Former Shell Exec Paddy Briggs comments on Reuters article: Shell, Repsol register for Iraqi oil deals

LondonLad: Oh if you guys really knew the story behind OPL245 and the Malabu / Etete angle!!

Relieved: LondonLad: Just for grins I googled 'LondonLad. Hmmm. It is none of my business, but you might want to change your call sign, buddy. Cheers.

Relieved: LondonLad: Where or where have you been ??? We have missed you and your cheerful disposition. Welcome back !!

LondonLad: “Someone once said (and I wish I could remember who)” – I thought it must be you Relieved as you seem to like the sound of your own voice!!! Oh, and if RDS didn’t write down their code of ethics you would be griping about them not doing this.

Relieved: We all know RDS owns Jiffy Lube in the US. Rumor has it that the engine oil sold at Jiffy Lube is not newly refined motor but recycled motor oil. Can any one confirm this ??? If so, I wonder if RDS (Jiffy Lube) is letting its customers know they are getting second hand oil. My guess is that everyone thinks they are buying newly refined motor oil. What ever happened to truth in advertising ?? Sounds like RDS may be engaged in deceptive trade practices. Would anyone be surprised ??? Here is an web advert link by Jiffy Lube about used motor oil : Jiffy Lube® A Second Life for Your Used Motor Oil

Relieved: Someone once said (and I wish I could remember who): 'If you have to write down your code of ethics you have already lost the battle.' That is clearly the case with RDS.

Relieved: RDS management has a serious problem with hubris, but that is common amongst the management of large corporations. However, the lesson of some recent, and now infamous, corporate exec's stuffed with their own self-importance(e.g., those of Enron Corp., etc.) can be found in the line by Socrates - "Those whom the gods would destroy they first make proud."

an old EP hand: Relieved: I know and you are completely correct. But our politically correct pointy haired bosses had lost all rationality in the transformation process. I fear this happens in most big processes.

Relieved: To Old EP Hand: I consulted for Enron on that India project and those damned fools negotiated themselves into bankruptcy on that deal. To break even on their power plant project Enron needed 10 cents a kilowatt hour for their power. In India ??? There was no way the government was going to allow Enron to charge those rates for power. Enron got taken to the cleaners by what they considered 3rd world fools.

Outsider: In 1969, Unocal caused a blowout in the Santa Barbara Channel which led to industrywide restrictions on the areas open for offshore drilling. Many of these restrictions are still in force today. Shell may have achieved the same result in the Arctic.