Posts under ‘Business Principles’

A Royal Dutch Shell official testified Saturday that tax avoidance was the main reason for having the Kulluk oil drilling rig leave Dutch Harbor in December — 10 days before its grounding off a remote Alaska island. Saturday May 25, 2013 ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A Royal Dutch Shell official testified Saturday that tax avoidance was [...]

This action arises from Defendants’ unlawful combination, agreement and conspiracy to fix and restrain trade in, and intentional manipulation of North Sea Brent Crude Oil (“Brent Crude oil”) and the prices of Brent Crude oil futures contracts…: Defendants deliberately reported inaccurate, misleading and false information regarding Brent Crude oil prices to Platts… By John Donovan [...]

The foot soldiers, of whom I was one in Shell, often took their leads from what they saw as ruthless and bad behaviour at the top – and, unsurprisingly, sometimes behaved badly themselves. (Disgraced Shell Chairman Sir Philip Watts shown right) Article by retired Royal Dutch Shell executive Paddy Briggs. I received my first monthly [...]

The Corrib gas field in Ireland has become almost three times more expensive than planned and evoked local hatred against the company. The scandalous project is forgotten in Norway, however. Statoil is aware that the Corrib project has been controversial, but point out that Shell is operator for the development. ARTICLES ABOUT STATOIL, SHELL & [...]

By Brian Swint; May 24, 2013 The three oil producers under investigation by the European Commission for manipulating oil prices are being sued in a class-action lawsuit in the U.S. BP Plc, Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA) and Statoil ASA (STL) “deliberately reported inaccurate, misleading and false information regarding Brent crude oil prices to Platts,” [...]

(Reuters) – A commodities trader has filed suit against BP Plc, Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Statoil in a U.S. federal court, accusing the companies of colluding to fix prices in North Sea Brent crude oil. Thu May 23, 2013 4:33pm EDT (Reuters) – A commodities trader filed suit against BP Plc (BP.L), Royal Dutch [...]

EXTRACTS: Oil market participants have called into question the accuracy of Platts’s benchmarks. In an August letter to the International Organization of Securities Commissions, Total Oil Trading, an arm of French oil company Total, said Platts’s prices are “out of line with our experience” several times a year. Spokesmen for BP, Shell, and Statoil declined [...]

Allegations of “malpractice” in the oil market that could have cost drivers hundreds of pounds will be handed over to European investigators by a group representing 5,000 independent garages. By Rowena Mason, Political Correspondent: 12:01AM BST 23 May 2013 The Petrol Retailers’ Association said it has turned to the European Commission after British authorities failed [...]

By Rob Davies: PUBLISHED 22 May 2013 Investors joined environmental protesters in giving Royal Dutch Shell a slap on the wrists, as a tenth of them failed to back the oil giant’s pay arrangements. In what is likely to be chief executive Peter Voser’s last annual meeting before he retires, some 10 per cent of [...]

Shell is a very macho culture. There is some tokenism with weasel words spoken about the need for diversity – but little action. Voser’s claim that there are not enough talented women available is absurd given Shell’s financial and international strengths. The reality is that Shell was always run by British accountants and Dutch engineers [...]

EMAIL RECEIVED BY JOHN DONOVAN Hello John and good-afternoon from Brazil! I don’t know whether you have been told or not but Shell and Basf have come to a judicial agreement and has paid for our rights along with medical assistance for direct former employees and its children for a lifetime. Thank you so much [...]

It is not the first time oil companies have been in regulators’ cross hairs. In September 2006, the European Commission fined 14 firms €266.7m (£224.8m) for rigging the price of bitumen over eight years in the Netherlands. Shell received the biggest penalty. FROM THE SUNDAY TIMES Page 9, 19 May 2013 Watchdogs join oil giants [...]

The whistleblower gave Halfon a statement in which he said the price of oil was being deliberately distorted: ‘I trade the oil market on a daily basis and every day the price is manipulated,’ he said. ‘There is ample oil in the system to satisfy demand at the moment. Profiteering seems to be the only [...]

John, Your readers may find the following links interesting in view of the latest allegations regarding Royal Dutch Shell, BP, StatOil, and perhaps others: Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act - Wikipedia, the … en.wikipedia.org/…/Racketeer_Influenced_and_Corrupt_Organizations_…‎ This law-related article does not cite its references or sources. You can help Wikipedia by including appropriate … Summary - RICO predicate offenses - Application of RICO laws - Famous cases [...]

By John Donovan Assessment of current situation in the price-rigging investigation partly based on an articled published today by The Lawyer today under the headline “All eyes on energy“: Royal Dutch Shell is being advised by Clifford Chance in relation to the allegations of price-fixing. Competition lawyers say that the investigation could be “bigger than [...]