News and information on Royal Dutch Shell Plc.
BP could look to Shell, where Mr Skinner spent most of his career. But Jeroen van der Veer has made clear that he will be retiring behind his geraniums when he steps down in June.
Click to continue reading “Could a Russian be called on to rescue BP?”
The Bank of England’s Deputy Governor warned yesterday that the recession could be even worse than it suggested less than a week ago.
If one spark jumps across the eurozone line, we will have global systemic crisis within days. Are the firemen ready?
Click to continue reading “Failure to save East Europe will lead to worldwide meltdown”
Feb. 17 (Bloomberg) — BG Group Plc, the U.K.’s third- biggest gas producer, raised its offer for Pure Energy Resources Ltd. to A$995 million ($646 million), topping a bid by Arrow Energy Ltd., the Australian partner of Royal Dutch Shell Plc.
Click to continue reading “BG Lifts Bid for Pure to A$995 Million, Topping Arrow”
…it is remarkable indeed that you are now the Chief Ethics & Compliance Officer of Royal Dutch Shell Plc. Or perhaps it was a reward (bribe) to buy the silence of a former Shell director (and Secretary to the Committee of Group Managing Directors) who knows many dark secrets about Shell? I am of course aware of your role in preventing important information from reaching Shell shareholders. Your elevation reminds me to some extent of the new role and title given to Lord Mandelson a.k.a. The Prince of Darkness.
Mr Skinner, the chairman of Rio Tinto, had been hotly tipped as the next leader of BP, Britain’s largest company, after the retirement later this year of Peter Sutherland. Over the weekend, however, Mr Skinner, a former Shell executive, pulled out after becoming embroiled in a damaging boardroom split over the direction of Rio, which is struggling to deal with its $38 billion (£27 billion) debt pile.
Click to continue reading “BP’s search for chairman in disarray as Skinner decides to remain at Rio”
The chopper was being used by Royal Dutch Shell PLC’s U.S. unit, to transport workers to offshore facilities in the Gulf of Mexico. After the crash, Shell temporarily grounded its entire fleet of S-76C choppers, and instead used boats to transport most of those workers.
Click to continue reading “Bird Strike Was Likely Cause of Chopper Crash”
I have some sympathy for Skinner on this score. He is an honourable chairman of the old school and will stay at Rio to see this issue through, although losing the chairmanship of BP will be a personal blow as he also missed out on the chairmanship of Shell, where he spent much of his career.
Click to continue reading “Investors and boards on the brink of war”
Gazprom bought control of the $22 billion project after a prolonged crisis that forced Royal Dutch Shell, the project’s former leader, and its partners to reduce their holdings. Analysts had expected that the battle would lead to delays. Shell is now a minority shareholder along with Japan’s Mitsubishi and Mitsui.
One of New Zealand’s biggest petrol brands, Shell, is considering selling most of its New Zealand operations.
Click to continue reading “Shell following Paddy Briggs advice in New Zealand?”
: It appears that Voser finally got fed up with Mr Overpromise/Underdelivery. Despite all the nice words about him, he is clearly kicked out. Plenty of sycophants around him are now fearing for their jobs and positioning themselves whom to kow-tow now. This bearded fellow wasted his great brain on very small details and he was unable to delegate. I think his only real good project was the SLIM project. This was many moons ago and launched him to the top jobs. And there he failed as frequently and eloquently pointed out on the Donovan site. Big brain, a micromanager on par with the pointy haired boss in Dilbert, a vicious and vindictive attitude to those that were of no use to him or that might talk back. In summary: Good riddance and now the legal system of Scotland can go after him. But I doubt they will.
: What goes around comes around.... The announcement of Brinded has long been anticipated. We now wait for the next much smaller announcement.... Tom Purves to retire..... This will make our day when that moment happens. Shell never deals with the issue of bad leadership until it is too late and the havoc has been wreaked.... However, as we say in the US, Every dog has its day..... and today that was Malcolm.
: So early retirement then after all that ....... REPLY BY JOHN D. You are still playing a point scoring game. You seem to forget that the avoidable deaths of Shell offshore workers on Brent Bravo is at the heart of this matter. The deaths occurred after a safety audit led by Bill Campbell exposed a shambolic, illegal and shameful safety regime on Brent Bravo. They occurred after Shell senior Expro management had promised Bill that Shell would bring an end to the "Touch F*** All" culture and the falsification of safety records. The explosion and record breaking fine provide proof that the promises were not kept. There is NO commercial aspect to this matter as far as Mr Campbell is concerned. He is driven solely by a fear of an even worse event due to the same policy by Shell of putting production and profits before the safety of offshore workers. Please give Bill some credit for his integrity and for his long campaign, which has rightly received cross-party support from many MP's.
: Agent provocateur indeed!! Never been called that before, and I am most certainly not in league with Shell in any way! I again reiterate my point : was Campbell fired or given early retirement from Shell and thereby lies his grudge or did he reach full retirement age in the company? An honest answer might convince many that his continuous aggressiveness against Shell is genuine or just an ongoing grudge. This is not a "slanging match" merely a point of clarification. REPLY BY JOHN DONOVAN: Mr Campbell has made it clear that he does not wish to get into discussion with someone making insulting comments while hiding behind an alias. With regards to his comment that you may be an agent provocateur, perhaps he gained that impression from checking your history of postings. Just so there is no misunderstanding, we welcome contributors who provide a counter-balance to negative postings about Shell. I have provided some links to further information about the Brent Bravo scandal. Despite all of the promises by Shell senior management about safety, which including appointing a safety Czar, its track record remains atrocious. Years after the Brent Bravo debacle, it was revealed that the lifeboats for a Shell North Sea platform were not seaworthy. You could not make it up. “Lifeboats trouble at Brent field” published on 14 March 2008, UpstreamOnline revealed “SHELL’s safety record on its Brent Bravo platform in the UK Northern North Sea is once again under scrutiny after the discovery of technical problems with two lifeboats on the installation that resulted in both of them being removed from service.” Jake Molloy, general secretary of the Offshore Industry Liaison Committee was quoted in the article by Christopher Hopson as claiming “If they had loaded up this particular lifeboat, the chances are it could have been launched into the sea in an uncontrolled fashion which would have caused death or injury as it was held in place by corrosion and not by the designed system”. The article said that problems had been found with a second lifeboat on the Brent Bravo platform. It also reported that a lifeboat had launched itself into the sea from Shell’s Tern platform because the brakes and clutches were “dysfunctional” and had damaged the launch mechanism off the platform. Shell confirmed problems had been discovered with two lifeboats on Brent Bravo during “routine maintenance”. Shell was quoted as stating that it viewed the matter seriously and had “mobilised an investigation team on the platform”. BILL CAMPBELL EMAIL SENT TO MEMBERS OF THE UK HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT ROYAL DUTCH SHELL SAFETY CONCERNS
: LondonLad: In many cases "Reaching Retirement age" in Shell simply means being unable to find a position outside Shell -nowadays the most competent people generally move on long before reaching retirement age and pursue a second career elsewhere.
: To : an observer of Shell, you state "It is commonly known that a great many employees of Shell Expro are freemasons". Where did you get this "fact" from - smoking whacky backy?? I doubt very much that a great many are indeed freemasons. Even if they are (wich I seriously doubt), so what? Let's face it they are a society that provide one of the largest contributions to charities in the UK. I think you very clearly have an axe to grind against Shell. In that context why does Campbell have such a chip on his shoulder over Shell? Was he sacked for some reason? Did he actually reach his retirement age in Shell? Would be nice to know so that we can believe more that his rants are genuine problems he has with Shell rather than caused by some hidden grudge.
: GTW, I know you are right, TP and others will get their due. What is painful is that those whose lives have been changed and whose spirits have been destroyed because of his actions, will not be compensated. Tom is not the only one taking credit for this new cruel process of forced ranking, by claiming credit for what market demand has meant for profits. There are promotions taking place right now because credit is claimed by those executing Tom's plan for performance 'refirings'. I worked in manufacturing sites where management and performance was a joke, and profits were above forecast. It's always been market demand and the hard work of the folks on the ground that make manufacturing successful, Tom is not a pioneer in taking undue credit for local successes, but he has certainly been the cruelest!
: I have no proof nor will I ever find that proof, but this reprehensible conduct of the legal authorities smells to high heaven of masonic lodges. It is commonly known that a great many employees of Shell Expro are freemasons. The police forces all over the world are well presented in the various lodges. I would not be surprised if Brinded himself is a member. Bill Campbell is a very courageous man taking on these evil forces. We in Shell all knew him to be a completely honest and competent Maintenance manager and HSE auditor. But he loses against all the parasites and sycophants whose sole job is to protect the directors. And then live well on the spoils of their abhorrent activities. Top marks for the Donovans who keep this festering sore in the spotlight. To some it maybe a lot of repeating old stories, but those that want to hide and bury their bad actions know that time is on their side. And Shell has deep pockets and knows how to procrastinate.
: John, there is no issue with my post. This is the same GTW that has been providing updates for some time on the ill fated project CEP and the ill fated Tom Purves, both of which should be going fading into the background this year as old worn out news.
: I retract my previous statement. COMMENT BY JOHN DONOVAN: WE HAVE REASON TO SUSPECT THAT THIS POSTING IS NOT IN FACT FROM THE PARTY WHO USES THE ALIAS "GOLDENTRIANGLE WATCHMAN ON THIS BLOG, BUT IS FROM AN IMPOSTER.
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