In the Oil & Gas sector we know that today’s decisions usually impact on results several years out into the future. I see todays Shell results largely attributable to decisions made by Jeroen van der Veer and Linda Cook on Sakhalin and Qatar. They had the determination and vision to play the long game and take Shell to where it is now. It is upsetting to see the current management team claiming credit and excessive financial rewards off the efforts of others. Today’s team gets top marks for spin but the jury is still out on their business performance.
May 21st, 2012:
Executive Pay
Activists intervene in Shell lawsuit
The UK government is facing pressure from human rights activists about why it has chosen to intervene in a US court case connected to oil major Royal Dutch Shell.
The UK government and the Dutch government have jointly filed a so-called “amicus brief” to the US Supreme Court on the side of Shell…
FULL ARTICLE (SUBSCRIPTION MAY BE REQUIRED)
Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum
Shell Oil in Nigeria: A Social and Environmental Disaster
Graphic from The Guardian Article: Unloveable Shell: the Goddess of Oil
Friends of the Earth International
MAY 21st, 2012
SEVENTY THOUSAND PEOPLE ASK OIL GIANT SHELL TO CLEAN UP ITS MESS IN NIGERIA
AMSTERDAM (THE NETHERLANDS), May 21st, 2012 – On the eve of the annual general meeting of oil giant Shell, Friends of the Earth International announced that it will deliver to Shell CEO Peter Voser some 70,000 signatures of
people who want Shell to start cleaning up its mess in the oil-rich and highly polluted Niger delta in Nigeria.
The signatories believe that Shell must take responsibility for its pollution and provide a US$1 billion emergency fund needed to start cleaning up the Niger Delta.
Nigeria: Fishermen Groan As Shell’s Dispersants Cause Damage
By Iniobong Ekponta, 21 May 2012
Uyo — FISHERMEN operating at the Atlantic coastline in Nigeria’s Niger Delta have attributed floating weeds observed in the ocean surface as consequence of oil spills.
According to reports by some fishermen and coastal dwellers, massive death of seaweeds could be noticed on the ocean floor from Akwa Ibom, Rivers, Bayelsa, Delta and Ondo states.
‘The development has hampered fishing and raised anxiety over the safety of the marine environment to support life of sea creatures that make up the food chain’, notes Ekaette Ikpong, a local seller of acquatic resources in Ibeno water front.
Shell CEO Peter Voser ignores plea from poisoned former employees
By John Donovan
Printed below is an email sent to RDS CEO Mr Peter Voser on 4 May 2012 by a former Shell employee representing former workers at a Shell/Basf Chemicals factory in Brazil.
The factory was built in 1977 by Shell. Dozens of former employees of the plant have been diagnosed with prostate, thyroid and other types of cancer, circulatory, liver and intestinal illnesses, as well as infertility and sexual impotence.
In August 2010, the two companies were ordered to pay a total of 490 million euros in fines and damages for the workers exposure to toxic substances. The defendant companies have appealed to successively higher courts, initially trying to get the verdict overturned and after that failed, seeking to have the awarded sum reduced. This process is dragging on with no end in sight.
Fatal Accident at Motiva Enterprises oil refinery: When a Worker’s Life Is Worth Less Than Dead Fish
In March 2010, Michaels told a Senate panel about Jeff Davis, a boilermaker at the Motiva Enterprises oil refinery in Delaware whose body “literally dissolved” in sulfuric acid after a storage tank explosion in 2001. Motiva was fined $175,000 for the accident, which hurt eight others.
Motiva Enterprises Sulfuric Acid Tank Explosion: Location: Delaware City, DE
The typical OSHA fine for a work-related death is about $7,900. “There’s no question in my mind that higher penalties would encourage employers to eliminate hazards before workers are hurt,” says David Michaels, the assistant secretary of labor for occupational safety and health. “I think all of us recognize that fear of prison focuses the mind.”
In March 2010, Michaels told a Senate panel about Jeff Davis, a boilermaker at the Motiva Enterprises oil refinery in Delaware whose body “literally dissolved” in sulfuric acid after a storage tank explosion in 2001. Motiva was fined $175,000 for the accident, which hurt eight others. “Yet, in the same incident, thousands of dead fish and crabs were discovered, allowing an EPA Clean Water Act violation amounting to $10 million,” Michaels testified. “How can we tell Jeff Davis’ wife, Mary, and their five children, that the penalty for killing fish and crabs is many times higher than the penalty for killing their husband and father?”
UK Government faces tough questions after intervention to aid Shell in US court case on human rights abuses in Niger Delta
UK Government faces tough questions after intervention to aid Shell in US court case on human rights abuses in Niger Delta
Posted: 21 May 2012
UK Government is facing a series of difficult questions after it surfaced that it has chosen to intervene on behalf of Royal Dutch Shell in a major US court case brought against the oil giant by Nigerian villagers.
Kiobel v Shell is the latest incarnation of a long-running legal battle fought by communities in the Niger Delta, who claim that Shell is responsible for serious human rights abuses and environmental damage in the region.
Over 2,000 oil spills have been reported in the Niger Delta, which, according to Amnesty International, have devastated the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of people. Yet, the companies responsible, which include Shell, have to date failed to adequately compensate those affected.
Out in the Cold – new report on Shell’s plans in the Arctic
Posted on by Anna Galkina
Shell’s Annual General Meeting tomorrow is unlikely to go calmly. The company’s problems range from anger over excessive executive pay to spills in the Niger delta. At this time, Platform, Greenpeace and FairPensions are putting to scrutiny offshore Arctic exploration as a key direction in the company’s strategy.
The new report ‘Out in the Cold – Investor Risk in Shell’s Arctic Exploration’ details Shell’s existing and planned oil exploration and production projects in the offshore Arctic, with a focus on risks for the company’s investors. Download the report in pdf format. The report is accompanied by an investor briefing, available here.
Shell’s pay plans are ‘excessive’
Oil giant Royal Dutch Shell is set to suffer a backlash from shareholders over executive pay, including a £9.4 million package for its boss.
Chief executive Peter Voser took home 11.7 million euros last year – more than double the amount he earned in 2010 – after lucrative long-term incentive plans paid out.
20 May 2012
He earned 5.2 million euros (£4.2 million) in annual salary and bonus awards, which was slightly down on the previous year, but his total pay was boosted by 6.5 million euros (£5.2 million) from long-term rewards plans.
Shareholder body Pirc advised clients to vote against the company’s remuneration report at its annual meeting on Tuesday after branding its pay “excessive”.
Although salaries have effectively been frozen since 2009, it said they are still at the high end of its UK peer group and will see increases of between 3% and 5% in 2012.
Shell ‘must act on oil spills’ in the Niger Delta, say campaigners
Shell is sustaining fresh reputational damage over its role in oil spills in the Niger Delta,ahead of its annual meeting tomorrow.
By Rob Davies
PUBLISHED: 22:22, 20 May 2012 | UPDATED: 22:22, 20 May 2
Shell is sustaining fresh reputational damage over its role in oil spills in the Niger Delta,ahead of its annual meeting tomorrow.
Campaign group Amnesty International has enlisted actor Hakeem Kae-Kazim,star of TV series 24 and the film Hotel Rwanda, to publicise the issue.
Kae-Kazim, who is due to star in a film about the Niger Delta called Black November, said:‘Shell cannot keep ducking the issue.
‘They have a direct responsibility to clean up the mess of the Niger Delta and the net is closing on them.’