Posts from ‘November, 2009’

In the light of the information printed below, how can anyone be expected to believe anything Shell says…

ARTICLE PUBLISHED TODAY BY THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

NOVEMBER 23, 2009, 10:22 A.M. ET

THE BS:

Shell Pearl GTL Project To Cost $18B-$19B, In Line With Budget

LONDON (Dow Jones)–Royal Dutch Shell PLC’s (RDSB.LN) Pearl GTL in Qatar is expected to cost $18 billion to $19 billion, in line with its planned budget, a spokeswoman said Monday, underscoring progress made by the company in controlling its costs.

The news contrasts with the disclosure four years ago by the Anglo-Dutch oil company that costs at a giant Russian liquefied natural gas plant had doubled to $20 billion.

-By Benoit Faucon, Dow Jones Newswires; +44-20-7842-9266; benoit.faucon@dowjones.com

WSJ ARTICLE

THE TRUTH

COMMENT POSTED ON SHELL BLOG BY AN EAGLE EYED SHELL INSIDER

guest1
on Nov 23rd, 2009 at 4:56 pm

Royal Dutch Shell PLC has even agreed to offer business training to former gun-toting militants in the volatile, oil-rich Niger Delta, following a government-sponsored amnesty here.

Nov. 23 (Bloomberg) — Essar Oil Ltd. may rise in Mumbai after a report that Royal Dutch Shell Plc is acquiring a 10 percent stake in the company as part of a deal to sell three refineries to the Indian company.

The stake is valued at about 17 billion rupees ($360 million) and will account for less than half the $800 million value of the three plants, the Economic Times reported Nov. 21, citing unidentified people. Essar and The Hague-based Shell have been in exclusive talks since Oct. 30 on the sale of the Stanlow refinery in the U.K. and the Hamburg and Heide refineries in Germany.

Shell is reviewing the future of its refineries worldwide as it seeks to reduce costs after the global recession curbed demand for fuel and dragged down prices. Shrinking profit margins have prompted refiners to idle and sell plants and slow operating rates.

Essar Oil, India’s second-largest non-state refiner advanced 1.95 rupees, or 1.5 percent, to 136.85 rupees on Nov. 20. The stock has added 57 percent this year.

An Essar Oil spokesman declined to comment when contacted by phone. Wim van de Wiel, a spokesman in The Hague for Shell, declined to comment when contacted by phone.

The Hamburg refinery can process 110,000 barrels of oil a day while Heide has a capacity of 91,000 barrels a day, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Stanlow, Britain’s second-largest refinery, can process 233,000 barrels a day.

To contact the reporter on this story: Fred Pals in Amsterdam at fpals@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: November 22, 2009 13:30 EST

THE SUNDAY TIMES

Shell and Essar talk

Royal Dutch Shell is considering buying a 10% stake in Essar Oil. The Indian group is in talks to buy three of the oil giant’s refineries, including at Stanlow near Ellesmere Port, Cheshire. The potential $365m (£221m) investment is being discussed as part of that transaction and would give Shell a stake in a group in one of the world’s fastest-growing markets.

TIMES ARTICLE

MANILA, Philippines – Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. wants more time to settle more than P7 billion in back excise taxes
, saying it might be forced to stop its local operations if compelled to pay tomorrow, Bureau of Customs Commissioner Napoleon Morales said.

Related Articles

• Stone Energy: Production Gains Helped Drive Q3 Earnings Nov 20, 2009
• CenterPoint and FPL Turning Attention to Louisiana Natural Gas Nov 20, 2009
• The Oil Casino: SEC Heading for Monte Carlo, Part III Nov 20, 2009
• The Oil Casino: SEC Heading for Monte Carlo, Part II Nov 20, 2009

By John Donovan

Talks with Shell regarding expansion of union recognition for workers at the Stanlow Refinery have broken down. Unite the Union intends to pursue the issue through “legal channels”.

The union sent a related letter today (printed below) to Essar Oil Limited, the company named by Shell as the preferred bidder for the refinery. A deadline for the completion of negotiations between Shell and Essar for the sale of the refinery is only days away.

Part of the deal with Essar reportedly involves Shell taking a stake in the Indian company.

UNITE LETTER TO ESSAR OIL

143 Sefton Street

Liverpool

L8 5SN

Tel:                  0151 728 2200

Fax:                  0151 728 2201

Our ref: gd/sw        EMAILED & POSTED 20^th November 2009

Essar Oil Limited

Essar House

11 Keshavrao Khadye Marg

Mahalaxmi

Mumbai    400 034

India

Essar Oil (UK) Limited

3^rd Floor Landsdown House

57 Berkeley Square

London

For the attention of:  Mr Naresh Nayyar – Chief Executive Officer Energy Business Group

Dear Mr Naresh Nayyar

I am the Regional Officer of Unite responsible for our members employed at Shell Stanlow Refinery. Unite is the largest union in the UK and we have sole recognition at the Stanlow site.

I understand that your company has been awarded preferred bidder status by Shell. Therefore, Unite is anxious to meet with you prior to the completion of any sale agreement. I have been involved in transfers between European business and Indian business in the past, and great difficulties could have been avoided if we had met before the sale had been completed.

In one particular instance the purchasers of the business were unaware of the costs of providing occupational pension schemes, and of complying with our stringent health and safety standards. Had they known they would have negotiated a lower price for the business.

Unite wishes to work with you in continuing the success of Stanlow site, and it is important that you are advised of the current dispute with Shell on Trade Union recognition. This is likely to result in an application to the CAC that will be inherited under the TUPE arrangements.

I have received an assurance from someone I respect greatly that you wish to do business with Unite, and I ask that you contact my secretary as soon as possible to arrange a meeting.

I look forward to meeting you soon.

With best wishes

Graham Daley

Regional Officer

cc:  Mr Adil Malia – Group President HR

Mr Ron Wood

Shell posted a 62 percent decline in net income to $3.25 billion and Voser said the outlook “remains very uncertain” given forecasts that demand for crude will fall the most this year since 1980. Shell is cutting 5,000 jobs, equivalent to about 5 percent of its workforce, and has reduced operating costs by about $1 billion.

BEIJING (Reuters) – The United States is seeking the release of Chinese-born, American geologist Xue Feng, who was detained two years ago on state secrets charges after negotiating the purchase of an oil industry database.

March 1996 – An official of the state-owned China National Offshore Oil Corp was detained for leaking state secrets to a Chinese employee of Royal Dutch Shell who was released after spending a year largely incommunicado. Shell was in talks with CNOOC then to build an oil refinery.

FULL REUTERS ARTICLE

This information is based on multiple  insider sources as conveyed to John Donovan

There will be more than 1/3 reduction of staff in jg A and B. In the level below that the reduction is of a similar magnitude.

The aim is to announce by 1st December who can continue and who has to go.

The mess is so great that many retired old codgers are being offered contract extensions to keep the machine running.

We hear that dato Chadwick has got it in the neck too. So young, so talented and no job for him…. He probably befriended the wrong gods in Shell.

The Brinded gestapo is very tightly controlling who stays and who goes. TFA also applies to the resourcing process: do not touch anyone not on the list of friends of Malcolm. Cronyism and nepotism are flourishing as never before.

The chaos and mass distraction brought about by the jobs reapplication process has turned out to be rather more than the mere “interesting exercise” that Peter Voser had in mind.

In terms of unfortunate events in Shell’s history, some might put it on a par with a previous boss of Royal Dutch Shell spending four days as a guest of Adolf Hitler at Berchtesgaden, discussing Nazi terms for granting a monopoly to the Royal Dutch and Shell Companies for petrol distribution in Germany. Ruthless then and ruthless now.

COMMENT RECEIVED FROM A SHELL INSIDER…

SeeMeNo
Nov 20th, 2009 at 3:04 pm

John

As a MOR applicant, I can confirm the number of lobbying and cronyism. Its so time consuming and wasteful. The telephone bills in the office would surely increase these few months. I hope there is no fatality or major safety incidents as almost all staff lost focus.

At the end of the day, it is the incumbent or those who has higher up “Friends” who get the job. Its who you know and not what you know! I am applying outside at the same time. If I get both, rest assured, I shall go. If I do not get a job outside, I stay till I get a job, how about that! In worst case, I get a Christmas bonus.

Comment received from “shellwaarbenjijnu”
on Nov 20th, 2009 at 5:33 pm

Regarding the discussion on Open (i.e. behind closed doors) Resourcing, the cat was out of the bag already in July when Voser said “an interesting exercise because we could really select those we are keen on”. If ever there was an indication of selection based on “who you know rather than what you know” – this was it. In Voser’s e-mail to staff sent whilst Jeroen was actually still in charge he referred to a number of Shell “firsts”. In his next letter in similar vein, he may wish to consider including another first “the devaluation of the notion of open, fair internal resourcing based on skill, competence, capability, and track record of delivery”.

MUSAINT
on Nov 20th, 2009 at 7:52 pm

Mr.D, your article “Shell jobs restructuring mess” based on an “insider” is all fine and dandy, HOWEVER, why add the irrelevant (to THIS article) the bit about Adolf Hitler. I feel you should stick to the headline of the article as some who visit this site and are 50:50 Shell might think what has A.H. got to do with JGA/B job losses. Anyway, cronyism has been widespread in Shell (and other large businesses) for eons unfortunately. A clear example is Bichsel who loves nodding donkeys all around him.

Attention Royal Dutch Shell Plc: If you confirm by email that any information printed under this headline is categorically untrue, it will be removed immediately.