Nov 9th, 2021
by John Donovan.
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REUTERS
Shell and Norsk Hydro team up for green hydrogen
November 9, 20217:29 AM GMT
OSLO, Nov 9 (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L) and Norsk Hydro (NHY.OL) are looking into jointly producing hydrogen from renewable electricity in a push to decarbonise their own operations as well as supply heavy industry and transport customers, Hydro said on Tuesday.
The Anglo-Dutch oil giant and the Norwegian aluminium maker’s green hydrogen unit, Hydro Havrand, have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) and begun initial work to identify opportunities to produce and supply renewable hydrogen.read more
The Australian boss of global energy giant Shell sees demand for liquefied natural gas exports continuing to grow until at least the late 2030s even as COVID-19 hastens the shift away from planet-warming fossil fuels.
Shell, which believes its oil output may have hit a peak in 2019 and is now likely to gradually decline, has revealed a brighter outlook for its liquefied natural gas (LNG) assets including those in Queensland and off Western Australia.read more
Feb 20th, 2021
by John Donovan.
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By Ron Bousso and Shadia Nasralla
LONDON (Reuters) – Energy giant Royal Dutch Shell vowed to eliminate net carbon emissions by 2050, raising its ambition from previous targets, as its oil output declines from a 2019 peak.
The Anglo-Dutch company is in the midst of its largest overhaul yet as it prepares to expand its renewables and low-carbon business in the face of growing investor pressure on the oil and gas sector to battle climate change.
Shell last year laid out a plan to reach net zero by 2050, in line with the Paris climate agreement and European Union ambitions, but it said the goal depended on its customers.read more
Jan 27th, 2021
by John Donovan.
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Shell New Energies is to acquire a 51% stake in Simply Blue Energy’s Kinsale floating wind venture.
Kinsale was set up to develop the Emerald project, a floating wind farm in the Celtic Sea, off the south coast of Ireland.
The new JV will be operated by Simply Blue Energy supported by Shell floating wind experts, with the project office based in the Cork City Docklands rejuvenation area.
The partnership combines Simply Blue’s track-record in developing floating wind projects and local knowledge of the Celtic Sea environment with Shell’s offshore experience, floating wind expertise and ability to develop large complex projects.read more
Nov 16th, 2020
by John Donovan.
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“Fossil fuel companies, like tobacco companies before them, have allowed governments to pay for the harms caused by their products“…
5 legal tactics environmentalists are using to fight climate change
Activists are increasingly using litigation as a tool to influence climate action worldwide. Here’s a look at some of the main tactics they’re wielding to force change on fossil fuel firms and weak government policies.
More than 700 climate lawsuits have been filed around the world since 2015, according to the Climate Change Litigation Databases. That’s a huge increase, considering there have only been about 1,700 of these types of cases since the late 1980s, most of them in the US.read more
Dec 29th, 2019
by John Donovan.
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Russia is not forcing Shell to buy its gas. Shell is also a big investor in solar power and is a 50% owner in offshore wind farms Atlantic Shores in New Jersey and the Mayflower Consortium in Massachusetts.
Last week’s announcement from the White House of a cease and desist order for the foreign firms building the Russia-to-Germany natural gas line may come about a year too late.
Nord Stream 2 was always seen as a slap in the face to Ukraine, once a main route into Europe for Gazprom’s natural gas from Russia. But Russia and Ukraine have since gone their separate ways, pulled closer into Europe and the U.S.’s orbit by both Washington and Brussels, and now Russia has opted to look for alternatives.read more
* Shell to leave AFPM in 2020 over climate “misalignment”
* Shell releases first report on links with industry groups
* Investor welcomes report as “industry first”
LONDON, April 2 (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell Plc on Tuesday became the first major oil and gas company to announce plans to leave a leading U.S. refining lobby due to disagreement on climate policies, citing its support for the goals of the Paris climate agreement.
In its first review of its association with 19 key industry groups, Shell said it had found “material misalignment” over climate policy with the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM) and would quit the body in 2020.read more
Mar 13th, 2019
by John Donovan.
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AMSTERDAM, March 13 (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell has teamed up with energy company Eneco and builder Van Oord in a bid to build two wind farms in the Dutch part of the North Sea, the companies said on Wednesday.
The tender for the wind farms, with total capacity of 750 megawatts (MW), is open until March 14 for bids that require no subsidies on electricity prices.
The Dutch were among the first to offer a ‘zero subsidy’ tender for wind power in 2017, with Sweden’s Vattenfall winning the right to build a 700 MW wind farm without price support.read more
Today there were reports that oil and gas giant Shell is keen to get involved with the UK’s vibrant offshore wind sector. Earlier this month it announced that it bought the German energy storage and management provider sonnen.
If news had broken three years ago that Shell had acquired a 100% stake in a German energy storage company the reaction would have been confusion, surprise and probably a dose of suspicion.
Mark Gainsborough, executive vice president of Shell New Energies, told Reuters during an interview last week that his firm intends to buy up UK seabed leases or buy up stakes in existing projects.
Shell recently bought a majority stake in a floating wind project planned for 2020
Originally investing 33% in the ‘TetraSpar’ floating foundation demonstrator turbine last year, Shell will now own 66% of the project.
Shell also pledged up to £1.4billion in new renewable energies last year.read more
Alphabet is turning yet another one of its X projects into a business, but this time it’s enlisting the help of an unusual ally. Makani Power, a venture making electricity-generating kites (see above), has become a full-fledged subsidiary of Alphabet thanks in part to a minority investment from Shell — yes, the fossil fuel giant. The two hope to shift the technology from the land to offshore, where winds are stronger. They’re betting that the kites will be easier to deploy than conventional wind farms, since they could deploy with floating buoys instead of requiring platforms that reach down to the ocean bed.read more
Dec 20th, 2018
by John Donovan.
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19 December 2018
(Reuters) – EDF Renewables North America said on Wednesday it had formed a joint venture with oil and gas firm Royal Dutch Shell plc’s (RDSa.AS) new energies division to co-develop a lease area for offshore wind energy in New Jersey.
The area, spread over 183,353 acres and located off the coast of Atlantic City, has the potential to produce about 2,500 megawatts of offshore wind energy, EDF said in a statement.
The Trump administration is streamlining permits for offshore wind industry and carving out new areas for leasing to boost domestic energy production and jobs.read more
Feb 24th, 2016
by John Donovan.
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The president of Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s U.S. division is leaving the company as part of a reorganization announced Wednesday, and Executive Vice President Bruce Culpepper was named as his successor.
Marvin Odum, 57, has been with the company for 34 years and held the post at its U.S. division, Shell Oil Co., since oil prices were at record highs. He also was in charge during Shell’s failed Arctic drilling bid. Culpepper, who will become the U.S. country chairman and the president of Shell Oil on April 1, has been overseeing human resources in the Americas.
“Marvin has had a long and distinguished Shell career and I’m grateful to him for the central role he’s played in the company’s success,” said Ben van Beurden, chief executive officer of Royal Dutch Shell, in a news release Wednesday. “He leaves our important businesses in the Americas well positioned for the next phase of their development.”read more
Mar 31st, 2015
by John Donovan.
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Extracts from a Bloomberg article published 31 March 2015
Iran riches coveted by big oil after decades of conflict
Now, as Iran and the US enter 11th hour negotiations to reach a nuclear deal and ease sanctions, the West Asian country is emerging again as a potential prize for western oil companies such as BP, Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Eni SpA and Total SA.
The restoration of Western oil investment appears to be a priority for Iran in its nuclear talks with the U.S., U.K, France, Germany, Russia and China. A year ago, the new Iranian President Hassan Rouhani used a speech during the World Economic Forum in Davos to court the European oil majors.read more
Apr 14th, 2014
by John Donovan.
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Extracts from an article by Holly Cook published 14 April 2014 by MorningStar
Investor sentiment on Shell today is decidedly negative after years of poor execution. Shell’s big shale bets have been a huge bust, crushing the profits and returns of its upstream operations in North America. This is likely to be a drag on returns for years unless gas prices rebound or impairments are taken. Europe is a terrible region for refining and Shell is heavily exposed.
Apr 11th, 2014
by John Donovan.
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Extracts from an article by Michelle Wheeler published Friday 11 April 2014 byphys.org
The world has enough natural gas to last nearly 400 years at the current rate of consumption or 110 years if production increases at a rate of two per cent a year, according to a Curtin University study. Curtin University adjunct research fellow Roberto F. Aguilera says much of the world’s natural gas – both conventional and unconventional – is located in Australia. “It’s that conventional gas that is likely to make Australia the biggest LNG exporter in the world, maybe by the end of the decade,” he says.read more
Apr 6th, 2014
by John Donovan.
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Extract from an article by Carey Gillam published by Reuters, 5 April 2014, under the headline: Series of small earthquakes rock Oklahoma in record seismic activity
(Reuters) – Earthquakes rattled residents in Oklahoma on Saturday, the latest in a series that have put the state on track for record quake activity this year, which some seismologists say may be tied to oil and gas exploration. One earthquake recorded at 3.8 magnitude by the U.S. Geological Survey rocked houses in several communities around central Oklahoma at 7:42 a.m. local time. Wastewater disposal related to the fracking is suspected by many scientists to contribute to the earthquake activity. Millions of gallons of wastewater are typically trucked from a fracking site to wells where the water is injected thousands of feet underground into porous rock layers. That work, if done near a fault, can trigger larger quakes, according to several recent scientific studies.read more
Apr 5th, 2014
by John Donovan.
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There are so many things wrong in China and RDS has no idea of what is going on. Investors be aware that it is a sink hole with no financial bottom and the “good ole boy” politics are in play in China.
Posting on Shell Blog by “Tyler” on 2014/04/05 at 04:04
Let’s talk China.
Shell has made commitment to drill Sichuan Province (press release 03/2014). What the story doesn’t tell everyone is that Shell has spent 1 Billion USD and has yet to find sustainable gas.
It also does not address the fact that Shell China has gone from 9 rigs to 1 rig in Sichuan.
Office staff in Chengdu is over 500 people for a 1 rig operation, by the end of 4Q 2014.
Let’s not forget that Shell China has been put under the US Unconventional Wells group. These are the same ones that screwed up the US Shale Gas Projects. The new manager is Chengdu is an American who came from Alaska, we know how that turned out.read more
Apr 2nd, 2014
by John Donovan.
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Extract from a highly informative article by Guy Chazan published on 1 April 2014 by The Financial Times
Late last year, for example, Shell decided not to proceed with a multibillion-dollar plant on the US Gulf Coast that would have converted gas into synthetic diesel. Unusually, it canned the project before it had even carried out the basic design work. Mr van Beurden says that is the shape of things to come.
Apr 2nd, 2014
by John Donovan.
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Ben van Beurden, Chief Executive Officer. Royal Dutch Shell Plc
Extract from an article by Guy Chazan and James Wilson published by The Financial Times on 1 April 2014
Royal Dutch Shell has said it will deploy more Chinese equipment at its struggling US shale business – becoming the latest natural resources company to try to reduce costs by switching to cheaper Asian suppliers. Mr van Beurden, who took the reins at Shell in January, said one of his biggest challenges was to turn around the company’s North American shale business.
Apr 2nd, 2014
by John Donovan.
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Extract from an articled published on 1 April 2014 by Seeking Alpha under the headline: Shell turning to Asian suppliers, underscoring threat to Caterpillar, Joy Global
Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A, RDS.B) says it will use more Chinese equipment at its struggling U.S. shale business, becoming the latest natural resources company to try to reduce costs by switching to cheaper Asian suppliers. Shell’s shift to lower-cost Chinese manufacturers underscores the potential threat to western industrial equipment makers such as Caterpillar (CAT) and Joy Global (JOY) from their competitors in emerging markets.read more
Mar 19th, 2014
by John Donovan.
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Extracts from an Alice Young article published 19 March 2014 by iNVEZZ.com under the headline: Shell share price: Group reorganises American shale operations
Royal Dutch Shell Plc has reorganised its American shale gas and oil operations into a single business in an attempt to improve their performance, the Financial Times has reported. According to the FT report, senior Shell executives told investors in a presentation in New York that for the past 14 months, the company had been operating its shale extraction business in the US, Canada and South America as a single unit…read more
Mar 14th, 2014
by John Donovan.
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Peter Voser said the failure of Royal Dutch Shell’s huge bet on US shale was a big regret of his time as chief executive of the company. Shell has invested at least $24bn in so-called unconventional oil and gas in North America. But it is a bet that has yet to pay off. “Unconventionals did not exactly play out as planned,” Mr Voser said.
From an oil industry expert:Unconventional Oil and Gas
Peter Voser said the failure of Royal Dutch Shell’s huge bet on US shale was a big regret of his time as chief executive of the company. Shell has invested at least $24bn in so-called unconventional oil and gas in North America. But it is a bet that has yet to pay off. Its North American upstream business has struggled to turn a profit and in August Shell announced a strategic review of its US shale portfolio after taking a $2.1bn impairment. “Unconventionals did not exactly play out as planned,” Mr Voser said.read more
OVER 500 EXTERNAL PUBLICATIONS CITING OUR SHELL WEBSITES
See our link list of over 500 articles by the FT, Wall Street Journal, Reuters, Bloomberg, Forbes, Dow Jones Newswires, New York Times, CNBC etc, plus UK House of Commons Select Committee Hansard records, information on U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission websiteetc. all containing references to our Shell focussed websites, or our website founders Alfred and John Donovan. Includes TV documentary features in English and German, newspaper and magazine articles, radio interviews, newsletters etc. Plus academic papers, Stratfor intelligence reports and UK, U.S. and Australian state/parliamentary publications, also citing our Shell websites. Click on this link to see the entire list, all in date order with a link to an index of over 100 books also containing references to our websites and/or our activities.
John Donovan, the website owner A head-cut image of Alfred Donovan (now deceased) appears courtesy of The Wall Street Journal.
JOHN DONOVAN, THE OWNER OF THIS AND SEVERAL OTHER SHELL FOCUSSED WEBSITES
SHELL PRELUDE TO DISASTER
The links below are to a series of articles, many triggered by a well-placed whistleblower directly involved in the pioneering Royal Dutch Shell Prelude project. Includes articles by Mr Bill Campbell above, the retired distinguished HSE Group Auditor of Shell International and another retired Shell guru with a track record of spotting potential pitfalls in major Shell projects.
The campaign waged on this website by John Donovan to persuade Edward Heerema to rename the worlds biggest ship, The Pieter Schelte - which he named after his late father, Pieter Schelte Heerema, a former Officer in the German Waffen-SS - has been successful. On Friday 6 February 2015, Allseas announced that it was changing the ships name, and on 9 February announced the new name - Pioneering Spirit.
GLOBAL NEWS COVERAGE: FEBRUARY 2010
MORE INFORMATION: Contact details for over 176,000 employees and contractors of Royal Dutch Shell reached John Donovan and some environmental and human rights groups, ostensibly from disaffected Shell staff calling for a “peaceful corporate revolution” at the company. The database, from Shell’s internal directory, contained names and telephone numbers for all the company’s work force worldwide, including some home numbers. It was supplied with a 170 page covering note, explaining that it was being circulated by “116 concerned employees of Shell dispersed throughout the USA, the UK, and the Netherlands”, to highlight the harm done by the company’s operations in Nigeria. John Donovan brought the leak to the attention of Shell. Tests proved that the data was authentic and he destroyed the database after being informed by Mr. Richard Wiseman, the then Chief Ethics & Compliance Officer of Royal Dutch Shell Plc, that the confidential information if publicly disclosed, could put Shell employees and contractors in real danger.
This is not a Shell website. That fact should be abundantly plain from the overall content of this home page and our sister Shell focussed websites, including shellnazihistory.com. Click on the Disclaimer link at top of this page for more information. You Can Be Sure Shell does not endorse or approve of this website. There are no subscription charges nor do we solicit or accept donations. It is an entirely free to use website drawing attention to the negative side of Shell while also publishing positive news about the company. The Shell logo image with the white text used on this website, as per the above example, is in the public domain because its copyright has expired and its author is anonymous. It can be found on WIKIMEDIA COMMONS. Our shellenergy.websitepublishes Shell Energy customer complaints posted on Trustpilot where there is an ample supply. Use this link for Shell’s own website.
Shell Breaking News
Shell Renewables Head to Leave Amid Fossil Fuel ShiftJune 30, 2023 14:49Financial PostBreadcrumb Trail Links PMN Business Shell Plc’s European renewable power boss Thomas Brostrom has decided to leave the company as the oil supermajor revises its strategy to focus more investment into fossil fuels. Author of the article: Bloomberg News …
Shell and BP take a beating as bank woes hit crude pricesMarch 15, 2023 17:36Proactive InvestorsBP PLC (LSE:BP.) and Royal Dutch Shell PLC (LSE:SHEL, NYSE:SHEL) shares have taken a hit, dropping over 8%, due to a sell-off in the banking sector.
The natural resources market has been volatile, with Brent Crude and West Texas Intermediate falling by 4- …
Shell CEO Pay Up 50%March 9, 2023 21:23Manufacturing Business TechnologyCEO of Royal Dutch Shell Ben van Beurden speaks at a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, June 21, 2017. Shell paid outgoing Chief Executive Ben van Beurden a total of 9.7 million pounds ($11.5 million) in 2022 as the …
Former Shell CEO's pay jumped 53% to $11.5m in 2022March 9, 2023 11:17Gulf NewsBen van Beurden, chief executive officer of Royal Dutch Shell, speaks during the 26th World Gas Conference in Paris, France, June 2, 2015
Image Credit: Reuters
London: Shell's former chief executive, Ben van Beurden, received a pay package of 9.7 …
SHELL’S ROLE IN NIGERIAN OPL 245 BRIBERY SCANDAL
Whatever fig leaves they might be trying to use to hide the truth, Shell and Eni paid over $1bn to a company called Malabu for the OPL 245 licence. Even though the payment was channelled through the Nigerian government, it was clear that Shell knew that the ultimate beneficiary was Dan Etete, the former minister of petroleum. Etete is the owner of Malabu, to whom he awarded the licence when he was Nigerian Minister of Petroleum.
Royal Dutch Shell conspired directly with Hitler, financed the Nazi Party, was anti-Semitic and sold out its own Dutch Jewish employees to the Nazis. Shell had a close relationship with the Nazis during and after the reign of Sir Henri Deterding, an ardent Nazi, and the founder and decades long leader of the Royal Dutch Shell Group. His burial ceremony, which had all the trappings of a state funeral, was held at his private estate in Mecklenburg, Germany. The spectacle (photographs below) included a funeral procession led by a horse drawn funeral hearse with senior Nazis officials and senior Royal Dutch Shell directors in attendance, Nazi salutes at the graveside, swastika banners on display and wreaths and personal tributes from Adolf Hitler and Reichsmarschall, Hermann Goring. Deterding was an honored associate and supporter of Hitler and a personal friend of Goring.
Deterding was the guest of Hitler during a four day summit meeting at Berchtesgaden. Sir Henri and Hitler both had ambitions on Russian oil fields. Only an honored personal guest would be rewarded with a private four day meeting at Hitler’s mountain top retreat.
MORE INFORMATION
Shell appeased and collaborated with the Nazis. The oil giant instructed its employees in the Netherlands to complete a form giving particulars about their descent, which for some, amounted to a self-declared death warrant. Shell used slave labor and was a close business partner in Germany of I.G. Farben, the notorious Nazi run chemical giant that also used slave labor and supplied the Zyklon-B gas used during the Holocaust to exterminate millions of people, including children. Shell continued the partnership with the Nazis in the years after the retirement of Sir Henri and even after his death. It was money generated on Shell forecourts around the world, profiteering from cartel oil prices, that funded the Nazi party and saved it from financial collapse. Evidence about Shell's Nazi connections can be found in extracts from "A History of Royal Dutch Shell" Volumes 1 and 2 authored by historians paid by Shell, who had unrestricted access to Shell archives. There are 67 pages in total, so takes some time to download.
Photograph (full size here) shows a Swastika flag flying at the head office of Royal Dutch Petroleum, 30 Carel van Bylandtlaan, The Hague, during the Nazi occupation of the in World War II (From Image Database Hague Municipal)
Sir Henri Deterding, the founder of the Royal Dutch Shell Group - known as "The Most Powerful Man in the World" - who became an ardent Nazi and financial supporter of Hitler and the Nazi party.
Reading between the lines in various legal documents, it seems that the allegations are that after the technology in question had been disclosed to a Shell company in the USA, the information was passed to Shell in the Netherlands in breach of confidentiality. And Royal Dutch Shell subsequently exploited the technology without payment or credit to the company holding the rights; Newton Research Partners. The inference seems to be that Twister B.V. was founded by Shell partly on trade secrets stolen from Bloom/Newton.
DISCLAIMER: This is not a Shell website nor is it officially endorsed by or affiliated with Royal Dutch Shell Plc. Originally co-founded by the late Alfred Donovan and his son John, it is now operated by John, Shell's "No.1 Enemy", aided by an expert team, with invaluable support from retired Shell senior executives and officials as guest contributors and leaked information from Shell insiders. (JOHN DONOVAN, WEBSITE OWNER) For nearly a decade, we have operated globally under the Royal Dutch Shell Plc top level domain name, dealing on Shell’s reluctant behalf with job applications, business proposals, Shell pension enquiries, shareholder enquiries, complaints, invitations to speak at conferences, an approach from the Dutch Defence Ministry and even terrorist threats. All meant for Shell. Prospect magazine has aptly described this website as being:"An open wound for Shell": WIPO proceedings by Shell to seize the domain name failed. NO SUBSCRIPTION CHARGES: All of our watchdog activities monitoring Royal Dutch Shell, including operating this website, are carried out on a non-profit basis. Any advertising revenues generated are used to recover and/or defray operational costs. We are a news aggregator and original content website. All information is available free for educational and research purposes. SHELL TACIT ENDORSEMENT: WHAT A WELL INFORMED SHELL OFFICIAL SAID ABOUT US:
"John and Alfred Donovan well known in UK/Hague. They perceive Shell played them and so have made it their mission to embarrass,belittle and criticize Shell, which they do quite well. Their website, royaldutchshellplc.com is an excellent source of group news and comment and I recommend it far above what our own group internal comms puts out."
WARNING TO SHELL EMPLOYEES: Shell Global Affairs Security "CAS") is spying on Shell employees globally trying to trace who is visiting, posting, or leaking information to this website from Shell premises. Threats, including death threats, have allegedly been made against conscience driven Shell whistleblowers supplying us with information. The worlds biggest leak of employee details as part of a claimed corporate revolution by 116 Shell employees, suggest the espionage operation, threats and draconian litigation have not been entirely successful in cutting off the supply of information to this website. The insider leaks had already cost Shell billions on the Sakhalin Energy project and the loss of SEIC Deputy Chairman, David Greer. We publish our own carefully researched articles about Shell e.g. "How Royal Dutch Shell saved Hitler and the Nazi Party". MEDIA COVERAGE: Prospect Magazine, The Sunday Times, and The Guardian, have all published major articles about us: "Rise of the Gripe Site";"Two men and a website mount vendetta against Shell' and "92-year-old's website leaves oil giant Shell-shocked”. SHELL PETROL STATION images displayed in the website header panel are licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Information on copyright issues here.
John Donovan can be contacted at [email protected]
SHELL’S $500,000 WEDDING GIFT TO CORRUPT BRUNEI ROYAL FAMILY
EXTRACT FROM ASIAN JOURNAL ARTICLE IN LIST OF LINKS BELOW: "Fireworks will light up the sky for three nights. The local unit of oil giant Royal Dutch Shell has donated 500,000 Brunei dollars (US$292,400; euro 243,700) for the display, and for cultural events to be hosted by popular performers from Malaysia."
IN JULY 2007, MR BILL CAMPBELL (ABOVE, A RETIRED GROUP AUDITOR OF SHELL INTERNATIONAL SENT AN EMAIL TO EVERY UK MP AND MEMBER OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS:
THIS IS WHAT IT SAID:
Subject: This could be the most important whistleblower email you have ever received.
Some unfortunate Royal Dutch Shell workers have already lost their lives. More lives are at stake.
My name is Bill Campbell. I am a former Group Auditor of Shell International. I am writing to you on a matter of conscience in an effort to avert the inevitability of another major accident in the North Sea. The consequences could potentially impact on families in many constituencies, including your own.
As Royal Dutch Shell and the Health & Safety Executive would acknowledge, I am an expert on safety matters relating to offshore oil and gas platforms. In 1999, I was appointed by Shell to lead a safety audit on the Brent Bravo platform. The audit revealed a platform management culture that basically gave a higher priority to production than the safety of Shell employees. To our astonishment we discovered that a "Touch F*** All" policy was in place. Worse still, safety records were routinely falsified and repairs bodged.
I personally brought the shocking situation to the attention of senior management including Malcolm Brinded, the then Managing Director of Shell Exploration & Production. I revealed that ESDV leak-off tests were purposely falsified, not once but many times and that Brent Bravo platform management had admitted responsibility for the dangerous practices being followed. In response to my team ringing alarm bells, management pledged to rectify the serious problems which had been uncovered.
When I later complained that the pledges were not being kept, I was removed from my oversight function.
Four years later, a massive gas leak occurred on the platform. Two workers lost their lives. I have no doubt at all that the inaction of the relevant Asset Manager, the General Manager, the Oil Director and Malcolm Brinded, contributed in some part to the unlawful killing of two persons on Brent Bravo in September 2003.
Shell subsequently pleaded guilty to breaches of the HSE regulations and a record-breaking £900,000 fine was imposed. I thought this would bring about a real change in policy to put the emphasis on safety.
Unfortunately I was wrong. Although I supplied the evidence related to 1999, and the fact that there had been a collapse in controls of integrity from 1999 to 2003 on all 16 of Shell's North Sea offshore installations covered in a post fatality integrity review to the HSE for review by the Procurator Fiscal, none of this evidence was presented before the Sheriff at the subsequent Inquiry. The situation is explained in a letter to the Procurator Fiscal and the Sheriff (on 24th February 2007).
Shell management has engaged in spin to try to pretend that it is getting to grips with its safety problem. However, its atrocious safety record - the worst in the North Sea in terms of accidental deaths and absolute number of enforcement actions – tells a different story. This fact has resulted in a number of newspaper articles.
I have had meetings with senior Shell people including its CEO Mr. Jeroen van der Veer. I regret to say that I have found him to be economical with the truth. He prefers to support cover-up and deceit rather than confronting the underlying problems. Brinded is now Executive Director of Shell Exploration & Production. He believes in burying evidence.
My family and friends would probably prefer me to give up on this matter and enjoy my retirement after so many years working for Shell.
However, by writing to every MP in the UK, no one can ever say that I did not do my best to avert an inevitable further major accident event in the North Sea. When it happens (I pray that I am wrong) I will make this warning communication available to the media together with the vast amount of evidence in my possession.
At least my conscience is clear. I have done everything possible to ring the alarm bells about Shell management and its unscrupulous attitude to the safety of its employees.
Yours sincerely
Bill Campbell
ENDS
(Malcolm Brinded and Jeroen van der Veer are no longer with Shell. The Oil Director referred to in the email is Chris Finlayson, who left Shell to become Chief Executive of British Gas before being fired - his photo immediately below)
SIR PHILIP WATTS, THE GROUP CHAIRMAN OF ROYAL DUTCH SHELL GROUP, FORCED TO RESIGN IN 2004
Shell’s reputation was destroyed in 2004 after FIVE consecutive cuts to its hydrocarbon reserves covering 55% of its total reserves. US and UK financial regulators imposed $150 million in fines on Shell for securities fraud. Shell was also rocked by class action lawsuits. Sir Philip Watts
and Walter van de Vijver (whose headcut images appear courtesy of The Wall Street Journal) were among the Shell executives forced to resign. More details at the foot of this column.
MORE DETAILS: The Shell reserves scandal brought about
the end of the Royal Dutch Shell Group in its original form as an Anglo-Dutch partnership.
Shell Transport & Trading Co and Royal Dutch Petroleum were unified into a single Dutch owned company - Royal Dutch Shell Plc.
Sir Philip turned to religion and is now a very wealthy priest after receiving a payoff/pension package from Shell reportedly worth $18.5 million. Walter van de Vijver in contrast was the victim of a sadistic sacking by his Shell senior management backstabbing colleagues.
Displayed below are some of the spectacular promotional campaigns my company Don Marketing created for Shell in the 1980s and 1990s. This was before the series of SIX high court actions we brought against Shell for stealing ideas (4) and for defamation (2) - all settled by Shell. This website is a permanent response by me to the malicious underhand tactics, including treachery, espionage and intimidation, used by Shell during and after the bouts of litigation. More information is printed at the foot of this column.
MORE DETAILS: After a solicitor acting for Shell threatened to make the litigation "drawn out and difficult" with the intention of draining the resources of a financially weaker opponent, my late father (Alfred Donovan) and I decided to mount a wide-ranging campaign as a counter-measure. We jointly founded the Shell Corporate Conscience Pressure Group, which nearly 15% of Shell UK retailers joined. We regularly conducted ethical surveys involving up to 1500 Shell petrol stations. All responses were opened and authenticated by an independent solicitor who supplied Affidavits confirming the results. In whole page announcements in trade magazines (examples above) we challenged Shell to commission and publish the resuits of independent research asking the same questions and offering respondents GUARANTEED anonymity. Shell never took up the invitation. Instead it asked the UK Advertising Standards Authority to investigate our Shell surveys. No problems were found. The head-cut image of Alfred Donovan appears courtesy of The Wall Street Journal.
SHELL CONTROVERSIES
selection of memorable warnings/articles/images associated with the controversial track record of Royal Dutch Shell.
WARNING: DO NOT DISCLOSE YOUR IDEAS TO SHELL GameChanger OR SHELL Ideas360 WITHOUT TAKING EVERY POSSIBLE PRECAUTION. Shell management has ample funds to pay for intellectual property but prefers to steal it from small businesses and in our experience, gives its full backing to dishonest managers willing to do its bidding. We have sued Shell repeatedly in the High Court for the theft of our Intellectual Property. It is doubtful if anyone can match our dire experience in dealing with this ruthless unscrupulous serial poacher of other parties ideas. Expect threats, legal machinations and sinister action from Shell and its spooks if you object to having your ideas stolen.
Some years ago extensive documentary evidence was brought to the attention of Malcolm Brinded above, when he was Chairman of Shell UK, proving beyond any doubt that Shell executives had conspired to rig a tender for a major contract. A number of innocent firms were deliberately lured into signing confidentiality agreements and disclosing Intellectual Property to Shell under false pretences, in a carefully contrived plot. The firm which was awarded the contract never took part in the tender. One objective of the Machiavellian plan was to stop/delay IP trade secrets owned by the participants in the tender from being disclosed to Shell's rivals. This was achieved by outright deception, without paying a cent to the firms involved, who wrongly believed they were participating in an honest tender. Instead of sacking the ring leader, AJL - who had a personal relationship with the firm which miraculously won the race in which it never ran - Shell senior directors, including Brinded, gave AJL their full backing. Some of the Shell executives involved, including for example, Tim Hannagan, still hold high positions inside Shell - in his case, Global Brand and Visual Identity Manager. If Shell does not accept that this is a true, provable account of what happened, then it should sue for libel. How on earth is such predatory conduct compatible with Shell's claimed business principles?