides, contaminating drinking water for millions of people in California and beyond, according to lawsuits detailed in a new report from the Environmental Working Group (EWG).
The chemical 1,2,3-trichloropropane or TCP, was formerly an unwanted and ineffective byproduct in Dow’s Telone and Shell’s D-D pesticides. Internal documents uncovered in lawsuits filed by communities in California’s San Joaquin Valley show that the companies saved millions of dollars a year by not properly disposing of TCP, a chemical a Dow scientist once called “garbage,” as hazardous waste.read more
Mar 29th, 2017
by John Donovan.
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(Photo: John Li / Getty Images)
Regin Olimberio: Mar 28, 2017 07:10 PM EDT
Oil and petroleum giant Shell blamed the Nigerian residents in the Delta community for its slow response in cleaning up the two oil spill incidents in 2008. Amidst almost a decade-long effort, Shell wasn’t able to fully contain the spill. However, there is a possibility that the clean-up might start next month.
To recall, the Royal Dutch Shell admitted responsibility for two pipeline leaks that subsequently contaminated the Bodo community. Shell also agreed to a $68 million settlement after accepting the liability over the corroded pipelines in 2015. Since then, the oil spills haven’t yet been addressed.read more
Mar 24th, 2017
by John Donovan.
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BY MICHELLE FAUL: Associated Press: JOHANNESBURG: MARCH 24, 2017 7:36 AM
Royal Dutch Shell’s Nigeria subsidiary “fiercely opposed” environmental testing and is concealing data showing thousands of Nigerians are exposed to health hazards from a stalled cleanup of the worst oil spills in the West African nation’s history, according to a German geologist contracted by the Dutch-British multinational.
An environmental study found “astonishingly high” pollution levels with soil “literally soaked with hydrocarbons,” geologist Kay Holtzmann wrote in a letter to the Bodo Mediation Initiative.read more
Mar 24th, 2017
by John Donovan.
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The former director of the cleanup project says Shell has denied him permission to publish the study’s results, which dictated a need for health screenings in the Bodo community.
Mar. 23, 2017 5:19 PM ET|By: Carl Surran, SA News Editor
Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A, RDS.B) oil spills that have not been cleaned up for more than eight years have contributed to “astonishingly high” levels of pollution in a Nigerian community, WSJ reports, citing a consultant who helped produce a confidential damage assessment for the company and its partners.
The former director of the cleanup project says Shell has denied him permission to publish the study’s results, which dictated a need for health screenings in the Bodo community.read more
In January 2015, Royal Dutch Shell agreed to pay £55m in compensation to thousands of residents of Bodo, a fishing community in the Niger Delta. Their livelihoods had been devastated by two oil spills in 2008-09 that had been caused by corroded Shell pipelines.
After years of high-profile wrangling, the landmark settlement was supposed to draw a line under one of the most toxic reputational issues for the Anglo-Dutch energy giant, and pave the way for the oil blighting the village to finally be cleaned up.read more
Dec 21st, 2016
by John Donovan.
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BY ANDREA CASTILLO: DECEMBER 21, 2016 12:55 PM
The City of Clovis won its more than three-month civil trial against the chemical manufacturing giant Shell Oil Company over the cleanup of a toxic chemical found in drinking-water wells around the city of 108,000 people.
The chemical is 1, 2, 3-Trichloropropane, or TCP, which is a waste product from making plastic. TCP was in farm fumigants last used in the 1980s, which were injected into the ground to kill tiny worms called nematodes. A jury awarded the city nearly $22 million, finding that the Clovis residents were harmed by the design of the fumigant, that Shell did not prove the benefits of its product outweighed the risks and that those risks were known at the time it was sold.read more
Dec 20th, 2016
by John Donovan.
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19 Dec 2016
MARTINEZ, CA. —Contra Costa Health Services is advising people to avoid the area around the Shell Refinery in Martinez this afternoon due to “excessive flaring and black smoke.”
The Health Services website issued the alert at 2:20 p.m. for the refinery at 3485 Pacheco Blvd.
People with respiratory conditions are being advised to take precautions and avoid the area.
The flaring is the result of a power outage, according to Health Services officials.
OVER 500 EXTERNAL PUBLICATIONS CITING OUR SHELL WEBSITES
See our link list of over 500 articles by the FT, Wall Street Journal, Reuters, Bloomberg, Forbes, Dow Jones Newswires, New York Times, CNBC etc, plus UK House of Commons Select Committee Hansard records, information on U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission websiteetc. all containing references to our Shell focussed websites, or our website founders Alfred and John Donovan. Includes TV documentary features in English and German, newspaper and magazine articles, radio interviews, newsletters etc. Plus academic papers, Stratfor intelligence reports and UK, U.S. and Australian state/parliamentary publications, also citing our Shell websites. Click on this link to see the entire list, all in date order with a link to an index of over 100 books also containing references to our websites and/or our activities.
John Donovan, the website owner A head-cut image of Alfred Donovan (now deceased) appears courtesy of The Wall Street Journal.
JOHN DONOVAN, THE OWNER OF THIS AND SEVERAL OTHER SHELL FOCUSSED WEBSITES
SHELL PRELUDE TO DISASTER
The links below are to a series of articles, many triggered by a well-placed whistleblower directly involved in the pioneering Royal Dutch Shell Prelude project. Includes articles by Mr Bill Campbell above, the retired distinguished HSE Group Auditor of Shell International and another retired Shell guru with a track record of spotting potential pitfalls in major Shell projects.
The campaign waged on this website by John Donovan to persuade Edward Heerema to rename the worlds biggest ship, The Pieter Schelte - which he named after his late father, Pieter Schelte Heerema, a former Officer in the German Waffen-SS - has been successful. On Friday 6 February 2015, Allseas announced that it was changing the ships name, and on 9 February announced the new name - Pioneering Spirit.
GLOBAL NEWS COVERAGE: FEBRUARY 2010
MORE INFORMATION: Contact details for over 176,000 employees and contractors of Royal Dutch Shell reached John Donovan and some environmental and human rights groups, ostensibly from disaffected Shell staff calling for a “peaceful corporate revolution” at the company. The database, from Shell’s internal directory, contained names and telephone numbers for all the company’s work force worldwide, including some home numbers. It was supplied with a 170 page covering note, explaining that it was being circulated by “116 concerned employees of Shell dispersed throughout the USA, the UK, and the Netherlands”, to highlight the harm done by the company’s operations in Nigeria. John Donovan brought the leak to the attention of Shell. Tests proved that the data was authentic and he destroyed the database after being informed by Mr. Richard Wiseman, the then Chief Ethics & Compliance Officer of Royal Dutch Shell Plc, that the confidential information if publicly disclosed, could put Shell employees and contractors in real danger.
This is not a Shell website. That fact should be abundantly plain from the overall content of this home page and our sister Shell focussed websites, including shellnazihistory.com. Click on the Disclaimer link at top of this page for more information. You Can Be Sure Shell does not endorse or approve of this website. There are no subscription charges nor do we solicit or accept donations. It is an entirely free to use website drawing attention to the negative side of Shell while also publishing positive news about the company. The Shell logo image with the white text used on this website, as per the above example, is in the public domain because its copyright has expired and its author is anonymous. It can be found on WIKIMEDIA COMMONS. Our shellenergy.websitepublishes Shell Energy customer complaints posted on Trustpilot where there is an ample supply. Use this link for Shell’s own website.
Shell and BP take a beating as bank woes hit crude pricesMarch 15, 2023 17:36Proactive InvestorsBP PLC (LSE:BP.) and Royal Dutch Shell PLC (LSE:SHEL, NYSE:SHEL) shares have taken a hit, dropping over 8%, due to a sell-off in the banking sector.
The natural resources market has been volatile, with Brent Crude and West Texas Intermediate falling by 4- …
Shell CEO Pay Up 50%March 9, 2023 21:23Manufacturing Business TechnologyCEO of Royal Dutch Shell Ben van Beurden speaks at a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, June 21, 2017. Shell paid outgoing Chief Executive Ben van Beurden a total of 9.7 million pounds ($11.5 million) in 2022 as the …
Former Shell CEO's pay jumped 53% to $11.5m in 2022March 9, 2023 11:17Gulf NewsBen van Beurden, chief executive officer of Royal Dutch Shell, speaks during the 26th World Gas Conference in Paris, France, June 2, 2015
Image Credit: Reuters
London: Shell's former chief executive, Ben van Beurden, received a pay package of 9.7 …
Big Oil Goes Green: Shell Acquires VoltaFebruary 9, 2023 06:03Law Street MediaIn Big Oil’s latest foray into green energy, Shell has announced its acquisition of Volta, Inc. for $169 million.
Expected to close during the first half of 2023, the all-cash deal “builds on the momentum in electric mobility by combining one of the …
SHELL’S ROLE IN NIGERIAN OPL 245 BRIBERY SCANDAL
Whatever fig leaves they might be trying to use to hide the truth, Shell and Eni paid over $1bn to a company called Malabu for the OPL 245 licence. Even though the payment was channelled through the Nigerian government, it was clear that Shell knew that the ultimate beneficiary was Dan Etete, the former minister of petroleum. Etete is the owner of Malabu, to whom he awarded the licence when he was Nigerian Minister of Petroleum.
Royal Dutch Shell conspired directly with Hitler, financed the Nazi Party, was anti-Semitic and sold out its own Dutch Jewish employees to the Nazis. Shell had a close relationship with the Nazis during and after the reign of Sir Henri Deterding, an ardent Nazi, and the founder and decades long leader of the Royal Dutch Shell Group. His burial ceremony, which had all the trappings of a state funeral, was held at his private estate in Mecklenburg, Germany. The spectacle (photographs below) included a funeral procession led by a horse drawn funeral hearse with senior Nazis officials and senior Royal Dutch Shell directors in attendance, Nazi salutes at the graveside, swastika banners on display and wreaths and personal tributes from Adolf Hitler and Reichsmarschall, Hermann Goring. Deterding was an honored associate and supporter of Hitler and a personal friend of Goring.
Deterding was the guest of Hitler during a four day summit meeting at Berchtesgaden. Sir Henri and Hitler both had ambitions on Russian oil fields. Only an honored personal guest would be rewarded with a private four day meeting at Hitler’s mountain top retreat.
MORE INFORMATION
Shell appeased and collaborated with the Nazis. The oil giant instructed its employees in the Netherlands to complete a form giving particulars about their descent, which for some, amounted to a self-declared death warrant. Shell used slave labor and was a close business partner in Germany of I.G. Farben, the notorious Nazi run chemical giant that also used slave labor and supplied the Zyklon-B gas used during the Holocaust to exterminate millions of people, including children. Shell continued the partnership with the Nazis in the years after the retirement of Sir Henri and even after his death. It was money generated on Shell forecourts around the world, profiteering from cartel oil prices, that funded the Nazi party and saved it from financial collapse. Evidence about Shell's Nazi connections can be found in extracts from "A History of Royal Dutch Shell" Volumes 1 and 2 authored by historians paid by Shell, who had unrestricted access to Shell archives. There are 67 pages in total, so takes some time to download.
Photograph (full size here) shows a Swastika flag flying at the head office of Royal Dutch Petroleum, 30 Carel van Bylandtlaan, The Hague, during the Nazi occupation of the in World War II (From Image Database Hague Municipal)
Sir Henri Deterding, the founder of the Royal Dutch Shell Group - known as "The Most Powerful Man in the World" - who became an ardent Nazi and financial supporter of Hitler and the Nazi party.
Reading between the lines in various legal documents, it seems that the allegations are that after the technology in question had been disclosed to a Shell company in the USA, the information was passed to Shell in the Netherlands in breach of confidentiality. And Royal Dutch Shell subsequently exploited the technology without payment or credit to the company holding the rights; Newton Research Partners. The inference seems to be that Twister B.V. was founded by Shell partly on trade secrets stolen from Bloom/Newton.
DISCLAIMER: This is not a Shell website nor is it officially endorsed by or affiliated with Royal Dutch Shell Plc. Originally co-founded by the late Alfred Donovan and his son John, it is now operated by John, Shell's "No.1 Enemy", aided by an expert team, with invaluable support from retired Shell senior executives and officials as guest contributors and leaked information from Shell insiders. (JOHN DONOVAN, WEBSITE OWNER) For nearly a decade, we have operated globally under the Royal Dutch Shell Plc top level domain name, dealing on Shell’s reluctant behalf with job applications, business proposals, Shell pension enquiries, shareholder enquiries, complaints, invitations to speak at conferences, an approach from the Dutch Defence Ministry and even terrorist threats. All meant for Shell. Prospect magazine has aptly described this website as being:"An open wound for Shell": WIPO proceedings by Shell to seize the domain name failed. NO SUBSCRIPTION CHARGES: All of our watchdog activities monitoring Royal Dutch Shell, including operating this website, are carried out on a non-profit basis. Any advertising revenues generated are used to recover and/or defray operational costs. We are a news aggregator and original content website. All information is available free for educational and research purposes. SHELL TACIT ENDORSEMENT: WHAT A WELL INFORMED SHELL OFFICIAL SAID ABOUT US:
"John and Alfred Donovan well known in UK/Hague. They perceive Shell played them and so have made it their mission to embarrass,belittle and criticize Shell, which they do quite well. Their website, royaldutchshellplc.com is an excellent source of group news and comment and I recommend it far above what our own group internal comms puts out."
WARNING TO SHELL EMPLOYEES: Shell Global Affairs Security "CAS") is spying on Shell employees globally trying to trace who is visiting, posting, or leaking information to this website from Shell premises. Threats, including death threats, have allegedly been made against conscience driven Shell whistleblowers supplying us with information. The worlds biggest leak of employee details as part of a claimed corporate revolution by 116 Shell employees, suggest the espionage operation, threats and draconian litigation have not been entirely successful in cutting off the supply of information to this website. The insider leaks had already cost Shell billions on the Sakhalin Energy project and the loss of SEIC Deputy Chairman, David Greer. We publish our own carefully researched articles about Shell e.g. "How Royal Dutch Shell saved Hitler and the Nazi Party". MEDIA COVERAGE: Prospect Magazine, The Sunday Times, and The Guardian, have all published major articles about us: "Rise of the Gripe Site";"Two men and a website mount vendetta against Shell' and "92-year-old's website leaves oil giant Shell-shocked”. SHELL PETROL STATION images displayed in the website header panel are licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Information on copyright issues here.
John Donovan can be contacted at [email protected]
SHELL’S $500,000 WEDDING GIFT TO CORRUPT BRUNEI ROYAL FAMILY
EXTRACT FROM ASIAN JOURNAL ARTICLE IN LIST OF LINKS BELOW: "Fireworks will light up the sky for three nights. The local unit of oil giant Royal Dutch Shell has donated 500,000 Brunei dollars (US$292,400; euro 243,700) for the display, and for cultural events to be hosted by popular performers from Malaysia."
IN JULY 2007, MR BILL CAMPBELL (ABOVE, A RETIRED GROUP AUDITOR OF SHELL INTERNATIONAL SENT AN EMAIL TO EVERY UK MP AND MEMBER OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS:
THIS IS WHAT IT SAID:
Subject: This could be the most important whistleblower email you have ever received.
Some unfortunate Royal Dutch Shell workers have already lost their lives. More lives are at stake.
My name is Bill Campbell. I am a former Group Auditor of Shell International. I am writing to you on a matter of conscience in an effort to avert the inevitability of another major accident in the North Sea. The consequences could potentially impact on families in many constituencies, including your own.
As Royal Dutch Shell and the Health & Safety Executive would acknowledge, I am an expert on safety matters relating to offshore oil and gas platforms. In 1999, I was appointed by Shell to lead a safety audit on the Brent Bravo platform. The audit revealed a platform management culture that basically gave a higher priority to production than the safety of Shell employees. To our astonishment we discovered that a "Touch F*** All" policy was in place. Worse still, safety records were routinely falsified and repairs bodged.
I personally brought the shocking situation to the attention of senior management including Malcolm Brinded, the then Managing Director of Shell Exploration & Production. I revealed that ESDV leak-off tests were purposely falsified, not once but many times and that Brent Bravo platform management had admitted responsibility for the dangerous practices being followed. In response to my team ringing alarm bells, management pledged to rectify the serious problems which had been uncovered.
When I later complained that the pledges were not being kept, I was removed from my oversight function.
Four years later, a massive gas leak occurred on the platform. Two workers lost their lives. I have no doubt at all that the inaction of the relevant Asset Manager, the General Manager, the Oil Director and Malcolm Brinded, contributed in some part to the unlawful killing of two persons on Brent Bravo in September 2003.
Shell subsequently pleaded guilty to breaches of the HSE regulations and a record-breaking £900,000 fine was imposed. I thought this would bring about a real change in policy to put the emphasis on safety.
Unfortunately I was wrong. Although I supplied the evidence related to 1999, and the fact that there had been a collapse in controls of integrity from 1999 to 2003 on all 16 of Shell's North Sea offshore installations covered in a post fatality integrity review to the HSE for review by the Procurator Fiscal, none of this evidence was presented before the Sheriff at the subsequent Inquiry. The situation is explained in a letter to the Procurator Fiscal and the Sheriff (on 24th February 2007).
Shell management has engaged in spin to try to pretend that it is getting to grips with its safety problem. However, its atrocious safety record - the worst in the North Sea in terms of accidental deaths and absolute number of enforcement actions – tells a different story. This fact has resulted in a number of newspaper articles.
I have had meetings with senior Shell people including its CEO Mr. Jeroen van der Veer. I regret to say that I have found him to be economical with the truth. He prefers to support cover-up and deceit rather than confronting the underlying problems. Brinded is now Executive Director of Shell Exploration & Production. He believes in burying evidence.
My family and friends would probably prefer me to give up on this matter and enjoy my retirement after so many years working for Shell.
However, by writing to every MP in the UK, no one can ever say that I did not do my best to avert an inevitable further major accident event in the North Sea. When it happens (I pray that I am wrong) I will make this warning communication available to the media together with the vast amount of evidence in my possession.
At least my conscience is clear. I have done everything possible to ring the alarm bells about Shell management and its unscrupulous attitude to the safety of its employees.
Yours sincerely
Bill Campbell
ENDS
(Malcolm Brinded and Jeroen van der Veer are no longer with Shell. The Oil Director referred to in the email is Chris Finlayson, who left Shell to become Chief Executive of British Gas before being fired - his photo immediately below)
SIR PHILIP WATTS, THE GROUP CHAIRMAN OF ROYAL DUTCH SHELL GROUP, FORCED TO RESIGN IN 2004
Shell’s reputation was destroyed in 2004 after FIVE consecutive cuts to its hydrocarbon reserves covering 55% of its total reserves. US and UK financial regulators imposed $150 million in fines on Shell for securities fraud. Shell was also rocked by class action lawsuits. Sir Philip Watts
and Walter van de Vijver (whose headcut images appear courtesy of The Wall Street Journal) were among the Shell executives forced to resign. More details at the foot of this column.
MORE DETAILS: The Shell reserves scandal brought about
the end of the Royal Dutch Shell Group in its original form as an Anglo-Dutch partnership.
Shell Transport & Trading Co and Royal Dutch Petroleum were unified into a single Dutch owned company - Royal Dutch Shell Plc.
Sir Philip turned to religion and is now a very wealthy priest after receiving a payoff/pension package from Shell reportedly worth $18.5 million. Walter van de Vijver in contrast was the victim of a sadistic sacking by his Shell senior management backstabbing colleagues.
Displayed below are some of the spectacular promotional campaigns my company Don Marketing created for Shell in the 1980s and 1990s. This was before the series of SIX high court actions we brought against Shell for stealing ideas (4) and for defamation (2) - all settled by Shell. This website is a permanent response by me to the malicious underhand tactics, including treachery, espionage and intimidation, used by Shell during and after the bouts of litigation. More information is printed at the foot of this column.
MORE DETAILS: After a solicitor acting for Shell threatened to make the litigation "drawn out and difficult" with the intention of draining the resources of a financially weaker opponent, my late father (Alfred Donovan) and I decided to mount a wide-ranging campaign as a counter-measure. We jointly founded the Shell Corporate Conscience Pressure Group, which nearly 15% of Shell UK retailers joined. We regularly conducted ethical surveys involving up to 1500 Shell petrol stations. All responses were opened and authenticated by an independent solicitor who supplied Affidavits confirming the results. In whole page announcements in trade magazines (examples above) we challenged Shell to commission and publish the resuits of independent research asking the same questions and offering respondents GUARANTEED anonymity. Shell never took up the invitation. Instead it asked the UK Advertising Standards Authority to investigate our Shell surveys. No problems were found. The head-cut image of Alfred Donovan appears courtesy of The Wall Street Journal.
SHELL CONTROVERSIES
selection of memorable warnings/articles/images associated with the controversial track record of Royal Dutch Shell.
WARNING: DO NOT DISCLOSE YOUR IDEAS TO SHELL GameChanger OR SHELL Ideas360 WITHOUT TAKING EVERY POSSIBLE PRECAUTION. Shell management has ample funds to pay for intellectual property but prefers to steal it from small businesses and in our experience, gives its full backing to dishonest managers willing to do its bidding. We have sued Shell repeatedly in the High Court for the theft of our Intellectual Property. It is doubtful if anyone can match our dire experience in dealing with this ruthless unscrupulous serial poacher of other parties ideas. Expect threats, legal machinations and sinister action from Shell and its spooks if you object to having your ideas stolen.
Some years ago extensive documentary evidence was brought to the attention of Malcolm Brinded above, when he was Chairman of Shell UK, proving beyond any doubt that Shell executives had conspired to rig a tender for a major contract. A number of innocent firms were deliberately lured into signing confidentiality agreements and disclosing Intellectual Property to Shell under false pretences, in a carefully contrived plot. The firm which was awarded the contract never took part in the tender. One objective of the Machiavellian plan was to stop/delay IP trade secrets owned by the participants in the tender from being disclosed to Shell's rivals. This was achieved by outright deception, without paying a cent to the firms involved, who wrongly believed they were participating in an honest tender. Instead of sacking the ring leader, AJL - who had a personal relationship with the firm which miraculously won the race in which it never ran - Shell senior directors, including Brinded, gave AJL their full backing. Some of the Shell executives involved, including for example, Tim Hannagan, still hold high positions inside Shell - in his case, Global Brand and Visual Identity Manager. If Shell does not accept that this is a true, provable account of what happened, then it should sue for libel. How on earth is such predatory conduct compatible with Shell's claimed business principles?