Posts from ‘March, 2009’

The filing also showed that Shell’s senior executives received sharply higher remuneration last year, even though its performance in terms of shareholder returns was the worst among the leading western oil companies.

LONDON (Reuters) – Oil Major Royal Dutch Shell Plc doesn’t plan to make any more large investments in wind and solar energy in the future and does not expect hydrogen to play an important role in energy supply for some time.

Motiva Enterprises is delaying by more than a year the target date for completing a $7 billion expansion of its Port Arthur refinery due to poor market conditions, a company spokesman said today. Motiva, a joint venture between Shell Oil and Saudi Refining Inc., had planned to finish the project by late 2010, but now is aiming for the first quarter of 2012, Motiva spokesman Stan Mays said today.

March 17 (Bloomberg) — Royal Dutch Shell Plc, one of Australia’s four oil refiners, expects its Clyde plant near Sydney to start operations in the “next few months” after being closed since November for maintenance.

Separately, Shell in a 20-F filing said Van Der Veer’s total pay, including salary and bonus, was $8.34 million in 2008. Brinded earned $4.14 million, Cook earned $3.87 million, the retiring Rob Routs earned $5.16 million and CFO Peter Voser earned $3.59 million.

Separately, Royal Dutch Shell said it was under investigation by US authorities about allegations it has breached overseas bribery rules. ‘Shell is currently under investigation by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and the United States Department of Justice for violations of the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act,’ the company said in its 2008 annual report. Lawyers at Haynesboone who specialise in the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act said that companies that violate the act may be required to pay a fine of up to $25 million, or twice the gain obtained from the violation. ‘The company may also be required to disgorge profits obtained from the violation. Additionally, settlement agreements with the government have commonly required companies to maintain, at their own expense, a corporate monitor to supervise the company’s FCPA compliance program and report observations to the government,’ according to a report from the law firm. It said a violation of the act can also lead to a company’s debarment from future government contracts and a company may have its export license rescinded.

Shell also admitted in its annual report that it is under investigation by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the US Department of Justice (DoJ) for “violations of the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act”. The company said it is undertaking an internal investigation, but highlighted the risk of fines and additional costs. In the same report, Shell states that its Business Principles forbid, amongst other things, bribery, fraud and anti-competitive behaviour.

In July 2007, 11 oil and oil-service companies received a letter from the DoJ criminal fraud section asking them to detail their relationship with Panalpina, a Swiss-based logistics group.

A Shell spokesman said: “The Panalpina investigation disclosed on form 20-F is the same investigation that was disclosed in our last filing and we are co-operating with the DoJ and SEC.”

A very interesting line from van der Veer: he has revealed that Shell does not plan any further investment in wind and solar power. Shell is focusing its renewables efforts on biofuels, where it is investing quite a lot in research into “second generation” fuels, so far without any commercial success.

More on the US Department of Justice investigation, which Shell was first made aware of in 2007. “We have started an internal investigation,” says Mr Voser. He adds that the DoJ is “looking at payments done by Panalpina [a global freight forwarding company] to customs in Nigeria on our behalf.”

The probe relates to alleged payments made on its behalf to customs in Nigeria.

The oil company admitted yesterday that it had been contacted about potential violations of the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which could lead to fines. The issue surrounds the use of a freight-forwarding firm, Panalpina, and involves suspected bribery in Nigeria, Kazakhstan and Saudi Arabia.