Royal Dutch Shell Plc  .com Rotating Header Image

A/S Norske Shell Secret Meeting With Whistleblower 

On Friday 27 January 2017, a meeting took place at the Radisson Blu Hotel at Oslo Airport. It was attended by two senior Shell directors, Tor Arnesen and Odin Estensen, respectively the Managing Director and Chairman of N/S Norske Shell. They met with former Shell employee/whistleblower Runar Kjørsvik, together with Hilde Marit Rysst and Roy Erling Furre, both representing the SAFE Union. 

The purpose of the meeting was to find a solution to the various issues raised by Mr Kjørsvik and SAFE, including the surveillance/monitoring of Shell employees at the Nyhamna gas plant and their health and safety.

Arnesen and Estensen claimed to be unaware of certain sensitive matters and made encouraging noises and constructive suggestions. The meeting ended on a positive note.

However, instead of pursuing an honourable path in the best interests of employees, Shell decided on a character assassination via the Shell web.  Shell published comments a few days later on 31 January 2017 alluding to Mr Kjørsvik in his former capacity as the Mail Safety Delegate. The fact that the high-level meeting had just taken place was not revealed. I assume that this was because of a fear that it would undermine the veracity of what was stated in the defamatory comments about him.

How would it look if everyone knew that more than two years after his dismissal, Shell was still taking Runar Kjørsvik and his allegations very seriously indeed? If this was not the case, the meeting would not have taken place.

Why would these top people at Shell have met him personally if they really gave any credence to the findings of a so-called Fact Survey carried out by third parties hired by Shell, including an agent who engaged in covert spying activities on behalf of Shell?

Mr Kjørsvik was shocked by the conduct of Messrs Arnesen and Estensen in giving a positive constructive impression in the meeting and then doing a volte face by authorising the Rich Denny web attack just days later. Runar had thought that they were men of high integrity.

How, in such circumstances, would the withholding by Shell of the fact that a high-level meeting had taken place be most accurately described? A cover-up? Misrepresentation? Deception? Or deliberate misleading by being economical with the truth?

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

One Comment

  1. BILL CAMPBELL says:

    Benzene exposure risks and the Norwegian Oil and Gas Industry

    Just some related background that may be of interest in the debate about this subject re health and safety at the Nyhamma gas plant et al.

    The Petroleum Safety Authority in Norway were concerned enough about health aspects of benzene exposure that it held a meeting of experts on the subject in 2015 including representatives of the industry*, Norske Shell does not appear to be on the participants list!

    Suffice to say PSA had a general concern that much more needed to be done re the prevention of exposure to Benzene in the industry and they would be including this concern looking for improvements in their future audits and inspections.

    * Note: for those interested details are readily available on the web

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Comment Rules

  • Please show respect to the opinions of others no matter how seemingly far-fetched.
  • Abusive, foul language, and/or divisive comments may be deleted without notice.
  • Each blog member is allowed limited comments, as displayed above the comment box.
  • Comments must be limited to the number of words displayed above the comment box.
  • Please limit one comment after any comment posted per post.