Listen and read proof in audio and transcript form of Shell CEO Ben van Beurden’s cover-up tactics in the OPL 245 Nigerian corruption scandal. Instruction given by him in the covertly recorded call to CFO Simon Henry was at odds with Shell’s claimed core business principles. Cover-up and obstruction, instead of transparency and integrity, says Shell critic John Donovan

REUTERS STAFF: MAY 24, 2018

By Estelle Shirbon

LONDON, May 24 (Reuters) – A British judge ruled on Thursday that Nigeria’s Bodo community, which has been involved in a protracted legal battle with Shell over the clean-up of two 2008 oil spills, should retain the option of litigation for another year.

Lawyers for Bodo had accused Shell of trying to kill off the legal case by seeking a court order that would have meant the community had to meet onerous conditions before it could revive its litigation, which is currently on hold. read more

Map showing the location of Shell’s Dover discovery and its proximity to Shell’s new Appomattox host in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico 

HOUSTON, May 24, 2018 /PRNewswire/ — Shell Offshore, Inc. (“Shell”) today announced a large, deep-water, exploration discovery in the Norphlet geologic play in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico with its Dover well (100% Shell). The Dover discovery is Shell’s sixth in the Norphlet and encountered more than 800 net feet of pay (244 meters). The discovery is located approximately 13 miles from the Appomattox host and is considered an attractive potential tieback. Shell’s Appomattox host has now arrived on location in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico and is expected to start production before the end of 2019. read more

By Hugo Miller , Kelly Gilblom , and Sergio Di Pasquale: 24 May 2018, 08:40 BST Updated on 24 May 2018, 10:23 BST

A briefcase seized from a Geneva apartment two years ago could be the key to an Italian bribery case against Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Eni SpA — if it makes it to Milan in time.

The bag held SIM cards, Nigerian passports, a laptop and a hard drive containing more than 40,000 documents, and belonged to Emeka Obi, according to a spokesman for the Geneva Prosecutor’s Office. Swiss prosecutors found it during a raid for an unrelated investigation and are trying to get it to their Italian colleagues, who are prosecuting Obi as an alleged middle man in a $1.1 billion kickback scheme involving the energy companies vying for a Nigerian oil license.

Obi’s lawyers persuaded a Geneva judge to put the contents of his briefcase under seal, citing his rights to privacy. Now a decision by Geneva’s Measures of Constraint Court on whether to lift that seal is expected as soon as this month.

While officials in Milan have moved forward with charges against the oil companies without the briefcase, the evidence could strengthen the graft case. The trial, which centers around events in 2011, begins on June 20. Milanese Prosecutor Fabio De Pasquale said he has “sent more reminders” to the Swiss saying he wants the briefcase, underscoring its importance. read more

By Jeremy Hodges, Lauren Leatherby and Kartikay Mehrotra
May 24, 2018

In the global fight against climate change, one tool is proving increasingly popular: litigation. From California to the Philippines, activists, governments and concerned citizens are suing the biggest polluters and national governments over the effects of climate change at a break-neck pace. “The courts are our last, best hope at this moment of irreversible harm to our planet and life on it,” said Julia Olson, an attorney for Our Children’s Trust, a legal challenge center in the U.S. that is involved in climate change litigation across 13 countries, including the U.S., Pakistan and Uganda. Cases by San Francisco and Oakland face a motion to dismiss the lawsuit today in a California federal court, where Chevron Corp., BP Plc, Exxon Mobil Corp., ConocoPhilips and Royal Dutch Shell Plc will argue that remedies and penalties for climate change are a matter for lawmakers, not a single judge. read more

Vera Eckert: May 23, 2018

FRANKFURT (Reuters) – German solar battery maker sonnen has secured 60 million euros ($71 million) in funds from Shell Ventures and existing shareholders to expand at home and abroad. Shell Ventures, a unit of the Anglo-Dutch oil major that has been boosting its investments in solar and other renewables, was a lead investor in the latest funding round, sonnen Chief executive Christoph Ostermann told Reuters. “With this money, we can get started on important investment plans, especially in the United States and Australia,” he said, adding that existing shareholders also contributed extra cash. FULL ARTICLE read more

Nigeria: Shell’s Oil Spill Dispute With Nigerian Villagers Back in UK Court

By Ejiofor Alike with Agency Reports

Lawyers for the Bodo community in Ogoniland of Rivers State, which was devastated by two major oil spills in 2008, went to court in London yesterday to fend off what they said was an attempt by Shell to kill off their litigation.

This is coming as crude oil price rose briefly to $80 per barrel yesterday after the United States toughened its stance on Iran and Venezuela, key oil producers and members of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

The Bodo oil spills have been the subject of years of legal wrangling. read more

Robin Pagnamenta, Deputy Business Editor: May 23, 2018

The chief executives of some of the biggest British-listed companies are set to travel to Russia this week for a business forum hosted by President Putin, despite simmering tensions over visas and US sanctions against the country.

The oil bosses Bob Dudley, of BP, and Ben van Beurden, of Royal Dutch Shell, are scheduled to speak at the St Petersburg Economic Forum on Friday. Ivan Glasenberg, chief executive of Glencore, the mining and commodities group, and Xavier Rolet, former chief executive of the London Stock Exchange, are also due to take part. read more

Shell confirms award of 39 North Sea exploration blocks

Written by David McPhee – 23/05/2018 6:32 pm

Oil giant Shell today confirmed it had acquired 39 North Sea exploration blocks as a part of the 30th Offshore Licencing Round.

In a statement, Shell said that the 39 blocks break down as 11 operated and 28 non-operated blocks within the North Sea.

Data from the Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) shows that Shell has acquired two operational blocks within the west of Shetland, five within the Central North Sea (North) and further four within the Central North Sea (South).

A Shell spokesperson said “Shell UK can confirm that on 23 May 2018, we were awarded 39 exploration blocks, 11 operated and 28 non-operated, by the UK Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) in the 30^th UK Licensing Round. The acreage was applied for on 21 November.” read more

MOSOP Condemn Shell’s Resurgence in Ogoniland

The Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) strongly condemn the current military-backed laying of pipelines in K-Dere in Gokana local government area and other parts of Ogoniland by the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited, a subsidiary of Shell International. We see the current invasion of parts of Ogoniland by Shell with the backing of Nigerian soldiers as a clear signal to Shell’s determination to kill local people and members of civil society groups especially MOSOP who have consistently protested against oil resumption in Ogoni without a broad-based engagement with the Ogoni people. MOSOP maintains that oil related activities in any art of Ogoniland must be properly negotiated, not forced and must be done in good faith with the people’s free, prior and informed consent. We recall that Shell”s injustices in Ogoniland had sparked up a conflict between the people, the government and the company since 1993. Consequently, over 4,000 Ogonis were killed by Shell–sponsored repression executed by Nigerian soldiers between 1993 and 1999. The current affront by Shell is clearly another plot to further dehumanize, kill, abuse, rape and torture our people. MOSOP strongly condemn Shell’s penchant for human rights abuses and disregard for the wishes of the Ogoni people. We insist that Shell will not push forward forceful resumption of oil production in the region and that Shell will end its use of Nigerian soldiers to intimidate, harass and torture of our people We are deeply concerned about the danger posed by Shell’s presence in Ogoniland particularly as it affect the safety of local people who have consistently protested against the company. We demand that Shell immediately withdraw its facilities from Ogoniland and desist from further actions that threaten the peace and security of our people. Signed: Fegalo Nsuke Publicity Secretary Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People(MOSOP)

Disclaimer

The views, information, allegations or opinions expressed above are those of the author/originator of the article. They have not been substantiated by the publisher of this website and may not represent the publishers views.

Estelle Shirbon: MAY 22, 2018

LONDON (Reuters) – Lawyers for the Bodo community in Nigeria’s oil-producing Niger Delta, which was devastated by two major oil spills a decade ago, went to court in London on Tuesday to fend off what they said was an attempt by Shell to kill off their litigation.

The Bodo oil spills have been the subject of years of legal wrangling. In 2015, Shell accepted liability for the spills, agreeing to pay 55 million pounds ($83 million at the time) to Bodo villagers and to clean up their lands and waterways. read more

Photographer: Andrey Rudakov/Bloomberg

Kelly Gilblom: 22 May 2018, 14:48 BST

Royal Dutch Shell Plc has seen off the two most debated issues at its shareholder meeting — the boss’s pay and responsibility in tackling climate change. But not without a degree of drama.

The company won the backing of about 94 percent of shareholders to not set specific emission-reduction targets, with Chief Executive Officer Ben van Beurden saying it is taking “leadership” on the issue. However, while almost 75 percent of investors also approved the remuneration report, it faced stiffer resistance after an influential advisory firm asked them to reject the package. read more

May 22, 2018

A group of 26 large institutional investors have petitioned Shell to formulate concrete goals in its effort to address the terms of the Paris climate accord.

The 26 investors, which have a total of $7.8trn under management, presented a statement to the Anglo-Dutch energy giant during Shell’s AGM in The Hague. The group of  26 includes HSBC Global Asset Management, AXA Investment Manager, Aegon, Calpers en MN.

In its statement, the investors applauded Shell’s ambition to reduce its carbon footprint by 50% and called on other oil and gas companies to follow suit. read more

A quarter of Shell shareholders turned on Ben Van Beurden after he pocketed €8.9m (£7.8m)

Jillian Ambrose: 22 MAY 2018 • 2:02PM

The boss of Royal Dutch Shell has suffered a bruising shareholder revolt after more than a quarter of its investors voted against his multi-million euro payout for last year.

Ben Van Beurden pocketed €8.9m (£7.8m) for 2017 after trebling the company’s profits to $12.1bn (£9bn) as the oil giant staged an impressive recovery from a crash in prices.

But shareholders took against the FTSE 100 boss after an accident in Pakistan last year claimed the lives of more than 200 people in an explosion of a fuel tanker operated by one of the energy giant’s subsidiaries. read more

John Geddie, Rolan Khasawneh: MAY 22, 2018 SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Singapore authorities have levied new charges against a group of fuel thieves operating at Royal Dutch Shell’s oil refinery in the city-state, raising the value of the stolen fuel to over $40 million (30 million pounds) from around $10 million in earlier charges, according to court documents reviewed by Reuters on Tuesday. Five former employees of Shell’s (RDSa.L) Singapore subsidiary received 51 additional charges in court on Friday for suspected theft at the Pulau Bukom refinery, Shell’s biggest, to bring the total allegations against them to 63 each, the documents showed.

The charges relate to incidents involving a total of 66,141 metric tonnes of gasoil valued at around $32.1 million between late April 2017 through to early January this year.

An additional three former Shell employees received eight additional charges for incidents involving 16,394 metric tonnes of gasoil valued at around $8.4 million, raising their total allegations to 15.

The values given in the court documents were a mix of Singapore dollars and U.S. dollars and Reuters converted them based on Tuesday’s exchange rate. read more

FILE PHOTO: Ben van Beurden, CEO of Royal Dutch Shell company, speaks during a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, Russia June 21, 2017. REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin

Reuters Staff: May 22, 2018

THE HAGUE (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L) shareholders on Tuesday approved the 2017 management remuneration, including Chief Executive Officer Ben van Beurden’s 8.9 million euro ($10.51 million) package, by a majority of 75 percent.

The 2016 remuneration resolution won the support of more than 92 percent of shareholders. read more

Ron Bousso: MAY 22, 2018

THE HAGUE (Reuters) – Top investors in Royal Dutch Shell on Tuesday stepped up pressure on the oil and gas giant to commit to hard targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to battle climate change.

Shell has set out “ambitions” to halve carbon emissions by 2050 and expand in renewables energy, which Chief Executive Officer Ben van Beurden said were ground breaking for the oil industry.

To view a graphic on Shell emissions, click: reut.rs/2Iya7Hf

“Nobody else comes close, it is seriously ambitious,” van Beurden said of Shell’s plan at the company’s annual general meeting in The Hague. read more