Shell Idles Six Nigerian Power Plants After Gas Shortage

Don't Leave a Steen Unturned: Andrey Golubel. It's an oil painting, what would you expect?

Sniper: There's a bit of pattern here. Corruption seems to be running through the veins of Shell. We see in all these recent tax articles how they seem to be snuggled up in bed with the Dutch Government. Will anything come of this? Of course not silly. It has been going on for years. There is even a department called Government Relations which is staffed by - yes you guessed it - former government employees. Where was Van Beurden a few days ago, for three whole days? The very secretive Bilderberg meeting in Turin (Guardian article by Charlie Skelton can be found on this website), along with many of the worlds elite businessmen and politicians, AND the Dutch king. The outcomes of the meeting were not something I saw on any of the Shell internal or external communication messaging. Funny that, seeing how they always share even the most mundane van Beurden news. So will Shell be brought to account for its actions in OPL? I somehow doubt it. But there is some hope. Will the real Slim Robinson please stand up.

Andrey Golubel: For centuries “The Mocking of Samson” was thought to be a copy of a famous Dutch painting. Then a Shell microscope made a remarkable discovery.

Bogus Group: This gets interesting....Enron links to Dynegi, links to accounting scandal, custodial sentences, links to BG Group, links to Non Exec Directors in BG Group, more links to Dynegi 'strays' on the BG Exec committee!!! Interested parties may want to dig deeper.

Bonus Group: Biggest Fraud in History. I object! BG Group was clearly the biggest fraud in recent oil and gas industry history after Enron. The company had over-inflated its reserves on little substance and fact, and the auditors were either gullible or complicit. BG had been lucky with production, but the Geoscience supporting the production was usually fabricated. What they didn't understand they speculated about or made-up. The Board bid the shareholders up the cobblers, Project Berkshire in the Brasil Asset was a classic example of this deceit - the Emperor's new clothes. Their undoing was not that they had lied to the shareholders, but that they actually believed their own lies and flawed integrity. Their assurance process was corrupt and their cappucino and pepper plant culture led to them failing to meet targets. Ultimately, they managed to get away with it by selling-out to Shell after a protracted period of alignment, who turned around the toxic purchase by spewing-out most of BG's worthless assets, Caveat Emptor!

Biggest Fraud in History: Lawyers for the many parties involved will be reading these series of postings with great interest as will the Italian Prosecutors.

John Donovan: UPDATE 6 JUNE 2018: Overnight developments:

After putting "A Mole" in direct contact with one of the key investigative organisations in relation to the OPL 245 corruption scandal, this anonymous source has now supplied them with more information relating to the OML 30 Nigerian oil deal involving Shell/Heritage Oil and Guy Colegate.

I am also in contact with a person who appears to be a key player in the OPL 245 scandal. I await promised documents from this insider source to whom I have also guaranteed anonymity.

Han Solo: Dear John, I believe Shell are in trouble. Deep trouble. Not only has this OPL OML debacle seen the back of some of its most senior execs, Brinded, Voser, Henry etc but now we can expect to see a Pandora’s Box being opened by Peter Robinson. I expect fireworks. The company is very quick when it comes to deploying its resources to bully and shut up it’s external critics or shamelessly pay off those that dare to challenge them. However, in Robinson they are going in to battle with a street fighter who will fight dirty and go down fighting given the alternative is to spend years behind bars. Robinson is a very shrewd business man and will have records of all the corrupt practices that the company was part of, the processes being flouted and the management who were turning a blind eye. I’ve been to Nigeria a few times on business and am always left dumbfounded by how many dodgy things take place in the offices and are part of everyday life. Robinson spent years there and will have an extensive dossier. I think its too late now for Shell to be able to stop the likes of Robinson opening their mouths, with the use of money. Having made an enemy of him points again to seriously incompetent senior advisors within the company. Had no-one heard of 'keep your friends close, keep your enemies even closer’? It will be a very slippery slope. Van Beurden should use a part of his obscene salary it invest in a good tin hat. I would also advise him to have a good summer clear out of all those who have been advising him on the matter, and of those who failed to stop this from becoming an issue as big, if not bigger, than the infamous reserves scandal.

Cash All Gone: Re. The message from “a mole” - TB looks like Tony Buckingham, the founder of Heritage before it got sold to Qatar... https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/heritage-oil-founder-sells-to-qatari-sheikh-in-1bn-deal-9309140.html

Bogus Group: Yet another appears to have failed outside the cossetted Shell and BG echelons. The chief executive of Network Rail increasingly irked shareholders and commuters alike with a legacy of delays, cancellations and general disruption to services and will now take “early retirement” from the role. However with the praises of his chairman and the Transport Secretary ringing in his ears, I’m sure another revolving door will beckon.

Yet Another Concerned Employee: LondonLad, well I am surprised, I had you down as an Arsenal, not Man U fan. However, you are probably right about B v B, anyone who can pull a rabbit out of the hat after swallowing BG Group's toxic assets and them jettisoning them like the faecal pellet from an owl deserves some credibility.

LondonLad: People complaining about van Beurden’s pay of £7.9 million should have nothing to worry about (he’s probably well worth this). Just think about Manchester United fans having to watch Alexis Sanchez being paid over £31 million (£600,000 per week) and providing performances that do not justify such sums.