News and information on Shell PLC
Victoria faces another blow to its economy after Royal Dutch Shell reportedly sold Geelong refinery, putting 500 jobs at risk. The oil major sold the asset and its Australian petrol stations to Dutch-owned oil trader Vitol and the Abu Dhabi Investment Council for about $2.4bn, Fairfax Media reports. It is believed that Vitol, the world’s largest oil trader, has earmarked the 60-year-old refinery for closure…
By Athena Yenko | February 3, 2014 2:57 PM EST As a result of the massive decline in its annual profit announced Thursday, Shell today confirmed that it is putting its 900 Australian petrol stations for sale to recover from the 39 per cent slump of its profit. Shell also announced its plan to sell its 32 Australian fuel terminals, including the Geelong refinery which had been in the market since the early quarter of 2013. Company Chief Executive Ben Van Beurden says he will not reveal the details.
Royal Dutch Shell’s Arrow Energy coal seam gas venture in Queensland is set to cut potentially hundreds of jobs as speculation mounts that the proposed LNG project will be a casualty of reined-in spending by the oil major. One source said up to 600 jobs would go, representing half of the workforce.
Royal Dutch Shell’s Arrow Energy coal seam gas venture in Queensland is set to cut potentially hundreds of jobs as speculation mounts that the proposed LNG project will be a casualty of reined-in spending by the oil major.
One source said up to 600 jobs would go, representing half of the workforce. Another put the figure at 400 jobs out of the 1200 employed at the venture, which is half-owned by PetroChina.
The statement comes amid media reports that managers in Arrow were travelling to regional centres in Moranbah and Dalby to kick off the job reductions.
Shane Fowles: Herald Sun: September 11, 2013
SHELL has confirmed it is in talks with potential buyers for its Geelong refinery.
In encouraging signs for the 600 employees and contractors left in limbo by Shell’s decision to sell the 59-year-old refinery, the company has revealed it has held initial discussions with prospective suitors.
“We have received good interest from prospective buyers and will continue to make every effort to achieve a successful sale,” a Shell representative said.
Shell’s Geelong workers and senior management were told the news yesterday morning, just moments before a public announcement that the company was putting the refinery up for sale.
While workers were told not to talk to the media, union boss Ben Davis said the 450 Shell employees and 150 plus contractors were sickened by the announcement.
Shell has given itself 12 months to find a buyer for the Geelong refinery or face possible conversion to a fuel terminal with a greatly reduced workforce.
ABOUT 450 fearful Shell refinery workers in Geelong face a long wait for a lifeline that analysts and unions doubt will ever come. The petroleum giant has announced plans to sell its last remaining Australian refinery, but if it can’t find a buyer by the end of 2014 to keep it open, it may convert the site to a fuel import terminal.
If that happens, the Australian Workers Union (AWU) says hundreds of jobs will go, with only 50 to 100 workers needed to staff a terminal.
Financial data firm Morningstar’s head of equities, Peter Warnes, says Shell will struggle to sell the 60-year-old refinery.
“Shell have got no chance of finding a buyer,” Mr Warnes told AAP.
ROYAL Dutch Shell is putting its Geelong refinery up for sale, threatening the jobs of more than 500 workers in a city unions say is “already on its knees”.
The oil giant says if it can’t sell the refinery, it will consider turning it into a fuel import terminal to supply its local marketing and distribution business.
The move is another blow to Australia’s struggling refining industry, which cannot compete with giant refineries in Asia.
In 2011, Shell said it would close its only other refinery, at Clyde in Sydney, and convert it into an import terminal – a move that meant the loss of about 350 jobs.
An executive of Shell has said the future of the oil company’s Geelong refinery is ‘borderline’.
Shell global downstream director Mark Williams said the operation of the refinery at Geelong was ‘questionable’ given the challenges faced.
‘It’s borderline,’ Mr Williams told the Australian Financial Review.
‘It depends a lot on how it performs over the next few years whether or not it will ultimately be a survivor.
‘I think you can see the rest of the industry struggling with the same dynamics.’
GEELONG’S mayor is prepared to ask for federal and Victorian government assistance to prop up the local Shell refinery, with an oil company executive saying its future is “borderline”.
Shell says its Geelong refinery is facing challenges, including more competition from new mega-refineries in Asia, after its global downstream director Mark Williams said the operation of the refinery was “questionable” given the challenges.
“It’s borderline,” Mr Williams told the Australian Financial Review.
Mathew Dunckley and Angela MacDonald-Smith
The Chinese economy could be in worse shape than official figures suggest, threatening demand for Australia’s resources at the same time as increasing international competition and rising costs spell trouble for this nation’s fledgling gas boom, says one of Royal Dutch Shell’s top global executives.
Shell global downstream director Mark Williams said the energy giant was experiencing the equivalent of recession-level demand for key products such as diesel at the same time as China, one of the single largest markets, was posting official reports of strong growth.
“Shell Australia has been accused of withholding data showing that high levels of potentially cancer-causing benzene have been released from the oil giant’s Geelong refinery.”Thursday 18 August 2005
By Ewin Hannan
Geelong Grammar in the foreground with the Shell Geelong oil refinery in the background.
Photo: Craig Abraham
Shell Australia has been accused of withholding data showing that high levels of potentially cancer-causing benzene have been released from the oil giant’s Geelong refinery.
Former CSIRO scientist Chris Mardon, who analysed benzene data recorded by Shell’s air-monitoring equipment, claims record levels of benzene emissions came from the refinery, which is near Geelong Grammar and primary schools, over 13 days in April.
SHELL has brought forward the closure of its Clyde refinery in Sydney by up to nine months, cutting about 350 jobs as tough operating conditions plaguing the shrinking sector worsen.
Shell said it would close the 90-year-old refinery on September 30, which is earlier than indicated last year when the company said Clyde would close some time before the middle of next year.
Like most Australian manufacturers, refineries are straining under the weight of a high dollar, high-skilled labour costs and expensive raw materials – in the case of refineries, crude oil.
By John Donovan: 2 June 2012
It appears that the intervention of Royal Dutch Shell Company Secretary Michiel Brandjes, initiating an investigation of allegations we brought to his attention as a result of information given to us by a whistleblower at the Shell Geelong Refinery in Australia, may have resolved the matter.
Shell investigates alleged IP theft at Geelong Refinery
Stirring up a Hornets’ Nest at Shell’s Geelong Refinery
Printed below is the latest information from the insider source.
ROYAL Dutch Shell has reported a $495 million full-year loss on its Australian refining and marketing business after being hit by higher costs, a higher Australian dollar and a $638m writedown of its Geelong refinery.
But the oil major’s petroleum exploration and production division, centred on its stake in the Woodside-operated North West Shelf LNG project in Western Australia, offset the loss with a $US845m profit.
The writedown and earnings results were revealed in the 2011 reports of Shell’s two main Australian subsidiaries, which were filed with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission in recent weeks.
Photograph of Shell’s Geelong refinery in Australia
By John Donovan
Shell investigates alleged IP theft at Geelong Refinery
Alleged IP theft from employee of Shell Geelong Refinery
Stirring up a Hornets’ Nest at Shell’s Geelong Refinery
Hi John,
It was good to see Diana’s friend from the old Mobil refinery reinforce the fact that she is a nice person, as well as being clever.
Our refinery production manager Mr Guy Hackwell has been visiting lunch rooms around the refinery removing copies of the original email, referring to Shells reliability Manager, Mr Rod Mayes , as “a blood sucker who realized the potential and ran off and presented this work to Vice President Downstream Australia, Mr Andrew Smith.”
According to an insider source, the information that appeared on this website regarding alleged Intellectual Property theft has stirred up a hornet’s nest at Shell’s Geelong Refinery. It would also appear that an investigation is under way to find the person responsible for sending it to me, which has the objective of subjecting that person to Disciplinary Action.
By John Donovan
I have permission from the sender, Mr Warwick Williams, to publish an email he sent to me concerning the alleged theft by Shell of intellectual property owned by an employee at Geelong Refinery in Australia, Diana Newman.
Hi John,
The story on IP theft at the Geelong Refinery startled those in charge who are not bound by Shell’s core values.
Shell management have sent staff messenger persons all around warning internet users about the dangers of viewing your web site, and that they have people watching internet use within the Refinery to get those who would dare look for the truth themselves.
I get the impression that your site may get many more followers from out here in the colonies, employees who unlike management have to follow Shells core values. I would lay odds that everyone except management will now have to do a revision test on Shell’s core values.
Photograph of Shell’s Geelong refinery in Australia
By John Donovan
Printed below is email correspondence involving a whistleblower employee from Shell’s Geelong refinery in Australia and Mr Michiel Brandjes, Company Secretary and General Counsel Corporate of Royal Dutch Shell.
Although Mr Brandjes claimed that it was not a matter for correspondence with this website, he has in fact corresponded, replying within a deadline, and has agreed to intervene.
Shell has had a reasonable time to investigate, but apparently the matter has not been resolved.
Tuesday, October 11, 2005
Geelong Advertiser
SHELL Geelong will set up a new “expertise-based” community advisory panel, after acknowledging the refinery had failed to meet public expectations.
Geelong refinery manager Geoff Ellison said Shell accepted community expectations of the refinery’s performance had not been met, but was “committed to addressing these concerns in the context of a broader consultation and engagement program”.
Mr Ellison said he wanted Shell to play a more active role in the community to address “key stakeholder issues”.
Friday September 30, 2005
By Ewin Hannan
SHELL Australia has been fined $10,000 after an Environment Protection Authority investigation of two incidents at the oil giant’s Geelong refinery.
The EPA said yesterday two $5000 penalty notices had been issued against Shell for breaches of its licence.
The first incident occurred in May when oil leaked from a pipe on the refinery’s jetty into Corio Bay. The second involved a visible plume from the refinery’s sulphur recovery unit stack.
The EPA’s executive director of regional services, Bruce Dawson, said that while the oil spilt into the bay was a “fairly small amount, it’s something we believe further maintenance and management by Shell could have avoided”.
Saturday 17 Sept 2005
Geoff Ellison
Saturday, September 17
Peter Begg
SHELL’S Geelong refinery has described recent criticism of its environmental record as “scaremongering”.
Shell found itself caught in the crossfire in the past month as the state planning tribunal heard arguments for and against the storage of butadiene at terminals, next to the Refinery Pier.
Documents tabled at the tribunal accused Shell of dropping the ball, with claims questioning levels of benzene in the area, and more recently the danger of ships hitting the Refinery Pier.
Thursday 18 August 2005
Shell says the community should not be concerned about the emissions of a cancer-causing agent from its Geelong refinery.
Geelong residents have accused Shell of withholding data that indicates high emissions of benzene during April.
But company spokeswoman Adwina Pribyl says the emissions are not dangerously high.
“Benzene concentrations in the Geelong community are well within acceptable levels [and] Shell Geelong refinery have gone to considerable lengths to be open and honest with the community on benzene and other matters relating to our operations,” she said.
Thursday August 18, 2005 – 2:05PM
By Sasha Shtargot
The City of Greater Geelong and residents’ groups are fighting plans to store a toxic chemical next to the Shell oil refinery in Corio.
The EPA has approved an application by Terminals Pty Ltd to keep butadiene at its existing Corio facility, across the road from the Shell plant.
The council and residents’ groups are challenging the EPA’s works approval in the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal in Melbourne today.
Geelong Community for Good Life spokeswoman Sue McLean said before the hearing that residents were concerned about toxic emissions from the storage facility.
Thursday 18 August 2005
By Ewin Hannan
Geelong Grammar in the foreground with the Shell Geelong oil refinery in the background.
Photo: Craig Abraham
Shell Australia has been accused of withholding data showing that high levels of potentially cancer-causing benzene have been released from the oil giant’s Geelong refinery.
Former CSIRO scientist Chris Mardon, who analysed benzene data recorded by Shell’s air-monitoring equipment, claims record levels of benzene emissions came from the refinery, which is near Geelong Grammar and primary schools, over 13 days in April.
By Stathi Paxinos
June 5, 2004
Shell Australia must pay $75,000 towards an environmental project near its Geelong refinery after it was convicted in the Geelong Magistrates Court yesterday of polluting Corio Bay during three oil spills last year.
The amount is the largest penalty imposed on a company for a breach of the Environmental Protection Act.
Magistrate Ron Saines said the spills, in June, September and November, totalling 360 litres, were caused by Shell’s failure to adequately maintain its 800-metre pipeline jetty at Corio Bay, which tankers use to offload crude oil to the refinery.
Geelonginfo.com: Dip in Shell profitFriday, June 4
NOEL MURPHY
SHELL’S refining operations have posted a profit of $183 million for the 2003 year, pushing the oil company’s total profits for the year to $815 million.
The figure, a drop of $20 million on Shell’s oil products $203 million profit in 2002, came as the company poured $178 million into capital works at its Geelong and Clyde refineries.
Shell’s upstream operations – its exploration, production and natural gas business – returned a profit of $632 million, down $31 million on the previous year’s $663 million.
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.website publishes Shell Energy customer complaints posted on Trustpilot where there is an ample supply. Use this link for Shell’s own website.
EBOOK TITLE: “SIR HENRI DETERDING AND THE NAZI HISTORY OF ROYAL DUTCH SHELL” – AVAILABLE ON AMAZON
EBOOK TITLE: “JOHN DONOVAN, SHELL’S NIGHTMARE: MY EPIC FEUD WITH THE UNSCRUPULOUS OIL GIANT ROYAL DUTCH SHELL” – AVAILABLE ON AMAZON.
EBOOK TITLE: “TOXIC FACTS ABOUT SHELL REMOVED FROM WIKIPEDIA – HOW SHELL BECAME THE MOST HATED BRAND IN THE WORLD” – AVAILABLE ON AMAZON.
Royal Dutch Shell conspired directly with Hitler, financed the Nazi Party, was anti-Semitic and sold out its own Dutch Jewish employees to the Nazis. Shell had a close relationship with the Nazis during and after the reign of Sir Henri Deterding, an ardent Nazi, and the founder and decades long leader of the Royal Dutch Shell Group. His burial ceremony, which had all the trappings of a state funeral, was held at his private estate in Mecklenburg, Germany. The spectacle (photographs below) included a funeral procession led by a horse drawn funeral hearse with senior Nazis officials and senior Royal Dutch Shell directors in attendance, Nazi salutes at the graveside, swastika banners on display and wreaths and personal tributes from Adolf Hitler and Reichsmarschall, Hermann Goring. Deterding was an honored associate and supporter of Hitler and a personal friend of Goring.
Deterding was the guest of Hitler during a four day summit meeting at Berchtesgaden. Sir Henri and Hitler both had ambitions on Russian oil fields. Only an honored personal guest would be rewarded with a private four day meeting at Hitler’s mountain top retreat.
IN JULY 2007, MR BILL CAMPBELL (ABOVE, A RETIRED GROUP AUDITOR OF SHELL INTERNATIONAL SENT AN EMAIL TO EVERY UK MP AND MEMBER OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS: 
MORE DETAILS:
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. 
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 website etc. 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.
