News and information on Royal Dutch Shell Plc.
There is nothing more enjoyable than seeing bosses fall not on their own swords but on their own words. David Greer, a Shell executive, gave a lot of pleasure to a lot of people with his leaked e-mail that ordered his underlings to “lead me, follow me or get out of my way”.
Click to continue reading “How to take safe but satisfying revenge on the boss”
In February, David Greer, chief executive, said he expected the loan documentation to be finalised within six weeks. However, on Wednesday he said: “We chose to suspend talks with Macquarie because of the heavy obligations and onerous conditions that were being proposed.
Click to continue reading “David Greer still bobbing and weaving at Regal”
Mr Greer added: “Nobody in this company has received any letter from Shell of the type reported in the newspapers . . . The only letter I have received from Shell is my pension statement.”
Click to continue reading “Regal denies reports of $1.2bn approach by Shell”
Mr Greer’s exhortations that his staff should “lead me, follow me or get out of my way” bore a striking resemblance to a famous speech given by the American general George Patton to troops during the Second World War. Widely ridiculed, Mr Greer, every inch the grizzled oilman, resigned.
Click to continue reading “Business big shot: David Greer of Regal Petroleum”
In a formal statement released this morning, Regal said they had not received an offer. But the denial did not convince the market that a bid offer is out of the question, as Regal shares were holding their early gains by late morning.
Click to continue reading “Regal Petroleum denies $1.2bn Shell offer”
Shell spokeswoman Olga Gorodilina declined to comment on the report.
Click to continue reading “Regal Petroleum Jumps on Reports Shell to Bid $1.2 Billion”
A Regal spokesman said the Daily Telegraph report that the company had received a letter proposing a 300 pence per share bid was not true. “We have seen no such letter,” the spokesman said, citing comments he had just received from Chief Executive David Greer.
Click to continue reading “Regal says no bid approach from Shell”
The moves come as Shell, Europe’s largest energy group, was said by one person familiar with the company to have made an approach about a possible bid valuing Regal at $1.2bn (£680m).
Click to continue reading “Regal approach could be worth £680m”
Royal Dutch Shell, Europe’s largest energy company, has proposed a $1.2bn (£600m) takeover of Regal Petroleum, the oil and gas explorer trying to recover from a controversial past under former chief executive Frank Timis.
Click to continue reading “Shell plots $1.2bn Regal takeover bid”
The surprise appointment of Mr Greer and two other directors at Regal resulted in the abandoning of a plan for Shell to take a majority stake in the Ukrainian assets for $410m (£210m).
Click to continue reading “Ukraine plan fuels Regal revival”
: Dear IMBer, or IBMer, or whatever - if you can explain to me the difference between the two quoted press release examples of geophysical applications in reasoned scientific terms, I shall be more than happy to admit to being a amateur geophysicist (not geologist). Perhaps it is you who is confused. Geophysics and Geology are not the same - close bed fellows, yes - but not the same. If so, then it is you who should get out your needles, wool and get on with "one plain, two purl" rather than embarking on such a commentary.
: Shellwaarbenjijnu has no clue what he/she is talking about. Probably some amateur geologist who wants to be important on the blog. Try to stick to your knitting!
: Paying over 7 mln $ to get rid of this monster of a woman shows how deeply Shell has sunk. She was a stealer of ideas. She was the ultimate token woman, a disgrace to her gender and it has put off many high quality women to pursue a career in Shell. Her disgusting behaviour of being the slave of Watts was evident to all. This latest scandal makes it clear she should never have been promoted to were she ended up. Another costly mistake of Shell. And the top echelon? They know no shame anymore and carry on with more spin stories as usual.
: Perhaps Voser will pull the same trick on Brinded as Watts did on v.d.Vijver. Watts announced that reserves would grow by 5% and that Walter would explain how.... The rest is history. I can only hope that history will repeat itself and Brinded finally gets fired for his gross underperformance and sustained bullshit. Perhaps I have said so before: never trust a man with facial hair.... I shall be watching the announcements how they will increase production with great interest.
: THE ARTICLE "Donovan email to Gavin White, Shell International Limited: 10 March 2010" has been updated with a self-explanatory email reply received on 11 March from Richard Wiseman, Chief Ethics & Compliance Officer, Royal Dutch Shell Plc.
: The Forbes article implies that by stopping sales of gasoline to Iran, Shell is complying with US sanctions. Shell's investments in the upstream sector in Iran are not mentioned, even though these are of far greater significance for both Shell and the Iranians.
: Amnesty International has been an informed and courageous critic of Human Rights abuses around the world for many decades and they are certainly not adverse to criticising governments in Nigeria, Burma, Zimbabwe and all around the world. The point about international companies like Shell is that they have a choice. They are not obliged to operate anywhere if they find that the local conditions are in conflict with their principles. Amnesty’s recent criticisms of Shell have certainly been strong and I am aware that in Shell there is a feeling that they have been unfair and to some extent uninformed. So a dialogue between Amnesty and Shell is very much to be welcomed. Amnesty is a highly respected organisation – indeed a former top executive of Shell, Sir Geoffrey Chandler, was a senior officer of Amnesty in his post Shell years.
: Same old, same old. Amnesty International and their human rights again go for the soft underbelly of the international companies rather than the real problem in Nigeia which is their corrupt Government. Good on Shell for attending and agrreing to being questioned. BUT, surprise, surprise nobody from the Nigerian Government (perhaps they didn't get enough of a bribe to appear or perhaps Amnesty knew they would get nowhere with them). Pollution in the Niger Delta remains a problem, albeit that conditions are slowly improving. Living conditions, infrastructure and most other normal day-to-day things should be the responsibility of the corrupt Government not international oil companies. These evil governments such as Nigeria, Zimbabwe and Burma need to be bought down by the UN so that their people might have a better chance of a reasonable life.
: Very polite correspondence between Wiseman and the Donovans. I estimate Wiseman's hourly internal tariff at around 500 U$ per hour (his salary plus support plus extensive overheads). Over the years Shell must have spent a fortune discussing the Donovans, putting the most expensive lawyers on the case, and developing policy how to battle them. It becomes Churchillian: 'we will fight them on the web, and in the courtrooms, and in their own offices and on the streets. But we wil NEVER surrender. With unlimited funds this maybe so, but it is wasting shareholders money and it solves nothing. I do not see the Donovans give up anytime soon. So perhaps a new paradigm needs to be developed? Any ordinary man or woman at the coalface would solve this problem within minutes and for less money than what is being burned now. But the Shell kings are no ordinary people, they live in cloud cuckoo land. I will keep following with great interest how all this develops, it is even better than the daily Dilbert!!!
: W.E. Pratt knew it already a hundred years ago when he said "Oil is found in the minds of men" But he was one of the founders of the Standard Oil company, whereas the people who try to make us believe that IBM can come to the rescue of Shell appear to be only good at getting rid of their most experienced minds.
Shell Blog RSS Feed
