Ben van Beurden hailed the region’s “tremendous” progress.
His commitment to the region comes after it sold more than half of its North Sea oil and gas fields for $3.8billion to Chrysaor.
The sell-off included interests in the fields Buzzard, Beryl, Bressay, Elgin-Franklin, J-Block, the Greater Armada cluster, Everest, Lomond and Erskine, and a 10% stake in Schiehallion.
Mr van Beurden insisted the shift in assets was about breathing new life into the portfolio Shell ring-fenced to keep.read more
“There were a few mishaps in BG that really hammered their share price and we saw them coming into this funny situation where the share price came down, but we could only see the value go up so we needed to take a hardened look at it again,” Mr van Beurden said. “And then while we were looking at it the oil price started crashing, which actually opened the window even further.”
Energy editor Rita Brown heads to the Hague to hear exclusively how Shell’s chief executive has viewed the last three years since the oil price crash
Ben van Beurden’s rise to the top coincided with the oil price riding the crest of a wave.
But for a man who assumed Shell’s chief executive role just months before it all came crashing down, he sums up the last three years as “a blessing”.
“Less than a year into my new role, the oil price started going down and it’s been quite a journey, but if I look back on it I think this is probably the biggest blessing that I’ve had,” he said.
“It has done two things. First of all it provided a tremendous amount of focus on the things that needed doing. I mean, there’s nothing like a crisis to focus on cost efficiency.read more
Shell has found a buyer for a chain of Argentine gas stations worth more than $1billion, a news report said.
Shell put the 630 Argentine gas stations up for sale as part of a £23.5billion divestment plan intended to balance the books in the wake of its takeover of BG Group.
Brazil’s Raizen Energia, a subsidiary of Shell, has outbid rivals including Argentina’s YPF, Chile’s Quinenco and China’s CNPC, Reuters reported, citing unidentified sources.
Shell and Cosan each own 50% of Raizen, which controls Brazil’s second largest chain of gas stations.
Shell said it would not comment on potential deals. Raízen also declined to comment.read more
The television ad stated that natural gas was “the cleanest of all fossil fuels.”
This is the second time in 2017 that Dutch advertising authorities have sought to punish the oil and gas industry with Statoil reprimanded for claiming gas to be “clean energy” and “low emissions fuel” in June.
The Dutch Advertising Code Authority stated that the term “cleanest fossil fuel” was not in line with the MRC (the Dutch advertising code).
Friends of the Earth Europe co-filed the complaint.
Paul de Clerk of Friends of the Earth Europe, said: “This clear ruling by the advertisement standards board is of great importance. Time after time we see how oil and gas companies are misleading citizens and politicians.read more
Chief executive Ben van Beurden said a number of final investment decisions are due to be made in the next 18 months.
And among the eight upstream projects is Shell’s Penguins developments in the northern North Sea comprising of several oil and gas fields in the northern end of the East Shetland Basin.
Although discovered in the 1970s, the cluster field has never been fully developed due to variety of factors including poor reservoir performance, lack of subsea technology, tricky geology involving faults and the large area involved.read more
The Anglo Dutch giant has confirmed that the aircraft, which were subject to a lengthy grounding following a fatal crash off Norway last year, does not feature in the future of the firm’s UK operations despite aviation watchdogs making moves to lift the flight ban.
It comes just a day after fellow supermajor BP revealed it will not consider a return the aircraft to service until a root cause of the Norway crash, which killed 13 people last April, has been identified.read more
One of the brains behind an iconic piece of the North Sea oil and gas landscape will have a last chance to say goodbye before it is dismantled for good.
Shell’s Brent Delta platform was a major part of offshore infrastructure for more than 40 years.
But, last month, the top was removed from the waters, leaving its legs behind, and transported to Hartlepool as part of the decommissioning process.
The huge 24,000 tonne topside, which weighs the same as the Empire State Building, is currently being stored in an Able UK’s shipyard, where it is waiting to be taken apart and recycled.
However, Shell gave some of its former employees the chance to bid farewell to the platform, which generated more than £35billion over its four decades.read more
Biraj Borkhataria of RBC Capital Markets said the influx should go towards reducing the oil major’s debts and act as a clear catalyst for outperformance.
The Anglo-Dutch energy giant’s net debt currently stands about $72billion and Shell wants to shave off about $20billion to reduce gearing − the level of a company’s debt related to its equity capital − to around 20%.
Shell is in the midst of a push to sell $30billion worth of assets between 2016 and 2018 to rebalance its books following its takeover of BG Group.read more
Shell paid more than $55.6billion (£43.7billion) to governments around the world in 2016, but got a sizeable rebate from the UK Treasury, the oil major revealed today.
The group, which is headquartered in London and the Netherlands, received a tax credit of £111million from the UK government last year primarily as a result of North Sea decommissioning costs.
About £90million worth of UK tax credits were linked to the Brent field and other northern North Sea projects.
A north-east MSP called for “urgent government action” after oil giant Shell said yesterday it was axeing 90 onshore roles in Aberdeen.
Labour’s Lewis Macdonald said it highlighted a need for support to protect jobs and skills in the UK oil and gas industry amid “the ongoing impact of the downturn” caused by a sharp slump in oil prices.
“The failure of other parties to act makes the result of next week’s general election even more important,” he added.read more
Shell’s Make the Future Live took place at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford, London from Thursday to Sunday.
The four-day extravaganza featured a number of inspiring and thoughtprovoking exhibits on the future of energy and how the world will have to move away from fossil fuels for energy in the future.
Some famous faces were also in attendance. Jason Bradbury from the Gadget Show and comedian Richard Ayoade hosted a podcast asking if London can become the world’s first carbon neutral city by 2050.read more
Royal Dutch Shell has been rapped over its climate change commitments, with shareholders criticising its rejection of emissions targets that would bring it in line with the Paris climate accord.
Shareholders at the oil giant’s annual general meeting (AGM) at The Hague spent hours questioning Shell’s board members, who said that while the company supported the Paris agreement, setting company targets was “not in the best interest of the company”.
Shell chief executive Ben van Beurden said his company was making progress in lowering its emissions, but that achieving Paris Climate Agreement goals – which aim to limit global warming to below 2 degrees Celsius from pre-industrial levels – would require broader coordination, including active government support.read more
The alarm was raised on Friday on the operator’s Brent Charlie.
The oil super major was forced to shutdown production after a gas detection alarm was triggered.
A total of 31 personnel were flown off the platform. The crew were largely associated with production, which remains suspended today.
Investigations into the cause of the isolated incident will be carried out for the remainder of the day.
The Brent field, operated by Shell, lies off the north-east coast of Scotland, midway between the Shetland Islands and Norway. It was discovered in 1991. The field’s lifespan was originally estimated to be only 25 years. To date, the Brent field has produced around three billion barrels of oil equivalent.read more
The hailed the progress made in recent years, such as the Paris Agreement, as marking a worldwide change in attitude in moving towards a low carbon economy.
In the opening remarks of the supermajor’s sustainability report for 2016, he describes how Shell is working to help meet the world’s growing demand for more and cleaner energy.
In his introduction, van Beurden said: “In 2016, the world took significant steps towards building a low-carbon energy future. The United Nations (UN) Paris Agreement and the UN’s sustainable development goals came into force, setting new targets for tackling climate change, promoting sustainable economic growth and providing access to modern energy.read more
The 40% reduction, revealed today in the supermajor’s 2016 annual report, comes after a number of cost-cutting changes, including a 25 per cent reduction in bonuses handed out for hitting targets.
Dudley’s maximum payout under the firm’s long-term incentive plan is to drop from a seven times to five times his basic annual salary of $1.9million.
Last year, around 59% of shareholders opposed Dudley’s $19.4 million pay and benefits package, including his pension.read more
Last month, it emerged that there’s a handover of the helm underway at Shell’s UK Continental Shelf and Ireland business based out of Aberdeen.
After pretty much two years in command, Paul Goodfellow is taking on a new challenge as Shell’s vice president wells based at Rijkswijk in the Netherlands, effective April 1.
Assuming command in Aberdeen is Steve Phimister, who has for the past year been UK “transition lead” for the integration of BG Group’s business into Shell following the successful £36.4billion ($52.6billion) takeover completed early last year.
That Goodfellow should be on the move surprised some in the North Sea community, but this has been a hectic period.read more
After roughly two years steering the unit through huge changes against a background of the third major oil price storm to rock the North Sea, Paul Goodfellow is taking on a new challenge as Shell’s executive vice president wells based at Rijkswijk in the Netherlands from April 1.
Assuming command in Aberdeen is Steve Phimister, who has for the past year been UK “transition lead” for the integration of BG Group’s business into Shell following the successful £36billion takeover completed early last year.read more
Kuala Lumpur Regional Centre for Arbitration awarded MISC $254.4million in its ruling.
MISC had filed an arbitration proceeding against Sabah Shell in September last year. The firm sought resolution of contractual disputes covering claims for outstanding additional lease rates, payment for completed variation works and other associated costs.
“This adjudication decision is expected to have a positive impact on the earnings per share, gearing and net assets per share of MISC for the financial year ending 31 December 2017 onwards,” MISC said.read more
Royal Dutch Shell are likely to take their time over the Brent decommissioning process due to the controversial fallout from a previous disposal attempt, according to one industry analyst.
The energy giant hit the headlines back in 1995 when it first floated plans to dispose of the Brent Spar holding and loading platform by sinking it in the deep waters of the Atlantic.
After getting wind of the plans, environmental group Greenpeace mounted a large-scale media campaign against the dumping of the Shell-owned oil and tanker loading buoy.
Protesters managed to occupy the installation for nearly three weeks before being evicted.
Shell later said the Brent Spar had become of “symbolic significance out of all proportion to its environmental effect”.read more
Written by Lindsay Razaq, Westminster Correspondent – 03/02/2017 7:03 am
Shell boss Ben van Beurden today urged against looking at the North Sea with “nostalgia” – insisting plans to sell off assets in the basin do not signal the end of the energy giant’s involvement.
The chief executive conceded the company was streamlining its portfolio.
But he stressed the exit of larger firms from mature positions was positive from a North Sea perspective.
He also said it would give the sector a “new lease of life”.read more
Oil supermajors Royal Dutch Shell and Total are preparing to introduce battery charging points at European petrol stations as the the energy giants respond to rising sales of electric cars.
A selection of Shell’s filling stations across the UK and Netherlands will be the first to offer the service later this year, according to the Financial Times.
Total is said to be working on a similar move in a bid to capitlise on the emerging electric car market.read more
Investors monitoring the fourth quarter results of Shell and BP must look beyond the top line figures to get a good reading of the firms’ vital signs.
Iain Armstrong, divisional director at Brewin Dolphin, said the fourth quarter was notoriously hard to predict as oil and gas deliveries tended to be down.
Mr Armstrong said the two majors’ headline figures could be disappointing, unless strong demand from China gives them a boost.
He also said Shell should be in a position to sell more of its North Sea assets, thanks to improved oil prices and the BG Group acquisition showing signs of fruition.read more
Oil majors Shell and BP are expected to reveal large increases in fourth quarter earnings next month, an analyst said yesterday.
Biraj Borkhataria of RBC Capital Markets estimated BP would record a net income of $1billion in Q4, up from $200million the previous year.
Mr Borkhataria said the firm’s production would edge up during the quarter due to lower seasonal turnaround and maintenance activities, though downstream margins will be under pressure.read more
Shell has been hit with improvement points after an audit was carried out by the Norwegian Petroleum Safety Authority (PSA) on working conditions in the central control room at the Nyhamna facility.
The oil major is the operator of the plant.
The objective of the audit was to investigate whether the alarm systems give the control room operators the necessary support in managing the processing facility in different operational situations.read more
Two exploration wells drilled on blocks operated by Shell off Tanzania have come up dry.
One of Shell’s project partners, London-listed Ophir Energy, said the Kitatange and Bunju wells in blocks one and four had been drilled safely and on time.
But no hydrocarbons were found, according to Ophir, which holds 20% interests in the assets.
Shell has held 60% of the licences since its takeover of BP Group, while Pavilion Energy holds 20%.
The Noble Globetrotter 2 rig has been demobilised from site, Ophir said.read more
Shell said today that it had submitted “a majority” of the plan for its Brent field decommissioning campaign to the UK Government.
Earlier, WWF Scotland cited a Shell communique to stakeholders as saying the plan was with the UK department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (Beis).
But a spokesman for Shell later confirmed that the submission process had not been fully completed.
The remaining documents are expected to be handed in during the next few weeks, with a 60-day public consultation to start early next year.read more
A Dutch court has received 25 appeals against the government’s decision to cap production at the Groningen gas field to an annual figure of 24 billion cubic metres from protesters who do not think it goes far enough.
A number of groups in the region asked for a steeper reduction to prevent earthquakes, which have damaged thousands of structures in the northern province.
Groningen used to supply 10% of demand in the European Union.
But it has halved in the past two years after the Dutch Safety Board said the government was failing to protect citizens from earthquakes triggered by gas exploitation.read more
Oil major Royal Dutch Shell has wished Donald Trump a successful presidency following his election win in the US.
Shell said it was looking forward to working with the new White House leadership.
It also vowed to keep advocating the importance of the energy sector to the US economy.
A spokesperson for Shell said: “We wish the President-elect success as he embarks on his transition and look forward to working with the new administration as they take office in January.read more
Royal Dutch Shell Plc, the world’s second-biggest oil company by market value, thinks demand for oil could peak in as little as five years.
“We’ve long been of the opinion that demand will peak before supply,” Chief Financial Officer Simon Henry said on a conference call on Tuesday. “And that peak may be somewhere between 5 and 15 years hence, and it will be driven by efficiency and substitution, more than offsetting the new demand for transport.”read more
An energy contractor working at a Shell Canada site has been killed in an accident, according to reports.
The 47-year-old was fatally injured in the workplace incident near Fox Creek, Alberta, on Sunday.
He was an employee of Secure Energy Services and was working at the Shell Canada site 260km northeast of Edmonton.
It’s understood the man had been struck by a hose.
An Occupational Health and Safety spokeswoman said: “The work site was situated by the side of a river and the workers were pumping water to a different location for wellsite activities.read more
Oil and gas giant Shell plans to sell $30billion worth of assets from 2016 to 2018 to offset the cost of its $50billion takeover of BG Group, which was completed in February.
By the end of June, 2016, Shell had completed deals worth $1.5billion, according to its half-year results update.
Of that sum, $820million was generated by offloading interests in Shell Midstream Partners, while $560million came from the sale of property, plant and equipment and businesses.read more
After weeks of speculation, OPEC showed it still has the power to surprise last week with its announcement of an agreement to cut back oil output for the first time in eight years. While short-term celebrations were rife, the question remains: Was the group just calling our bluff that its informal meeting would amount to more of the same, or will something actually be done?
While not expected, the tentative output agreement – to reduce production to between 32.5 million and 33 million barrels per day, down from the current 33.5 million barrels per day – came as welcome news to the oil and gas industry, as many of us presumed that this meeting would follow the usual pattern of producing no tangible results.read more
Shell’s plans to sell as much as P29.7billion worth of shares on the Philippine Stock Exchange would be a landmark initial public offering (IPO) for the region.
The sell-off is penciled in for October.
The Pilipinas Shell Petroleum IPO will run from Wednesday, October 19 to 25 after the price setting on Thursday, October 13.
The firm is on the crest of its hotly awaited stock market debut. It plans to auction off 330 million primary and secondary shares to the public for as much as P90 per share. If it completes the order, the offering will officially be the Philippine Stock Exchange’s biggest debut.read more
Shell was one of a handful of oil majors, which tumbled down the charts for this year’s Platts Top 250 Global Energy Company Rankings.
The survey considers four metrics – revenues, profits, return on invested capital and asset worth.
Shell, Chevron and ConocoPhillips all missed out on top 10 spots.
Shell slid 28 places to 31st on the list, Chevron fell 15 spaces to the 17th and ConocoPhillips tumbled a whopping 122 places, falling from seventh to the 129th spot.read more
A campaign group is urging Shell and BP shareholders to use binding votes on pay plans to encourage bosses to embrace green energy, a news report said yesterday.
ShareAction said sticking with old remuneration policies that reward executives for digging for oil would lead to both companies becoming obsolete and going bankrupt, The Guardian reported.
In line with rules introduced in 2013, large companies like Shell and BP face binding shareholder votes on three-year pay policies next year, the report said.read more
The final of six wells at Shell’s Corrib project on the West cost of Ireland has now been brought online.
The move comes more than a week after Shell was fined over a flaring incident on New Year’s Eve last year.
According to Vermilion, which owns an 18.5% stake in the field, production ramp-up has exceeded expectations and production volumes have now reached full capacity.
In its quarterly results Vermilion said: “Irish production continued to ramp up during the quarter, with better than expected well deliverability and minimal downtime at Corrib since start up on December 30th, 2015.”read more
The oil and gas industry is in danger of getting bogged down in key performance indicators (KPIs), a safety chief from Shell said yesterday.
Norbert van Beelen, Shell’s vice president of wells safety and environment, said that while it was important to measure performance, companies were wasting time gathering superfluous metrics.
He said: “We need to manage it because KPI is becoming an industry on its own.
“Certain metrics are needed so we understand where we are going, but there needs to be a purpose. We need to be deliberate about what we are choosing.read more
Noble Upstream has snapped-up one of Shell’s legacy North Sea assets.
The firm acquired a 7.59% non-operated interest in the Maclure oil and gas field from the oil giant.
Jeremy Huck, chief executive of Nobel Upstream, said: “We are very pleased that this important transaction in the North Sea has closed. Strong operational and economic performance this year has demonstrated that well-targeted investments in mature basins like the North Sea can deliver superior returns.read more
An Aberdeen-based oil and gas industry expert has called on the UK Government to take an “ethical lead” on offshore decommissioning.
Alex Russell, professor of petroleum accounting at Robert Gordon University, said Shell’s plans to leave large amounts of infrastructure from its Brent field in the North Sea set a bad example for developing countries.
Prof Russell said the UK Government should order a complete clearance of the seabed now, instead of leaving future generations to deal with “unknown consequences”.read more
Shell’s chief executive Ben van Beurden called on the industry to be the “contrarian in the room” and speak the “undeniable truth” about energy’s future.
The company leader addressed the delegation at this year’s ONS, tackling climate change and the influence of the Paris climate agreement.
The chief executive opened by saying: “There is a classic story about one of the most famous Norwegians of all time, the playwright Henrik Ibsen. Lying on his sickbed, he overheard his nurse saying that he was a bit better that day.read more
Shell’s New Zealand boss has reportedly said business was proceeding “as usual” amid reports the company was planning to divest its entire $1billion-plus portfolio in the country.
Australian media reports said late last week that JP Morgan had been hired to offload Shell’s assets, which were placed under review by the oil giant in December.
But Rob Jager told New Zealand media outlets the company was still looking at a range of options and that it was “business as usual”.read more
Stocks including fresh water are said to be running out on a North Sea platform hit by strike action.
Oil major Shell said stocks are “running low” as a result of a supply vessel being unable to offload due to the bad weather over the weekend.
However, workers have attributed the low stocks on the Gannet platform to the current industrial action.
Some have claimed laundry services have been shut since the weekend and they have been told to re-use towels and take shorter showers and re-wear clothes due to depleted water levels.read more
Oil major Shell has completed improvement notices from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after an incident led to the loss of containment of more than 800kg of gasoline.
The North Sea operator was hit with a notice which said it had “failed to demonstrate” that it had established a “safe operating pressure” for the loading of gasoline to ships.
The notice at the time added: “Despite evidence of repeated swivel joint seal failures on loading arms at Breafoot Bay and in particular the failure of the middle seal of the triple swivel joint on loading arm 3 during single pump loading on 21st April 2016, which led to the loss of containment of 825kg of gasoline.”read more
The vice president of Shell’s UK and Ireland Upstream operations has said the oil major is “disappointed” after both Unite and RMT unions voted in support of strike action.
The move could mark the first industrial action of its kind in a generation.
It comes after more than 200 workers were balloted on whether they would support either strike action or action short of a strike.
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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:
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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?
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.