Bloomberg: Shell Wants to Sell Some U.K., Irish, Faroe Oil, Gas Prospects

John Donovan: QUESTION FOR USCITIZEN: Do you see any merit in any aspect of this website? Have you ANYTHING positive to say about it? You said: "Too bad you have had to pull so many posts lately because even you, as biased as you clearly are, had to admit they were full of garbage." Please provide examples of the articles that you say have been withdrawn? Should be easy given your claim that there have been so many. Please also point us to any admittance by me that any article we have authored was "full of garbage". If you are unable to substantiate your allegations, other visitors will be able to draw their own conclusions.

uscitizen: Right John. I am obsessed and you do not hate Shell. Got it. See ya later.

jg6: USCITIZEN Just thought I'd post a couple of my thoughts. Firstly the use of the word "chiefs" seems to of upset you. I apologise if this is the case. I didn't mean it as a prescriptive term for all managers. Unfortunately my manager is not as open as you seem to be. He unfortunately seems to be indicative of the kind of manager that Shell has these days. A few factual examples as follows: 1. He refused to greet any staff members within our division for an extended period of time. He has since rectified this after several complaints from a number of staff. 2. He routinely attempts to extend people's 3-4 years windows with zero consultation by stealth on the flimsy HR systems. 3. Once staff make it clear that their future lies within another division of Shell he consistently gives them very low scores on their performance reviews. This has happened on a number of occasions. 4. Despite appalling results in the widely encouraged Shell Survey and strong encouragement from management above him he has flatly ignored the survey results. Sadly the division seems to be heading for another extremely poor, even by Shell standards, set of survey results. 5. He carved out a "dream team" within the team to surround him to work on special jobs. These people have all subsequently quit for other large oil companies. He described this failed venture as an experiment which he was happy failed. 6. He has a healthy level of disrespect for people undertaking post graduate studies as he took the school of hard knocks straight out of Shell. No doubt there are many great managers but sadly working under two at Shell I can honestly say that within Shell but my impression is that many managers within my particular area of Shell in 80 Strand London have extremely poor management skills and have progressed because of one the following: 1. Nest sitting within the organisation succeeding because of their ability to hibernate for extended periods of time. ie 10-20 years in a sort of mexican standoff. These people seem to lack any sort of genuine ambition or will to progress the company. They project a will to advance the company but a more than cursory examination of their behaviour shows that they demand much higher standards of those below them than they do of themselves. 2. People who are able to resist all temptation to point out mistakes being made within the organisation. The sort of yes sir men that will always tow the company line. These people will never rock the boat even when doing so is the right thing to do. This makes them gatekeepers of the sloth like Shell way. 3. Good technical people who become managers because it is an avenue to higher rewards even though they don't have the necessary skills to manage others. I believe this is a real problem at Shell as these people in many cases neither do much work or management. So in closing I'll say this. I believe this site continues to exist for a number of reasons: 1. There is not much tolerance for criticism within Shell. The biggest mistake I made in my short and soon to end Shell career was identifying genuine problems and trying to be honest with those senior to me. This doesn't pay. It pays to tow the company line no matter how ridiculous that is. 2. This site offers an outlet for people to voice their constructive criticism as this is not allowed within Shell. 3. This website offers more than just the blind drawl rolled out by PvdV and PV. The sort of we must try harder.... mindless we must improve safety... these results are satisfactory (even though they are record breaking).... I have reduced the bonus structure because of the downturn (even though there are clear rules on how these bonuses are calculated not just because I fancy breaking the rules which were created in aid of transparency). So rant almost over. It seems apparent to me that anyone who hasn't become totally comatose after life within the Shell should realise the following: 1. This company is extremely reluctant to celebrate it's success. This is very sad and seems to be the result of pain caused by the previous scandals and that admitting success may mean the wretched mid and low level employees may want a slice of the action. At least companies like BP offer a 1 for 1 share bonus scheme 2. The company lacks imagination and has lost it's desire to innovate and lead becoming a shadow of BP. Those ays may now be gone. 3. Short sighted. The company seems to be a wet lettuce unable to hold the course of actually deliver change. In my part of the company they've been talking outsourcing first to Poland then to India for the last 5 years. Very little has actually happened. My impression is this is done to appease others rather than as a result of strong convictions. etc etc Sorry for the length of this. Just got carried away. Cheers

John Donovan: REPLY TO USCITIZEN: You really ought to calm yourself down Chief. You should be concerned about your own health, not mine. As usual, baffled by some of the things you say. What articles have been pulled? I also note that you are twisting the truth again. I do not believe that Shell is a Nazi loving company. What I do contend is that Shell is still willing to deal with the devil and does, in Iran and Libya. It may be of no interest to you, but the close association several decades ago with Hitler and the Nazi is a matter of historical fact. I will, in the near future, publish extensive further evidence on the subject and explain why it does still matter. Bet you can hardly wait. I note that you call me John. Nothing wrong with that but why don't you tell us all who you are? I doubt you would be so bold in your real name as you are when hiding behind an alias to make your comments. How on earth can I attack you "personally" when your name is not declared? Contrary to your allegation, I don't hate anyone or any company. I do intend to go on campaigning for Shell senior management to abide by its own business principles. As you said, freedom of speech. I also have the right to choose to spend my time as I wish. If you don't like me, or don't enjoy these exchanges, why do you keep returning? I can only assume that you have become obsessed with this website.

uscitizen: Wilt Staph on May 25th, 2010 at 1:41 pm Strong rumors that Shell is frequently making employees redundant; paying them off – and then re-hiring them as contractors. It’s to do with the staff numbers game. Contractors don’t count apparently. It’s happned before so it sounds quite likely. What a farce. Rumors are not fact Staph. Contractors count in your target organization, try asking. Rules on hiring ex shell folks have tightened up a bunch, might see some - but very very few. In fact a bunch are being let go now who retired several years ago and were helping out on projects. Just stir it up with BS Staph man!

uscitizen: PS - I do not have to provide examples of hate, you do that yourself. Your campaign to show that Shell is a Nazi loving company, stuff from 70 years ago, is very entertaining and has a lot to do with today huh John. Noboby but an obsessed hater would post what you do over and over again! You have insulted many many hard working high integrity people who work for Shell. Their families wonder how someone turns into such a hater as you have. I simply point out that a biased obsession is not healthy for the heart and mind and you just have to ignore people like you. You of course can ingore me! Is free speech not great John?! Oh year you like to use that phrase. Too bad you attacked me personally, you have no clue about my brain power and neither do I about yours. But I do no know that you spend a lot of time, hating! Not healthy John!

uscitizen: Well John you have once again displayed how little you really know. Read the persons post, they called people JG4 and above Chiefs. Now let me tell you something John, this is why you can not take everything people tell your little site as gospel. Too bad you have had to pull so many posts lately because even you, as biased as you clearly are, had to admit they were full of garbage. Got some news for you, there are many more posts, including yours that are full of hot air. I come on here every once in a while and try to inject some sanity, a losing endeavor, but I do try. To edcuate you and to point out how full of hot air the post was about the under the table bonus escalators, a person who is JG4 has had 2 promotions since they hired into Shell. They are 2 grades away from being an entry level manager, so I would doubt many of these people feel like Chiefs. But I would not expect you to know because you sir are an "outsider" and I am so glad you are. Sorry your scratch off campaigns are no longer your passion, but your obsession is indeed entertaining! Bring it on John, I have a life, do you?

John Donovan: "uscitizen" if you really are one of the Shell "chiefs" as you claim, then Shell has lowered its standards. I say this based on your overall postings on this Blog. Why have you been wasting your time for over a year now visiting and making regular postings on what you describe as a "hate site"? What does that say about you? Completely brainwashed and not a lot to wash. If you want to be taken seriously, provide examples of the alleged "hate" so that people interested in this website have an opportunity to consider whether your blanket condemnation has any substance. At the moment the only obvious hatred on display is yours for this website and us, made under the cloak of an alias.

uscitizen: jg6 on Jul 22nd, 2010 at 4:08 pm Hoping someone can set me straight. Earlier this year it was announced by Peter Voser that he was unilaterally reducing the group scorecard for bonus purposes. This was done at his sole discretion. I understand that at the same time those employees classed job group 4 or above (the chiefs) would get a behind the scenes 25% escalator on their bonuses effectively negating the effect of the scorecard reduction. Can anyone confirm this to be the case or dispel it as an urban legend. Thoughts? Please - as one of the "chiefs" as you say - I can tell you this is just urban legend. Why on earth would you waste your time posting this on this hate site instead of simply asking one of us, would be glad to discuss this with you.

rwilliamson123@gmail.com: Matula has a gift for taking and getting credit for some of the bigget busts ever...GID, GID2, GSAP, SAP MegaCentre,..... And for all his focus on cost cutting has anyone looked at the Downsteam IT folks from the US an expat now? Interesting that most previously did their jobs from Houston, but it was time to get the lucrative expat assignment.