#1GoldenTriangle Watchman on Feb 8th, 2012 at 12:12 pm
With all of this money spent on the CEP expansion, it has been built on an old electrical infrastructure. I guess no one is counting how many times you read about a “short” electrical outage at the plant. Tom Purves and the Motiva leadership know exactly why this is happening and how to fix it. They don’t want to pay for it. They have been given the project and have turned it down at least twice. Meanwhile, we just keep having outages. Going ot be interesting when both refineries come down in the future.
LondonLad: the lack of stories concerning Shell should be welcomed, if it implies that Shell are cleaning up their act, perhaps due in part to the efforts of the Donovans.
US Observer, surely almost all (NOT all)contributors to this website have an axe to grind against Shell, particularly those who have a perception that they have been screwed by Shell in times gone by. As for Itchy Woman, she clearly has a femanistic / burn-the-bra approach to work in Shell. AND I would like to add that once again an old old article (from someone who has an axe to grind against Shell) has to be republished due to lack of news against Shell (I refer to Briggs 2009 article). COMMENT BY JOHN D. Would it not be fairer to say that everyone posting on this blog, including you, has an axe to grind. It is easy enough to look back over your contributions and reach a conclusion.
It is easy to figure out who Witchy Woman is (LC). She has an “ax to grind” and is using this forum
#5an observer of Shell on Feb 4th, 2012 at 10:07 am
@uscitizen
Voser is a competent and amicable chap. You claim Shell has delivered on its deliverables. Let me tell you everyone delivers on their deliverable…. But joking apart, look at the promises over the years and how well Shell has delivered on these promises. Their trackrecord is not very good over the last 15 years or so. They are a good money making machine. And sofar they have delivered on their constant or increasing dividend payments. Sometimes by increasing their debt but they have done it. A nice high oilprice has helped, don’t you agree??
So my only observation was that his ‘promise’ to extend North Sea fields is quite opposite their activities in this area. And they have promised this before and done the opposite. It was a nice promise to build a new and expensive office in Aberdeen, more jobs for the UK and more activity and extending of production. Just check back what they have done.
And predicting future productionlevels by Shell in general and Brinded in particular is nothing but a sick joke.
This was not a personal attack now was it Witchy one??
#133 Witchy woman
on May 8th, 2011 at 1:42 pm
Marvin Odum who probably has the worst safety record in Shell goes for a diversity vote and someone who has no safety experience to replace the VP of safety he just fired. Clear message where his priorities lie.
Witchy Woman – you blase me for personal attacks???? That is so rich! I am defending people that are attacked if you had not noticed – and yes I do slam the folks who are throwing garbage out! Live with it!! Enjoy your retirement! Shell has a good retirement package in the US dont they??
I feel the value of your posts is also minimal, just a complainer. PS – here is where you bash Denise – remember – or do we need to question your integrity the way folks question Shell leaders??
Witchy woman
on Dec 7th, 2011 at 12:35 pm
In GOM we thought that hurricane season was done. Why is Hurricane Denise causing so much damage then? Like all Hurricanes though they move on the professionals are left to pick up the pieces.
According to the Independent article posted today the boss of Shell is telling us all not to get too emotional about fracking. Has he not seen the confirmation that fracking causes earthquakes? You have cited the Reuters article. There are others including coverage of a fracking earthquake in Blackpool England. I have to conclude that Voser is a fracking idiot.
Good morning John. I read this morning in Barrons that Lynn Elsenhans is now the ex-ceo of Sunoco. The public announcement by Sunoco, here,
lists her accomplishments as selling assets, shutting down plants and getting out of businesses.
US Citizen
Thank you for your unsolicited feedback. It was typically of zero value.
I think you need to learn how to read before commenting.
I don’t see any mention of Denise there, and as far as I am aware Deepwater would appoint the VP.
Typically you have it wrong again and incidentally the new appointment is great. If it was Denise, she did well.
Maybe its about time you left as you contribute little apart from personal attacks.
#13an observer of Shell on Feb 2nd, 2012 at 2:02 pm
Is Voser now also being jinxed by the famous Brinded spell? This decent and down to earth Swiss financeman is trying to tell the world that Shell will increase production from North Sea fields by extending the life of these fields (Sky Sunrise interview). I am taking bets with some friends this will not happen. All observable actions by Shell is that they are retrenching from the North Sea. Voser emphasised that there will be a lot of job creation in the UK….. Now, where have we heard this before????
And he says (Bloomberg story):
‘Shell will increase production to about 4 million barrels of oil equivalent a day in 2017-2018. Last March, it said daily output would rise to 3.5 million barrels this year and 3.7 million barrels by 2014′.
Promises, promises, promises. This translates into bonuses and a bit later in ‘new insights’ or other factors that could not be foreseen. I give it to him he is not as audacious as Brinded who predicted 7-8 years ago that Shell would be doing close to 6 mln bbl/d around now.
I am not calling the man a liar. I would not dare to with his army of lawyers in Shell. But how should we call someone who ‘not speaketh the truth’?
Shall we keep it as ‘tarred with the same brush as Brinded?”
US Citizen, you are probably right. I expect it will be higher than the $10b I shared. Everyone over there knows that Motiva has had a spinfest on the information. Contractors have been told to shut up and not report the facts. That is what happens when the Tom Purves came back and took over. Everybody knows it. You are a suck up and everyone knows that too. I’m glad that you remain oblivious, even to the day that Shell reaches up and drops you over the cliff like they have done so many in the last several years. Shell….good people and crappy leadership. We all know it!
PS… Stay tuned for the Purves retirement announcement coming soon to a garbage can near you!!
To Witchy Woman – get off the Denise Rants. She is a very talented hard working woman of integrity. Not every HSSE position needs to be filled by HSSE career folks. In fact – folks with line experience, which she has, are in a very good place to lead HSSE organizations. I did and did just fine. You are just an unhappy person who is mad you or yours did not get that job, give it up and let the biased outsiders do their shell bashing, not shell people who are simply bitter at their lot and should realize how darn lucky they are. Or – please quit and become a shell outsider – might help us both out.
Having read that the former RBS-CEO, Fred Goodwin, has been stripped of his knighthood by UK authorities. Makes you wonder if and when Sir Phil Watts will stripped of his one. No doubt Phil’s selfish behaviour at the helm of Shell did more harm to the industry and private investors than Fred.
Are there cases where UK employment lawyers have won against shell? REPLY BY JOHN DONOVAN: Don’t have knowledge of any such case, but I recommend you to a lawyer who has sued Shell many times on our behalf. Four High Court cases for IP theft and breach of contract. Two for libel. All settled by Shell with damages and all legal costs paid. The lawyer is Richard Woodman, a partner at Royds Solicitors, 65 Carter Lane London EC4V 5HF Tel: 020 7583 2222. Richard knows Shell well and all of the tricks of their legal department. Richard is head of Royds Employment Department and specialises in all aspects of employment law. He was recommended to me and turned out to be a great asset and kind friend in our years of successive legal battles with Shell. Thanks in great part to his dedication and expertise, we never lost a single case against Shell. Also had a great barrister team led by Geoffrey Cox MP QC, a courtroom orator who verbally bashed in open court a High Court judge who was blatantly biased in favour of Shell. Judge forgot to declare that his life long friend had Shell as a client. The judge also had an undeclared commercial connection with Tom Moody-Stuart, the barrister son of Sir Mark Moody-Stuart, the then Shell Chairman. By coincidence, or otherwise, the Judge shocked the legal world by unexpectedly resigning after we had made a formal complaint to the Lord Chancellor. The Judge joined the aforementioned friends company, which worked for Shell. Apologies for rambling on.
Old Timer – I am afraid that there clearly is very little news (i.e. aspects of Shell’s work) for the Donovan’s to rant on about recently. A great deal is re-printed as though it’s new but is merely old stories and anti-Shell propoganda that is old history. Yes, we learn from history but we don’t have to regurgitate it repeatedly. The lead story today linking Shell with Jewish skin lamp shades is really gutter press and totally deplorable nonsense from the Donovan’s. REPLY BY JOHN DONOVAN: You are entitled to your view. Considerably more evidence is being accumulated as a result of many newspaper archives from Europe and the USA, and books as far back as the 1930′s, all being made available and searchable online. In a few months time, we will publish all of the additional evidence. Those who are interested will be free to read it. The evidence is overwhelming. It includes information and documents from Shell’s own archives, which Shell was concerned would come into our possession. We have Shell internal communications obtained by us under the UK Data Protection Act revealing Shell’s anxiety at this prospect. As indicated, Shell has threatened legal action in relation to this subject. We are 100% confident that for obvious reasons, no action will be taken. We are not talking about allegations, but historical fact. Deterding/Royal Dutch Shell pumped funds into the Nazi regime for many years and Shell continued to do so after Deterding resigned as Director General. Deterding remained a Shell director until the day he died in Nazi Germany. He had a Nazi funeral attended by Nazi officers and senior Royal Dutch Shell officials. A personal message from Hitler was read at the grave. With regards to the hideous lampshades, Royal Dutch Shell was in bed with the conglomerate, IG Farben, in the manufacture of synthetic gasoline, which fueled the Nazi war machine. The close relationship involved other questionable collaboration between Royal Dutch Shell and IG Farben both in Germany and worldwide. An IG Farben subsidiary, Degesch, manufactured Zyklon B, the poison gas used at the extermination camps. IG Farben used slave labor sourced from the concentration camps. Shell was run by a Nazi. In the Nuremberg trial, Directors of IG Farben were charged with being members of the SS. Some were found guilty of war crimes.
Great stuff to re-post some historical events in Shell. It shows that your network has mostly been spot-on predicting what was wrong and what would happen.
It also shows how long a big company can continue on a substandard level and still do reasonably well. Could it be that a high oilprice has helped a bit?
I remember that evil Watts still very well. He has gone completely silent the last few years, exactly what can be expected of a small minded man. Presumably he is working his Japanese garden and repenting in his home church, trying to buy absolution and still hoping not to go to hell but instead a very long time in the purgatory…. I fear in vain!
It would be also be nice if you could dig out some old records in which the man with the facial hair (aka Mr TFA) has been promising increasing production levels and if I am not mistaken, he even projected more than 6 million bopd to be reached about now. But he never delivered and still is on seat!! He has been at it for some 15 yrs or more by now. In the past we learned faster in Shell but then there was less fear and more decent people at the top.
SHELL EXPECT US: REPLY TO WILLIAM TELL BY JOHN DONOVAN. We have exchanged email correspondence with you. As I believe I have pointed out to you previously, if you supply any Shell internal emails, we would insist on giving Shell sight of the emails before publication of the emails or any related information. It is our normal practice to give Shell the opportunity to comment on authenticity unless the information comes from a trusted source.
Well, well – if anyone wishes to get a flavour of what is possible in the wild west of Ireland I suggest you watch the wonderful John Michael 2011 film “The Guard” starring Brendan Gleeson. Anything & everything is possible out there.
Are we to understand that the violent conduct we witnessed on Irish newsreel shots from Corrib in Mayo were fueled by Shell supplied alcohol to Irish policemen …tell me no …innocent decent people protecting their homes
John saw your reply it all happend ok problem is the Hague is now in charge of the situation all Irish corrib staff have been silenced four people have been let go over their part any one who speaks or produces evidence will suffer big time the cops who got the booze are watching from the sideline also in silence hoping for a clean outcome . If it was all exposed the project be stopped that came from the horses mouth Shell .
I am ashamed by the conduct of Shell HR in the Anti Discrimination case. As a company we should honour these issues. The mentioned HR rep (Van Barlingen) in the article did much more damage to Shell’s reputation by her cold reply and non-action.
I truly hope that senior HR management will overrule this decision and decide in favour of Mr Gatti.
Mr Donovan are you aware that a one thousand euro reward is on offer in Mayo for the name of the supplier of large amounts of alcohol to local Garda on behalf of Roadbridge Shell. REPLY BY JOHN DONOVAN: I have seen the various allegations and comments posted here, but no evidence. If anyone has any evidence to support these allegations, please sent it to me: john@shellnews.net
Corrib Project comments from G Hamilton not correct Roadbridge Shell main contractor supplied large amounts of booze to police protecting the project now the press have a hold of the story and panic has set in….oh what a tangled web we weave when first …etc ect
Roadbridge Shell main contractor supplied booze in large quantities to cops on the corrib frontline now cops in a panic because press have a sniff of it cops not pleased with Shell
In in response to George Hamilton, Shell Corrib have bigger problems than Gardai gifts. The lead project planners RPS have informed Shell that every land owner agreement they have could be deemed to be invalid because certain landowners got special disguised extra payments by way of cash, home improvements..etc… whilst the rest got the bare minimum for access to there land. The Irish Shell CEO is gone over this matter.
Shell Corrib Gas Project losing the much needed support of the local police force. By leaving them in a very embarrassing position over Illegal Christmas gifts. Heads are rolling Peter Voser CEO now involved – Shit is hitting fans everywhere
John D, Someone should tell Mr Wallach of Beaumont enterprises that the Motiva project has long surpassed the $7B dollar price tag. This project will come in north of $12b, 2 years late and is being tagged as one of Shell’s worst projects. The project would have been killed by both partners of Motiva but too much money had been sunk into the effort, notionally $4B, to walk away from it.
The Bonga spill obviously is unforgiveable. A relatively young facility should not leak oil. But the disaster as mentioned by many journalists will be minute. It is light oil and most will evaporate and disappear before hitting the beach.
In 1979 there was a spill of another magnitude: the bottom of tank 6 had dropped out in Forcados. There was 1 meter oil in the terminal and Bert Ockeloen, the General Operations Manager flew over it the next day and stated: I may lose my terminal so break the wall and flush it into the sea. We talk of 100,000 tonnes of Forcados crude. Fortunately it was in the middle of the rainy season, there were no spark arrestors on the export pumps and the oil was lapping at the base of these…. God took a kind eye on Forcados that day. After flushing the lot into the sea, it all disappeared within weeks. Not a trace to be seen. Some small money and fish was given to local villages. Only the channel used to move the oil to the sea remained polluted and was cleaned up many years later. It all was possible because there was a military government suppressing the press and life was good for Shell!
So, bad marks for spilling oil on Bonga but it is not the end of the world. Nigerian bacteria are very strong and will eat it all up!
I absolutely love your blog and find the majority of your post’s to be precisely what I’m looking for. Would you offer guest writers to write content in your case? I wouldn’t mind producing a post or elaborating on a lot of the subjects you write regarding here. Again, awesome web log! REPLY BY JOHN: All are welcome to submit articles for publication, relating to Shell, this website, its owners and related matters. Does not matter if the content is positive or negative. Any allegations must be substantiated with evidence. Links can be inserted. Please note that we will not allow the forum to be used for advertising purposes.
In GOM we thought that hurricane season was done. Why is Hurricane Denise causing so much damage then? Like all Hurricanes though they move on the professionals are left to pick up the pieces.
So Golden Triangle MAN – Lets assume Purves and Smallwood are as bad as you say and assume that the project execution was lacking – over budget and overschedule, one editorial comment for you – I assume you would have known how to pull off the most complex US refinery project in the last 50 years with better results – but you do not seem to grasp the magnitude and size.
Having said all that – you state – ” Because of the decisions of Motiva leadership, and Tom Purves in particular, this project could have done so much more for the city of Port Arthur. They decided not to.”
Decided not to what? How can any one debate that this Shell investment – late and overbudget, is a huge coup for Port Arthur in jobs and tax base?? How?? More permanent and contract jobs for years and years? What on earth are you doubting about that. Look in the mirror and realize your hatred for Purves is clouding your view on the long term big picture.
#42GoldenTriangle Watchman on Nov 30th, 2011 at 11:40 am
Read this Shell spin…..
When Motiva Enterprises completes it’s epic expansion project, the Port Arthur facility will not only be the largest refinery in the nation, but will also serve as a blueprint for other companies to accomplish similar feats.
“This is the first major investment of this scale in 30 years,” Nick Smallwood, expansion project director, said Tuesday.
Smallwood and Tom Purves, a former Port Arthur refinery manager and now Motiva vice president were guest speakers at the Greater Port Arthur Chamber of Commerce, where they updated those in attendance on the project.
“This is an exciting time. We are getting to the point where we are completing construction and getting ready to start up,” Purves said. “We are looking forward to the next few months when we can hand you the keys to this huge economic engine.”
Purves returned to Port Arthur to direct the integration, startup and commissioning of the world scale project.
The only blue print that this project creates is one of how terrible leadership can impact the viability and success of a project. This will be one of shell’s worst projects ever. Because of the decisions of Motiva leadership, and Tom Purves in particular, this project could have done so much more for the city of Port Arthur. They decided not to. As soon as this project gets close to completion, Smallwood will get the heck out of there and Uncle Tom Purves will be retired. He didn’t get brought back to lead the start-up effort. He doesn’t know how. He flooded the plant with his cronies to protect him. This project will come in well over budget and 2 years late. How can that be a footprint for an “epic project”? Unbelievable propaganda by Ms Rutherford.
Fracking will be good for South Africa, especially since it will provide plenty of gas that will displace expensive imported gas. I have heard that there will be in excess of 2500 jobs from start up of the project, a vast majority of whom will be South Africans. All-in-all a good piece of business for the country despite all the negative press provided, in the main part, by ill-informed and people with political agendas.
Thanks John for sharing the Nigeria spills link with us. It brings back happy memories from the old days when I was involved in many of the wells that are now being sabotaged or are failing. From the photos it is clear we should thank Huub van Engelshoven who decreed that Shell would use solid block trees even on land. Normally these are used offshore but he knew way back to not rely on good maintenance and honest nigerians. Solid block trees are much more sturdy than composite trees. The extra costs must have paid off. But now there is a genuine mess for a whole host of reasons. Nigeria needs to sort itself out first methinks.
EXTRACT: OIL and gas players must toe the line if they want to secure a licence to operate from the government, the energy minister yesterday warned as he scored Brunei Shell Petroleum Sdn Bhd (BSP) amid allegations of irregularities in the tender process and for not fully contributing to local business development despite its long presence in the Sultanate.
In a speech at the Brunei Shell Vendor Forum, Minister of Energy at the Prime Minister’s Office (EDPMO) Pehin Datu Singamanteri Colonel (Rtd) Dato Seri Setia Dr Hj Mohd Yasmin Hj Umar urged oil and gas contractors to strictly observe the government’s policies on local business development, business integrity and safety. “They are essentially the ingredients for licence to operate,” he said.
EXTRACT: Energy minister voices gov’t displeasure over transparency issues at Shell vendor forum:
QUESTIONS on business integrity, transparency and checks against corruption in the relationship between Brunei Shell Petroleum (BSP) and contractors have surfaced…
“Sucking up” (as you put it) to potentially massive new emerging markets (e.g. China, India & Brazil) is exactly the way to go for any company. I am also sure that a great majority of Shell’s shareholders (myself included) want this to happen – why allow the likes of Exxon, BP etc. to do this and not Shell?
REPLY BY JOHN DONOVAN: I am sure most will agree with you, but in the case of China, is it prudent to inject huge funds, as we are all doing, into a regime with an abysmal human rights record, which is vastly increasing its military power, including naval forces and its nuclear arsenal, and has acted recklessly in pursuit of its ambition for orbital weapons? I guess we are all hoping that the Chinese government and its aggressive military will decide that it would not be prudent to destroy its customer base, bearing in mind that almost all consumer goods these days seem to be manufactured in China. Wal-Mart is probably its best customer. Greatest respect and affection for the Chinese people, but its leaders are another matter. Remember Tiananmen Square. Remember Tibet. Is it morally correct to deal with governments who have no respect whatsoever for human rights?
#49Golden Triangle Watchman on Oct 28th, 2011 at 10:53 am
Verna leaving to go to Bechtecl would surprise me. She knows how bad Bechtecl is and have been on this project. The only reason Bechtecl is still around is due to the relationship between Riley Bechtel and the Saudis. I hear Funk will leave in the dead of night, which tells me Uncle Tom isn’t too far behind with his retirement. You can bet he will take care of his little boy. As for the article on timing, just like Shell….. Everyone knows that the project is 2 years late. They continue to push start-up dates into 2012. Everyone involved with the project knows it is a bust. I’m now hearing numbers in the $11-12b range. It has gotten so bad that the Motiva folks won’t even share the cost numbers with anyone. The contractors feel that Motiva doesn’t want to hear the truth and that is fine with Bechtel. What a shame! Uncle Tom, I hope this is what you were looking for. I hope they include Tom’s severance package in the cost of the project and just do us all a favor and dump him. Give him his big retirement party so all the old Shell cronies can show up and tell their good stories and act like none of this matters. Tom, you stink, have stunk for awhile, and everyone I talk with over here in PortArthurville looks at you as a plague. Your are spoiled meat and no one will align with you…… except Jeff. You 2 deserve each other.
To Par Cepper & Triangle Watchman: I hear that Purves and Funk have now aligned thoughts on Motiva for project reduction. Means Rutherford could leave Port Arthur for Betchel. Good news eh!
The Americans really are THE bully boys of the planet. What right do they have to have legal jurisdiction over what happens elsewhere on the globe, particularly when the plantiffs are not American. Yet another example of Nigerian’s trying to get a fast buck.
Maybe Brinded’s not going to the funeral but is he going to be the next Chairman of Network Rail?
(Name and email address supplied)
#53Golden Triangle Watchman on Oct 23rd, 2011 at 1:13 am
PAR Cepper, trust me, I know what I’m talking about. Uncle Tom is the root problem. Funk is just hanging on. As soon as they get rid of Tom due to a failed project, some say one of the worst ever in Shell, Funk will be gone quietly….. Lauher has already been dumped.
triangle watchman: you don’t know what you are talking about. Funk is about to strike and you are still on about Uncle Tom. The problem really is that there too many druggies on the work site. Gee what a mess.
“Dr. Goodluck Diigbo points out: “This is a tricky clause in the report, which can create confusion and grounds for the usual excuse by Shell not to fulfill its obligation to the Bodo people. I think this is why a critical review of the report is imperative because it is already sowing seeds of conflicts within and between the Ogoni people and their neighbors. I hope that others would not claim what is not theirs”….The Community listed are the original owners. I think SHELL and the Ogonis used the sympathy they (ogoni) enjoyed to intimidate Bolo people into silence… I am aware that SHELL and Bolo have been court for 25 years now
Message to Monday N.K. We have received your comment criticising Shell’s conduct in the Nigeria Delta. Unfortunately we cannot decipher some of the points you are making. Can you please resubmit it after seeking help in re-drafting so that our readers can understand what you want to say.
Good to see that Shell (SPDC) has a website that reports on oil spills in its operational areas in Nigeria. Covers operational oil spills, theft, sabotage and other illegal attacks. Clearly shows that each year between 2005 and 2010 the very large majority of oil spills is from sabotage (despite the twaddle coming from Amnesty, environmentalists and Nigerians with an axe to grind with Shell). Even the Dutch newspaper “De Telegraph” has praised the website.
#58Golden Triangle Watchman on Oct 14th, 2011 at 11:37 am
Re the article of Motiva getting funding from the Enterprise funding, Unlce Tom Purves and the Motiva leadership knew exactly what they were doing. They had the same game plan with the city of Port Arthur and the tax abatements. They showed all the upside of the Crude Expansion project with promises of 300 new jobs and a bunch of local commitments for local workers. As soon as they received the Enterprise funding and the tax abatements, they let Bechtel bring in workforce from outside the area. Re the 300 jobs, they did not include the many jobs they were cutting in the base plant, forcing retirements and reducing positions…. all the while advertising the new jobs for the new sections of the expansion refinery. A shell game to say the least and shows the capability of Shell’s senior leaders, especially the one Tom Purves, who no longer has a career. He is just hanging on until the last few checks are signed for this elephant of a project, now ballooning to over $10BILLION. A reminder that Tom promised it would not go a penny over $8.5BILLION. My my my… if you want details on this one, just ask Ms. Verna Rutherford…. Remember Tom……. I’m watching……
Zebulon John Egai: the only one that can fix this is your own government. So to all Nigerians, revolt against your own corrupt government and try to get a rule of law in your beautiful country. Once that is achieved (more or less) the rest will improve too. After all the demonstrations in arab countries, it is now time that you guys start this too in Nigeria. Only Nigerians can fix this. As long as you have that massive corruption (at all levels) life will be hell for everyone.
shell and its partners, in niger delta, have violated united nations framework convention on climate change, GAS FLARING is regularly going on,who can help us. thank you.
Hey dutchdude, good point on survivors of indiscretion in shell ranks. But let lowly team leaders push back when managers are disingenuous and we are swiftly severed. There is no justice. Even if SR restores some of the morale and spirit; nothing will compensate those whose spirits were disgraced after being subjectively ranked then terminated. What self-appointed organizational development ‘guru’ convinced whom that this was a way to improve the Culture? 1.5 x 1y pay was an insult to those who were not given a choice. I guess the only remaining hope is that karma or God and the heavens, mete the ‘justice’ deserved by the ignorant souls who enacted this heartless process! As detached from the current conversation as this may seem; please consider my comments as further example of how Shell seems to contort Priorities!!!
To retiree: No sir, I don’t want any more fatalities or spills in Shell. The sad fact is that inside Shell and outside as a society we have become too foregiving to inferior HSE performance. Who still blinks an eye when 1 person is killed in our business? The HSE staff use a matrix that only when more than 3 or 4 are killed the incident becomes major. The BP oil spill showed that even such a worse case scenario is survivable for the company and most of its senior managers. How many BP managers lost their jobs over that incident? Reality is that the oil industry is building up for the next Piper Alpha, (many current managers don’t even know about that incident anymore; outside UK this is a fact). Dear retiree, we want the same. No fatalities, no big oil spills and no more managers who get away with it all….
As some commentators have said, abandoned and old fashioned facilities and pipelines exposed to the oil surface that they become impacted by natural agents (sun, rain, etc)will definitely leak and spill most oil considering the chain of pipelines in Ogoni. More importantly, reports have it that $hell staff and government officials, the Rivers State military taskforce and buyers from outside and within the state are behind this oil bunkering, which has been only few year in operation. By and large $hell and the government are still the culprits, because they use outdated, exposed materials and hungry youths in the community to still get this oil, while pretending operations in Ogoni have been stopped.
Oldtimer, you are too forgiving towards Glen Cayley. His HSE record is truly terrible, and one wonders how many chances a senior managers gets in Shell to demonstrate he is incompetent in manageing safety? Seems Shell needs a “BP moment” to wake up, as they did not (want to) learn from the BP spill at all. Unfortunately this UK spill was too small.
So according to this sites main headline pipeline sabotage prevails yet again in Nigeria. Seems like these so called “disaffected” youths are in the same category as the yobs, layabouts & benefit cheats that rioted in the UK recently. Poor little things. No excuse should be made for these saboters in Nigeria who cause the vast bulk of the oil spillage in the Delta region.
Yes John I do defend Shell’s record in Nigeria for the most part. No oil company is immune from error (neither are individuals). They have provided an immense amount of money to communities for many many years, unlike the Nigerian Government and Tree Hugging Societies. The latter lot are just there to cause mischief and justify their own presence.
Macannon: As I said, if the wells had been properly suspended or abandoned, and the flowlines and infrastructure cleaned and removed (in accordance with standard industry practice – especially in Holland) there would have been no corroding, leaking, flowlines and production facilities, and no possibility of leaks due to corrosion or sabotage. Whether or not sabotage took place, corrosion alone has resulted in the release of huge quantities of oil in Nigeria, as it did at Gannet. The facilities and flowlines in Nigeria were left full of oil. Over the years most of it has leaked into the environment.
Outsider, I have never stated that saboteurs were responsible for the Gannet leak so like others on this website you should not exaggerate or add words to what has been stated. It is the amount and impact of the leak that is important and it is this that may well have been overstated to get a story or prove the “value” of tree hugging groups. Your statement concerning wells and flow lines etc. being left filled with oil – is that substantiated with hard evidence? I stand by my initial statement, the major problem with pollution in Ogoniland lies with the Ogoni’s who have sabotaged the infrastructure. COMMENT BY JOHN: Reference your last sentence, blaming the Ogoni as the major problem with pollution in Ogoniland, is it not fair to ask, where is your comment substantiated by hard evidence? It also seems appropriate to ask, do you defend Shell’s overall past and current conduct in Nigeria?
Macannon: if the wells in Ogoni land had been abandoned (or properly suspended) and the surface flowlines and infrastructure removed, there would have been no possibility of sabotage. Instead, wells were left filled with oil and gas under pressure, as were corroding, leaking flowlines and production facilities. Whether or not sabotage had taken place, corrosion would have ensured that large quantities of oil and gas would leak into the environment, as happened at Gannet. Or perhaps you prefer to have us believe that the Gannet leak was also the work of saboteurs?
Question is Outsider are you, WWF, Greenpeace or anyone else able to say how much has been spilled? Wait until the correct numbers have been ratified by the authorities. As I said earlier the likes of Greenpeace are often way out with their numbers as they know very little about the subject. As for Nigeria (particularly Ogoniland) most of the problem is not from (ex-Shell) wellheads but from damaged pipelines. For damaged read sabotaged by locals for their own gains. Please provide evidence of widespread negligence by Shell in their responsibilities in Ogoniland for securing wellheads. Indeed wellheads, flow lines & other facilities in Holland, Malaysia etc. etc. were adequately sealed. HOWEVER, these countries did not have the saboteurs that caused the subsequent pollution. As ever with Nigeria the cancerous corruption prevails and do-gooders and tree huggers jump on the band wagon as they have little or no knowledge about the subject. All they can see is an opportunity to bash an international company. Let’s see them attempt to blast the Nigerian Government – result would be that they got nowhere.
So Cayley feels the inspection and maintenance programme let them down? This would infer that changing some ink on paper will fix the problem.
Now Glen is a nice fellow and a geologist so he maybe forgiven for being so ignorant. I would expect these farcical statements from HR folk but not from petroleum professionals.
I bet that the inspection and maintenance programme is a very good one. Developed and improved over many years and checked by the outside agencies. The management of this programme however is clearly lacking. And management is made up of people. And people can be hassled in doing the wrong thing as long as you scare them sufficiently.
Brinded, who set the scene many moons ago with his insisting on processes rather than common sense, has created an army of frightened drones who always agree with the boss and are happy if a series of boxes can be ticked off so all will be well. Those drones have also blindly followed the TFA policy of Brinded. And being an ex Exxon guy, Crayley knows all about following orders. The mistake he made is to think the orders from his current bosses are of the same quality as in Exxon.
Macannon – are Shell really able to be so precise about the volume of the Gannet spill, or should their figures be considered as comparable with the 5000 barrels/day of the initial MMS press releases on Macondo. In Nigeria, as elsewhere, the operator (Shell) was responsible for securing their producing wells and infrastructure when production was stopped. The pollution which occurred after Shell stopped production was only possible because Shell failed to fulfil its obligations. It is striking that Shell did not leave leaking wells, corroding flowlines and collapsing production infrastructure in Wassenaar or Schoonebeek when they stopped production from the fields.
At the end of the day the very small amount of oil allegedly leaked (“estimated at 218 tonnes”) will disappear very rapidly and cause very very little damage to the environment. Of course now Greenpeace (they of the over statement of Brent Spar pollution!!!!!) will continue to exagerate volumes (as will others) to the extent that the entire Gannet Field reserves have leaked into the North Sea. It really is that time of the year when there is so little news to report on. Ho Hum.
Outsider it seems to me that you’ve read way too much into what Veritas said in his post. He didn’t say that since it was stopped after 10 days all was OK. As for Nigeria you appear to have joined the uninformed Tree Huggers in accusing Shell of the pollution. A vast (yes vast) majority of the oil spills in Ogoniland post date (yes post date) Shell’s involvement in the area. Sabotage by Nigerians who want to steal the oil and also get damage money are the primary causes.
Veritas: you seem to be implying that because Shell have finally managed to stop the flow after 10 days, then everything is OK? How long must a well flow and how many thousands of tonnes of crude oil need to be released into the environment before a problem exists? I guess the Nigerian leaks should not really be a problem either – it’s only a matter of a few thousand barrels of light, sweet crude after all.
John, I normally appreciate your site for its neutrality, but it’s clear now that Shell’s North Sea leak is fixed that at least two of your “experts” you cited in your August 16 post, and possibly all three, were very very wrong. I think you have done very well in the past verifying your sources, especially the chap from Malaysia, but the folks cited that day were full of hogwash and speculation. Other than that, keep up the good work. REPLY FROM JOHN: Some people might be surprised at your assessment that we are neutral in relation to Shell. As to your other comments, stay tuned. More information will emerge shortly about how far Shell can be trusted in relation to the safety and integrity of its North Sea Platforms. The information, includes a recent document supplied to me on Friday by the HSE offshore division. It is a letter from a very senior UK government official sent to a senior person at Shell Exploration and Production. We will put the letter into the public domain and also bring it to the attention of relevant U.S. regulatory authorities and Alaskan state senators.
Suggest you put a different picture on your lead story concerning Shell still being in Syria. I’ve got one of Assad if you want one. REPLY FROM JOHN: Appreciate the offer, but have found one, unless yours is more appropriate. Thanks.
Boy oh boy, part 7 sure has a lot of very lengthy argumentation but in honesty (and I do have Shell shares) I read nothing in there that really convinces me that you should continue to rattle on about some connection between Deterding and Hitler. An alledged connection that happened some 65 years ago. I really believe you keep this on the “front page” as a form of tabloid press titilation. Come into the present and concentrate your continued sniping at Shell based on the present system. REPLY BY JOHN: You are entitled to your view. Considerably more evidence is being accumulated on an almost daily basis, as a result of many newspaper archives from Europe and the USA, and books as far back as the 1930′s, all being made available and searchable online. We will publish all of the additional evidence. Those who are interested will be free to read the evidence, which is overwhelming. It includes information and documents from Shell’s own archives, which Shell was concerned would come into our possession. We have Shell internal communications obtained by us under the UK Data Protection Act revealing Shell’s anxiety at this prospect. Shell has threatened action in relation to this subject. We are 100% confident that for obvious reasons, no action will be taken. We are not talking about allegations, but historical fact. Deterding/Royal Dutch Shell pumped funds into the Nazi regime for many years and Shell continued to do so after Deterding resigned as Director General. Deterding remained a Shell director until the day he died in Nazi Germany. He had a Nazi funeral attended by Nazi officers and senior Royal Dutch Shell officials. A personal message from Hitler was read at the grave.
John, Regarding your response to “Austria1″ that you do not believe that current Shell management sympathizes with the Nazis… If this is indeed the case, why are you so affixed on this topic. “The past is the past”, there are enough present issues that you could direct attention towards. Why do you “live in the past” ? REPLY: A legitimate question. The answer can be found here: Royal Dutch Shell Nazis Secrets Part 7: Why does it still matter?
I have read with concern that the current Shell management sympathises with Nazis. Is this correct? REPLY BY JOHN DONOVAN: I have not read that and I am sure that they do not.
The comment that “SPDC has not produced oil in Ogoniland since 1993″ (from Andrew Vickers) reafirms my point that all subsequent oil spills (last 18 years) have been caused by sabotage from the Ogonis themselves. In many cases encouraged by the village elders and MOSOP leaders. Their aim? To get large amounts of money from Shell et al. About time these people were held to account and not Shell. I am also amazed that Shell is still responsible for these pipelines if they no longer produce from the area, surely the Nigerian Government is now responsible? This is certainly the case in the likes of Malaysia where Petronas takes over full responsibility where a company has stopped production (yes I know, and made the well heads etc. safe) and relinquished the acreage. Heh ho no doubt it’s the age old problem of mega corrupt senior Nigerians seeing an easy way to fill their Swiss bank account, likewise lawyers (most being the leach scum of this earth) and tree huggers thinking they’re doing good (idiots).
Get over the alias thing John, or start calling out 95% of your posters. Be consistent – is that not what you ask of Shell?? Live up to the standard you ask others to live by! SMH: REPLY BY JOHN D: The vast majority are not as personally abusive or blinkered as yours self-evidently are, as can be confirmed by glancing through your record of postings here. I have the courage to post outspoken comments using my real name. You do not. Since you make more postings here than any other visitor and are by far the most outspoken – a self-proclaimed Nemesis – it really is time that you worked up the courage to reveal your real name? What’s the problem? What are you afraid of by coming out into the open? If you have told us the truth about accepting gifts/hospitality from Shell suppliers, I am sure you have nothing to fear. With a deluded outsize ego like yours, how can you bear to remain anonymous? Don’t forget to supply a nice colour pik along with your name.
Right John – do hot share your background data, cant share that – but clearly ID the person with your links. Swell job of high integrity posting. Get that point! Of course you will tell us you have lots more facts, can not share them, but I can tell you who it is with my links! Wow – crazy that you can not see that behavior is shady and that if Shell did something like that, you would call out the lynch mobs. Trust us, we have more data, but we can not share it!! REPLY BY JOHN: Same reply as previous: Your analysis of the situation was based partly on an inaccurate assumption. You are unaware of the background facts. I have not revealed detailed content of extensive emails on this matter with an insider source, emails to the Fat Cat in question, nor my entire related email correspondence with a top lawyer at Royal Dutch Shell, Michiel Brandjes. I have nothing further to add at this time regarding the allegations other than to say that I have to be rather more careful than you in what I say, bearing in mind that I do not hide behind an alias, as you choose to do.
That’s right Goodluck Diigbo you weren’t given N10 million, it was probably more like N20 million. The MOSOP organization is well known for it’s corruption – again, where does all the money they ge in various compensations? NOT to the Ogoni people who are hoodwinked into believing MOSOP is doing them good.
#89Golden Triangle Watchman on Aug 9th, 2011 at 6:05 am
I hope the county commissioners understand and more importantly the people of this area understand the implication of supporting this pipeline. Besides the environmental effects, this pipeline will take jobs away from the precious Sabine Neches Waterway.
A pipeline project that could create thousands of American construction jobs and lessen the country’s dependence on foreign oil is getting attention from Jefferson County, and could gain the approval of it’s leaders.
At Monday’s County Commissioner’s meeting a resolution concerning the TransCanada Keystone XL Pipeline Project is on the agenda for approval.
Wow – a new low – no facts – just unsubstantiated claims by someone with initials that match the initials of someone else and John is willing to accuse a shell “fat cat” of sexual harassement and having affairs. You keep topping your self John. Show me how this is fact based reporting? But you only post facts right John? Shell does something like this and you add this to our eveil portfolio right John? Geez, give me a break. You indict your self over and over, making this way too easy John. Evil huh?? REPLY BY JOHN: Your analysis of the situation is based partly on an inaccurate assumption. You are unaware of the background facts. I have not revealed detailed content of extensive emails on this matter with an insider source, emails to the Fat Cat in question, nor my entire related email correspondence with a top lawyer at Royal Dutch Shell, Michiel Brandjes. I have nothing further to add at this time regarding the allegations other than to say that I have to be rather more careful than you in what I say, bearing in mind that I do not hide behind an alias, as you choose to do.
I bet that of the “potential” £250 million that Shell might have to pay Ogoniland some £249.999 million will go into the Swiss & British bank accounts of the few Ogoni “chiefs” who will be laughing their heads off at the stupidity of the world courts. When will people learn that these “chiefs” get their minions to sabotage the pipelines (they don’t care that their own people get killed in the process) then wait for the lawyers (who themselves make a fortune from the courts) to lay blame on anyone they can. Why isn’t the Nigerian Government in court being accused?
Refer to Shell Malaysia’s comment dated 24th July ” Their shared services centre (now known as Shell Business Services Centre) is a fine case study of how unsuspecting employees are hired, used and disposed. Long work hours, under incompetent team managers, guarantees quick turnover. Staff turnover at this entity has remained high for years….at one point, exceeding 40%. It is essentially a sinister tactic to keep costs low. Yes indeed…Finance management scored brownie points to save cost. The Shell bosses never have do their own claim, others always pay for them-so they donot know what is the actual situation. In IT, a new joiner now only gets his computer at least after 2 weeks of joining. In HR, they donot know even when a new arrival come anymore..or worst still, leaver left. All these are outsourced.
So the staff who are affected suffer. Staff claims takes months to get processed and sometimes lost in the sytem. You have great helpdesk who log your complaints and never come back to your rescue. However we would like to thank some excellent staff in the service centre who did an excellent job inspite of the long hours and low pay. They have since left. We wish them all the best.
It is really unbecoming of Shell to outsource these services ( more to come ). However it does prove that Shell reconginses their own processes are is too complicated and overhead is too high.
Let us advise Shell, there are many ways to cut cost painlessly. One quick win is to remove alot of those SEG/LC ( at least 30% )in the Centres who BS their way up. They do nothing but travel to their regions, creat work ( not value ). For now they are hiding behing the Quarter U$6.6bil windfall and good oil prices.
Voser – its easy to find them- they are the ones who collect all the nice stories and publish them in the SWW after your profit announcement. Some of these VIPs travel with their camera, go to plan their travel with family, go to places they have not been. The Opcos staff they visited all know about this. But because of the visitor’s seniority, they wont speak out as their IPF or progression would be affected. The turnover at this Management level is as low as 0.01%. Wonder why?
We know this is not what you have been told, The cost saved is used to fund the HR,IT and Finance Dudes in the centre.
Look at HR, IT and Finance..they are in such a big mess after the outsourcing. Be ahead of the trend, insource these critical and essential services back especially HR where it really matters. As this makes a happy work force who can generate more $$ for you. Donot take these away. SMN
Go read the posts I have made where I state that all individuals and companies make mistakes, of course we have. No attempt to hide from that at all John, come on, read the posts and stop looking uneducated!!
ALL articles are gathered – sorry – not even close – but nice try!
Later -
REPLY FROM JOHN: You ask me to go and read your posts again. If you don’t mind, I would rather accept that you have already conceded on that point. Apart from posting articles ourselves (over 20,000 on this website) we pay for a live news feed of Shell related articles and take all that are gathered, irrespective of whether they are positive or negative in relation to Shell. That is a fact.
Ironical – oh that is sweet – that word should be your middle name John! Oh – I just love those old buried links from 2009 for a Wikipedia article, come on John, you can do better than that. Posted anything since then? All kinds of articles you can link to that are posted every week about Shell activities in the community. Love this – look at his lead in;
Royal Dutch Shell is responsible for many important initiatives in relationship to the environment, encouraging business start-ups, supporting charitable causes and other good works. With regard to the environment, Shell has however been accused of [1]greenwash“, betraying new energy future promises, and in March 2009,[2]announced its intention to abandon wind, solar and hydro power in favour of biofuels.
Shell does some good things, but they are accused of being greenwashers! Love it – John bent over backwards to try and show that Shell does some good things while being liars about their policies. Great job John.
Love it John – look at the tags of your posters – what percentage use their real name? Look at all blogs – find the real names. You should really be able to indentify with Delusional huh John. My Dad and I were wronged 40 years ago, so Shell is evil and that is all their is to it. Move on with your life, what is left of it fella.
Sure hope your good will continues to let me post, or you will be a censor – you have written about that before with respect to a certain company you allege does that, right John! You are so close to Shell that you know why we make decisions right John, ie Tell Shell! Go ahead and stop be from posting John, I would really enjoy the next step in that dialogue!
Signed your Nemesis – Lazy, coward, uneducated, delusional, misplaced loyalty Uscitizen. At least I am no longer evil or uneducated! Enjoy your day , I know I will.
Please excuse all typos and grammatical errors.
REPLY BY JOHN” More rantings from uscitizen who apparently is mesmerized by this website. As I recall, the RDS initiatives article that I authored contained all positive information. Some modifications were then made to provide balancing information because of comments made by other contributors to Wikipedia who alleged the article was biased in favour of Shell. Please point out any article anywhere else on the Internet or otherwise, containing so much information about the good works of Shell. All articles about Shell are gathered and appear on this website, irrespective of whether they are positive or negative in content. As to your threat about the next step in the dialogue if I fail to publish your rantings, what exactly do you think you can do to compel me to publish your comments? Finally, are you really so deluded that you do not accept Shell is guilty of ANY misdeeds? Was the reserves fraud an illusion? And what about the settlement of litigation arising from Shell’s human rights abuses and long term pollution in Nigeria? It appears that you only look at this blog and do not read the posted articles such as the one on the front page of the Guardian newspaper today.
John, I am still looking for your posts telling the world that Shell does good deeds, come on – post them again!! From your nemesis – a lazy, uneducated and evil Shell employee!! Please keep the compliments flowing. Did I have any spelling/typing errors – whew – I sure hope not – John might cast mean thoughts about my capabilities again!! I am so hurt! REPLY FROM JOHN: I just found it ironic that you castigated another person on this blog for making an “undeducated” post. I accept that your spelling errors were caused by laziness. Don’t worry, since you hide behind an alias to insult people, no one will be able to identity you personally. Is there any chance that you will ever work up the courage to make postings under your own name, as I do, taking legal responsibility for everything I say? You cannot claim with any shred of credibility to being my Nemesis, when you hide behind an alias and are entirely dependent on my goodwill to permit you to make postings on this website. Based on your overall postings, I do not believe that you are evil or uneducated. Delusional, perhaps. Certainly proud of the company you work for. There is nothing wrong with loyalty, even if sometimes misplaced. As to Shell positives, there is a permanent link: ROYAL DUTCH SHELL INITIATIVES
Thanks for the tip and for showing again the pettiness(sp??) that defines who you are John. I sincerely apologize for trashing your site with my poor speed typing skills! Trust me, I know how to spell these words! But the content of my comments got through just fine, you even seemed to be able to grasp them John and know what words I mis typed! Thanks for the help, but I am too busy to type in word, proof and then post, I will pass on your tip of the day. Got any more value added tips? PS – lazy implies you did not put forth the effort required for the job, the effort I put into posts on your site was just right. Nice try though! Keep living in the past and the future will pass you by, oh it already has, my bad.
Misspelling (or is that Miss Spelling, who actually cares) does not mean an uneducated post. (I have to say that it would help by having a larger “box” to comment in so that more of the typed sentence can be viewed and not located halfway down the page.) I have to agree with the comments from “uscitizen” concerning the repetitive, and now somewhat boring, link of Shell to the Nazi’s from over 60 years ago. I think it shows more about your mentality than that of present day Shell. It is also very clear that “shell malaysia” is someone with a major grudge against the company, perhaps sacked for under performance? Poor spelling? Shell continues to provide handsomely to the local communities throughout East & West Malaysia, above and beyond government requirements set in PSC’s etc. Shell cannot be blamed for the oppressive nature of the Malaysian system / government. Rather than quoting a load of legal court/case numbers, can “shell malaysia” please expand / describe what employees have been unfairly dismissed for? My experience with Shell is that dismissals are for pretty serious offences, most of which are included in the contracts that staff sign on joining the company. REPLY FROM JOHN DONOVAN: Shell used to have an internet discussion forum – “Tell Shell” – supposedly for uncensored lively and open debate. It had a nice wide space for each posting. As I have previously pointed out, Shell was caught secretly censoring postings. Shell then suspended the facility before it finally disappeared without trace. As to Shell’s historical association with the Nazis, no one is forced to read the articles and related evidence we provide. It is not compulsory. With regard to postings in the box, you can type your comment into a Word doc then copy and paste into the box. This would enable uscitizen to identity typing errors. Visitors can click on “All” at the top of the Shell Blog column to read the postings in a wider box.
I know John – you would never imply anthing underhanded with your main page lead in stories on our alleged Nazi affiliations from WW2 about current leadership. Read your own posts where you say the behavior you post about WW2 still exists today. Right John?? And outspoken – your post of course made no sense. The hard working E&P folks do not have time for this, but they are of course the ones John is bashing the most fella! Make up your mind.
That is it, I am part of the Shell propganda bot! Just can not accept that there are many many good folks, all up and down our chain of command, who do things right to make this a good company. One that many many smart folks want to work for.
And Shell Malysia, if you really think my fellow employees acts of giving back to the community are part of a shell cover up, god bless your poor bitter soul, you have of course slammed many many good peoples intentions with your callous undeducated post. I know John, you have tried so hard to point out the good deeds of Shell, so very very hard. Keep it up John, we really really do believe you!! Right! REPLY FROM JOHN DONOVAN: You have the cheek to accuse others of making uneducated posts when you cannot spell uneducated (or for that matter, “anything”, “Malaysia” or “propaganda”). Or perhaps you were just being lazy? Senior management at Shell does still trade with the enemy – see Royal Dutch Shell Nazis Secrets Part 7: Why does it still matter?
This is in response to the erroneous statement by ‘Macannon’ regarding unfair employee dismissals in Malaysia.
“I am sure that some (probably a majority) got their just desserts and are now merely joining on the bandwagon of some genuine cases.” – Macannon
Every case of unfair dismissal is sent to the courts by the local Labour Office in Malaysia. Only the local Labour Office can do so after investigating the merits of the case. The process is lengthy and costly for the employee who was unfairly dismissed.
Please read the details to avoid being misinformed. (Just Google ‘Malaysia Labour Department’).
Due to outdated employment laws, it is impossible for any employee to ‘join the bandwagon’. The dozens of cases of unfair dismissals of Malaysian employees is testament to how Shell is putting up a public show (via ‘works of charity’) while ignoring its own Business Conduct Guidelines.
Shell Malaysia’s modus operandi is very similar to the Ken Saro Wiwa case. When it is obvious that Shell is not going to win the case, it offers to settle ‘out of court’ just before the start of the trial.
Some very fair comments from “Viktar” and “uscitizen” – all companies and people (including the Donovans) have their faults. The more you are in the public limelight the more you are able to be attacked. Shell does a great deal of good charitable work and projects that Governments (particularly African ones) should be doing them selves. Unknowledgeable idiots such as “outspoken” clearly have little or no close knowledge of the company or have a gripe against the company (lack of promotion, poor performance etc.). Why is it that if anyone praises Shell on this site he/she is classed as “fictional”, “shameless”, “grovelling” or “part of Shell’s propaganda organ”?? I think “outspoken” is someone who has a problem with Shell and cannot accept anything good said about them. Remind you of someone else?? REPLY BY JOHN DONOVAN: No individual has done more than me to highlight the good works of Royal Dutch Shell. I collected information over a number of years and included it all in a Wikipedia article “Royal Dutch Shell initiatives” providing many reference sources confirming the authenticity of the information. The article was deleted on the basis that it was biased in favour of Shell. I have previously stated that the vast majority of Shell employees are decent hard working people. My concern is in regard to the rotten apples who remain in senior management positions despite serious misdeeds, including for example, participation in the management of a rigged tender for a major contract (Tim Hannagan) or involvement in the cover-up (Malcolm Brinded). Tim Hannagan – currently Global Brand Standards and Performance Manager at Shell International Petroleum Company – was not the mastermind (Shell executive Andrew Lazenby), but he went along with the planned deception designed to steal IP information from several companies and stop them from approaching rival oil companies. Hannagan attempted in a subsequent Witness Statement to distance himself from the corrupted process in which the contract was miraculously awarded to a company that never participated in the tender. David Pirret is another senior Royal Dutch Shell executive with skeletons rattling around in his closet. All of these individuals are free to sue me if they dispute what I am stating. I still have the evidence. It still smells. For an independent view of Shell’s activities, including its horrendous record in Nigeria, this article is worth reading.
John, I saw USCitizen’s recent comments on your blog. This ‘gentleman’, if he is a ‘real’ person and not a fictional product of Shell’s propaganda organ, is living breathing proof that being a shameless, groveling suck-up apparently pays off big time at Shell. I wonder which part of the company he works for. Doubt he works for the ‘real’ part of the company responsible for finding and producing oil. Those folks are too smart and too well educated to swallow that kind of crap. Besides, they simply don’t have time for this nonsense.
Bad news, guys. I hear Funk is out but Koontz is in. Folks at Convent are goin to screem! Funk is a bad dude, but koontz is worse. His sneakyness is only surpassed by his union hate.
Thank you for your post Viktar, but you will never be able to convince these poor Donovan folks that Shell and its people are anything but evil nazi lovers bent on destroying the world. I have shown repeated examples of good, but old man Donovan says, oh I am not bashing the people, there are lots of good people, just the company – he does not realize they are the same thing! There are many many examples of good – and I am headed out to one now, helping a shelter for battered women, with a lot of evil shell folks. Thanks again – and I am sure Donovan will have a rebuttal on your example on some ulterior motive we had. And if you say it increases our chances to make more money – guess what – you are right – and do things the right way! They do go together. We all make mistakes, people and companies. Key is to learn from them – and despite Donovans insistence – we do. I can hear the response now, oh well – we are proud of our company! REPLY BY JOHN DONOVAN: Please cite any comment or posting on this or any other website where we have made the comment you falsely attribute to us i.e. that Shell and its people are evil nazi lovers bent on destroying the world. People will be able to draw their own conclusions if you fail to provide an example. You will not be able to do so because we have never stated or implied that this is the case. That false accusation destroys any credibility you had here. I can only surmise that you have been too lazy to read what we have said in historical context about Shell and its Nazi past that the company would prefer to forget.
Shell was helpful in coordinating a JV between I.M. Skaugen and InQtel called HUSH LLC.
It’s an enterprise aiming to stop piracy and terrorism on the high seas. It’s a good example of an ethical oil initiative. Not all oil news is bad news.
We installed the HUSH Hub on Norgas Carine almost a year ago, it saved crew morale, delivered security, and new revenue. Everyone is happier and safer. Now all of our ships have this equipment. All our crews are safer and we’re fighting terrorism and piracy.
We are offering the HUSH Hub to other maritime fleets and thereby doing our part to increase global stability.
Shell entities in Malaysia have yet to prove themselves to be worthy employers. Getting a lawyer who deals with employment issues in Malaysia is hard enough, what more spending a decade pursuing your case in the courts. Only genuine employees who were unfairly dismissed would pursue this path.
The fact that the Malaysian employment laws, the product of neo-colonialism, favours the employer is good news for multinationals like Shell. A ‘gold mine’ of sorts. Most multinationals have been taking advantage of this for decades. However, Shell has taken it to a new low.
Their shared services centre (now known as Shell Business Services Centre) is a fine case study of how unsuspecting employees are hired, used and disposed. Long work hours, under incompetent team managers, guarantees quick turnover. Staff turnover at this entity has remained high for years….at one point, exceeding 40%. It is essentially a sinister tactic to keep costs low.
Shell Malaysia is where it is today thanks to the hardworking people that built it over the past 100 years. And what did they get in return ?
Shell’s mercenary tactics against its own people is well documented (refer civil cases in previous post and elsewhere on this site).
The question is, how many more lawsuits have to be filed before Shell cleans up its act?
Shell’s announcement ( Reuter) of a Manufacturing JV Service company with a CNPC to avoid paying low value drilling is applaudable. However they are in the wrong business. They should leave to people who are good at it. It take years to perfect this. Shell expats who are highly paid and lack of business acumen will sure see the demise of the JV before it starts. Furthermore why Singapore? Trust me. Of course this is not important to Peter Sharpe as he has scored his brownie points, as usual ( capitalising on BP’s Macondo as well ) and would have retired and blame it on others like the CNPC Chinese.
Its not to late- Shell Voser- suggest you focus on your core business and aim at reducing your own Shell overhead and let the service companies do their work for you more efficiently. Dont leave it to Mr Sharpe.
London Lad- the expats today are no longer the professional expats we have in the 70s/80s. The expats then worked very hard and are sincere in coaching locals. The expats today except a handful I am afraid knows nut.
We shall find out who is right soon. Why are IOC partnering with NOC everywhere? They see they no longer can survive by themselves. We shall see.
I used to love working for Shell but no longer anymore as there is so much internal process and not enough external focus. I thought I am the only one but alas about 80% of my colleagues feel the same… we are tired and are thinking of leaving..before we leave. Suggest Shell to do a people survey and ask the above question.
Hey Shell team – Respect to you for having such an open comments policy. Shows you dont’ have as much to hide as some may think! REPLY BY JOHN DONOVAN: Sorry to say that there is a misunderstanding on your part. This is not a Shell website. “TellShell” – Shell’s internet discussion forum for claimed open and lively debate was first secretly censored by Shell, then “temporarily” suspended, then closed. This was because the discussions became too open and lively for Shell management.
Why were these Malaysians dimissed? Malpractice, fraud, poor performance etc. etc.? I am sure that some (probably a majority) got their just desserts and are now merely joining on the bandwagon of some genuine cases. Shelll in Malaysia is a good employer and a vast majority of their staff would agree.
Despite being the world’s number one Fortune 500 company, Shell has a long way to go to comply with its own Ethical Guidelines.
The previously well respected company has taken the stand that if there are no local labour laws to protect its employees, then, ‘anything goes’. Unfairly dismissing employees is a rampant practice in Malaysia. It is so common, that Shell Malaysia has appointed multiple legal firms to defend itself. In the capital of Kuala Lumpur alone, it has appointed at least three separate legal firms to deal with the piling cases.
Unfortunately, these are only cases that went to courts. For every such case, there were many more that never reached the courts. The losers are not Shell…it is the victimised employees. Unlike Western countries, the only legal remedy Malaysians have is to go through the legal process, which sometimes take more than 10 years. Many victims don’t bother with this and just accept their fate and try to move on.
Employees are often bullied into resigning or given poor performance evaluations by their incompetent supervisors. Usually, the management needs a scapegoat to put the blame on. The lax employment laws in Malaysia makes it an ideal place for Shell to literally do as it likes.
The following are just some of the cases that are pending in the Malaysian Labour courts. (Claimants names removed to protect privacy). For full details of each case and findings, please go to the court website http://www.mp.gov.my/ and type ‘Shell’ in respondent. This is publicly available.
I would strongly recommend potential Shell employees to consider carefully before signing the dotted line.
Case No. 8/4-234/97
50 employees vs Sarawak Shell Bhd
2 8/4-406/97
4 employees vs Sarawak Shell Bhd
3 8/4-653/97
5 employees vs Sarawak Shell Bhd
4 8/4-8/98 Miss G vs Sarawak Shell Bhd.
5 8/4-166/98
5 employees vs Sarawak Shell Berhad
6 8/4-334/98
2 employees vs Sarawak Shell Bhd.
7 7/4-732/11 Mr K vs Shell Malaysia Trading Sdn. Bhd.
8 14/4-1996/07 Mr M vs Shell Malaysia Trading Sdn. Bhd
9 3(15)(3)/4-1461/04 Mr J vs Shell Malaysia Trading Sdn. Bhd./Shell Malaysia Limited
10 22(19)/4-2884/04 Mr N Shell Malaysia Trading Sdn. Bhd.
11 8/4-653/98 C & 5 others vs Sarawak Shell Sdn. Bhd
12 8(17)/4-770/00 Mr R vs Sabah Shell Petroleum Company Limited
13 1(15)/2-155/02 Workers Union vs SHELL Malaysia Trading Sendirian Bhd., SHELL Refining Company Bhd., SHELL Malaysia Limited dan Tiram Kimia Sendirian Bhd.
14 27(12)/4-851/02 Ms R vs Stesyen Minyak Shell Jana
15 12/1-357/04 Workers Union vs Shell Malaysia Trading Sdn. Bhd, Shell Refining Company Bhd, Shell Malaysia Limited & Tiram Kimia Sdn. Bhd
16 20(28)(12)/4-733/04 Mr A vs Shell Refining Company (FOM) Bhd.
17 8/4-1377/04 Mr H Sarawak Shell Berhad
18 17/4-2322/04 Mr A vs Sabah Shell Petroleum Company Limited
19 22(6)/4-2455/04 Mr J vs Shell Malaysia Trading Sdn. Bhd.
20 8/4-2607/04 Mr J vs Sarawak Shell Berhad
21 17(8)/4-2622/04 Mr Y vs Sarawak Shell Berhad
22 10/4-3272/04 Mr P vs Shell Malaysia Trading Sdn. Bhd.
23 20(13)/4-618/06 Mr M vs Shell Malaysia Trading Sdn. Bhd.
24 26/4-1017/06 Mr A vs Shell Malaysia Trading Sdn.Bhd
25 1/1-1329/06 Ms R vs Stesyen Minyak Shell Jana
26 11/4-1879/06 Mr M vs Shell Refining Company (Federation Of Malaya) Berhad
27 10/4-2258/06 Ms L vs Clamshell Dredging Sdn. Bhd
28 2/4-201/07 Mr V vs SHELL AUTOSERV MALAYSIA, A DIVISION OF CHAMP DISTRIBUTORS SENDIRIAN BERHAD
29 1/1-912/07 Shell Employees Union vs Shell Malaysia Trading Sdn. Bhd. Shell Malaysia Limited & Shell Refining Company (F.O.M) Bhd
30 20/4-307/08 Mr M vs Shell Malaysia Trading Sdn. Bhd
Well Joe McBloggs I guess the problem is that key people in the Scottish authorities are more concerned with their independence from England than some old story about Shell.
Why is it that the Scottish authorities are so lax when calling Shell to task? It has been many years since the two workers died on Charlie and it took the site of Donovan and actions of retired auditors to keep the attention going albeit at a very low level. Otherwise all would have been forgotten and swept under the carpet.
One almost would believe that many operators and members of the policeforce are member of the same masonic lodge and we all know that the brothers are there to help each other?
I bet that nobody in the UK authorities will ever take Brinded to task for his TFA policy and other hypocritic remarks on ‘Safety is our top priority’. It is disgusting. The feeling of justice has gone.
Risteard O’Domhnaill’s stirring documentary about the Shell Corrib Gas Pipeline controversy in Rossport, Ireland, shows a community’s fight against big business
The Pipe DVD is now for sale on http://thepipe.myshopify.com/ and Amazon in the UK and Ireland only, at £12.99 and €14.99.
#116Cleaning up Port Arthur on Jun 30th, 2011 at 12:56 pm
Read an article from about this time last year… wanted to share it with the readers of this site as it is becoming a prophetic reading…. Steve cleaning up the Gulf Coast. He has alot in common with the groups that helped BP last summer… except the scum he is cleaning up are bad leaders, not oil on the beach….. Tom, when does your time to come to get cleaned up and leave?
By Joe Blow
It was with some elation that I heard of Mr. Purves’ fall from grace with his superiors. In fact I popped the cork on a fine bottle of wine that I have been saving for just such an occasion. As I sipped my wine and imagined what must have happened, many theories ran through my mind, “Did Botts suddenly grow a brain”, “Did Williams realize what an idiot Purves was”, “Did Voser finally listen to the people”. Unfortunately for so many, this is a measure of justice, not the absolute Justice we deserve.
It is no secret to people who have read past comments posted on this blog, Tom Purves is rotten to the core. The destruction he has wreaked on the gulf coast is unimaginable. It has been mentioned that Tom will see this move as a reward, that is a clear sign of the delusion that he lives in. The remaining world can clearly see that Tom is being brushed aside so that he may be promptly blamed for the albatross known as “CEP”. I find it quite comical myself. When Forrest managed CEP it was failing from lack of management, Tom will cause a complete 180 and bring his signature style of micromanagement to the project which should accelerate the projects failure.
The important message in these moves is clear. Steve Rathweg is being sent in to restore some integrity in the VP role. The key for Steve is to understand the damage Tom has done in his time, to recognize the remaining threat that Tom’s minions pose, and to figure a way to neutralize and re-engage the people of the gulf coast sites that have been so severely de-moralized. Steve is a good guy and I expect that he is more than capable of fulfilling this tall order.
Motiva paid him $3mm into CIDA. But trust me, he has no idea about the oil sands crude coming as Shell has kept it quiet until the pipeline can get approved. Everyone thinks it is Saudi crude that will fill up the CEP. It will be oil sands crude and all the environmental emissions that will come from it. John D should try and contact Hilton and get his feedback
I’m glad Shell refuted the statement re Saudi Aramco being the sole supplier of crude. As soon as the keystone pipeline gets approved, Shell will exercise it’s 50% equity rights and push Canadien oil right into Port Arthur. I’m sure my environmental buddies in Port Arthur are not aware of the oil sands crude coming to Port Arthur or they would already be screaming. There was another article that came out yesterday that stated that Saudi Aramco is pushing oil to China more and more. Get the facts straight or Shell will….
Oh and by the way, there is no way in hell that the project will be finished in 1Q 2012. Everyone knows it. Ask Shell for a retraction on that one.
There’s a certain irony in Ann Pickard’s lecturing of the Australians. I believe her previous assignment included responsibility for Nigeria? Have her views on greenhouse gases really changed so significantly since she arrived Down Under?
Watching Tom:
Also wanted to ask how are you guys doing with the Life Saving Rules. Are the whites being fired for breaking a life saving rule and blacks keeping their jobs like in Norco?
Wow – this site reaches new lows. Some of you Shell folks just need to take care of your business and stop trying rationalize things away. Geez, if you raise your kids like this we are in big trouble with the next generation. Have Mom and Dad handle any problems, its ok Johnny they are just picking on the (fill in the blanks) portion of the population. Give me a break.
It’s a little odd that the news is dominated by the first (very small)shipment from Pearl, while Shell is invoking force majeure on very large volumes normally exported from Bonny.
The article titled “Saudi Arabia will be sole source supply for Motiva Port Arthur” doesn’t tell the whole story over here that we see on the ground. Firstly, Saudi Aramco, during 2008, cut crude supplies to the US, and therefore Motiva as it’s largest supply base, and sent incremental crude to China, namely for better profits. Secondly, if Shell ever figures out how to get Canadian oil sands crude down to Nederland, the Arab heavy will back out pretty quick. Shell owns so much equity in the crude supply bbls for Port Arthur. A lot of stumbling blocks exist to finish the pipeline from Cushing down to the Gulf Coast. Until that time, I expect the answer is Arab heavy. When that pipeline opens up to the GC, you will see both oil sands and Arab crude filling up the crude unit at Port Arthur….
of course, that assumes that the infamous VPS-5 crude unit ever gets finished. The article talks about 1Q2012. Anybody over here with a real view on the ground knows the only thing that will be complete is the Coker. My my, the spin doctoring that Shell tries to do is sickening……
Has anyone seen Funkhouser lately? We don’t see him doing any work…..
#126Port Arthur Proud on Jun 10th, 2011 at 11:57 am
It should be noted that Mr Jim Hartsock has now been placed in a role called Turnaround Manager – Operations Integration. He knows nothing about turnarounds nor operations. He only knows Tom. Tom Purves is a joke and continues to show the impact of his heavy hand on our site. There is no way that Jim Hartsock ought to even be here. Those in the know like Mr Steve Sanders understands how this played out. Steve gets a visit from Purves some time back and gets told that he will make a job for Hartsock. All the while, Tom is actively working to cut the throats of several people over here trying to make a difference and delivering severance packages to these people by adjusting their performance factors. Tom, time may move on. Your legacy doesn’t. It died with your credibility. We all now count the days when you are gone. Limp off into the sunset, with your tea jug and enjoy your wife and family. You have done enough damage here. And take Jeff Funkhouser with you. I hear he got into a little bit of trouble with the police over here and Tom helped send him to Saudi Arabia for a little bit of work to calm the issue down.
Keeping our heads down and waiting for true leadership to show up.
Watching Tom:
Also wanted to ask how are you guys doing with the Life Saving Rules. Are the whites being fired for breaking a life saving rule and blacks keeping their jobs like in Norco?
Watching Tom:
Please tell me you have met Mr Joey D, from NORCO. Funks right hand man. If you have not met him yet, you are missing a real treat. He is a Douche Bag. Funk pulled him out of Norco after he was given a manager job that he could not handle, got himself in too deep, and had to bale. Chances are if you see Funk, Joey will not be far behind like puppy. He is on special assignment (special project there) cause Norco had enough of him and he knew it. He is getting paid big bucks for nothing cause he is a piece of garbage. Talk about a chump. Before he was promoted, he could not even quality on the easy CR-1 job in Norco, had to go out on disability and sucked his way up the ladder after that. NO one likes him and he knows it. I am hearing they have enough of him there, I can only imagine. If you get a chance, go check out that snake, but dont turn your back on him, he is just a bad or worse than Funk or Tom.!!
JEEEEEZ WatchingTom Purves can you please use some language that most people that use this site can understand. (e.g PAR = ? Funkhouser is who? Lauher =? etc. etc.) I am sure you have good intent with your rambling, but, please make it more understandable to the wider audience. I would suggest, for example, a bit more titilation (aka the Sun newspaper – that’s over the pond newspaper for you or aka the nonsense correlation STILL used as titilation by this website for Shell and the Nazi’s). To be quiet honest I have never seen such a rambling on this website with names that 99% haven’t got a clue who they are!!
Just a quick update from the little town called PAR…. As it has been well documented by now, Tom Purves has set up shop back over here in Motivaland after his demotion….. i mean transition back to PAR to quote “help get this project straightened out”….. never mind the fact that he has never ran a project of this size or anything comparable. So the very next thing that he began to do is try and suck up all of his buddies, which some call minions, to come help him….. The most notable chump is his main side kick Jeff Funkhouser. Believe me, he is staying low until he can slide out of town. All of Shell knows he is a joke…. yet the senior leaders of our company have let Tom have his way. The 2nd stooge, Forrest Lauher, just got ran off and will leave the site shortly. He should have never been given the project, was not equipped to be successful, should have been fired back in 2008 when they took the project away from him. He failed miserable as site leader for PAR and was finally found out. Funk, you will be next.
Now, we have an audit team come in from the Hague to review how our pipe module project went. The lead honcho for this part of the project, Mr Jim Hartsock, another one of Tom’s boys, mysteriously gets an opportunity to go to the NPRA in Denver instead of participating with the audit team. Can you imagine that one? Why would it be ok first of all for one of your project managers( re Hartsock, I say this lightly) to go to NPRA while this pitiful project tries to stumble across the finish line. Secondly, wouldn’t you think Jim would have useful information to share with the audit team? Where is Jim for his interview? “I’m sorry… he is in Denver at an NPRA conference….. Seriously Tom???? And who would Hartsock be meeting with in Denver….. none other than Jerry Crail of the infamous Tom Purves gang.. Jim, I guess you were setting up your next gig with Crail and the Upgrader outfit up north…… May be you can do better than you’ve done here…. This is the guy Tom saved from Tosco when they dumped him at Wood River. He got Crail to hire him at SGS, then made Quinn give him a job at Convent, and when Quinn finally got tired of him there, forced the PAR gang to take him in on the project. He gets assigned to watch the pipe modules at remote locations, all the while working from his home in St Louis….. and low and behold, the modules are screwed up….. Lots of questions that need to be asked…. Can’t get answers from Hartsock because he is in Denver following Crail around….. for some of us, this is getting really old Tom. Do us a favor, come clean, and retire. You are done man…. You are no longer da man! and haven’t been.
Shell execs who read this still….. find out about Jim Hartsock…. and while you are at it, look into Jeff Funkhouser…… These 3 are bad and need to be dealt with.
John D, why don’t you send these 3 an emil and ask about this one? Share their responses with us…..
Me thinks JanBlauu that you’ve been smoking something you shouldn’t be smoking!! There is absolutely no way that IOC’s will disappear in 5-10 years or less. The likes of Petronas (very well trained by Shell & Exxon in the 70′s & 80′s) are good performers. Most others (e.g. those NOC’s in Oman, Venezuela, Indonesia & Nigeria) have very lazy incompetent local staff who remain still very dependent on the expat doing the work while they themselves cream off millions. Long live the IOC’s and the expats. Local staff need to get realistic with their dreams while at the same time thinking of theor country and not just their own Swiss bank accounts.
John- I think I know what Mirilad is talking about..in 5-10 years ( or maybe earlier), there will be no International Oil companies (IOC) and all the National oil companies ( NOC ) will be fully independent and contracting the service companies to extract oil/gas. Why need IOC as middle man? This is an outdated business model. Its time to replace the high overheads and expensive expats who do not add values but add costs. JB
well Mr. London lad, u seem to think all national oil companies fail…why not quote successful ones.. REPLY BY JOHN DONOVAN: Have not got a clue what you are talking about?
REPLY TO “Google” and “Googler”: The reason why we have not published your comments/allegations is because to the best of our knowledge they are baseless and therefore seriously defamatory of the relevant third party. You are also wrong in stating that the relevant article has been deleted. It has just moved down due to the posting of new articles. We researched the background of the person in question and found nothing to substantiate your allegations. If you have any such evidence, send it to me by email and we will reconsider the matter. You want to make allegations hiding behind an alias using our facility, under our name. That is not something we are willing to do. We also note that you have submitted comments under multiple aliases, not just the two most recent ones. With regard to the subject of publishing allegations, our attention was recently drawn to an article published by Time Magazine: “The Caligula Effect: Why Powerful Men Compulsively Cheat.” We have decided not to publish the related allegations.
#136Happy Day in Port Arthur on May 22nd, 2011 at 12:16 am
An excerpt from the Port Arthur news at the end of 2010…..
PORT ARTHUR — As 2010 draws to a close, Motiva Enterprises is gearing up for a busy 2011 — the busiest time yet for the company’s expansion project.
“I got involved with the project a little over five years ago and now we have a little over one year to two years to go. There is light at the end of the tunnel and everybody is getting excited about start-up,” Forest Lauher, Motiva general manager, said Tuesday.
I guess that light at the end of the tunnel was a train for Forrest Liar.
The time has come to right the boat and get the bad leadership out of our site….. Forrest you are #1…… there are 2 more to go…… Jeff Funkheiser and Tom Purves……. When these 2 go, it will be a good day…… Until then, we have to feel good that the Shell senior execs have started to unwind this mess that was created by Tom….. Forrest, good riddance. Enjoy your slow boat to Houston….. Wonder how long that temporary assignment is going to be before they ship you out under the cover of the night. Good luck!
John – Further to the comment by Anonymous. I am not arguing if Shell did or didn’t get involved with the Nazis. I used to be a frequent visitor to this site but rarely visit anymore since you seem to be totally obsessed with Shell’s Nazi involvement. This is very old news and it is time to move on to news and topics that are more timely. REPLY BY JOHN: Thanks for taking the trouble to comment. The focus on Royal Dutch Shell’s Nazi past will be expanded with further facts resulting from more research. Other significant developments are in the pipeline. This is not a subject we have any intention of dropping, as will become abundantly clear in coming months. If you find the subject so objectionable, simply ignore it and just stick to current news and events, which are still covered. Someone is interested because site traffic has increased, not declined, since we highlighted Shell’s close association with Hitler and the Nazi party. Nothing staggering, but still well over 2 million hits every month.
John, this growing obsession with Nazism is trivialising of other people’s suffering and has nothing to do with Shell as a company at all. It is, frankly, a bit weird. It is also immensely hypocritical to accuse Shell of insensitivity while expropriating the suffering of others in the service of your personal crusade. REPLY FROM JOHN: It is absolute nonsense for you to claim that Shell as a company had nothing to do with the Nazis. If you read the book “A HISTORY OF ROYAL DUTCH SHELL” authored by historians paid by Shell who were given full access to Shell archives, you will see for yourself that Shell had a great deal to do with Hitler and his henchman. Shell pumped funds into the Nazi coffers. The evidence is confirmed and expanded by a variety of independent reputable sources, including numerous newspaper reports. You seem to be in complete denial.
I saw the article stating that a blow in the Artic from one of Shell’s propose wells would not produce more that 9468 bbls/day.
Who is the manager and/or PR moron at Shell that released that statement? 9468 bbls/day, max. Really? You don’t say? That level of accuracy and precision impossible to obtain. How about you folks at Shell trying again to come up with a ‘meaningful’ estimate, instead of this kind of useless crap.
Marvin Odum who probably has the worst safety record in Shell goes for a diversity vote and someone who has no safety experience to replace the VP of safety he just fired. Clear message where his priorities lie.
John, has it ever occurred to you that your increasingly frequent evocations of Nazism and the Holocaust to score points against Shell might itself be considered deeply offensive and insensitive? REPLY BY JOHN: A number of valued contributors to this blog have complained about the focus on Shell’s Nazi past. “Musaint” decided to stop visiting. Another said he was thoroughly bored. The subject is controversial and the header graphics designed to shock. Shell managed to escape the public odium it was due from its financial support for Hitler and the Nazis. The blame was all heaped on to Deterding even though Shell continued its financial dealings with the Nazis after his resignation as head of the company and even after his death. This is all becoming clearer as a result of evidence emerging from the transfer of newspaper articles from microfilm to searchable online digital archives. We have gathered many more articles from newspapers in the USA, Canada ant the UK (The Scotsman, The Daily Mirror, The Daily Express, The Guardian, etc) and they will all be incorporated into a revised single reference source. We intend to make sure that what you describe as “scoring points”, but is a history of Nazi party funding which contributed towards tens of millions of horrific deaths, is brought to the attention of the world. We note that only one item was highlighted in the many Shell internal documents Shell recently supplied to us in response to our 2011 SAR application under the DATA PROTECTION ACT. It was a reference to our article on this subject. Because we consistently keep a link to the Nazi Secrets article as the top feature on our site, it ensures that the Shell/Nazi/Hitler subject appears at number 6 or 7, dependent on browser, on the first page of a Google search for “Royal Dutch Shell” out of 2.6 million results. For obvious reasons, its the subject that Shell would least like attention drawn in such a prominent rankings position when people Google “Royal Dutch Shell”.
@Londonlad,
Maybe what Omani 1959 is trying to do is gather enough information so that he and his other idle, non productive friends can take to the streets of Oman again, to try and blackmail the government into cancelling the production sharing agreement with Shell, and then the Omani government can sell 100% of its Oil and Gas and thereby gain far higher revenues.
This in turn (he is hoping for, or surmising at this stage) will lead to higher salaries for the woefully inept and unproductive, Omani nationals, but I must admit not all the Omani nationals are lazy and unproductive. By and large most of them try to do their best, but their ‘best’ falls far short of the western standard of ‘best’.
The expected salary increase will only lead to further financial woes and will drive them further into a credit crunch, when they take out (more) loans, without having the foresight to realise that these loans have to be repaid to the financial institutions.
Or is he hoping that when all this extra money comes rolling in the Government will act like an indulgent parent and pay off all their outstanding loans, as was one of the demands when they took to the streets previously?.
Has he forgotten that Shell does the marketing side of the business, thereby ensuring that the produced oil is sold on the international market? If Shell leaves, does he think that the Ministry of Oil and Gas can pick-up where Shell left off and market/sell their Oil stocks on the open market?
I think not.
It would be most beneficial for Omani 1959 to do a bit more research into the effects of nationalizing an Oil company, as carried out around the world? Have a look at Iraq, Yemen, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and others and see how, or even if, the country has benefitted from the nationalizing of the oil companies, and they most certainly have not increased their production outputs.
to LondonLad answering your question so what if Shell takes it’s contracually agreed oil in Oman, we Omanis (80%) are living on poverty line and Shell is stealing and sucking our oil, this oil fortune which Shell sweeps (34% share) from under our feet should go back to us Omanis not to this giant oil leech.
thats why we initiated an oil nationalization campaign in our country to get back this valuable natural resource.
I coud not find in PDO’s annual report any evidence on how much exactly Shell takes from our oil.
if you have any reference on how much Shell takes from our oil I will be thankful to you.
To Omani1959 :So what if Shell takes its contractually agreed oil in Oman? All facts and figures can be found in the company (PDO) annual reporting. Instead of trying to cause trouble (have you been sacked or passed over for a position?) just get on with an honest days work.
Trying being an experienced floorhand, welders helper on the pipeline and an Occupational Safety and Health Tech in the oil and gas industry as a FEMALE…I dont care what anyone says, its still the “good ole boys world” in O & G…wish me luck that maybe an honest job will come my way. Safety isnt a game people and the next time you look at missing hands and caved in sculls you’ll remember how much you need peope like me. It all turns to the right but that cant happen if no ones alive. Ya’ll be careful out there and LISTEN.
can anyone give any evidence or a proof that Shell:
(The company takes around 200,000 barrels of crude per day – 5% of its global production – from a relatively risk free and highly profitably operation.{in Oman})
#147Golden Triangle Watchman on Apr 21st, 2011 at 3:08 am
Alot of international workers on our site working this project, coming from the team who said they would hire locally for the tax abatements…… and the city officials bought it….. Wonder if this guy lived on downtown Port Arthur???
A contract welder working on the Motiva plant expansion in Port Arthur who was found dead Monday was identified as Arnel Ocampo.
Ocampo, 52, was from the Philippines, said Justice of the Peace Brad Burnett.
Contractors said that they saw him slumped over on a scaffold at about 5:15 p.m. and tried to yell for him, but he was not moving, Burnett said. The contractors told the judge there was welding equipment on the scaffold with Ocampo.
Emergency responders were contacted and Ocampo was taken to Christus St. Mary’s Hospital in Port Arthur where he was pronounced dead at 6 p.m., Burnett said. The judge added that he did not notice bruises or any sign of a fall, but did order an autopsy.
Ocampo was a contract worker with International Plant Services, said Burnett.
to Elias777 thanks for your solidarity with the campaign to nationalize our oil and rightly said oil leeches like Shell should stay away from our country.
@KuchingKid,
Spot on with your comments regarding the Omani’s.
They all have this attitude that they get sent overseas to complete their degree, and then come back to Oman and expect to walk into a (Manager’s) job, with an office, a computer, two cell phones, and a group of workers below them to do all the work. The expats just have to sigh and get on with what they were employed to do.
To Elias777 : You state that “Venezuela have done pretty well to nationalize oil” – tell that to the people of the country who are only just waking up to the fact that Charvez has wasted most of the money on pet projects & sponsoring other evil regimes (& his own overseas bank accounts)whilst at the same time leaving the people in poverty and with very little human rights. If Omani 1959 wants his country to go the same way so be it. Perhaps they will eventually see sense and go on the streets to get rid of such stupid ideas. Fact is Omani’s tend to be very lazy people and get others to do the hard work.
To Oman 1959, I wish you all the best with your campaign and I hope you succeed to get all the documents, I’m sure you have the knowledge and technology to process your own natural resources. If UAE and Saudi Arabia did it why not Oman? Venezuela also have done pretty well to nationalize oil, why not Oman? Is time for developing country to take care of themselves, OIL LEECHES should stay away from Middle East.
To omani1959 – let’s face it Iraq, Yemen and now Libya have NOT improved their oil production under nationalization and most certainly have reduced production recently. Corruption and laziness of locals make nationalization very problematic. By the way, if you blog on this site (or others) expect other peoples views, even if you don’t like them.
to Kuchingkid I did not ask about your opinion on nationalization, I only wanted some information about the2004 agreement between Shell and Oman government.
there were too many oil nationalization success stories in the past :
Saudi Arabia nationalized its oil from Aramco
UAE nationalized its oil from Adnoc
there is also Iran, Iraq, Libya, Yemen who all had success stories with their nationalisation.
It may be a pain, but, is it illegal to spy on someone just to gather information? I don’t think so. The problem comes when there is something to hide!! REPLY BY JOHN DONOVAN: Witness intimidation and related burglaries are illegal and amounted to a criminal conspiracy to pervert the course of justice. The conspiracy continued even into the three week High Court Trial heard by a Judge who failed to disclose that his lifelong friend, the founder of an IP firm, had Shell as a client. The Judge also neglected to disclose his connection with the barrister son of the then Shell chairman Sir Mark Moody-Stuart. The Judge expressed not the slightest interest in Shell’s spying activities. He allowed Shell to engage in a carefully contrived deception at the climax of my three day cross-examination designed to entrap me. The case was settled. Shell paid all legal costs, said to be over £1 million. We accepted an unsatisfactory settlement offer from Shell knowing that the Judge was blatantly biased against us. We wrote to the Judge asking him to comment on the undeclared conflict of interest. He refused to enter into correspondence with us. We later complained to the Lord Chancellor about the conduct of the Judge. The Judge subsequently resigned in controversial circumstances in a blaze of publicity. The first to do so in many decades. He then joined his friends firm, the one that worked for Shell. He also entered into a commercial relationship with the Legal Director of Shell UK who had represented Shell in court.
To omani1959 : like many fully nationalized companies they often fail miserably due to incompetence of the locals who are put inpositions they cannot cope with. Additionally they are finacially raped by senioe local staff who take most of the profit and squirrel it away in Swiss bank accounts. PDO will be no different – lazy / corrupt locals will be the beneficiary. Hope your campaign fails.
“Refugee from Shell slams fracking” – what scientific knowledge does Wuganalee have to state such drivel? That said, the article has very little substance to make me support his arguments. He seems to be yet another Ogoni trying to get money from an international company. Perhaps he should try and do an honest days work to get some cash.
#158Golden Triangle Watchman on Apr 8th, 2011 at 11:47 am
So it will be interesting to watch as Uncle Tom Purves has to come clean on the cost of the Motiva CEP project. He originally sold it as a $7B project as the clown Lauher and the rest of the project team put their pencil to paper and came up with the costs. Of course, all of those people have been run off the project. Meanwhile, the owners gave Uncle Tom a chance to come clean back in Dec 2008 when they shipped him back over to clean up the mess. Most of his check estimates came in north of $10B. What does he do? He goes back and says “Not a penny more than $8.5B and we can get this project complete.” Well, he has had to go back to the well several times since then and the project stands at an approved budget of something north of $9B. He is going back for another $0.5B soon. The estimates still say north of $10B. Uncle Tom, we wish you well. Glad to see you are a big project guy much like your buddy Forest. And let’s not forget that the start-up plan for this albatross is pretty bad. Who is running that show? Take a guess….. Uncle Tom’s sidekick “da Funk”. This is going to be a hoot to watch as it comes across the finish line. All I can say is No clue.
REPLY TO USCITIZEN: You seem to be deliberately trying to mix up what i have stated and what “OUTSPOKEN” has alleged. I authored the article “Shell is very different from Enron“. There were a number of articles by various publications comparing the Enron scandal with the Shell reserves scandal. The article by The Economist “Another Enron” is one such example. “OUTSPOKEN” provided related comments as a result of reading my article. OUTSPOKEN has already responded to your comments. You have acknowledged that there were former Shell employees at Enron who you describe as traders. In any event, I am not responsible for other contributors opinions/comments, whether from OUTSPOKEN, you, or anyone else who supplies comment for publication on this website.
God Bless Donovan and the person Outspoken who can not post for himself on this site. First Outspoken – shame on you for doing consulting work for Enron – you day out of one side you did not know how they made money , clairvoyant one, and then work for them as a consultant. Using the Donovan connect the dots skills, you are crooked. Secondly – as a lowly consultant, I am sure you had no real insight to how folks behaved or did business. But wait, if you claim you did, then you reinforce my orgininal thought, shame on you for doing business with them? So which is out oh outspoken one – indict yourself or admit you really did not know how they did business???
John, John , John – must you continue to dig while you spin, – nice try – Managers vs Execs. The guy was clearly implying that Shell managers/Execs worked for the corrupt Enron and Shell is corrupt – so any questions. Please. Name on ex Shell Manager who had anything to do with the big Enron decisions! Thought so , the silence is deafening.
I feel for folks like you! Have fun spinning this one!!
PS – maybe Shell survived our crisis , and it was a crisis, because there was no comparision to Enron, ya think?
Later – I may change my tag and send my thoughts to John so he can post for me – Come on Outspoken – if you are so Outspoken post for yourself!!
NOTE FROM JOHN DONOVAN. USCitizen included within his posting the comments made by “OUTSPOKEN”. I have deleted the repeated relevant OUTSPOKEN comment about ENRON, which can be read below. All that is left here is the latest comments of USCitzen.
POSTED On BEHALF OF “OUTSPOKEN”, A FORMER EMPLOYEE OF SHELL OIL USA: John,
I read the comment by the one reader about doing a criminal background investigation of your family.
Sounds like Shell at work here. Slander and defame those that would question the good name of Shell. Cast aspersions upon their good name. Destroy their credibility. Break them and their allies. What a tired and tawdry way of doing business.Thuggery disguised behind a thin veil of respectability provided by the carefully crafted corporate image.
As a doubter of Shell management’s quality of character and their manner of doing business you have become one of the feared and despised ‘OTHER’. The OTHER are to be neutralized so that they can not cause difficulties for the Shell corporate family. The OTHER are the enemy of all good Shell loyalists.
REPLY BY JOHN: I have no idea who made the comment.
I wonder, has anyone investigated the Donovans for previous bad / criminal past family members? I am sure there must have been, but, does that make them responsible for the past family behaviour? REPLY BY JOHN DONOVAN: No one has said that current Shell employees or descendents of Sir Henri Deterding have any responsibility for his actions. They do not. Royal Dutch Shell boasts of its long history. Check out “Our History” on shell.com. As can be expected, although praiseworthy events are rightly covered, there is no mention whatsoever of Royal Dutch Shell massive financial support for Hitler, which saved the Nazi party from oblivion. The dark side of Shell’s history is hidden in the closet along with millions of skeletons. Due to the same driving motive – GREED – Shell has continued throughout the years to do business with evil dictators and still does. e.g. in June 2009, Shell settled a US Court case for $15.5 million in respect of complicity in torture, murder and human rights violations in Nigeria. As for “criminal past family members,” there are none of which I am aware.
I would suspect that Mr/Ms Lao is speaking in a perspective very relative to his or her own experiences. I guess Shell has done an ‘excellent job’ in the ‘relative-subjective’ opinion of all who only value the profits of their behavior. Too many contributors to this site have cited personal experiences with unethical behaviors in Shell’s local and corporate/global-level ‘systems’.
First time on this website. What is the matter with the site owners? So bigoted persons. Shell does an excellent job in poor countries despite all the anti-Shell nonsense posted here.
POSTED ON BEHALF OF AN OUTSPOKEN FORMER EMPLOYEE OF SHELL OIL USA: Yes I have something to say to uscitizen. Get a life. And learn to read and think for yourself. You come across like some Hitler Youth PR manager. Hail Mighty Shell. You also might want to read a book entitled ’1984′. It is a good read.
Not that it is any of your business but I used to consult for Enron. I did so for years so I know of the beast of which I speak. Unlike many former Shell employees I refused to take their job offers because I could not figure out how those clowns were making money, outside of their gas pipeline business. As it turned out, they weren’t. And for your information, some of Shell’s former senior level managers who went to work for them couldn’t figure that out either and left in short order. But these were the honest former Shell managers, some of whom I knew quite well.
However, as is always the case, birds of a feather flock together, and the slimier of the former Shell managers stuck around at Enron to begin second careers. Eventually, the big bad Wall Street wolf huffed and puffed and blew their house of cards apart. Couldn’t have happened to a nicer bunch of crooks. The sad part of the story is about all the good, hard working employees that got ‘f***’ by their own management, not to mention all the investors that lost their investment. In that regard RD Shell management and Enron management come from the same ‘rape’em and stab’em’ school of business economics. They make off like bandits with their inflated salaries and stock options, leaving the investors and employees holding the bag. It is fortunate for RD Shell investors and employees that Shell had the resources to survive their own massive corruption scandal. Aside from that, RD Shell management and Enron management were not that dissimilar in the way they operated. They still aren’t.
Geez, John Strikes again with a headline full of spin. Name one member of their senior or central leadership team who was a Shell exec. Sure they had some traders, but I guess you think traders set company policy and are the ones who mislead the world on Enron earnings, right John. Your integrity is not up to the standard you seem to want to hold others. Tip – your headline makes the uneducated think that leaders of Enron were ex Shell folks. Either change your headline or admit you mislead folks, that is the standard you espouse! But you will not, we know you too well. The spin meister!!
REPLY TO USCITIZEN FROM JOHN: You accuse me of spin, but engage in blatant spin yourself. This was not a comment made by me as you purport, but by a former employee of your company. The headline was a direct extract from the comment in question. The former Shell employees working for Enron were described in the comment as Shell managers, not Shell executives as you wrongly state. Hope you don’t mind me correcting your inaccuracies. I am sure “OUTSPOKEN” will have something to say in reply.
Dilbert, you must be joking ! If you are in Shell long enough, you know it is just lip service. Those Whites with skirts are preferred over colored in key positions. Since when you do you see a colored SEG in the EC. It will never happen. We have given up long time ago.
Peter Voser really knows how to motivate the hired hands:
Announces that DIVERSITY is top on his agenda. Odum (US Country Chair) follows with the statement that “persons of colour” are his top priority.
Sweet! Now my incompetent management will be incompetent females “of colour”!
What am I supposed to tell young white male hetrosexual engineers when I interview them? That they will love watching the diversity candidates promote past them because diversity is a wonderful thing? Sure it is, now get back to your cubicle and make your boss her bonus.
So, when are these Nazi secrets exposed. I am still waiting! So far nothing worth reading!! REPLY FROM JOHN DONOVAN: Sounds like your alias should be “NOT INTERESTED”. Can only surmise that you have not read the entire 9 part article. Or perhaps you are unconcerned that Shell helped finance the Nazis and hence the concentration camps, where millions perished in horrific circumstances. We have already provided copious evidence from independent reputable circumstances and much much more is in the pipeline. The Internet will prove to be a disaster for the reputation of Royal Dutch Shell. More newspaper archives from around the world are being made available on a searchable basis online. More books are available online on a searchable basis. Same applies to foreign language books and articles including from Germany. We have further confirmation of Shell’s direct contact with Hitler and Shell’s funding of the Nazi Party. Shell is certainly interested. Shell senior management was in contact with me on the subject earlier this month, after discussions with the paid historians responsible for “A History of Royal Dutch Shell”. It is obvious from the comments made by Fat Cat CEO Peter Voser about current events in Libya that Shell is still prepared to deal with the devil, driven, as always, by unscrupulous greed.
Russian military units stationed on the island of Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands, which are disputed with Japan, prepared for a possible evacuation because of the nuclear threat, only days after they were warned about the tsunami.
No tsunami impact on Sakhalin projects says Upstream Online:
Oil and gas projects near Sakhalin Island off Russia’s far-eastern coast have seen little impact from the tsunami triggered by a massive earthquake in Japan, supermajors operating in the region said. Russia ordered a tsunami warning in three …
John, how bad is the trouble in the Middle East going to hurt Shell on crude? I know the deal with there partners on Motiva crude but what about other areas? REPLY BY JOHN DONOVAN: Others contributors to this blog are better qualified than me to answer your question.
uscitizen is right, market demand is significant in setting consumer prices. no evil in working that process to full advantage. No, the upset in the balance occurs when individual and corporate self indulgence exploits other individuals, communities, cultures and the environment, whether on the supply or demand ends of the system. Every expense incurred from entertainment, travel, training, and drilling in deep water impact the supply cost. Responsible citizens understand this and are forever conscious of the impacts of their behaviors on all costs to the community, the environment and supply-side costs as they impact consumer prices.
To the poor fellow who wants to know why coke is more expensive than oil on a volume basis – God help ya! Next product up for his review – bottled water. Market demands , market demands. People will pay , companies will sell. REPLY FROM THE POOR FELLOW IN QUESTION: John, I have a response to USCitzens ‘predictable response. How about a monopolistic duopoly that exists between Coca – Cola Corp. and Pepsico and that prevents the rise of any meaningful competitor????? ‘Market forces’ my ass. The same thing is occurring in the bottled water business only the Nestle’ company has jumped into the fray and that keeps the situation somewhat more ‘fluid’, no pun intended.
I give, I call uncle. I can not continue a debate with someone who clearly is not listening and thinks acceptable ethical, moral and legal behavior with vendors, ie once or twice a year activities at de minimus levels, will drive me to corrupt practices. You win, I am crooked, all folks in all industries around the globe who have business relationships with behaviors identical to mine are crooked and we can not manage the slippery slope. Happy, good. I can see a lot clearer how your logic works and that the black and white world you live in is applied with your assumptions about peoples standards, values and ethics. Later and moving on. Please have your sarcasm meter calibrated before reading this post.
All the other accusations are too numerous to debate, others can engage you on that. I know how I am asked to behave, how I am expected to behave, how I am graded vs that behavior and how I apply that standard to my organization. All in my organization sleep well. Our community neighbors appreciate our behaviors and the stewardship we apply to our business. All I got pal.
REPLY FROM JOHN DONOVAN: For the sake of argument, let’s accept that you are a responsible person of integrity who acts at all times in accordance with the Code of Conduct. Unfortunately some Shell employees/managers/executives are greedy and thoroughly dishonest. Some climbed to the very top of the company. One even received a knighthood while secretly engaging in a multi-billion dollar securities fraud. Allowing vendors to treat Shell employees to freebies and Shell employees to treat government oversight officials to gifts, is a recipe for scandal, as per the notorious Shell sponsored Drugs, Sex & Corruption scandal involving the U.S. Minerals Management Service, which made news headlines in 2009.
POSTED ON BEHALF OF A FORMER SHELL OIL CO EMPLOYEE: John,
FIRST SUBJECT: Can anyone in the US food industry or petroleum industry explain to me in reasonalble and rational terms why Coca-Cola, etc., sells for about $1 US per liter retail, while gasoline sells for about $0.75 per liter US retail, which includes a host of Federal, State, and local taxes. Am I missing something here??
SECOND SUBJECT: John,
After 9/11 the US Congress passed an ill considered piece of legislation called the USA Patriot Act. Provisions of that Act are up for renewal this year. One of the more onerous provisions has to do with the attaining of search warrants. The Patriot Act did away with the protections from ‘unreasonable search and seizure’ that had been in place since the signing of the US Constitution in the late 18th century. That particular provision is set to expire shortly and an extension is currently under debate.
When I think about it, the Fed’s could use this statute to literally walk into Shell USA offices and go through everything Shell has in the way of business records. Everything. The cause would be suspicion of conspiracy to commit espionage. Wonder why that has not happened given that NCIS had/has had Shell under investigation?
Perhaps it was due to high level political connections in the Bush Administration, and continued high level connections in the US government. What do your readers think?
REPLY TO US CITIZEN: Unfortunately the code is meaningless since Shell senior management has a track record of supporting corrupt practices, engaging in corruption, securities fraud, IP theft, price fixing cartels, fictitious trades, putting profits before employee safety, sponsoring industrial espionage, using Shell employees as unknowing guinea pigs in a study of carcinogenic properties at a chemicals plant, informing on Nigerian gangs Shell was secretly funding, disguising Iraqi and Iranian oil shipments which were in breach of UN sanctions. This list is endless and includes involvement in torture, murder and human rights abuses. It really is deeds, not words which count. Shell’s ethical code is a sham. And we can see how Shell treats whistleblowers. I admire your loyalty to Shell, but it is sadly misplaced. As to your acceptance of gifts, free golf and “outings” from vendors doing business with Shell, the intent is obvious. It is to buy influence. That is corruption. It remains to be seen if the level of corruption – the gifts and freebies – are approved by Shell, but in that case it is an unwise unethical enticement to vendors and potentially a very slippery slope.
Nope – will not share that with you. But we have a tracking system where we log all of our vendor contacts and where we log offers that are out of compliance. Violate these polices and you get fired. Questions? We have had to fire folks for these violations. We are expected to flag violations that we see. We do not run to a hate site and post them, we deal with it.
Read the document you posted closer – while it does not list the limits, it refers to them.
ever offer, give, seek or accept G&H
that exceed prescribed value limits,
unless line manager approval has
been obtained. These value limits
are listed at intranet site.
REPLY TO US CITIZEN: Could not find the G&H limits within the Code of Conduct. Apparently published on the Shell Intranet. Perhaps you can kindly tell us what they are provided that does not put you in the position of revealing confidential internal information.
Wow – we went from items described as acceptable in our code of conduct, Yes Joh the standard is always that the activity does not influence your decisions, to visiting ladies of leisure and needing protection. I rest my case. John, you are like some politicians, take an extract out of context. If you read the whole policy , that I review every year, you would see that there are limits that have to be reported if you go over or are invited. That sidetrip to Vegas better have been reported by the person you replied for John. All of mine are reported and logged. You clearly did not understand the reciprocity approach that many of us take. You have a business relationship with a vendor, you ensure that for business entertainment, you reciprocate. That takes out any doubt that you did something for benefit. Try to understand how that works. There is no hole for me to get out of John, but you are in a cavern quoting part of a standard and applying it out of context. How do you know if it impacted my decision or not? I am not about to put my job at jeopardy for a lunch or a golf game. And to the guest that went thru you, shame on you for your accusations. Insulted me and my family. I will not do the same to you, higher standard. Good day. PS – read the whole policy John and then let folks know about the limits and why they are there.
POSTING ON BEHALF OF A FORMER EMPLOYEE OF SHELL OIL USA:
Reply to US Citizen:
When I was working for Shell USA I once had a vendor (who will remain unnamed for the present time), and whose services I was evaluating, offer to fly me out to their corporate facilities in California in their corporate Boeing 727 to ‘look over their operation’. On the return trip they indicated that there would be a stopover in Las Vegas for a little ‘R&R’. Prostitution is legal in Nevada, and they asked if I have ever visited any of the more famous ‘recreational institutions’. Of course, there would be a little gambling, etc., at the casinos. A good time would have been had by all. I declined the invitation. The vendor was not ‘passing the grade’, and they were clearly trying to either buy me off or set me up. It didn’t make much difference.
This sort of thing was, and still is, not uncommon in the oil industry. It is the sort of thing that comes with being a ‘member of the club’, so to speak. The vendors supply the ‘entertainment’ in return for business being kicked their direction. That is the quid pro quo. (Does this remind you of the Sex and Drugs scandal at DoI??).
I am certain that you enjoy your ‘benefits’ and that you have a good time, being that you are obviously ‘a member of the club’. (I presume you ‘use protection’??? Wouldn’t want to give the wife an unwanted ‘gift’.)
yes, every Shell employee that is cowardly silent when they see unfair, unjust, unsafe, unlawful or immoral acts. ..and especially those whom I have seen commit these acts while getting recognized and rewarded for some pretentious accomplishment. Those that get away with political games for their own advancement are the most proud to work for Shell. I was once very proud of Shell, and very proud to be an employee. I earned a very comfortable living,and probably overlooked things while raising my family, that became intolerable as I aged. Be proud of your company, do well and take care of your family. Do all that you can to influence when you see someone violating these values. Hopefully you will never be exposed in the way that I was, to behaviors and activities that you can no longer influence or tolerate.
REPLY TO uscitizen: Every time you pay us a visit, you dig yourself a deeper hole. You admit accepting gifts, lunches and free golf from parties doing business with Shell. This is what it says in the Shell Code of Conduct: “You must not offer, pay, make, seek or accept a personal payment, gift or favour in return for favourable treatment or to gain any business advantage.” Do you think these parties are lavishing gifts on you because of your sex appeal and great personality, or to gain favor? Based on your postings I think we all know the answer at least in relation to the latter. With the time you spend on free lunches, free golf/outings etc plus visits here, currently several times a day, I am surprised you have any time left for work? I have deleted from your comments the inclusion of the postings to which you are responding, because the repeats in my view only cause confusion.
So you just bashed every Shell Employee that is proud of Shell. We are all wonderful, dedicated, self-sacrificing lieutenant or pawns? I have said on here that a company, like people make mistakes. Never said Shell has not. What we refuse to take is the bashing that John and people like you hand out. Stating that the intent of the company is to make money in spite of all the stakeholders. Pure rubbish and if you really paid attention you would know that. I have worked with people like you, we know your type. I sleep very well, you have not read all my posts. If this company was EVIL as you and Johnnie state, then I would have been asked to violate operating permits to make money, look the other way to get the units back up on time, etc. We simply do not do that or allow that. Some operating companies do, that will get you fired at Shell. Now you and John will call me a Liar, but you have not been in my shoes and that is how we and I do business. Simple. And if you can not see how a person who works for a company that trains us to do business right is bashed because of some mistakes as an evil company, so be it, you are the one who is myopic and looking thru some colored lenses. Later, gotta go violate a permit and gas the community – that is what I do every day right?
THIS REPLY IS IN RESPONSE TO THE POSTING BY JOHN DONOVAN COMMENCING “In fact your posting was published hours ago…
My bad – it was not there when I refreshed but one I posted after it was?? Oh my Vegas and Atlantic City – we clearly are not communicating. $20 lunch at the local Mexican place. Sometimes I buy sometimes they buy! $50 round of golf, sometimes they buy sometimes I buy! Oh and I have nothing to hide from the Shell system John, turn them all in. Taking a trip to Vegas or Atlantic City would be against the policy, I do not do that. You chose to start this web page, so I all realize you are in a much different place than folks who come on here. PS – why do you not call out all of the folks bashing shell and not using their real names, I thought so! So I guess the fact that they are hurling abuse while hiding their identity allows us to draw conclusions about their honesty, courage, integrity and credibility. Right John! Now we see how your argument falls apart, as most of your arguments do! See ya, till next time. Enjoyed the distraction!
Headed off to Wimbledon with a supplier soon, RIGHT!! That is what John thinks a Business meeting is to further a business relationship!!
…of folks like uscitizen…no responsible character traits here. All of Shell is always great. If one believes that they exploit, rape, and abuse resources and people, then one must be vindictive. uscitizen is clearly a hopeless patsy. ..or maybe he is a dedicated employee that does not want to see his beloved Shell being immoral… or a manager/director who is trying to defend the charge that he has so proudly stood by. I like others in today’s new shell could no longer live like this. If you sleep well every night, knowing what Shell’s only true motive is, no matter how well you deny it to yourself; and without ever communicating it to anyone, then God bless you. You are one wonderful, dedicated, self-sacrificing lieutenant or pawn. This all boils down to Shell’s ability to irresponsibly disregard communities, cultures, the environment, humanity, and the personal impact on individuals, for the sake of energy exploitation for profit. No, uscitizen, I have worked with people like you, for people like you, and have had people like you work for me; not becoming part of the character-absent, immoral culture, and speaking honestly when you see injustice, is the only way to be truly content. Defending immorality, can only mean internal misery, no matter how much you want to believe that preserving your position and honoring Shell is what’s important. There are far too many observable, irresponsible acts committed by Shell, not to at least admit awareness. Some of us see these behaviors carried out by such a significant player in the exploitation of our resources as EVIL. Something tells me that you may be in a position of some influence. How well are you really sleeping? please forgive me if i have this all wrong; i am just trying to figure out the means of your die-hard , servant position.
REPLY TO uscitizen: In fact your posting was published hours ago. Guess you forgot to refresh the page. We remain keen to have people speaking out for Shell. That should have been plain from the fact that we have continued without exception publishing your abusive comments about us over recent years. What I am pointing out is that there is a vast difference between us making comments in our own names about Shell, which we are prepared to defend in court, compared with you making defamatory comments about us while hiding behind an alias posting name and an alias email address. Shell has our current address for correspondence and the service of legal proceedings. We were in contact with Shell just days ago via our home address and await a response. I am sure visitors to this site would be impressed if you posted under your real name (and supplied us with your address details – not for publication) so that we were in the same position as Shell is with us i.e. able to challenge us in the libel courts. If you have confidence that your personal acceptance of gifts, lunches and “outings” from parties doing business with Shell Oil will not be frowned upon by Shell senior management, then at least declare your name. BTW, are the “outings” to Atlantic City or Las Vegas? If you continue to insist on hurling abuse while hiding your identity, others will be able to draw their own conclusions about your honesty, courage, integrity and credibility. On reflection, bearing in mind the hole you have dug for yourself in relation to the subject of bribes/corruption, you are probably best advised not to disclose your real name.
Oh Donovan – you did not post my last entry. What part of it violated the Blog rules? Yes folks – when you post some hard truths the great hope for ethics will not post it! Wow – pot calling the kettle black, but that would mean your accusations against Shell have some merit, so naaah. Bad analogy! Lets just say you make mistakes that folks can interpret as evil, bad form, low ethical standards. See how tough it is to meet your standard of pleasing everone all the time?. Tough world out here John, come join us.
“Interested
on Feb 10th, 2011 at 2:12 am
What is happening in PA with CEP? I understand there have been talks about this blog. The funny thing is that after the note from Norco about the three new comers all talk stopped. Would like to hear what OSHA had to say about the mishap.”
They might have realized what kind of site this was and realized they were posting in the wrong place and found someplace more credible!
You cannot change now what you have stated here in the past. Fortunately visitors can look back at your comments and decide for themselves whether my statement that you have admitted accepting gifts from vendors and seem to consider such gifts to be an entitlement, is a fair assessment. You have now also admitted accepting free hospitality. Lunch, presumably washed down with free beer or wine. You also mention social outings. The list grows. What next. This is the corporate culture that resulted in the Sex, Drugs and Corruption scandal. With regards to whistleblowing, I suggest that you check out relevant legislation enacted in the USA and the UK to protect whistleblowers. You will then be better informed. Far from being illegal, whistleblowing is protected. Shell has a whistleblower helpline, but unfortunately it is fatally flawed, which is perhaps why Shell employees contact me, rather than Shell. With regards to Shell employees generally, we know that the vast majority are decent hard working people and have said so many times. Our problem is with the Shell fat cats who will deal with the devil and flout Shell’s own claimed ethical code to enrich themselves. In future, if you wish to make defamatory and abusive comments about us, please set up your own website so that we can take appropriate legal action against you. We can hardly do so when the comments are published on our own website (with you hiding behind a pseudonym). We have the courage and integrity to make comments in our own name and at our own cost.”"
More blah blah rheotoric! Right I am dirty. Perhaps you should see how the business world really works, since you clearly have no clue. And no, no wine or beer Johnnie, we have a alcohol policy that I do not violate, unlike some folks who send confidential information to you and violate company policy, I do not. PS- show me where I used the word entitled, PS – I already ready my old post to see how some one could possibly misconstrue my comments and mis represent them like you did, and I was right , one could not. I have some new data to form my opinions about your character.
What is happening in PA with CEP? I understand there have been talks about this blog. The funny thing is that after the note from Norco about the three new comers all talk stopped. Would like to hear what OSHA had to say about the mishap.
You cannot change now what you have stated here in the past. Fortunately visitors can look back at your comments and decide for themselves whether my statement that you have admitted accepting gifts from vendors and seem to consider such gifts to be an entitlement, is a fair assessment. You have now also admitted accepting free hospitality. Lunch, presumably washed down with free beer or wine. You also mention social outings. The list grows. What next. This is the corporate culture that resulted in the Sex, Drugs and Corruption scandal. With regards to whistleblowing, I suggest that you check out relevant legislation enacted in the USA and the UK to protect whistleblowers. You will then be better informed. Far from being illegal, whistleblowing is protected. Shell has a whistleblower helpline, but unfortunately it is fatally flawed, which is perhaps why Shell employees contact me, rather than Shell. With regards to Shell employees generally, we know that the vast majority are decent hard working people and have said so many times. Our problem is with the Shell fat cats who will deal with the devil and flout Shell’s own claimed ethical code to enrich themselves. In future, if you wish to make defamatory and abusive comments about us, please set up your own website so that we can take appropriate legal action against you. We can hardly do so when the comments are published on our own website (with you hiding behind a pseudonym). We have the courage and integrity to make comments in our own name and at our own cost.
“”REPLY TO “uscitizen”: Have not heard from you since you admitted accepting gifts from vendors doing business with Shell. It was obvious from your comments that you considered such gifts/bribes to be an entitlement. With regards to whistleblowing, you obviously support the people at Shell like Jeroen van der Veer who knew for years that shareholders were being given fraudulent information about Shell’s claimed oil and gas reserves and did not inform the people who own the company or bring the multibillion dollar securities fraud into the open. Shell Production Geologist Dr Huong, who did blow the whistle internally, was sacked and then buried in court injunctions and prison committal proceedings to silence him.”"
Ahh – another great example how the pristine Donovan family will take words and distort them. I of course said nothing that would imply I took bribes and considered them an entitlement. I of course said that in the matter of doing business all over the world, some people buy lunch, some people pay for a social outing and that is part of doing business. I of course pay as often as someone pays for me, but John would not know that because he does not know me personall, just like he does not know the many shell employees he slanders every day as evil and bad. And he also inferred about my feelings about whistleblowers! Notice that he did not even address this fundamental ethics and legal issue that I did pose – if you share company confidential information, we might go after you. That is the law right John. That is the ethical thing to do right John. I would also infer , using your approach, that since you accept illegal information, that you are unethical and a criminal. Correct? Have a good day. PS – I only came back because someone said you called me out, can not ignore that now can I johnnie!! Have a good bitter life!! I am sleeping well, but geez, if I was accepting illegal information I could not!
REPLY TO “uscitizen”: Have not heard from you since you admitted accepting gifts from vendors doing business with Shell. It was obvious from your comments that you considered such gifts/bribes to be an entitlement. With regards to whistleblowing, you obviously support the people at Shell like Jeroen van der Veer who knew for years that shareholders were being given fraudulent information about Shell’s claimed oil and gas reserves and did not inform the people who own the company or bring the multibillion dollar securities fraud into the open. Shell Production Geologist Dr Huong, who did blow the whistle internally, was sacked and then buried in court injunctions and prison committal proceedings to silence him.
REPLY ON BEHALF OF A FORMER EMPLOYEE OF SHELL OIL USA: To USCitizen: Read the Wikileaks revelations recently? Or is that an ‘inconvenient truth’? Shell only has its senior management to blame for all of that. Need to watch those ‘loose lips…’, and put your corporate propaganda organs into high gear doing damage control. We thought you had had enough and were through with this website. Promises, promises. That is So much like Shell management. You cannot trust a word they say. Have a good day.
Ahh the conspiracy theorists rise. Oh yes, RD is plotting all kinds of evil things! Geez, you folks need to get a life. Yeah if you leak company confidential information, you might have someone trying to figure out who it is! What a concept. Maybe one the us government may want to look into!
POSTED ON BEHALF OF A FORMER EMPLOYEE OF SHELL OIL USA: This is for shellwaarbenjijnu:
I now live in that mystical land of Shangrila. Thanks for asking. To be honest, I was just being a bit of a smartass with that MI6 comment, but the analogy seamed apt. In the States Shell employs former FBI types for their security group, and they have connections with their buddies at the FBI. Yes, it is indeed a dirty and tangled web RD Shell has woven. RD Shell is doing its best to co-opt and compromise politicians and those governmental agencies that have ‘watch-dog’ functions over the legality of their operations. Call them what you want, RD Shell or the fictional ‘Spectre’, the company still stinks and they threaten the rule of law in those countries in which they operate.
#200shellwaarbenjijnu on Jan 30th, 2011 at 1:48 pm
Ah “former employee of Shell USA” – regarding MI6 it is even more tangled than you know. Shell has former UK intelligence service operatives on payroll. A certain Ian “McCreepy” is engaged in tracking down employees who leak to this site. No doubt through his web of connections busies himself with trying to crack open this site and determine the identity of the contributors.
POSTED ON BEHALF OF A FORMER EMPLOYEE OF SHELL OIL USA: John,
The more I read about RD Shell the more they resemble the dastardly fictonal criminal entity ‘SPECTRE’ of Ian Fleming’s James Bond novels and movies. Is this a case of art imitating life, or the other way around? Where is MI6 and James Bond when you need them?
Someone From Port Arthur:
You guys had to have met the infamous Joey D, (He will be found right up The FUNKS ass, cant miss him. Please let us know what you think, Please dont be shy we all know that he is a piece of shit!!!! along with the other two that were shipped over there to save the day…
POSTING ON BEHALF OF AN OUTSPOKEN FORMER EMPLOYEE OF SHELL OIL USA: John,
I read your latest Wiki-leaks posting. I knew the Dutch government held a significant stake in the giant Groningen gas field in the Netherlands, but did not know it was 40%. That means RD Shell’s stake is 30%, and they pay a boat load of taxes on what they earn from that field as well. Likewise for Exxon.
So, why has Ireland given away the Corrib gas field to Shell and its partners? It seems to me that the Irish government should be able to cut a deal similar to what the Dutch have with RD Shell and Exxon in the Groningen gas field. And RD Shell and their partners should pay income taxes as well.
RD Shell has done a good job of co-opting the Irish government to get the deal they wanted. That much is clear.
POSTED ON BEHALF OF A FORMER EMPLOYEE OF SHELL OIL USA:
Hello John,
Your Canadian reader is quite correct about his geography, of course.
However, I bet much of the air pollution from Fort McMurry circles the globe at that latitude and makes it to Prudhoe Bay the ‘long way’, particularly in the summer. No doubt air pollution from the Russian Arctic oil complexes makes it to Alaska and beyond as well.
As a kid growing up near Yellowstone Park there were times when the smoke from the Alaskan forest fires would reduce the visibility in Northwest Wyoming to just a few miles.
Much of Los Angeles’ air quality and pollution problems today are not home grown, but come with the wind all the way across the Pacific from China.
My point here is that air quality in the Alaskan offshore Arctic is not going to be impacted to any measurable degree by RD Shell’s drill ship and small flotilla of supporting vessels in a two month drilling program. The allegation that it will have any measurable impact is probably pretty much of a joke.
While the former Shell Oil employee may have a point on the motives of the DOI, his geography is a bit off. To say the oil sands in Alberta are “just next door” is a stretch. Prudhoe Bay to Fort McMurray is about 3600 km (2250 miles) or about the same as Los Angles to Boston
POSTED ON BEHALF OF A FORMER EMPLOYEE OF SHELL OIL USA: John,
Read the stories about RD Shell’s air pollution permits being ‘deficient’, thereby delaying the issuance of a drilling permit for next year. This is nonsense. Something else is going on at DoI.
The amount of air pollutants emitted by land rigs, and the Prudhoe Bay complex, not to mention the massive tar sands projects in Albert, which is essentially just next door to Alaska, dwarf anything RD Shell might emit in a 2 month drilling program.
DoI has decided to ‘stick it’ to RD Shell for other reasons. Maybe it has to do with the Gale Norton affair, or the ‘sex and drugs’ scandals, or the current ongoing investigation by DoI and the Navy. Whatever the cause, RD Shell has a ‘political problem’ that they may not be able to overcome. Don’t count on Shell ever getting to drill in the offshore anytime soon.
Maybe RD Shell should contract for a modern drilling rig, that might help their cause. The fact that they are not going after a modern rig indicates they know something else is going on.
When the Republicans lost the White House Shell lost its sponsor. They are on the outside looking in now.
POSTED ON BEHALF OF A FORMER EMPLOYEE OF SHELL OIL USA: John,
I have been reading the continuing saga of Dr. Huong. RD Shell is a vindictive company. Anyone who knows how they operate knows this. But in Dr. Huong’s case the pernicious hypocrisy of Shell management has climbed to new heights. They sued this poor man because they could get away with it in the corrupt Malaysian legal system. The claim of ‘defamation’ is a joke on Shell’s part. Shell’s conduct in this case is a classic example of ‘corporate tyranny’. Nigeria is another.
Keep this story in the public eye. It is a lesson and a warning to all who would ‘cross’ RD Shell.
EGrainger, perhaps I’ll help get some response to your questions started. Yes, it is hard for some to see Shell as the responsible party in some of the Niger Delta events. My opinion is that oil exploiters are responsible for collaborative responsibility, with governments, communities, cultures and the environment. Sabotage of their facilities only indicates that they have not completed the whole package. Maximizing profit can mean neglect of stakeholders.
I am currently investigating Shell’s position within Nigeria, more specifically the Delta; when I came across your website. It is crammed with an insane amount of information I can’t even begin to take half of it in, it’s a great resource, thanks.
Something I never thought I would say before investigating their operations in the war zone that is the Delta is that maybe Shell isn’t that bad. I am more than sure this comment will rub a few backs up – passionate is an understatement for the debate established on here! I don’t think I’ll ever be able to say categorically whether or not as a company I think they are ethical or not. YES they chose the Nigerian Government over local communities as their key stakeholder, but that’s because without them they wouldn’t be able to operate at all within the region let alone country.
Growing up I always thought in the back of my head: Shell… they are bad. I remembered vaguely at the age of 7 hearing about the Ogoni activists executed because of their protests for basic human rights to the wealth of their countries resources and since then have avoided buying their products. BUT 98% of all the oil spills occur because of militant activity and the volatile environment of the country. It’s a war zone! Global compact says you must deal with local communities responsibly (in which I 100% agree with) but I can see the other side of this very complicated/controversial coin. Shell could say that this works within a functional society but law and order has broken down to such a catastrophic state in the area that the rule of Govn. and law – does not apply.
I can’t help but think that no matter what they do (PR wise) to try and portray their efforts to make a difference the media will always screw them. Negative coverage is SO MUCH more interesting to read and we all love a good rant.
With regards to Shell – What happens when you are doing your best but the media screws you? Instead of trying to do good your just painting yourself green?
POSTING ON BEHALF OF A FORMER EMPLOYEE OF SHELL OIL USA: John, Got an observation and a question.
The observation is that from all the comments you get, and the articles you run, like that on Dr. Huong, it is clear that RD Shell management is highly cannibalistic and has a nasty tendency to jettison their best and brightest for self-serving ‘political reasons’. It was that way when I was at Shell so things haven’t changed much, except to get worse.
The question I have for all the critics of your ‘revisit of yester-year’ is this:
If the clock were turned back to the 1930′s does anyone have any doubt that today’s RD Shell management, European or American, would sell out their Jewish employees? Remember that Shell USA is headquartered in the ‘Deep South’ and in the heart of Southern Baptist Country. Come on folks, be honest. We all know that today’s sterling gang of managers would do it in a heart beat, and without a second thought. And they would do just to suck up and earn the ‘brownie points’ to further their careers.
Think about that for awhile.
RD Shell is such a well led corporation.
REPLY COMMENT BY JOHN DONOVAN: I will duck that question. What I would say is that some members of Shell top management have ruthlessly abandoned claimed business principles out of greed, ambition and/or misguided loyalty to dishonest colleagues.
#212Purves is no good on Jan 9th, 2011 at 10:27 pm
More on TP…. Trust me, the fact that Tom Purves single handedly ruined the careers and reputations of many in his 4 years at the helm will be his legacy for those in the ranks. For the SEs in Shell, you are right as they will look at the project called CEP and will let that determine what his ride into the sunset is titled. The facts re CEP are this…. Good concept, bad timing, leadership ( Lauher ) that was in over his head ( remember Tom hired his little buddy off the streets after CP dumped him, project’s initial estimate is $3.5b; Tom gets it approved for $7b; the project goes off the rails due to no controls and inadequate leadership with Bechtel and Lauher and his team, the control estimates come in at $10b, Tom gets it re-approved at $8.5b. And we are where we are. Still trying to get it completed, 2 years later. Project will still be over $10b. Start-up will be what it is going to be.
As for leadership being Shell’s finest, I don’t disagree that this is probably the best Shell can put on the front line. This isn’t saying much as most in the trenches know that Purves carries alot of weight with Motiva and the Saudis since he is the only senior left over from the early days of Motiva. But give me a break, the other leaders brought in are the ones Purves brought in, not shell’s best. At least if he is going down, Shell’s senior leaders let him “do it his way”. Trust me, they all deserve each other. the rest of us just will wait it out anddo our best.
Those observing and those being impacted by TP’s needy ego, do not his legacy make. When it comes right down to it, he and the Funk were seen as saviors to a project needing better management. And this is what gets played outside of Shell. If he pulls it off with cost improvement, and is able to connect all upsets to Bechtel (and others), his retirement package will be one to be envied. The Reuter’s article excerpt below eludes to that view; managers brought in to ‘restart’ the project after Saudi ARAMCO became concerned about cost, must be Shell’s finest.
“The $5-billion project, begun in 2007 was stopped for over a year in late 2008 due to concerns by Motiva partner Saudi Aramco about the cost and management of the expansion. Work resumed in 2009.”
#214Scared Port Arthur Employee on Jan 9th, 2011 at 2:30 am
Mr. Donovan, here is what I can tell you since the PR spin on this was pretty shallow…. The crane, a part of the CEP project, and being operated by Bechtel, toppled over backwards, falling into and across a piperack. This damaged the piperack extensively, taking out power lines, collapsing into a resid tank that we had just put back in service. This also trapped an individual in one of the vacuum trucks in the surrounding area. A very bad event indeed but played down to the external community for obvious reasons. Another problem due to Bechtel which should have been fired from the project back in 2009 instead of all the people Tom Purves ended up letting go that were trying to help. Maybe Purves and Funkhouser with their little tag-along plant manager can help to right this one. Believe me, it is going to get worse before it gets better on this project. OSHA is in here investigating. We’ll wait and see what they find.
POSTED ON BEHALF OF A FORMER EMPLOYEE OF SHELL OIL: John,
I read your expose’ on Dr. Huong’s ordeal. As a student of history this is the sort of thing you would expect from the fascists or Bolsheviks of days gone by. The two ideologies are different sides of the same twisted coin.
RD Shell’s cultural roots show clearly in the way they treated this poor man. And their conduct was and is despicable. That man did not slander Shell. Truth is not slander.
Dr. Huong, you are not the only one who has been done wrong. The only truth here is that Shell senior mgt is bad. Tom Purves, here in the US, has done similar deeds as you refer to. He has lied about good people in our company and between him and the HR cronies, who sole job these days is to serve senior mgt, created fabrications that led to good people leaving our company. A strong similarity is the level of diligence that senior mgt and HR exhibited going after these people to run them out of the company. Tom also lied and had performance factors changed, after the manager had set them, to allow people to be targeted for severance packages across all of our GC sites. He falls into the same mix of senior managers that you reference; the only difference is the country. Shell senior mgt has changed this company we have all been proud of and have served our entire careers for. Flat out frustrated and no end in sight. Shell mgt won’t respond to you becauase they have no backbone and won’t stand up to be judged by their deeds. Face it, this company is a 3rd rate company with weak leaders. This unfortunately is as good as it gets until major changes happen.
It would be surprising if the Frontier Discoverer meets current emission standards. The vessel was built 45 years ago. Imagine trying to get an emissions certificate for a 1965 automobile…
Shell claims to have spent over $2bn on its Arctic exploration programme, but are proposing to use a vessel which should have been sent to the scrapyard many years ago. A new vessel would cost perhaps $500 million, but would last for 35 years and would include all the latest safety and environmental equipment. How can Shell claim to be serious about emissions, safety, and environmental protection while trying to use equipment constructed when the issues were not even considered – the Frontier Discoverer was built before the first major offshore blowout (Unocal, Santa Barbara channel) occurred in 1969.
Golden Triangle Watchmen:
Did the Norco TRIO show up yet? Useless Joey D (No degree just like “Funk”, BB- rule breaker, and Gabby Dipp (brainless). They are all coming from NORCO to save the day over there in Texas. Again Funk pulling strings for Joey. His dictatorship at Motiva Norco was too long and over thank god. They were running him out so he had to call his long lost buddy Funk to help him out. This useless piece of shit is like a grade 2 or so making way too much money for a person with no degree who skated on everyone else’s coattails his entire career at Shell/Motiva. He failed to let everyone know that he was getting demoted and moved, this is why he called Funk for a favor, to make him look good like his is actually going there to save the day, or so he thinks. It is truly amazing how he lasted this long in the company. Well all I can tell you guys over there in Texas is watch out. Joey is one of the biggest SNAKES there is and will use everyone and anyone to get what he wants, he is a dictator. As for the other 2 they are just as useless or more…..
Happy New Year!!!
That TP was able to reek the havoc that he did, on the organization and on people’s lives. No justice that no one had the wisdom or guts to stop him. .. Or that he is still in any position at Shell. … but the biggest injustice of all, is that there has not been nor will there probably ever be, reparation for his damage to personal lives! Yep more of the ‘dialogue’ of alignment, being ‘spoken’ in today’s Shell.
#220OleMan Wood River on Jan 1st, 2011 at 11:21 pm
Funny is not what would come to mind for Tx City from where I sit if Jeff gets run off from Motiva and goes to hang on to his next apron with KC. Many of us, who read this website, remember the Tom and Jeff show when it was here. Not even close to being funny. I am just blown away that Shell has let it exist as long as it has. He got fired up here when CP decided that he would not be a manager. Peple up here remember what the knife felt like when he was working for Tom 2 levels down in the organization. I’m sure he has a nice little reason to go to BP with his Norco buddy still around. Was part of why he is no longer married I’m sure. The boy is no good. Trust those who know him. And neither is Purves. He is old school Shell with some friends in HR. The only reason he hangs around. Tom must be counting his days.
POSTED ON BEHALF OF A FORMER EMPLOYEE OF SHELL OIL USA: Response to Golden Triangle Watchman: Hey Buddy, you got it right. The Nazi story isn’t about Nazis, or Hitler. It is all about the mediocrity of Shell management, their lack of integrity and character, and how those major personality faults in senior leadership reflect in the corporate business decisions, in how they treat their people, their business partners, and how they deal with governments. It is about the consequences of bad leadership and the need for a serious house cleaning in the management ranks at Shell, and a change in corporate management culture.
#223Golden Triangle Watchman on Dec 24th, 2010 at 2:57 pm
Re Interested…. I think you will see a bad start-up because the construction is / has been bad all along. There is no contractor, excluding Bechtel, that feels good about what they have participated in. Re Tom, retirement by end of 2011 or sooner if he is successful in pushing the project to completion sooner. Face it, he got demoted and sent over here to clean the mess up he created. He is only interested in his legacy and his ego, nothing else. Re Jeff, too young to retire and he has an ex wife who owns half of what he gets so he will want to keep working. As soon as Tom leaves, Jeff will be disposed of in a quiet way. He knows it, Tom knows it, and Shell mgt can’t wait. Jeff is bad to the bone and just dirty. Has been as I understand it for many many years. Forrest won’t be too far behind. He is a joke and just does what these 2 tell him to.
Re Shellie… wake up. This story isn’t about Nazis. It’s about how Shell mgt continues to connect themselves with bad people, bad govts, and because the leadership we have for our company is weak and basically programmed to preach the same message, they are bad. Not so much because they are evil I belive; they are just bad and weak leaders. Not much left to say.
REPLY TO Shellie: What a strange posting. You seem to be under the impression that we are in some way making money from this website. In fact, it costs us money every month with no incoming revenue. No subscription costs. No advertising. No donations. We deliberately operate on an entirely non commercial basis so that no one can fairly accuse us of trying to make money out of telling the truth about Shell. With regards to the Nazi aspect, I note that thus far no one has disputed the facts as stated in Royal Dutch Shell Nazi Secrets. The evidence, much of which has been buried in newspaper archives for several decades, is overwhelming. Shell decided to deal with the devil for financial gain. It is still following the same policy. We have no intention of dropping the subject. In fact, as will be seen in the New Year, we will ensure that the Nazi chapter in Shell’s history is taken up by the mainstream media. I appreciate that some Shell employees may feel uncomfortable about working for a company stained by its Nazi past, and from the plunder, corruption and pollution in Nigeria. And now Shell is in bed with state sponsors of terrorism – Libya and Iran, but that is the history and current business record of Shell. Evil is in the DNA of this company, which pledges honesty, integrity and transparency in all of its dealings. How on earth does that equate with news stories over the last six months alone and even with those published in recent days. If anything we have published was untrue, Shell would have had the website shut down within hours. It does not try to do so, because any court case would only focus more attention on its evil track record. That’s the truth of the matter. With regards to your personal insults directed at my father, he served in the British army for 12 years and fought the Japanese in Burma. He has a disabled pension and medals to prove his record in World War 2. It is rather more commendable than Shell’s.
John, can you stop this stupid campaign of nazi thing? This is going no where.
Is your cranky, eccentric old man after this? Ask him to enjoy rest of his days or is he planning another duplicate site to keep your extended family fed.
These pictures from the 60 year old nazi grave are annoying. I work for shell and agree/ disagree with
some or many policies. But you have no freaking right to speak on employees behalf. For one thing, shell is feeding us and other at least millions directly/ indirectly
and your attitude stinks with these nazi & other idiotic, stretched stories.You and your kids (if you can have any), have made their
bucks by these dubious & parasitic activity. STOP when you can…Your sight was interesting during shell restructuring last year with different and real people participating but it is
pathetic now. Same people appear to be posting things under different names..same things with different make-up. If you have any sense then look around, most companies
in the world in 21st century work in similar way. I participate in many blogs online but have not seen such a vicious poison in today’s world. Your kids, if any,
will of course be thanking you for arranging their future source of income. Please wake-up, listen, look around and stop this non sense.
You did your job, screwed Sakhalin but now dont screw more ; it has started to hurt as an employee.
What’s the latest on the epitome of morals, KA, that the GEP Folks so dearly loved?
#228Golden Triangle Watchman on Dec 21st, 2010 at 12:51 pm
Interested – Nothing is being said because nothing is really happening or different on the project. It is getting built. Uncle Tom Purves got sent over here to “fix it” but everyone who knows Tom knows he hasn’t got a clue how to run these big projects. But him and Jeff are going to fix it. Right… The last feedback I got from my contractor buddies is that Uncle Tom called them all in here lately and told them they would finish by end of 2011. They won’t tell him any different but know that is a farce, which is the fundamental root of the problem. My understanding, when Tom could have come clean with the board, told them the project would get done for $8.5b when in fact every control estimate and check estimate that different groups did for him said no less than 10. He wanted the project to get done and lied to make it happen. Tom has no issues lieing to anyone. He has done that pretty consistently over his career and continues. We all expect he will wrap it up in 2011 or 2012, collect his stock, and retire. This will be one retirement that should raise the company stock price due to ethics and morals getting better when he leaves. Until then, it’s the Jeff and Tom show because all Botts could do to punish Tom was to demote him and send him to Port Arthur to clean up the mess he created. Wow, what a punishment. He was over here all the time anyway.
I am also an exUS Shell staff. I think I know uscitizen from his style of writing. He was one of those continually on the take – bad apple as far as we were concerned. Amazing of him talking about Grofaz!
REPLY TO uscitizen: I guess we both have got a little over-excited in the heat of discussions. What I will do is thank you for all your postings here and wish you all the best for Christmas and the New Year.
“I used to work for Shell USA. The company you describe did not exist in my day, except at the lower level, sometimes, and I seriously doubt it exists today. In fact, the staff was always looking for a little G&C from one vendor or another. (G&C – graft and corruption, as in: tickets to ball games, free meals, etc. All in return for throwing business the way of the vendor. This was and still is a time honored ‘quid quo pro’ in the oil industry). Senior management always played games, especially with reserve bookings (does that bring back a memory or two?). No offense fella’, but your blathering about how great Shell is kind of reminds me of the blathering the Germans did in the 1930′s about how great GROFAZ was (look that one up). You are obviously a bright guy and the German’s are bright people. But there are: ‘none so blind as those who will not see’, and ‘none so deaf as those who will not hear’. You live in a world of willful self delusion. A fraud. You have ‘bought in’ to the system in order to move up the food chain. If Shell was such an ethical outfit how come all the criminal investigations regarding bribery, and so on. Guys like you always make guys like GROFAZ possible.”
Right – nice try. I work in M and have worked in many many sites and what you describe does not exist. Of course we have had folks who made mistakes and took things from vendors that they should not have, and they were punished, many lost their jobs. And John, yes there are acceptable levels of gifts, and if you do not think there are then you are living in la la land. Of course I do not equate folks to Nazis, I am glad you see how silly that line of reasoning is and maybe you will stop comparing today’s senior leaders to yesterdays senior leaders alleged wrongdoings. Weary of this, we all work we were are comfortable and where the standards are consistent with our values. There are many folks who clearly do not understand and want to understand the high level the vast majority of Shell folks operate. Good stewards who comply with company and legislated requirements and are expected to. Done with this debate, I have too many other value added things to do, but since I am lazy and dumb, wish me luck.
REPLY TO “dutchdude”: We try to avoid censorship but agree that the insults detract from some excellent and informative postings and lively debate. Perhaps contributors will kindly bear this in mind in future postings on this blog as I will.
To John D.: John maybe it would be a good idea to post a rule for the blogs that personal insults to fellow bloggers are not allowed. Your blog serves a purpose of discussion, that certainly can’t be had in Shell. The returning personal attacks distract from the real purpose of your blog. There is enough in Shell to write about, let’s not attack each other at this forum, since we all took the time to log in to your site (without a doubt from our own machines and not the company’s!!)
POSTED ON BEHALF OF A FORMER EMPLOYEE OF SHELL OIL USA: I have a response for US Citizen.
I used to work for Shell USA. The company you describe did not exist in my day, except at the lower level, sometimes, and I seriously doubt it exists today. In fact, the staff was always looking for a little G&C from one vendor or another. (G&C – graft and corruption, as in: tickets to ball games, free meals, etc. All in return for throwing business the way of the vendor. This was and still is a time honored ‘quid quo pro’ in the oil industry). Senior management always played games, especially with reserve bookings (does that bring back a memory or two?). No offense fella’, but your blathering about how great Shell is kind of reminds me of the blathering the Germans did in the 1930′s about how great GROFAZ was (look that one up). You are obviously a bright guy and the German’s are bright people. But there are: ‘none so blind as those who will not see’, and ‘none so deaf as those who will not hear’. You live in a world of willful self delusion. A fraud. You have ‘bought in’ to the system in order to move up the food chain. If Shell was such an ethical outfit how come all the criminal investigations regarding bribery, and so on. Guys like you always make guys like GROFAZ possible.
REPLY TO “uscitizen”: Still twisting my words. “Lazy and/or unintelligent” was and remains my assessment of you personally based on your postings, and does not reflect at all on Shell employees in general who are loyal to the company and defend its actions when they deem that it is being wrongly maligned. You say the company you work for would never tolerate you taking inappropriate gifts from vendors. This seems to suggest that you take gifts from vendors which YOU consider are appropriate? You go on to accuse me and conscience driven Shell whistleblowers of being on a par with the Nazis. A reference to the most evil regime in history responsible for tens of millions of deaths, including the mass genocide carried out in concentration camps. Is that really your considered opinion?
Agree with DutchDude, the “revelation” that Shell had people in Nigerian ministries etc is not new, and was always well known. Suppose the diplomats have to put something in their reports, but this is not a big reveal.
Nice shot, lazy and unintelligent huh. So that is what you think about Shell employees who have the guts to defend their company. What a useless tool. Let me give you some data. The company I work for – from EVP down – would never tolerate me mis reporting data to government agencies, violating Environmental permits on purpose to make production targets, cooking the books on fixed costs vs capex, taking inappropriate gifts from vendors. That is how I was trained by EVP’s down and that is how I train my folks and the folks who work for them. We will fire people who do that and have. No exceptions. Is there a different standard at the highest levels, I do not have enough data to draw conclusions. Does not stop you, but it does stop me. Now – how will you react? I lie. right. Show me data, sorry John – company confidential. The info you get from Shell insiders violates our business principles, but you are glad to take it right John. Where does that place you and the Shell employees who violate our policies? On par with the Nazis I would say!
I am now retired but I have been at one time a ‘secondee’ to another oilcompany in which Shell had a considerable interest. Occasionally I felt pressure to pass on business secrets. So I did some soul searching and decided that I was placed there to transfer technical knowhow and for the rest act as if it was my own company. (They did pay my salary after all via some convoluted mechanism). Thereafter it always was very easy for me how and on what to communicate with Shell central office (in those days there was no head office) and this behaviour earned me the trust of the employing company. Hence I am still on good terms with them.
But I certainly do know of many people who would simply spy on request of the head honchos in Shell and pass on any kind of business information they asked.
I guess you just make up your mind whether you can still look yourself in the eye while shaving in the morning. In the end even the Shell honchos respected this behaviour, or at least they pretended it since my brief was to transfer technology and help the company to attain a higher level of knowhow.
POSTING ON BEHALF OF A FORMER EMPLOYEE OF SHELL OIL: I have a question for RD Shell corporate loyalist ‘dutchdude’:
‘If this ‘seconding’ is as good a thing as you say it is then perhaps RD Shell would like to disclose in which other countries it has ‘seconded’ those governmental ministries charged with oversight of RD Shell and their indigenous oil industries.
I am particularly interested in the Irish, Australian, Canadian, and US governments.
I am certain the US Justice Dept. and the FBI would also be interested given that such ‘seconding’ is very much a criminal violation of US law. Now I wonder why that is? I guess American’s have funny, even ‘Victorian’, ideas about ethics and ‘fair play’.
No? I thought not.
With all due respect RD Shell ‘dutchdude’, although you are a good little loyal drone with a good future at RD Shell ahead of you, you are as we say in Texas : ‘So damn full of it your eyes are brown.’ That is a quaint American saying for you know what.
DutchDude, Certainly ‘being in bed with’, or ‘having people in the Nigerian government could be a good thing. And I’m sure initial intent was probably meant to develop a relationship that served Nigeria and Shell. But it sure sounds to me like Shell abandoned some values and principals, to manipulate this relationship. Would you really expect senior leaders to reveal to you in hallway chat, that Shell is “in the Nigerian government” do whatever it takes to profit from Nigerian oil?
In the corridors I have chatted with a few senior managers and all of them have an explanation why we have people in the Nigerian government, and how this is a good thing for Shell. I have also worked with Nigerian government secondees and we all knew that anything we did or said would go straight to the Nigerian leaders. So not really a big secret revealed here; was always right in front of us. And how can it be “infiltrating” if we all know about this? I know many other issues I can get upset about, but this wikileak is not one of them.
REPLY TO JOHN DONOVAN:- John- entirely agree with trying to keep management on the straight and narrow. With the wikileaks details concerning Pickard and the Nigerian Government it seems however, that the Shell Code of Conduct and General Business Principles do not apply to senior figures within Shell. This is terrible, just so terrible. I thought I was working for a principled company – how naive I have been. Morals do not seem to factor with these people. It shows how cut throat the o&g business is. Shell is and will always be ‘me first’. What about men and women ‘for others’? It’s going to take a complete turnaround of management and behaviour before Shell becomes the company it longs to be.
REPLY TO ROSIED: Our objectives are simple. We want Royal Dutch Shell executives to act at all times in accordance with Shell General Business Principles which include the claimed core principles of honesty, integrity, openness and respect for people in all of Shell’s dealings.
This is surely not an unreasonable ambition given that the principles were devised by Shell, are promoted by Shell and are supposedly current and binding on all Shell operations everywhere. In other words, we are only asking Shell executives to do what they already claim to be doing.
The plain fact is that if Shell executives had abided with the SGBP, scandals such as the reserves fraud involving blatant deceit and cover-up, the preventable Brent Bravo deaths which flowed from the Shell “Touch F*** All” safety culture on North Sea Platforms, and the more recent PR humiliations arising from outrageous examples of greenwash advertising, could not have occurred.
We do not believe that it is morally acceptable that Shell executives are indemnified so that even if they cheat, deceive and cover-up serious misdeeds, treating shareholders and the public as gullible fools, they are still able to walk away as winners. In the case of Sir Philip Watts, with a severance package/pension pot reportedly worth $18.5 million USD. We think that this is disgraceful situation at odds with all ethical norms including the SGBP and will continue to say so on this website.
The SGBP is being been used as a PR tool to promote undeserved confidence in the scruples and honesty of Shell senior management. For example, the SGBP featured in the Form 20F Declarations filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission thereby generating confidence in the proven reserves volumes which had been inflated i.e. were false.
While Shell execs continue to make pledges of ethical trading which they flout, we will continue our humble efforts to expose their hypocrisy and we welcome the support of others who like us are not prepared to put up with such deception.
The gap between Shell rhetoric and reality is evidence from Shell’s appalling track record including a leadership role in price fixing cartels, numerous Clean Air Act violations, repeated environmental infringements, multimillion dollar fines for groundwater contamination, more fines for unauthorised venting and flaring of gas. We also have to add to this litany, Shell’s exploitation and reckless disregard of the safety of its employees and its global espionage operation against its own employees trying to prevent whistleblowers. Shell’s industrial espionage activity in the USA and Nigeria has been exposed in 2010. We first became the target of such activity in the 1990′s. Richard Wiseman, the then Legal Director of Shell UK Limited was the spymaster. Other Shell espionage/dirty tricks operations, including infiltration and undercover activity in Nigeria involving Ken Saro-Wiwa, was also underway at the same time. Shell’s involvement in the murder of Ken Saro-Wiwi has been exposed by the Guardian newspaper. This is why Shell settled for $15.5 million the related US court case in June 2010. It could not allow damning evidence of torture and other human rights violations to be exposed in open court. The rule bending Mr Wiseman was of course the perfect choice for the role of the Chief Ethics & Compliance Officer of Royal Dutch Shell Plc. Poacher turned gamekeeper.
I guess I am one of the “hard working decent people ” who works for Shell. I guess I am not “getting” the Nazi issue. Really? We are Blogging about what Shell Execs did during WW2? No doubt, any involvement with the Nazis is regretfull!! I just don’t make the connection with todays issues (and of course issues). I am a young (mid 30′s) staff guy, so I am comming from that perspective. If it matters.
Next, Is the intent of this site to; 1) Destroy RDS, or 2) fix the problems in RDS?
REPLY TO US CITIZEN: I think we can safely leave it to others to decide who is twisting words. My comments about the vast majority of Shell employees being hard working decent people is already on display for all to read and reflects what I have said many times. I stand by my comments about Royal Dutch Shell Nazi Secrets and have supplied overwhelming evidence from independent reputable verifiable sources. You do not put forward “good arguments” because you are either too lazy or too unintelligent to do so, or perhaps both. Also note there is no comment about Shell’s connection with the rankings you took delight in drawing attention to, ignorant of the fact that Shell is a paying client of the company which produced the rankings. I also note there is no comment from you about the WikiLeak revelations today concerning Shell’s espionage in Nigeria, infiltrating every government department. Add that to recent other news about Shell in Nigeria. Plunder, Murder, Corruption, Pollution. Yet you continue to defend the most evil company on the planet. This is not a glib comment but a carefully considered and researched assessment based on evidence I am fully prepared to present in court if Shell disputes what I say.
John, you are so messed up. You now equate a reputable organization and Shell employees with people who admired Hitler. I do not even have to pose good arguments, people read your words and see how twisted you are. Miserable life you lead. Sleeping well in the US, see ya!
REPLY TO “USCITIZEN”: Hitler was admired by many, including his financier, Royal Dutch Shell Group. Hitler was arguably the most evil person of all time. So much for being admired. Shell spends tens of millions of dollars on global advertising campaigns, so of course many people are deceived and know nothing about Shell’s conduct e.g. its role in corruption and human rights violations including murder and torture in Nigeria, for which it has recently paid millions of dollars in settlements and fines. That’s the facts, as opposed to the PR propaganda paid for by Shell designed to fool the public. And by the way, were you aware that Shell is a paying client (member) of the organization responsible for the rankings by which you apparently set such great store? I think not. That potential conflict of interest should have been declared alongside the rankings, but of course was no where to be seen. I only discovered the financial linkage as a result of some detective work. Shell contributed towards the cost of the rankings publication you have cited.
Thank you Donovans with your own wikileaks website! Shell has been saying for years to want to stimulate diversity. But what they have done is to reduce diversity but simply hire more women. American women in particular. And somehow I cannot shed this feeling that Shell has been less than fortunate about picking those ‘diverse adding’ females. All of them run on high testosterone levels, are presumably frustrated they were not borne male and what is worst: they give the impression of not being averse to corruption or assume the business principles are not for them. They blend in well with the current top as often pointed out by the Donovans. And was Cook not removed because she was not good enough after a string of disasters? Even Boeing had problems and she was on that board too. And then the Miss Boynton, kicked out after cooking the books. It would be better if she had cooked a nice stew. And now Pickard. I bet she will survive in Shell, crooks like each other. Who can guarantee me that she is not selling out Shell to the US government? And the list of bad women is much longer. It has gone a bit quiet on Gale Norton, but she seemlessly fits in with this diversity enhancing lot! The bad thing of all this is that there were (and are) many genuine good women in Shell who could make a difference. But Brinded and his cronies do not want change, they just want to milk Shell as long as possible and get out unharmed. Apologies for digressing but I am a great believer in true diversity.
I was leaving it occurred to me. Perhaps we shall see sites like this disparaging the German people and blaming them for all the ills the are beseeching Europe today. After all there is fairly convincing evidence pointing to the fact that the German people supported Hitler as well. I could try and point out who wrong that would be, but … why bother people will see what they want to see
We can look at this history vs present behavior in another way. As I stated previously, the move from whole system/eco-sustainability toward dominance of the fittest, is where corrupt ethical and moral practices displace responsibility. The ‘dialogue’ that is taking place has been loud and clear for the past couple of years: managers play with US regulators, managers indulge in hedonistic self-centered activities, we indulge in the pursuit of energy profits even in Iran, AND rewards keep flowing for top leaders. Mr V enjoys a new +22% salary up from 3.2M in ’09 to 4.4M. Now don’t get me wrong, he did an excellent job of getting rid of ~6000 employees and made sure all who followed the rules were also rewarded, whether they drank too much, sexually accosted their underlings, had sex on company property, or perhaps circumvented environmental regulations. …so… do you hear the ‘dialogue’ of alignment? Are we behaving much different than any other time energy extraction and profit became the idol. We are behaving like this at all levels in the organization (internally) and in our relationship with the world. Dialogue no longer takes place. The conversation for alignment becomes one-sided, and all who want to survive in the big-oil game, become servant to the indulgences required to compete. Don’t look to see a change in Shell’s moral or ethical behavior, internally or as a world citizen, unless it is a change that serves someone, and ultimately the organization. I agree, greed is the evil that replaces responsibility. But let’s face it; the rewards for the skilled and greedy, far outweigh any motivation to care for anything beyond self and the enterprise.
I have to say I agree with John. A) If you don’t like it, don’t look. B) I think the history of a company is it’s genealogy, since a leader to be must accept a companies history and culture to even be considered for a leadership position. If a person really believes that history is justified “for the good of the company” he is going to repeat it. We see this over and over within Shell in spite of their lip service to “adherence to the highest principles”
RESPONSE TO “SIGNING OFF”: NO REFUNDS. Reference your assertion that you can’t subscribe to this site unless we only focus on current Shell misdeeds, I would make the point that there are no subscription fees. We have been operating websites focused on Shell since 1995. Shell issued a press statement in March 1995 complaining about our activities. All of our sites have always been operated on an entirely non commercial basis, with no subscription charges. We turn down on a regular basis companies wishing to pay us to place adverts on the site. We have refused all donation offers including from a Russian source during the Sakhalin2 debacle. Thus, we are free of any influence other than from people like you who hopefully enjoy the spectacle of Shell management being embarrassed and belittled from time to time as a result of our activities. So we listen to what you say, but want more people to be aware of the Royal Dutch Shell/Nazi relationship and will campaign accordingly. There will be a major development in this regard later this month. The site continues to attract astonishingly high traffic for a “gripe site”, with over 2 million hits in November. Many German companies, including Daimler-Benz, had associations with the Nazis. Royal Dutch Shell was a foreign company, yet pumped funds into the Nazi party in a variety of ways saving the Nazi party when it was in danger of going bust. Only one German company – I.G. Farben – had a worse track record. Shell was in bed with I.G. Farben, jointly owning and operating German companies which used concentration camp slave labor in the production of synthetic oil to fuel the Nazi military. Although we accept that the whole matter is controversial, we intend to make more people aware of Shell’s record of funding and supporting the Nazis.
I have to echo the message from Disappointed. The Nazi linkage is tiresome. I love reading about how Shell is a bad guy as much as most that visit this site. But this is out of hand. Daimler-Benz was also associated with that regime (utilizing slave labour) as I’m sure other companies were benefiting from Hitler. I almost have to ask – what brand of car do you or does your family own? I want to hear about current Royal Dutch infractions. I just cant subscribe to this site otherwise.
REPLY TO “USCITIZEN”: Hitler was admired by many, including his financier, Royal Dutch Shell Group. Hitler was arguably the most evil person of all time. So much for being admired. Shell spends tens of millions of dollars on global advertising campaigns, so of course many people are deceived and know nothing about Shell’s conduct e.g. its role in corruption and human rights violations including murder and torture in Nigeria, for which it has recently paid millions of dollars in settlements and fines. That’s the facts, as opposed to the PR propaganda paid for by Shell designed to fool the public. And by the way, were you aware that Shell is a paying client (member) of the organization responsible for the rankings by which you apparently set such great store? I think not. That potential conflict of interest should have been declared alongside the rankings, but of course was no where to be seen. I only discovered the financial linkage as a result of some detective work. Shell contributed towards the cost of the rankings publication you have cited.
REPLY TO MUSAINT: What is obvious from your comments is that you have not even bothered to read the 9 part “Royal Dutch Shell Nazi Secrets” or otherwise you would already know about the overwhelming evidence from independent, reputable, verifiable sources, confirming Shell’s funding of the Nazis. You have not challenged a single stated fact. Shell’s association with the Nazi is distasteful but it is also factual. Exactly how long do you think the information would remain on display on this website if it was propaganda as “Disappointed” suggests? I can guarantee that unlike you, Shell lawyers have read every word and checked all the quoted evidence. If the facts were untrue, Shell lawyers would have had the site closed down within hours. You have been visiting this website for a number of years and despite what you say, what’s the betting that you will do so again? You and “Disappointed” and your comments will always be welcome. Unlike the Tell Shell discussion forum for uncensored lively debate (closed after we caught Shell lawyers secretly censoring critical comments) we publish all postings relating to Shell and/or us. I do however hope that anyone offering comment on these matters will first read the 9 part article. That would be a much fairer way forward than the blanket criticism offered by a person (whose views I normally respect) who dismisses the evidence without even knowing what it is. As to your comment about having a large chip on my shoulder, I somehow don’t think your revelation will come as a surprise to people who are regular visitors here. Most will have surmised that we are not fond of Shell’s overpaid hypocritical top brass, who put themselves before the best interests of Shell employees (who are ruthlessly tossed out on mass with many being forced to reapply for their own jobs). Or in the best interest of shareholders, who have been defrauded and treated with contempt, particular those in the UK who are now second class citizens as a result of the reserves scandal. They are a bunch of incompetents, who due to their own negligence, have to endure the humiliation of a website using the top level domain name for the company – Royal Dutch Shell Plc – to expose the truth about Shell, including its support for the Nazis.
The Shell-Nazi link focus of this site seems to have reached new levels of hysteria with the human skin lamp shades article. Ironically this could have come out of the propaganda kitchen of Joseph Goebels himself. The swastika on the Shell shop at the top of the page is the last drop for me; I will now remove this site from my favourites list. Thanks anyway for the much higher quality content in days gone bye.
I have kept silent these past couple of weeks whilst some appalling dross is written / inferred by the Donovans linking Shell to the Hitler regime. (I am sure Mr. D. you will now come back with umpteen references to bore me to bits about how you can show this that and the other to show how Shell colluded with anybody / regime on the planet.) Point is that some of your recent “attacks” on Shell (viz Hitler)just show how large a chip on your shoulder (and your fathers) you have. Your bitterness shows very clearly through in recent weeks. Shame, as some of the attacks against Shell and their decision to operate in Iran I agree with – this continuous historical linkage to Hitler gets very very tedious and when you show the lamp shade angle it is way over the top – some would say madness. Perhaps readers to this forum and Wikileaks should investigate past Donovans and maybe / allegedly being able to link their ancestores to other historical disasters / tragedies. Bottom line is that this site is now bordering on the rediculous and has lost its value. I shall sign off permanently as I see no value whatsoever in logging in to this nonsense. Bye.
POSTED ON BEHALF OF “EXSHELL”: John, it is vital in my view that Julia (Australia’s PM) should also be aware of Shell’s terrible track record. FLNG is a new technology and Shell has just announced that they are going to pump in billions in their new FLNG development. I am sure that Shell will destroy this pristine Australian waters.
Donna Getz’ account of problems following a well test mirror an event in Drenthe in Holland when production from a sour gas (H2S) well was released during a well test during the 1980′s, causing a herd of cows in an adjacent field to drop dead. I don’t think it even made the Dutch news after the farmer and local community were reminded of the importance of Shell (NAM) to the local economy. I’m sure there are plenty of readers of this site who can provide additional information.
MESSAGE TO THE SOURCE SUPPLYING US WITH INFORMATION RELATING TO SHELL RELATIONSHIP WITH IRAN. YES, WE ARE SAFELY RECEIVING YOUR INPUT AND ARE DULY GRATEFUL. IT IS BEING USED AND WILL BE INCLUDED IN AN IMMINENT MAJOR MAILING TO U.S. GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS, SENATORS AND CONGRESSMAN. PLEASE KEEP THE INFORMATION COMING. WE WILL PUT IT TO GOOD USE. WE FULLY UNDERSTAND WHY YOU HAVE USED A SPECIAL EMAIL SERVICE TO PROTECT YOUR IDENTITY AND SECURITY, WHICH DOES NOT ACCEPT REPLIES.
If anyone is interested, we have a copy of a Shell SECRECY AND RESTRICTED USE AGREEMENT from October 2006 involving “IOOC, Iranian Offshore Engineering Company, a company organised and existing under the laws of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Agreement covers: “so called Sulfinol Process which is a regenerative process developed by SHELL and Affiliates of SHELL for the removal of acidic components from a gas stream employing an aqueous solution containing sulfolane and/or sulfolane derivatives with addition of an amine.” The agreement is self-evidently not quite as secret as Shell had hoped. Copies available on request subject to any injunction by Shell and its 1200 strong legal department which includes 720 lawyers, 80 of which are “intellectual property professionals”.
I think that as we weaken toward ego-cenrtic, there is no grey. One immoral or unethical act changes white to black. We have seen this in our behavior in the Niger Delta; this is part of the SHELL system, observable and destructive to the world that we exploit. As 66 stated, living up to moral and ethical practices will become an increasingly difficult challenge as finding and extracting energy becomes more difficult. Many have shared on this site, observations and experiences of internal breakdowns in moral and ethical practices and behaviors, in all levels of the organization. I assert that ‘grey’, is in the dialogue between top leaders and their subordinates and ultimately through the rest of the organization. What is alarming to me, is the present alignment with compromised standards. We do not have a choice about whether ‘alignment’ works, alignment always works. The responsibility of leadership, from the top down, is to insure that Shell’s relationships, practices and behaviors, internally and in the ecosystem (ALL of the World that is not Shell), contribute to sustaining the ‘whole’ (Shell and the world). This dialogue to get to that alignment is the grey. Sustaining the whole is white, compromising any of it is black.
Very interesting posts. I suppose I turn off from debates that describe things in such stark terms as “evil” or “good”…I do think there are just so many shades of grey in all aspects of life that black and white terms hardly ever do any situation justice! But your unpacking of the term evil is a useful way of looking at it as it relates to folks views of Shell at present. I agree with John 100% that the business principles should either be upheld fully (even if it means losing business and/or pulling out of certain countries) of they should be dumped. Shareholders should be told this upfront and get to vote on the issue – either we will uphold the BPs and that may have some impact on short term dividends, or we will dump them altogether, and take whatever reputation hit that may result – I would have an open and honest debate on this whole issue and then put it to the shareholders. I sense that Realybware is right that we are re-entering an era of ‘ get their first, develop it fast’…and the Business principles may come under greater pressure then now! On the pesticides/drins issue – agree it is worrying, but caution again that hindsight is a great thing, and we simply did not know about the dangers of certain chemicals then as we do now. Asbestos is a classic example of that.
Pleasure to discuss these issues with someone who makes their points in a reasonable balanced way. With regards to the similarities between then and now, basically Shell is still keen to deal with the devil (e.g. the fanatical Iranian regime and the alleged reformed state sponsor of terrorism, Muammar al-Gaddafi) to achieve its business objectives, irrespective of ethical/moral considerations. The history of Royal Dutch Shell published in 2007 was revealing about the anti-Semitic behavior of Royal Dutch Shell towards it own employees. Its authors came unstuck resting their defense (of Shell funding the Nazis) on the basis that Deterding’s attempts to meet with Hitler were all rebuffed, thereby drawing the conclusion that the Nazis attached no importance to Royal Dutch Shell/Deterding. Unfortunately they were apparently unaware that in fact Hitler had a four day meeting with Deterding at Hitlers mountain top retreat. The Nazis also arranged for an official from the German Foreign Office to be seconded to Deterding as a personal assistant to facilitate liaison with Hitler. In addition, Dr. Georg Bell, a German spy, acted as a joint agent/delegate of Deterding and Hitler. The close relationship between Hitler and Deterding was evident from the wreath that Göring sent to the funeral of Sir Henri, which contained a personal tribute from the Fuhrer. The Reichsmarschall was a personal friend of Deterding. Since you have the RDS history book, please check out the parts dealing with Shell managements handling of contamination issues caused by the manufacture of pesticides and herbicides. Shell knew early on what a potential long term and persistent environmental and health menace these pesticides were. Yet they kept producing them and moving production to new locations, even as one country after another banned their use. An extremely ugly story of corporate greed with utter contempt by Shell fat cats for the welfare of its employees and the public. We will shortly publish an email we are sending to Senators/Congressmen in the USA. It will deal with the unfortunate track record of Shell, which is pressing US politicians and the Obama administration to allow Shell to drill in the Arctic Ocean. The content will be relevant to the issues we have discussed. It will cover recent/current Shell corruption, fraud, industrial espionage, pollution and human rights scandals. Shell fat cats, not ordinary employees, are the target of our campaigning activities. We want Shell to either abide with its own claimed business principles, or ditch them so that no one will in future be conned by blatantly false promises of honesty and transparency. I do not know of any other company that has a track record as disgraceful as Royal Dutch Shell. The dark side of Shell is very dark indeed.
#270old nigeria hand on Nov 17th, 2010 at 11:24 pm
realybware: Well said! The moral decline in Shell commenced after van Wachem stepped down. Then there was a succession of leaders with an anglo-saxxon mind. They employed consultants and injected the top with like minded people. And they removed over the years all those who said that the king went naked. And the rest is history. It not only happened in Shell but in many other decent companies. It is hard to believe but in the mid 90s there were still many banks run by decent bankers!
Thank you for your post, I wish I could express myself so well!
66 and Mr D, I think that in order for Shell to remain a sustainable enterprise, there needs to be some philosophical re-alignment in leadership to the moral and ‘good’ vs the ‘evil’ that Mr D refers to. In an organization where profit becomes idolized over all else in the ecosystem, the ‘idol’ becomes all-important to the point that many things and ultimately ALL things will be sacrificed to that end. This is where not only Shell but other oil exploiters have crossed the line in the past. Doing business with the devil is a rewarding affair when we become servant to ego (vs eco). Synergy in an organization, vs individual isolation, competitiveness, (and self-serving greed): are only a reflection of how the ‘whole’ positions itself in the global ‘theater’. Mr Hoffmeister’s pompous attitude about BP is an example of the top down philosophical alignment in Shell today. Although he is no-longer at the helm, his presence definitely still defines SHELL. And no doubt Mr V and his minions ‘align’ helplessly through a new subservient, ordered organization, driven by Mr V’s single-mindedness about the ‘idol’. We will all compete to play that game until we feel our individual morales are being exploited too far. An interesting description of the alignment i am referring to is reprinted below from another source:
Evil is characterized by selfishness and purpose. It maintains that it is both important and correct that those who are worthy should succeed, while the weak and unworthy perish. The efforts of good to distribute wealth generally are viewed as cheating the truly deserving. . Evil characters do not regard other characters (co-workers)–not even other evil characters(co-workers) –as worthy of respect. They are always willing to take advantage of another’s misfortune. Any generous act, either by giving away treasure (recognition) or by taking risks on behalf of another, must be justified by some advantage to the character taking the action (ego-centerd vs whole/organization) . Evil characters often believe that good and neutral characters are pretending they are not evil in order to fool others and gain an advantage.
Good and Evil are usually referred to as the “moral” dimension or axis of alignment, while Law and Chaos are referred to as the “ethical” dimension or axis. Thus neutralities may be distinguished as Moral Neutrality or Ethical Neutrality.: {end of reprint}
I SEE SIGNIFICANT SACRIFICE OF THE ETHICAL AND THE MORAL ALIGNMENT IN SHELL. Are we returning to the behaviors of drillers who wanted to ‘get there first’;…. as we move into a world of progressively more difficult exploitation? Again, the alignment through the organization is a mirror of the global attitude of the whole as ‘designed’ at the top.
Thanks for your resposne John. I do indeed understand that a company’s history in its entirety must be accounted for, and to a certain extent lives on in terms of the companies reputation. However, where I disagree with you is in thinking that the misdeeds of 70 years ago are indicitive of management practices today. Now I know you don’t think much of today’s management, but that is a quite seperate matter to how the place was run 70 years ago. In other words – it has no real bearing on the Shell of today, and how it operates. When I heard first about the Nazi link with Shell, I looked with interest to see if the 100 year history of Shell, published a few years ago, would deal with it at all, given it is not the sort of thing companies want to be reminded off. I was pleased that they did cover it (including a photo of the headquarters in the Hague flying the Nazi flag). Did they cover the issue fully – probabaly not – but I take my hat off to the company for dealing with it at all – I know of many companies who would not have. You describe Shell as “the most evil company on earth.” ….
they have their faults for sure, but in my humble opinion they are a long way from that.
#273old nigeria hand on Nov 14th, 2010 at 11:26 pm
Panalpina and Hofmeister, bribes in Nigeria. I am certain that the top management knew all about the goings on. About 5 years ago a scandal nearly erupted but was quenched. (Or as the say in Nigeria: ‘de disting was quench-oh by de Oga’. SPDC had made around 500 million dollars disappear over the years to all kind of community projects. No trails could be found in the books. And this for a company that should be able to trace every dollar spent anywhere. Because it is shareholder’s or taxpayer’s money. So I am sure that Hofmeister et all just assumed the bribes via Panalpina would disappear in the great wash. I am not an accountant. But as an engineer I know we can and must and do certify for instance every weld on long pipelines. The exact location, date of weld, weldingrods used, name of welder, and an X-ray photo is included. If you can do that, you should be able to trace every dollar spent? Unless you don’t want to?!?
Remind me again…when did WW2 end? Why are you tainting good employees names who work today at Shell with the misdeeds of the company over 70 years ago. Weird. REPLY TO “66″ BY JOHN DONOVAN: As I have said before, the vast majority of Shell employees are decent hard working people. The company is to blame for the misdeeds you mention, which have indelibly stained the name of Royal Dutch Shell for all time. The catalog of misdeeds such as the securities fraud, all driven by pure greed, continue to this day, including dealing with current evil regimes in Libya and Iran. Add to that bribery and corruption in the USA and in Nigeria. And what about the deadly toxic legacy from pesticides, not to mention pollution on an epic scale e.g. decades long gas-flaring in Nigeria and widespread groundwater pollution in the USA. All taking place while Shell pretends to abide with its much trumpeted business principles, including honesty, integrity and transparency. What a joke. I can only assume from your comments that you would prefer not to know about the dark side of Shell. We believe that all Shell stakeholders and the public are entitled to know the ugly truth about the most evil company on the planet, including its role as the financier of the Nazis.
POSTED ON BEHALF OF AN EMPLOYEE OF SHELL OIL USA: IN REMEMBRANCE: I remember walking through the American military cemetery at Normandy one bright summer day many years ago. It was full of American tourists that had unloaded from about a half dozen tour buses. I have never seen so many grown men break down and cry in my life.
My father was in the US Navy and served in submarines in the Pacific theater. 25% of those folks died in combat. In the early days of the war he served in the surface fleet and fought the Japanese Imperial Navy at a place called Guadalcanal. The war in the Pacific was a very dirty, brutal business and not many prisoners were taken, by either side. Your father knows about this, first hand. Many American men who fought in that theater literally hated the Japanese to their dying day. A sad but true fact. My father detested them as a people for what they did, for what he had seen, and for what he had experienced, and would not have a thing to do with anything Japanese, or made in Japan. To his dying day.
10′s of millions of Chinese died at the hands of the Japanese.
In Eastern Europe the Nazi’s were as brutal in their treatment of the Russians as they were in their treatment of the Jews. That war was a war of extermination, and 10′s of millions of Russians died as a consequence.
And the sad but true fact of life is that Royal Dutch Shell, along with other companies here in the US, were ‘invested’ in the Nazi’s and in the Germany economy. That includes Ford Motor, General Electric, and so on. Let us not forget the Swiss. It is not a pretty story.
However, Royal Dutch Shell is unique amongst this rogues gallery of amoral profiteers because Deterding’s support and influence came at a very critical time in the rise to power of Hitler and the Nazi Party. I have little doubt that without Deterding the mid-20th century history of Europe may have been much different. Perhaps the Communists would have gained a stronghold in Germany. We shall never know. However, it is unlikely that this alternative path of history would have been as violent, as viciously brutal, and as destructive as that resulting from the rise to power of the Nazi’s in Germany.
And without the German’s raising hell in Europe and Russia it is unlikely the Japanese would have tried to take on both the American’s and the British Empire in East Asia by themselves. The Japanese lacked the necessary natural resources, especially oil, and the Royal Navy and the US Navy were simply far to powerful.
Royal Dutch Shell has a host of stinking skeletons in their corporate closet, and their management doesn’t seemed to have learned much, or wanted to learn much, from the past conduct of their guiding predecessor, Sir Henri Deterding.
Hofmeister pompous as ever.
Last night I watched the BBC documentary on the Macondo blow-out. It was easy to relate with all that was said by the various participants. But two things stuck to my mind: the media and politicians (Obama included and leading the way) are like a troup of rabid dogs. The moment someone is down, they all attack in a feeding frenzy. All with hidden agendas, all completely oblivious of what their actions might cause. Presumably this is their job and I expect hardly anything else from these charlatans.
But then I saw several times that smug toad Hofmeister dumping on BP in general and Hayward in particular. I have seen this devious american arrive in Shell. He was instrumental in pushing the salaries and bonusses of the top echelons to excessive heights, he introduced the ‘behavioural skills’ at the expense of engineering skills, he pulled in many americans that have generally made a mess of things and when he finally was removed, sorry transferred, he travelled as an emperor through the whole of the USA. All under the title of ‘President’. A non-job if ever there was one. He is a disgrace to the people where he came from (Amish). And now he has become an ugly toad kicking someone who is down on the ground. This shows his real character. I advise all girls NOT to kiss this toad in the hope a handsome prince would emerge. You never know, pigs might fly too.
POSTED ON BEHALF OF A FORMER EMPLOYEE OF SHELL OIL USA: My response to US Citizen is this: As a former Shell employee I know how Shell management functions in ways that would scare the crap out of you. What I have to say about Shell’s very public ‘good works’ (by very well meaning staff) on a local scale versus the conduct of Shell management internationally and on major projects is this: You can make a vampire look respectable and presentable with enough make-up and a good external ward-robe, but lurking underneath that pretty facade still lurks the predatory, blood sucking vampire.
Reply to uscitizen: Back with your usual insults that we have come to expect. You mention about Shell volunteer work in a good cause, then go on to predict that we will accuse Shell employees of having other motives, and based on this false assumption, trot out a put down – “Chew on that” – when in fact we have not said anything at all. I authored a Wikipedia article in 2009 – Royal Dutch Shell initiatives - which included coverage of the help Shell has given to many people, small businesses and charities. It was deleted by other editors on the basis of being biased in favor of Shell. Not that it is any of your business, but we have supported charities all of our working lives, including the Red Cross, and provided help to a US children’s charity on this website. This of course is all beside the point. The reason for your latest rant and rage is the Royal Dutch Shell Nazi Secrets article. If you had read it all, you would know that in the years after Sir Henri Deterding retired as the CEO, Royal Dutch Shell Group continued with the appeasement and collaboration with the Nazis, piling more money into the Nazi coffers, which funded the preparation for war. I suggest before making further comment, you read it all, including the extensive evidence from reputable independent sources.
PS – tell all the folks that we helped out this weekend with many Shell volunteers that we do not resemble in any fashion a “good corporate citizen”. We did this because our moral standards require us to, as employees and citizens. Next thing you will say is that we had other motives, and you can not begin to know how wrong that is or how that insults the individuals who care greatly about our neighbors and their well being. Chew on that. When is the last time you or your blog company did something to help your fellow man, and I am not talking about your hollow rants about Shell to educate the poor common man about how evil Shell is. If you are doing it, tell us about it. I have not seen anything so in true Donovan journalistic behavior I assume you have done nothing. Am I right??
Your determined efforts to connect the alleged individual support of an old RDS exec to today’s company is a huge affront to the people that make up today’s company. We resent and reject your allegations that this is what this company and it’s people stand for. You have done more to destroy your credibility than any organized, does not exist, corporate effort to do the same. Thanks – now the whole world can see what an obssessed irrational family looks like – The Donovan’s!!!
POSTING ON BEHALF OF A FORMER EMPLOYEE OF SHELL OIL USA: I have a response for ‘concerned shareholder’, and other ‘concerned shareholders’:
Henri Deterding’s only real motivation for supporting the Nazi’s before their rise to power was clearly driven by his desire to recoup his losses, and prevent further losses, due to the Bolshevik revolution in Russia and the threat that ideology posed elsewhere. Deterding was an old style, ruthlessly ambitious robber baron, like Carnegie, Vanderbuilt, and J.P. Morgan, etc. He wanted HIS Russian oil fields in Baku returned to Shell. And Deterding was not alone in his admiration for Hitler. Joseph Kennedy and Henry Ford were admirers as well. And Ford was a financial sponsor, as well as a rabid anti-semite.
Today, Shell’s motivations for dealing with unsavory regimes like the Libyans, the Iranians, etc., is purely based up the desire to secure further access to large reserves of oil and gas. Nothing more, nothing less. Shell management doesn’t give a holy rat’s rear end about the consequences of supporting regimes such as these, just as Deterding didn’t give a holy rat’s rear end about the consequences of supporting the Nazi’s. Deterding’s only concern was for profits, just as it is Shell’s only concern today. Today Shell management doesn’t care that their partner in Brazil, Cosan, has a history of using forced slave labor in their cane fields to support their ethanol production plants, just as Shell in Deterding’s day didn’t care about getting in bed with I.G. Farben in Germany, who use extensive amounts of slave labor.
There are more that just a few parallel’s between the ethical behavior of Shell management today to that of the Nazi era.
Like it or not, Deterding and Royal Dutch Shell played a major role in facilitating Hitler’s rise to power and all that came after. Deterding’s financial help, support and influence were crucial to the rise of Nazi facism in Germany. Without Deterding’s help history may have taken a far different and less violent and deadly turn. That is Royal Dutch Shell’s history. Hiding that history, and the recent history of Shell conduct, serves no purpose other than to create a marketing illusion for the general public. It is an abject fraud. And the conduct of the company, past and present, reflects the quality of character of Shell management (lack thereof) and the corporate culture that promotes such management. By any standard of measure, Shell is not, and historically never has been, a ‘good corporate citizen’.
Remember the old saying: ‘Those who fail to learn the lessons of history are doomed to repeat them.’
#282Concerned Shareholder on Nov 8th, 2010 at 11:07 am
Ha, ha. I think it’s time that Allie Romeo verifies his “sources” as part of his “communication studies”. A funny story , much unlike the current poohah on this site about the link between Shell and the nazi’s. That’s a bit like trying to connect the current British Government (and the current British voters) to the attrocities committed during the colonial era. We have to look back and learn from history, but at a certain point it becomes a bit cheap and meaningless…
MESSAGE POSTED ON BEHALF OF BILL CAMPBELL: REPLY TO HANS BOUMAN:
Dear Hans
Re the well design you are probably right but having listened to the BP Drilling Engineer and others (he gave good testimony) I am not convinced that they will be proved negligent – their argument will be that other opinions are subjective after the fact and the BP well was fit for purpose. Certainly I do not think their actions will clear the high hurdle of gross negligence (based on the testimony provided under oath) according to the US definition of same.
Interesting to me that BP had every confidence in their Deepwater Horizon Drilling Engineer (also previously Drilling Engineer for Thunder Horse) who handled the two relief wells with Haliburton doing the cement jobs on these also.
With your contacts in the great School of Drillers out there are you aware how the relief wells were completed ? Were these like the Deepwater Horizon well, or did they not have the courage of their convictions.
I am sure if the well design was changed in line with what their critics (including Shell) have stated publicly the ambulance chasing Lawyers will not doubt use this against them.
To Bill Campbell:
Thank you for a very good analysis and lucid story. Recently I was asked by a local business club to give a presentation on this blow-out. And I ended with a blow by blow account of the last hours before the mishap, nearly word for word the same as in your story. Obviously we both were guided by the good BP report of the blow-out.
I agree with Bill that with a good execution of the event the well might have been saved but I am personally convinced that the design of the well did not help preventing the blow-out. (No lockdown ring in the wellhead, and not running a liner to be tied back later). When you drill these extremely difficult wells, you will have a very small operating envelope and margin of error. To handle the operations perfectly you need the best people you can get and they must also be kept focussed all the time. It appears that too many critical operations had become routine and or were delegated down to lower levels. The tests were too short and in my view should have been attended by the most senior toolpusher on the rig, this is not stuff you delegate.
Why all this has happened will presumably become clear over the next few years when the lawyers of the three companies involved will get rich in various courtcases.
And I am not convinced with what I have read that this well has been properly killed. Squeezing in all that mud and cement merely created two vertical pancake fracs and oil and gas still may percolate through and surface at a later date. BP had the chance to do a proper circulation kill but it looked as if they and the autorities all wanted to get it over with as quickly as possible.
This blow-out was a classic where many things that ‘never will go happen’ all happened and at the most awkward moment. This is the story for nearly all major blow-outs!
Messers Pals & Kennedy of Bloomberg really ought to research a topic before writing about it. Just what is meant by “Shell is targeting hard-to-reach rock formations in Australia, the U.S. and China”? Coal seams for CBM in Australia are not in the criteria of hard-to-reach. There are undoubtedly challenges in the optimal exploitation of CBM but the technology / techniques are hardly new or “hard-to-apply”. In any case the geoscience and engineering capability in Shell is more than enough to address the task. My comment applies equally well to the (presumably) tight gas assets in North America and China. The tone of the article implies Shell will have trouble delivering meaningful gas production from these “hard-to-reach” formations. Yes, the technical challenge is greater than with conventional gas, but then Shell has invested serious money in researching the technologies and techniques required. Will Bloomberg reporters write an article in the same vein throwing doubt on the ability of the BG-Group to deliver from similar formations in the same countries? One thing is for sure, the BG-Group do not have recourse to the R&D back up in-house to Shell.
FURTHER COMMENT POSTED ON BEHALF OF A FORMER EMPLOYEE OF SHELL USA: ‘The difference between overt ‘bribery’ and the far more subtle ‘influence peddling’ is much like the difference between rape and seduction. It is all a matter of technique. One method is patently illegal and the other is not. But the end result is the same. Someone always gets ‘buggered’. A horse by any other name is still a horse.
Big business is now in the mode of ‘courting’ political officials and ‘appropriate other officials’ with ‘favors’ and ‘special considerations’. Some of those ‘special considerations’ may entail future employment, with all the associated benefits of a favored employee, e.g., Gale Norton, formerly of the Dept. of the Interior in the US, and Pat Doyle, former Irish Garda superintendent.
In the end, it is the public interest that takes it in the teeth, and all to the financial benefit of big business. ‘
REPLY TO MUSAINT POSTED ON BEHALF OF A FORMER SHELL OIL USA EMPLOYEE:
Cheers. Kennedy was a politician and meddled when he shouldn’t have. However, that self serving nonsense was motivated by local Boston politics. But that is old news. The problem with the way the Irish government has (mis)managed its hydrocarbon resources goes back almost 20 years, to radical changes in policy/law by government officials who ultimately spent time in prison for corruption. That too is old news. But I am sure you are aware of that fact already.
Jeeez “Former employee of Shell Oil USA” that’s a lot of words (all I think I’ve read) but, still no hard documented evidence of substantial reserves you state (i.e some independent authority), albeit your geological argumentation may be a plenty it still needs the drill bit to prove it correct. As important is that you do not show/prove that Shell has bribed the Irish Government aka your article. I know fully you are referring to Northern Ireland – Kennedy stuck his nose into both sides of the countries, and as stated helped raise funds for terrorists.
POSTED ON BEHALF OF A FORMER EMPLOYEE OF SHELL OIL USA.
To Mr. Musaint: It does seem like you are a true blue ‘loyalist’. By the way, the Ireland I was referring to was not Northern Ireland so your comments about Teddy Kennedy are irrelevant.
Furthermore, British-Irish politics bores me. It is somewhat like North-South politics in the US. The ‘South shall rise again’ and other such nonsense. The Irish are independent and the Empire is dead. It is time to get over it and move on.
If you are a poor man, $100 is a lot of money. If you are a rich man, it is chump change. The Corrib discovery is on the order of about 1 trillion cubic feet of gas. Not huge by North Sea standards, but nothing to piss away either. For a small country like Ireland those reserves are a considerable treasure. Everything is relative. Until natural gas was discovered the only reliable naturally occurring hydrocarbon fuel resource the Irish had was peat.
We also know the Irish government gave Shell, et al, one of the best tax/royalty deals in Europe. That is a matter of record. Instead of following the Norwegian model of resource development, they followed the Louisiana model for resource development. So, I stand by my assessment. The Irish got ‘buggered’, and by their own government.
The real problem with Ireland is that their government has no national energy policy. No surprise, most governments don’t, the Norwegians being the obvious exception.
While the Corrib find was not ‘huge’ it was substantial, and there are more gas accumulations likely to be found. Perhaps oil as well, depending upon the type of source rocks in the region.
And that gas came from somewhere. It was not a gift from the ‘wee little people’. There are ‘source rocks’ that generated that gas. And they are most likely to be coal bearing given the composition of the gas.
And as we all know, new drilling technologies are allowing the oil industry to exploit the gas reserves locked up in source rocks in ways that were never possible before. In the US we have added hundreds of trillions of cubic feet of natural gas reserves in the last decade alone with this new technology and will add hundreds of trillion of cubic feet more in the next decade. These sources rocks can contain more trapped gas than they have expelled and has been trapped in conventional reservoirs.
It is a very good possibility that the source rocks that generated the gas found at Corrib will be located and will be exploitable. If not now, most certainly in the not too distant future. And it is also likely that those source rocks will contain more exploitable gas than is found in the trap at Corrib (which I presume was ‘filled to the spill point’). So, the Irish need to decide how much of their resources they are going to give to big oil and how they are going to allow those resources to be developed. I see no evidence of a coherent Irish policy in that regard. They need go consult with their Norwegian neighbors.
But Ireland clearly has a far better energy resource than natural gas. Wind, and lots of it. The royalty revenues from the exploitation of their gas reserves could allow the Irish to develop that very plentiful and virtually inexhaustible supply of clean energy, and establish the power distribution network, all to the benefit of the Irish themselves.
And as we also all know Shell management’s attitude about this energy resource is rather retrograde in this regard. They are not fans of the development of wind energy resources. Why? It cuts into the market for natural gas and their profits. It is competition. Mr. Voser’s very recent comments make it quite clear how Shell ‘officially’ views the development of wind energy resources. But wind power is definitely in the future of the Irish, and in a big way.
So, Ireland needs a national energy policy. A good policy will serve that country well. The current policy does not, but it does serve the oil and gas industry well. And if the current government cannot get its act together and establish a national energy policy that is in the best interests of the country, then the Irish should give them the boot and elect responsible representatives.
To the ex-Shell employee of Shell USA regarding his/her comments on the Corrib gas controversy. You may not like the way that the Irish Government has handled this issue, however, they are the elected body and secondly you show no hard evidence that they have been bought, bribed, or even buggered as you nicely put it by Shell. You also mention Ireland has “considerable hydrocarbon resources” – please quote a reliable source (with reserve numbers) where such a comment can be believed. Me thinks that you are merely trying to stir some trouble here without any evidence to truly back up your statements. Reminds me of Teddy Kennedy when he kept sticking his big US nose in to Irish politics and attempted to get money for the IRA terrorists!!
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#295shellwaarbenjijnu on Oct 13th, 2010 at 1:02 pm
Mr Voser is ill-advised to make such comments on BP / Macondo. He attracts to Shell the headlines seen in the Daily Mail and is now a hostage to fortune just as Tony Hayward became when he told the world “he would focus like a laser on safety for the next two years” on succeeding Lord Browne. In addition his observation ” to correctly investigate the accident one had to examine the thinking behind the particular well design BP used” is interesting in the light of the Brent fatalities. Just what was the thinking behind the “design” of the piping patches which eventually failed?
Do the Swiss have a translation for the expression “people who live in glass houses should not throw stones”?
Musaint: fully agree that The Brent Spar fiasco was nothing more than a publicity stunt by Greenpeace without any factual basis for their claims. My point was that Shell will always be at the mercy of public opinion.
“Alleged Shell deception in Sri Lanka”. Using your own words Mr. D. (in red, in capitals) “it certainly seems authentic” – and the reason you give (in the same sentence) is “it talks about Shell deception and a hidden agenda”. What sort of reason is that to believe the story is genuine and not someone (yet again) trying to cause mischief!! Like the News of the World, it helps sell a story ……
Should be noted that at the time of the “Brent Spar fiasco” the guys from Exxon kept a very low profile as 50% owners of the structure AND Greenpeace admitted that they got the numbers wrong on the amount of residual oil left in the spar. Just proves that the action by thugs and tree huggers, particularly in Germany, was based on incorrect facts. Basically don’t always believe what is printed on paper and in websites!!
At the time of the Brent Spar fiasco, there was a boycott and vandalism of Shell’s filling stations in Germany, which was very effective in bringing the message home to Shell’s management in the Hague that they were at the mercy of public opinion. This website has been publicising Shell’s large scale ongoing business relationship with Iran, so it is hardly surprising that it has been experiencing “technical problems”
uscitizen of poor comprehension, i don’t think anyone objects to IPFs. FORCED RANKING is where mistakes are made. You may have more data and more cards in your deck but you obviously don’t believe anything shared in this forum that exposes destructive ethics and blatant injustices. Great leaders were terminated in the first round that did not have the chance to work a PIP. Unexpected low numbers were given with no forewarning. Having a better retirement than most citizens is far less than some of these folks deserved. Your statement really sounds far more socialistic. Like someone said a while back, it sure sounds like you have a lot of ownership in some of these ‘schemes’. …or maybe you are just naive and delusional. And I’ll tell you how RIFs were handled in the companies of some of my peers: PIPs along with voluntary retirement, ends up yielding more than needed. Keep your judgement to yourself about low performers getting what they deserved. Some loved Shell as much as you do, and would do anything they could to work a PIP and be productive for a few more years. … and again there are people protected that are poorer performers. ….DUDE!
Golden Triangle is spot on about Tom and unfortunately this style of “leadership” is now all too common with the senior management in many other Shell business units. As an example in SENA Mr. Q spent 2009 claiming that his business was doing very well and that he had no intention of following the 2009 MOR process. Early 2010, after one of his best business years yet, he announced that they would now need to implement an MOR process. Of course this meant staff would now have far less alternatives as most of the other groups had completed their MOR last year. In some cases he had actually recruited staff from other companies in 2009 and less than one year later they were being told they may no longer have a job now.
Timelines were missed throughout the entire MOR process keeping most staff in dark about whether they even had a job until June or July. Job descriptions were often posted wrong and critical details like job location and job grade were changing constantly after the positions closed. HR and senior management took no responsibility for any of these missed deadlines or changes. As we saw in the other groups selection was based more on who you knew not your past IPF’s, CEP or performance. Many of the new roles were filled by staff who had little or no experience in that business while the much more experienced staff were terminated. Certainly it did not seem to make any sense for a business unit that supposedly has an aggressive long term growth strategy. Bottom line more than 30% of the staff were not placed and forced to take early retirement or severance packages.
As the final indignity HR and senior management then decided they would reduce the termination payments for all exiting staff. Realizing this could create issues for them they decided to provide the employees with a termination package, including a final termination amount, and then only notify them just before they left that they “had made an error” and the actual amount would now be about 30% less. So much for Shells General Business practices or ethics. Certainly some of this was reflected in the 2009 Shell People survey with most measures like Integrity and Leadership down more than 10% from 2008 but as mentioned senior leadership obviously does not pay any attention to this data or Mr. Q and others would be moving on.
For – MR no personal ID for Mr uscitizen dude!
real user I’d, REALLY!?! … Like yours? HAh. Yes some packages were bestowed upon folks with lower ‘relative performance’,mostl of these folks were prompted to their humble positions, because of their knowledge, skills leadership abilities. Most did not deserve to be discarded with paltry pensions. These folks are for the most part on their mid 50s+. they gave the best part of their life to shell and were top performers. IPFs were formulated to execute a scheme that someone will claim is the reason for profit improvements. It doesn’t matter what some of these folks are suffering through, that’s too human. This was executed in a suffering economy, on folks who are beyond favorable age. The IPF rate/ranking is no magic, and in in some cases removed the most effective Leaders. There are many ways this could have been executed without abusing those who have given so much to shell. .. All because someone decided to prove that leadership responded to the people survey accountability topic. Forced ranking in our plant environments is destructive to synergy and ultimately devasting to the unfortunate who end up terminated unjustly. Leaders can behave like tp, jf, ka, deserving no respect from their reports, and end up rewarded. But a poor shift team leader, who might be facing respectable upsets in their personal life lose focus for a while and there is no compassion.
What you have is partial data, and if you think you can make solid opinions based on one side of the stories, yeah right. Ps – folks in their Mid 50′s who worked 30 years got much better pensions and severance packages than 90% of America – you must broaden your blinders dude. And like it or not – raises have to be based on a yardstick, you have a better proposal, oh yeah – give all the same, that way many can be carried by a few. I really like that idea. Not your idea – give me yours – how do you do it better? Talk to your peers and see how they do it at other companies, you will find that no system is perfect. They all rely on people to manage it well, my experience is that Shell does this better than most, and yes I have gotten some low IPF’s and they were based on bad years. I recovered and did fine! So can others! PS – IPF’s are not just about profit sharing , it is about base pay raises also. Gotta have a yardstick to determine who gets what, fact of life unless you want to be a socialist economy and maybe we have found your issue!! Peace and hope all works out ok for you and yours!
Golden Triangle Watchdog – I am not in HR – so do not try to play cards you do not have. You clearly have an agenda, do not enjoy working for Shell, so be it. Any one as unhappy as you needs to join the ranks of Donovan. And I have my next job, so no career advice from you will help me. Have a good life, if you can. Find some thing you will be happy doing and stop blaming others for your attitude, you own that dude.
#304Golden Triangle Watchman on Oct 1st, 2010 at 12:34 pm
US Citizen…. I have no hatred for Tom Purves. What I actually hate is favoritism, lying, egotism, manipulation, hypocracy. Tom exhibits all of these and very little leadership skills. Tom falls in this catagory along with the fact that he flat out lied to get people off the payroll that he didn’t want on the payroll and senior leadership knows that. He also lied about some other things which will eventually come out, like environmental performance at our plant. That has been buried deep to allow for the CEP to get its permit. Just look around and see how many of our past environmental dept from 2 years ago is still in place or with the company. A complete turnover….. Does anyone wonder why? Motiva got rid of them because of what they found. I’m sure Hilton Kelley could get an ear full if he hasn’t already. Alot of this was on Tom’s watch and he knows it as did the Motiva CEO. I’ve worked here at the Port Arthur plant for 20 years. Tom had a good message early on but it became clear pretty quickly that he was no good, had his favorites, and was not interested in changing the culture, just status quo. He ultimately has a few close allies that he brings with him everywhere, like Funkhouser, Laugher, Hartsock. Man, this is the best he has got. My understanding on Jeff is he got sold from the company with Tosco up north and came back in because Tom got him a job with the company. Here you have a man with no formal education, other than how to suck up, getting up to 1 step away from a plant manager. You wonder why. The folks in the rank laugh at this guy. He has long forgot what true leadership is about. Tom created this and has allowed this to grow. And the issue I have with HR is they have become nothing but a group of staffers, hanging on to the senior leaders, doing what they are asked to do, assuming their role is to identify and help develop the leaders of tomorrow, with very little understanding of what true leadership in the field needs to be. The People survey is a joke and all know it. It stopped being useful after the first edition. Senior leaders don’t use it except to update every other year what they heard. And you can discount my feedback all you like….. gas cards were paid to get the numbers up. With you being in HR, I can understand why this whole topic doesn’t feel good. It’s ok…. Go hook up with Jeff Funkhouser, he can find you a job.
#305More for mr uscitizen: " on Oct 1st, 2010 at 5:04 am
real user I’d, REALLY!?! … Like yours? HAh. Yes some packages were bestowed upon folks with lower ‘relative performance’,mostl of these folks were prompted to their humble positions, because of their knowledge, skills leadership abilities. Most did not deserve to be discarded with paltry pensions. These folks are for the most part on their mid 50s+. they gave the best part of their life to shell and were top performers. IPFs were formulated to execute a scheme that someone will claim is the reason for profit improvements. It doesn’t matter what some of these folks are suffering through, that’s too human. This was executed in a suffering economy, on folks who are beyond favorable age. The IPF rate/ranking is no magic, and in in some cases removed the most effective Leaders. There are many ways this could have been executed without abusing those who have given so much to shell. .. All because someone decided to prove that leadership responded to the people survey accountability topic. Forced ranking in our plant environments is destructive to synergy and ultimately devasting to the unfortunate who end up terminated unjustly. Leaders can behave like tp, jf, ka, deserving no respect from their reports, and end up rewarded. But a poor shift team leader, who might be facing respectable upsets in their personal life lose focus for a while and there is no compassion.
Don’t let USCitizen fool you….. The Shell People Survey is a joke and everyone, who takes it , knows it. Most plants have to give our employees a gas card to take it. And I know for a fact that the HR community has told most all of the senior mgt not to follow up on it….. but instead to read it and listen to what the people are saying and what their concerns are, but dont spend the time doing anything with it. Let’s be real…. Shell is a good company with good benefits. The senior leaders stink because they have forgotten the most important principle that kept Shell strong….. the people. Today, you have the people…..and then you have the senior execs and HR.
By the way, Uncle Tom, how is that new job going? Enjoying your little cubicle over in CEP along with your tea pot? All I can say is… count the days till retirement. You are done.
Golf coast watchdog – if leaders just threw out the bad data garbage you did, you would be posting all over here about lack of integrity and lying fools! Our site gave out no gas cards, and some sites did do that once years ago, but that was stopped. And your fact about what HR doing is flat wrong, we are talking about it and doing something at our site. Geez, youo are full of bad data! You really need to get over your obsession with Tom – kinda like some folks have this obsession with Shell. Get over it, your life will be better!
sure sounds like you own some of the new schemes being practiced. also sounds like you reside in a safe little fraternal consortium of self accrediting,and probably self-rewarding ‘dillusionists’. your people survey results are far different from the ones that we have seen for the past three cycles.
Right – no sorry to dissapoint you, but I am just a lowly work who is very appreciative of the fact that I work for a good company. Way to bash me when I give you data, not I do not reside on a safe little fraternal consortium, I work in one of our plants on the factory floor and I did not, nor did any of my coworkers get gas cards for taking the survey, talk about integrity – throw bad information, some would call it a lie, and then complain about leaders ethics. Glass housees dude. Get a real user id fella.
I see ex Sakhalin and bully David Greer has resigned from Regal Pet, wonder where he will create carnage next!
#309Golden Triangle Watchman on Sep 29th, 2010 at 11:29 am
Don’t let USCitizen fool you….. The Shell People Survey is a joke and everyone, who takes it , knows it. Most plants have to give our employees a gas card to take it. And I know for a fact that the HR community has told most all of the senior mgt not to follow up on it….. but instead to read it and listen to what the people are saying and what their concerns are, but dont spend the time doing anything with it. Let’s be real…. Shell is a good company with good benefits. The senior leaders stink because they have forgotten the most important principle that kept Shell strong….. the people. Today, you have the people…..and then you have the senior execs and HR.
By the way, Uncle Tom, how is that new job going? Enjoying your little cubicle over in CEP along with your tea pot? All I can say is… count the days till retirement. You are done.
sure sounds like you own some of the new schemes being practiced. also sounds like you reside in a safe little fraternal consortium of self accrediting,and probably self-rewarding ‘dillusionists’. your people survey results are far different from the ones that we have seen for the past three cycles.
To John Donovan – Right!! That is clearly what we are doing – an eveil empire! I am happy and I assume you are! Hard to be with all that hate, but whatever floats your boat.
To the person who used to uscitizen as their id?? ; we just completed our last survey and it was not at all like the Dow feedback. I will not share the details because that is company business, but i will contrast our reality with your Dow comments since you are sure we are the same!
Pros
World class manufacturing capability and processes – Check
Pretty good marketing – Check
Good benefits package – Excellent benefits package – one of the best in the world at Shell – folks can retire with few worries.
Ability to exercise flexibility in work arrangements – Huge focus on family /work balance – I was able to manage a very very sick kid, lots of time off and worked from the house alot and got good reviews. I have enabled many folks who work for me to have alternate work schedules based on a family situation.
Good place for new graduates to gain skills – Check – we get the best of the best still, put up a poster and we get many many applicants – hourly and professional jobs.
Cons
They paint a target on your back after you’re 55 – all of a sudden you become a burden. – Not the case at Shell
The rating system is impossible to succeed in – if you do its because you’re someone’s golden boy or girl. Sorry about that, but not the case at Shell.
Once you get a bad rating, it’s almost impossible to make an improvement. Not the case
High reliance on contractors for many jobs. Check
Very limited capital in some businesses – makes for a very boring job if you’re a good engineer. Check and that is why we are selling some assetts so we can afford to put capex into the remaining assetts.
Pay levels in manufacturing are lower than competitors. Not the case at Shell – we pay very well.
Shell Cons
Slow to make decisions
Too bureaucratic – hard to get work done – very risk averse company
We do not hold our folks as accountable for delivering results as we should.
Unclear career paths
Advice to Senior Management
Realize that many of your people enjoy their work and you’re stifling their contributions by not making the tough decisions. Don’t let them wilt on the vine – either put some money into the business or sell off the ones that you really don’t want. Agreed – this is what we are doing. No company is perfect – we are not. Our own folks told us we were letting some folks get away with not delivering – most of those folks are gone now. Different than Dow, but we have our own issues also!! Great place to work!
bottom line is these “grievances” are in most cases legitimate positions and opinions about ‘management gone wrong’. The new world inside shell is not much unlike Dow and GE. Here is an example from a Dow employees people survey and link to more of this review:
Pros
World class manufacturing capability and processes
Pretty good marketing
Good benefits package
Ability to exercise flexibility in work arrangements
Good place for new graduates to gain skills
Cons
They paint a target on your back after you’re 55 – all of a sudden you become a burden.
The rating system is impossible to succeed in – if you do its because you’re someone’s golden boy or girl.
Once you get a bad rating, it’s almost impossible to make an improvement.
High reliance on contractors for many jobs.
Very limited capital in some businesses – makes for a very boring job if you’re a good engineer.
Pay levels in manufacturing are lower than competitors.
Advice to Senior Management
Realize that many of your people enjoy their work and you’re stifling their contributions by not making the tough decisions. Don’t let them wilt on the vine – either put some money into the business or sell off the ones that you really don’t want. http://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/Dow-Chemical-Reviews-E207.htm
I’m sure mr voser and others will receive huge bonuses for saving the company from those low performers. you are not hearing from those who have been kept, as they are either now playing the game well, or they scared and keeping their mouth shut. these tactics did nothing for GE’s or Dow’s stock prices, but someone was well rewarded for enacting them.
Sure glad all of the folks at Shell plants have found some work to do and stopped posting grievances on this biased gripe site!! Has slowed way down as it should!!
Drill a relief well simultaneously? Peoples brains must have frozen over in Alaska. A relief well is a exactly the same as a ‘normal’ well, just harder. The odds of a blow out are the same. To drill one in the remote chance a blow out occurs would be to double your exposure?? We can argue over the merits or intrinsic safety of arctic drilling but lets not be stupid.
Infantile? It’s a pity the energy invested in creation & maintenace of this site would have been focused in a more productive venture. As a retiree, I remember joking with other colleagues that if we lost an email, we could probably find it on this site – so this site actually does have some intrinsic value.
I have provided volumes of evidence including a leaked 93 page Shell internal document containing admissions about Shell’s track record in Nigeria. Also information about a $15.5 million settlement by Shell of long standing litigation by a Wiwa family member and other Ogoni. Plus links to countless independent articles about Shell’s conduct in Nigeria. In response, not a single piece of evidence, just an infantile comment.
Both of you seem to have migrated to far on your points of view. Shell is by no means the evil corp that it is made out to be here. In my opinion its biggest fault is that it tries to hold it self to a standard that frankly is beyond it (or any other major). Its record in Nigeria is poor, however, I don’t think any other major would be different. Indeed I wonder why Shell refuses to leave, it makes little profit, has a terrible safety record just as bad press. However, a large amount of blame must rest squarely on the country itself for their own corruption and waste.
On the other hand, I think Shell continues to be profitable despite itself. It is for the most part run these days but a bunch of yes man (and women) that have no balls or convictions. I doubt whether there is a coherent strategy anywhere in management. In my opinion Transition 09 (what a joke) will make things worse as they methodically removed experienced people and disenfranchised the rest which will result in the departure of the remaining competent people that refuse to work in such a company.
REPLY TO MUSAINT:
It is remarkable that you continue to defend Shell’s dreadful track record in Nigeria when even Shell has admitted that it has contributed to the fighting and corruption in that much plundered and polluted country: See CNN Report: “Shell admits blame in Nigeria” published on 11 June 2004. Two other revealing articles about Shell were published on the same day: “Bribery and corruption put fresh dent in tarnished image of Shell” (The Independent) “Memos expose Shell’s years of lying” (Daily Telegraph). And returning to Nigeria, an article published the following day by The Times: “Shell’s gas burn-off targets in doubt“. And here is a leaked copy of a 93 page report prepared and paid for by Shell containing admissions about Shell’s track record in Nigeria: “PEACE AND SECURITY IN THE NIGER DELTA“: You have also conveniently forgotten Shell’s settlement for $15.5 million of the Wiwa case in June last year: “Shell’s blood money settles the Wiwa case“. Here is a link to many more reports about Shell’s conduct in Nigeria. To top it all, here is a list of admissions and apologies by Shell. And yet you persist in trying to defend Shell? With regards to events surrounding Sakhalin2 leaks, continuing to stand by your conclusions and allegations based on ignorance of the facts and related ill-considered assumptions, does you no credit. I would have thought more of you if, under the circumstances, you had apologised.
Your article “Allegation of death threats surrounding Shell leaked emails”, should ideally be read on a stand alone basis. As is I stand by what I said. Your add-ons in response do not change my opinion of the danger you put the informer into. The Russian mob/secret police (whatever you want to call them) are not stupid, but, they are thugs. Yes again I use the word “alleged” as many of your financial statements on how much you’ve cost Shell are not factually proved. Yes I do attack this website and some of its contributors for nonsense reporting on Shell in Nigeria. Fact is that Shell performs far better than many companies throughout the world.
With regard to the snide comment about exaggeration “again”, here is the link to the Argus Media article containing an interview with the so called “Kremlin Attack Dog”, Oleg Mitvol when he states in the clearest possible terms where he obtained the evidence supporting the then $10 billion dollar lawsuit (later raised to $50 billion) he was threatening to bring against Shell: http://www.shellnews.net/images/Mitvol.pdf The source had genuine concerns about the project on ethical grounds supported by evidence. I did exactly what the source asked me do to. I have never released anything about the source which might allow them to be identified and have no intention of doing so now. Mitvol did give a subsequent interview to The Sunday Times confirming my involvement. The article was read to me over the phone hours before the Sunday Times was being printed. However, it did not appear in the paper. When I subsequently made a SAR application to Shell under the Data Protection Act, I obtained a copy of a Shell internal email discussing the pending Sunday Times story which said that my actions had cost Shell £11 billion ($22 billion at the time). The emails stated Shell’s wish to have the story killed. By co-incidence or otherwise, the story was killed. Mitvol insinuated during an interview with a tabloid published on 8 August 2007 that Shell had offered him a $50 million bribe to drop his investigations into the Sakhalin2 project. The tabloid has an audio record of the interview. This is the response I received from Shell EP General Counsel Keith Ruddock in response to the bribe allegation: “The lack of a rebuttal from, or comment by, Shell does not in any way constitute an acceptance on Shell’s part of the accuracy of any of the points made by you whether now or in the future, and whether on this or on any other matter, and we continue to reserve our position accordingly in respect of those matters.”
Leaked emails involving a director of Sak2 provide evidence that Shell was well aware of environmental risks involved in construction but this was covered up. This MUSAINT is the company you defend so regularly, particularly in regards to Shell’s disgraceful evil record in Nigeria. Returning to the Sakhalin2 source, information the source courageously provided through me was submitted in evidence by the WWF to the UK House of Commons Environmental Audit Select Committee. The relevant minutes of evidence, including a link to the leaked documents and emails, was ordered by the Committee to be published under parliamentary copyright. Under the circumstances, it is you who should be hanging your head in shame for jumping to assumptions without knowing the facts.
“Evidence I provided to the Russian government cost Shell billions of dollars” – perhaps true, perhaps an exaggeration again. One thing I would not be proud to put into print Mr. D is that “the source disappeared without trace” – most likely (I believe the inference) as a result of your disclosure to the authorities. They are a viscious group in Russia and it would appear that your source may well have lost his life as a result of your actions. I would hold my head in shame. These death threats were from Russians and not Shell I would hazard a guess. I hope you sent the sources’ family a letter of condolance.
A few spare minutes, so I used them to browse the last 9 months since last looking in. The big industry change is the DW Horizon and there is plenty of speculation about similarity in Shell – could it happen here etc. I have moved on a couple of years ago, but in Houston 2005-8 I don’t believe that the Shell well engineers would have ever allowed the scope changes and shortcuts that were made by BP. I remember clearly that a “long string” option in one of our wells was categorically refused and we had to run the liner with tieback at cost >$10mln. Safety at stake, and good engineering practice.
What finally drove me (and a good chunk of the Americas exploration leadership) away from Shell was GoM related, however: the inability to hold to a strategy and the imposition of personal agendas from global leadership. For all Bichsel’s faults (and there are many), once he was convinced you had a valid strategy he left you to get on with it. He had a certain trust level. Once he was kicked upstairs Americas completely lost any independence in both strategic and tactical direction and lease sales were micro-managed from The Hague by people with almost no hands on knowledge of the prospects. many man-years of careful effort to prepare for lease sales were over-ruled by telecon by failed explorers sitting across the atlantic who fancied they knew a thing or two about the GoM. Yes, we won plenty of leases, but never the right mix to build a balanced portfolio of opportunities. After this dispiriting experience, plus the parachuting in of the failed explorers back to Houston, it was definitely time to be off.
This Corrib business is starting to get a right old bore!! Firstly the locals should be thankful for the business that it brings and secondly others (such as Tom McAndrew) should realise what benefits Shell provides with it’s donations to the community / schools. NOT everything that Shell gives should be seen as a bribe or sweetener!! The Greens and Tree Huggers on this planet should realise that Shell, and other companies, do add value to the lives of communities throughout the world.
Memo to “Wilt Staph” : Most of the pollution in Ogoni Land (and other areas) is down to malicious pipeline damage caused by locals trying to steal oil, not Shell.
#327shellwaarbenjijnu on Sep 5th, 2010 at 11:18 am
CEP – there was no problem with the concept as originally designed, but unfortunately was blighted (corrupted??) by the short termism and “worship thy boss” ethos which came into Shell in the 1990′s. The result is a devaluation of CEP to mean “crass exaggeration of performance” or “continual erosion of profitability”.
Well done to BP for getting rogue well under control at last so that it poses no further threat. Shouldn’t have happened at all – but in the end it is safe. Good!
Memo to Shell: Why not pretend that your operations in Nigeria are actually onshore USA and apply the same environmental rules and concerns as if it was millions of Americans at risk not millions of Ogonis?
#329Golden Triangle Watchman on Sep 5th, 2010 at 5:47 am
The summary here re HR all rings true from where I sit. It has been documented here well the work of Tom Purves in the Gulf coast. He was able to change people’s performance factors and make them low enough that , when the severance packages came around, they would be eligible to be let go. Tom knew that the packages were coming because of his relationship with HR, specifically the now retired Glenn Gilchrist. Both he and Tom were able to advocate for the severance packages and also customize and pinpoint those that they wanted to get rid of. This is all well known and will always be Uncle Tom’s legacy, not the screwed up CEP project. Ultimately, Glenn retired because HR likes to feed off anyone, including their own. And ultimately, Uncle Tom will get a nice payoff and ride off, or walk off , into the sunset with his little ice teamaker and enjoy his life all to himself. Not the legacy he wanted to end with I’m sure. And for HR, they haven’t served the people in a long time. They are there for senior leadership and somehow through Hofmeister, Dalzell, Gilchrist, and others, fancy themselves as having the ear of the top brass helping to create and develop the future leaders of the company. What a sad state of affairs our company now sits in with HR’s help. Their own brand of competency mapping for leaders ( aka CEP) ended up creating the 600-750 ( or whatever number Voser landed on) of senior executives to get the heave ho…. Makes you wonder what the CEP is really all about. Gilchrist has now gone on to start another business. Glenn, enjoy yourself and hide behind your web page. Uncle Tom, tell Funkhouser to roll over and get you a glass of tea.
retiree, no doubt, the recent pension pay-out savings scheme, executed by the very subjective, ‘relative performance’ sentencing, was hatched from one of the latest HR-inspired soup-of-the-day, organizational-performance-improvement plans. When you hear a manager comparing site performance tactics to McDonalds and Starbucks, clearly someone was led to the wrong seminar… and hasn’t the sense to distinguish the difference.
On the HR business in Shell: after that evangelical Hofmeister wormed himself into the position of head HR, things went downhill rapidly. He kept traipsing all over the world to all the nice and expensive spots and invited planeloads of HR folk to discuss whatever HR discusses. He made statements that he would be proud to see someone at an airport and see immediately ‘this is a Shell HR person’. He destroyed all good systems we had such as evaluation, development and resourcing of staff. The same staff lost their senior focal points whom they could trust to discuss personal matters and instead the HR circus was swamped with outsiders who only could deal with computer systems and told all staff that they were responsible to look after their own career.
Open resourcing became the biggest farce of Shell and I believe it is now called MOR (Managed Open Resourcing). Few people dare say that Open Resourcing never should have introduced because it feeds on the ‘me first’ principle. Nobody would do anything for the company if he or she would not get personally better from it. Where all that led to has been obvious the last 10 years or so.
And then HR people were being promoted into very senior and overpaid positions that were dealing with business. The development of staff had started to crumble and we got a prime example of the blind leading the blind. He received help from Gary Steel who as director for LEAP had the whole CMD dancing the macarena and when he noticed it all went belly-up, left Shell to go and wreak havoc at ABB. Carol Dubnicki came (for a hideous salary caused by a simple mistake of the senior resourcer who keyed in the wrong number) and left in disgrace having achieved nothing apart from leaving more wreckage. And then Hofmeister started to tour the USA as a royal, pretending to know the business. I am convinced he promoted that other silly woman Cook into several levels beyond her competence. She was so bad, she would have made a good modern HR person in Shell! As Shell employs above average intelligent people, these soon followed up and saw what was rewarded: promises over performance, agree with the boss and ‘me first, never mind the company’. A great many low and mid level HR folk are now employed and hired from outside. Presumably for diversification but more likely for ensuring there is no more corporate memory. And these outsiders have no feel for the business nor its people. Neither do they care!
I believe I have said enough. I am very glad to have retired and can look back on the good old days…. I wish all current employees success in dealing with HR (Human Remains according to Sir John Jennings), but always beware of false or silly information, double check yourself and keep looking over your shoulder.
Other synonyms . . . .
Non-Existent, Know Nothing, Won’t Help – Keep Redirecting, No experience, Every Question looked upon as Confrontation,
Should I say more! Why have a local HR group who is useless? Bottom line, you end of getting frustrated and quit asking questions after going thru all that BS!
Would anyone like to comment on the HR organisation within Shell? I’ve had a fair few run in’s with them so far- they all seem to be blimmin’ useless! But perhaps that is like most HR organisations in big corporations (?). It seems like they really do not care about the individual. I’ve been pushed from pillar to post when I ask for clarification on a particular policy. We are told to contact the outsourced help desks sitting in Poland, KL etc. as HR in the business don’t seem to either have the time or skill to deal with local employees. What has Shell become?? Any advice please on how to deal with HR and actually get them to help me would be most gratefully received.
Pensioner 009, First, I am a long time user of this web Site myself. Second, I am sure I am not not the only one who has not taken kindly to his condesending and obviously inflated opinion of himself and his put downs of others on this site. His so called “advice” was more of an insult than advise. His “advice” to “primoregggazz” and his Range Rover were thinly disguised insults, not advice. This was not his first time to do this. If you like and respect him, that is your choice but I am sure there are others that do not agree. Read back on how primoreggazz responded to his co called “advice. I will not be commenting further on this issue or Musaint. those that respect his opinion and methods can read his comments. I will not.
Musaint, those who have been viewing this blog for longer than just a few weeks know you as a respected contributor, so pay no heed to the recent comments.
As to Shell Diesel quality, I got shot of my Disco years ago – far too unreliable always breaking down. For 5 years now my deisel X5 has run on nothing but Shell Diesel and is just fine.
I would more likely suspect contamination in the filling station tanks – possibly water in the tank. This is far more common than many people realise. Trouble is you only find out after you have driven away.
As for new formulations of diesel – that’s driven by EU regualtion – the UK should NEVER have joined.
When the GSAP project started up in 2003, we were soon drowning in Powerpoint slides. One image in particular stood out. It depicted the existing Legacy MI systems as a “house of cards”, on the point of collapse. And here was GSAP, to the rescue !
The next stage is well documented. GSAP got nowhere trying to replace the MI, and within 4 years had to be rescued itself. The saviour was a new MI project called “GPMR”, which curiously set off using almost the same methods and technologies that had just failed. You can’t keep a good “strategy” down.
3 years later, GPMR itself looks in need of rescue. Delivery to date consists of 2 humble ‘pathfinders’, both plagued by performance problems, and using different client technologies because of an architectural cock-up. The rising sense of panic is unmistakeable. Developers desperately clone whole chunks of legacy structure without really understanding it, while their seniors trim scope and push back delivery dates – in spite of which efforts, published plans still show GPMR finishing the rest of job (a magnitude more than they have done so far) in little more than a YEAR.
Meanwhile, the original MI (the “house of cards”) is still there. 7 years on death row have done some damage, but systems are still running and generally outperforming GSAP/GPMR. Almost nothing has been decommissioned.
Credit where it is due. 7 years of pitiful delivery would have sapped the morale of lesser teams, but GSAP/GPMR have remained true; true to the sense that “strategy” is what counts, not results; true to the belief that if you continue spending shareholders’ funds for long enough, success will one day come your way. And they are still on-message: open a GPMR 2010 slide pack and you find the original 2003 “house of cards” graphic is still there !
I am sure we were all suitably impressed by your condescending attitude and your bragging about your car. Frankly, sir, if you are trying to impress folks, you might want to try a different tactic than condescension and bragging.
Oh yeah, you do not help your credibility by bragging as most who do that do it to cover their shortcomings. From the way you write, i am convinced you must have many to cover.
Well my poor little munchkin (EXSF), my comments were aimed at someone who (a) spouted on about poor performance with a Shell product, for which I merely asked some questions to help understand his problem, (b) on his response & pontification about having a Landrover tractor, merely explaind what car I had and that it had improved with the Shell product. We don’t all dislike Shell on this website.
Musaint, it is only fair to tell you that the reason I found your remarks offensive was your clear strategy of casting aspersions on others comments. You give them no respect at all by casting aspersions on the intelligence of people you do not even know. I am giving you the same respect that you gave them. If you want your comments to be respected, then you should try treating others with the same respect you might want. Right now, you seem like a Shell Troll to me.
Forgot to add that my car is a Audi Q7 V12 TDI. It’s well tuned and runs on Shell. Any time you want to test your tractor against a Shell run vehicle please let me know.
Just offering advice – fact is that others, like myself, have found the Shell product extremely good. Mine is a well serviced vehicle – is that your problem perhaps?
MUSAINT – what on earth are you on, if you haven’t got any decent advise to add…don’t comment, yes i do have a diesel motor, if i would have filled up with unleaded, the motor wouldn’t work, surely any dimwit would know this! decent car? well i think my landrover discovery tdv6 hse is a prestige model, not some run of the mill family car that you probably drive…..with reference to 3-4 tanks to work the shell fuel out of the system, well my landrover mechanic filled his range rover up with bio fuel and that took 3-4 tanks of normal diesel to clear out the the bio fuel so it was an approximation!
I have worked in Nigeria and the much used expression there was: ‘You pay small dash, finish palaver’. I see this still holds true. But I am not certain whether this palaver will disappear. The country as a whole is simply too corrupt and all the poor citizens are victims.
One summer, I worked for Shell Chemicals – making No Pest Strips and Flea Collars. Management said the ingredients were harmless. But once a week – all the employees would line up for blood tests – and one or two would be told to stay home for a week.
Even 40 years later – I’m super sensitive to insecticides. My body swells up if i’m near fly spray.
You can’t imagine the toxic clouds that emerged from the machines when they broke down on a hot summer day.
Well “primoreggazzo”, I can only offer up some suggestions to your problem. (1) make sure you really have a diesel and not an unleaded car, (2) make sure you buy a half decent vehicle – this could be your main problem. That said, who said you would need 3-4 clean tanks to solve the problem – some cowboy garage?!? “I have refilled the tank after almost running empty” – that’s plain stupid you should check the fuel guage!! My car has absolutely no problem with this product, infact its performance has improved dramatically.
POSTED ON BEHALF OF “primoreggazzo”: I have recently filled up with Shell diesel……landrover discovery tdv6 …….the motor doesnt like this fuel at all…..i have re filled the tank after almost running empty…..still sluggish and erratic……apparently its gonna take 3-4 clean tanks to work its way out of the system………do not use bio diesel or this new shell diesel if you have a landrover
#348Golden Triangle Watchman on Aug 19th, 2010 at 4:14 am
Well Uncle Tom has shown up now over here at PAR. I guess the mourning over his demotion is now over. He is able to get the Funk to cut off the alarm clock in the morning and they both ride to work to save the day at Port Arthur. Tom, look deep in the mirror, keep looking, deeper… and listen to the voice that keeps telling you that you screwed it up… the whole gulf coast… people’s lives… because of your controlling ways and the fact that the RVP job was over your head….. Now you can manage the Funk…. have Funk tell little boy Forrest and the brit on the project how to eat the cabbage. You and Jeff deserve each other…. I would just watch the knife in his hand and make sure it doesn’t end up in your back…. remember you taught him well.
Boy I can’t wait to see how you finish up doing SPI-100 on PAR since that became your passion over the past few years.
I know that I have commented on this age old story about Shell selling their Rajasthan acreage before (this story and my comments are probably like a cracked record), but, the issue should be put at the doorstep of 2 Shell individuals – namely Messrs. Wildig and Parsley. I know I have been corrected by somebody previously, but, these two individuals killed off Shell’s E&P presence in the sub-continent (that includes Pakistan which has also proved a money earner for Premier Oil). Probably the Swiss inbred & nodding-donkey Bichsel signed the final death-knell for the sub-continent but Parsley and Wildig were the real culprits. Why oh why was an idiot PE (Wildig) by background given the responsibility to defend exploration decisions?? Hard-nosed that he was, I liked the genuine ability of someone such as Murris to decide on entry or exit on a country. The likes of Bichsel / Parsley and most especially Wildig had absolutely no idea.
Musaint, ‘Geismar thingy’ is probably across the pond from you in the southern US. Just not the same morale and energy as there once was. Probably still a better place to be than many other Shell sites. Some of the most committed folks in the organization are disappointed by some leadership decisions.
What, where, is this Geismar thingy that a number of posts are moaning & minging about. Must be a lousy place to work if there’s so many mingers “working” there!!
Useless PTL, I think that the recent change in VP leadership is important. some other things that are important:
1. Some newer employees do not have the respect for Shell and the work ethic that we once knew at Geismar.
2.Some first line leaders are playing the destructive,force ranked competition game and believe in it. The top rated folks are thriving, and love it, no-one else is inspired. This ONLY works in sales groups or piece-work production.
3.Some of the key folks who really understood and believed in the culture of which you speak, have been removed.
4.Some folks currently in key leadership roles,do not believe in that culture, or have no idea of what we are talking about. “Task oriented supervision is better”.
5.Some of the changes in recent years have been good for the site. It would be critical to not destroy all of the changes for the sake of ‘a better culture’.
6. Many of the supervisors currently in place were selected because they are more capable of task supervision and have no idea of what empowerment of their work teams looks like.
I think that your question goes much deeper than this; just wanted to share some thoughts.
hey geismar gator, history says, many were given over-extended periods to qualify, or to ‘get comfortable’, or to re-take tests and walk-throughs. It doesn’t matter what race you were. Technicians in training are now being held to more standardized, specified time frames to demonstrate progressive success in learning and skill development.
For the Geismar Folks…. Do you feel that the “culture” at Geismar will return to what it has been in the past, or is the damage too deep to reverse itself??? I personally see no benefit in staying at a plant that treats supervision the way that we are treated in Geismar. Are the Motiva sites any better? Is there any place in the organization for someone who actually cares about his direct reports and not climbing over the backs of his peers just to get to the next grade??? If so, someone please point me in that direction, I fear that Geismar is a lost cause…
Agree 100%. A Japanese log carrier built in 1965, with a drilling package added in 1975 is not exactly the state of the art in drilling vessels (and I’m sure the cabins don’t measure up to Norwegian standards of luxury!). But I’m also sure it’s cheap (if 300K/day is cheap?). Maybe with the cancellation fees Frontier Drilling (owned by Shell and the Carlyle Group at the time the contracts were awarded) will be able to afford a refit – after ten years it’s well overdue.
#356POSTING BY FORMER SHELL EMPLOYEE on Aug 11th, 2010 at 9:17 am
I seems to me that there is one Royal Dutch Shell subsidiary that is well acquainted with the stringent and successful Norwegian ‘rules of engagement’ for drilling and production in the North Sea and Arctic. That would be Norske Shell, RDS’s Norwegian subsidiary.
I am certain those folks can operate in the US Arctic far more competently and safely than Shell USA’s Gulf of Mexico ‘run and gun’ gang. And I am dead certain Norske Shell would never approve of Shell USA’s current choice for a drilling operator for their Chukchi exploration campaign.
Shell USA spent $2 billion on leases and now apparently wants to use an obsolete, but refurbished ‘rust bucket’ to drill their exploration wells to ‘save a little money’. Why not contract a Chinese rig? They are ‘dirt cheap’ (if they don’t sink).
Seems to me Royal Dutch should think seriously about how it staffs and manages its US Arctic exploration effort. It may be time to import some operational and managerial competence. It could pay huge dividends down the road. One screw-up on the part of the ‘junior varsity’ and the gig is up.
Just a thought from a former Shell Oil USA employee.
hey justthefactsmaam i guess you represent the historic geismar family. You know how it goes out here in geismar. If you are part of the family you get the best training and all the time you need to qualify. You even get unlimited chances at taking the test. Black technicians don’t get the same treatment. Blacks have a certain time frame to qualify and a more diffucult time during training.
Absolutely False, While I agree David G. is a clown, the two technicians in question were dismissed because of their competency. It has nothing to do with their race, in fact, if the truth would be told they were hired because of their race. The people who should really be terminated are the people in HR who hire some of these “slugs” and send them to an operating unit, where they arent capable of learning and performing the duties of an operating technician. Then someone like a David G. is forced to make a very tough decision, Fire a black tech. or let his/her continued incompetency reflect on his performance.
This is a lose/lose for a Mgr. But in these two cases David G. made the right decision.
Geismar Gator, word is that the first one of which you speak did not receive due process;he/she was even held accountable in a job they were not yet qualified in.??? The word out there also has it that this most recent one of which you speak, just could not meet the requirements, and that due process was followed, via progressive discipline process. If the ‘fly on the wall’ has this wrong, please share it here.
racial tensions brewing over in geismar, David Gates is at it again this time a one of the only four black female technicians is his victim. That’s two black technicians in a year. There’s also been other problems with blacks not gettin promotions over here also. I guess you can say another one bites the dust.
CORRECTION TO MY LAST POST
an important correction to my use of the word retribution. The statement should have read: Forced ranking is subject to favoritism and RETALIATION, not retribution..
CorporateHR, too bad Mr TP will take this as a move in his favor. It seems unfair for those whose lives were changed, some after 30+years of service, that TP gets moved around instead of out. Severance payments do not replace the additional years that some would have worked. Reduced Pensions do not compensate for the years of life that were given to Shell. Retirement and financial plans and goals were destroyed for some. My personal opinion is that there is no reasonable cause for the way that some of these staff reductions were executed. Many team leaders that were terminated were far more effective than some that were kept. Forced ranking is subject to favoritism and retribution. RE SR, hopefully what he has experienced since he left Geismar has helped to prepare him for this challenge.
Word is out on the street….. Tom purves moves back to Port Arthur to take the lead on the project, rathweg replaces Tom, Farid moves to west coast, and unbelievably a Mark Byrd takes the helm at The flagship. My thoughts….. Clearly a demotion for Uncle Tom but he won’t look at it that way. This is where he wants to be, buried deep in motiva central where he can hide out in a small office on Savannah with his little tea pot barking orders to funkhouser and helping(?) out. Trust me uncle Tom doesn’t look at this as a demotion. He just gets to drop his knapsack off full-time now in the apartment with Jeff and ride to work together instead of playing MLT boy. Big win for uncle Tom. Re rathweg, good move for Steve but boy he has his hands full…. This isn’t geismar. Uncle Tom leaves him the keys with 4 years of baggage and mistrust. Also uncle Tom has been clear that he thinks Steve is a doofus saying it public ally many times. No love loss between these 2. Now Steve on his trips to port Arthur has to get in the middle of Tom, Forrest, and da funk on issues. 3 is a company 4 is a crowd and Steve will see first hand what that relationship looks like. Re farid, he gets to move home to the west coast so he is happy…. Not sure his Martinez replacement will find it the same way. Re bird, ……good luck.
CorporateHR,thanks for affirming this for me. I would have been shocked to hear if the SR that I knew had compromised his values and morals.
Some very welcome news just out on reassignments of SR and TP will help to re-instill some trust, collaboration and energy in the gulf coast sites. Too bad this took place after we suffered through TP’s rank & yank slaughter. Those who no me will probably recognize me when I say that the dedicated, energized morale that we once knew can only be returned by rebuilding the reciprocal loyalty that TP’s tactics have so efficiently destroyed. The biggest challenge for SR will be dealing with TP’s minions that have been advanced and rewarded for their subservient dirty work under TP. They are still in place and the working folks in the organization will have a hard time being inspired by these cowards that they have watched execute the humiliating destruction of the personalities and lives, of the first line leaders that they respected and admired.
Hopefully the adage, ‘good Shell, bad leaders’, evolves to ‘good Shell recognized bad leaders’.
…..bad leaders will ultimately destroy an enterprise…..
Bware….. These 2 men are 2 totally different men and everyone knows it. SR tries to lead thru his people the right way. TP never will have a f2f discussion as he is not comfortable with conflict, yet he will write a book in an email. TP is also a long lived control freak who gets lost in the details trying to make decisions. Those that are his minions such as j funkhouser, Forrest lauher, Jim hart sock, etc all know this and just march to his beat because they prosper. Funk has done so many incredulous things he ought to be in jail. TP allows him to get away with it and so does the HR leadership. SR has more credentials as a leader than TP will ever have and clearly more morals. Shell can double it’s profits but it can’t run from the lack of leadership currently happening.
on Feb 8th, 2012 at 12:12 pm
With all of this money spent on the CEP expansion, it has been built on an old electrical infrastructure. I guess no one is counting how many times you read about a “short” electrical outage at the plant. Tom Purves and the Motiva leadership know exactly why this is happening and how to fix it. They don’t want to pay for it. They have been given the project and have turned it down at least twice. Meanwhile, we just keep having outages. Going ot be interesting when both refineries come down in the future.
on Feb 7th, 2012 at 3:54 pm
LondonLad: the lack of stories concerning Shell should be welcomed, if it implies that Shell are cleaning up their act, perhaps due in part to the efforts of the Donovans.
on Feb 5th, 2012 at 6:49 pm
US Observer, surely almost all (NOT all)contributors to this website have an axe to grind against Shell, particularly those who have a perception that they have been screwed by Shell in times gone by. As for Itchy Woman, she clearly has a femanistic / burn-the-bra approach to work in Shell. AND I would like to add that once again an old old article (from someone who has an axe to grind against Shell) has to be republished due to lack of news against Shell (I refer to Briggs 2009 article). COMMENT BY JOHN D. Would it not be fairer to say that everyone posting on this blog, including you, has an axe to grind. It is easy enough to look back over your contributions and reach a conclusion.
on Feb 4th, 2012 at 6:11 pm
It is easy to figure out who Witchy Woman is (LC). She has an “ax to grind” and is using this forum
on Feb 4th, 2012 at 10:07 am
@uscitizen
Voser is a competent and amicable chap. You claim Shell has delivered on its deliverables. Let me tell you everyone delivers on their deliverable…. But joking apart, look at the promises over the years and how well Shell has delivered on these promises. Their trackrecord is not very good over the last 15 years or so. They are a good money making machine. And sofar they have delivered on their constant or increasing dividend payments. Sometimes by increasing their debt but they have done it. A nice high oilprice has helped, don’t you agree??
So my only observation was that his ‘promise’ to extend North Sea fields is quite opposite their activities in this area. And they have promised this before and done the opposite. It was a nice promise to build a new and expensive office in Aberdeen, more jobs for the UK and more activity and extending of production. Just check back what they have done.
And predicting future productionlevels by Shell in general and Brinded in particular is nothing but a sick joke.
on Feb 3rd, 2012 at 11:10 pm
To – an observer of Shell
Shell has been delivering on its deliverables – why would you paint Voser as some one who is not??
on Feb 3rd, 2012 at 11:08 pm
This was not a personal attack now was it Witchy one??
#133 Witchy woman
on May 8th, 2011 at 1:42 pm
Marvin Odum who probably has the worst safety record in Shell goes for a diversity vote and someone who has no safety experience to replace the VP of safety he just fired. Clear message where his priorities lie.
on Feb 3rd, 2012 at 11:06 pm
Witchy Woman – you blase me for personal attacks???? That is so rich! I am defending people that are attacked if you had not noticed – and yes I do slam the folks who are throwing garbage out! Live with it!! Enjoy your retirement! Shell has a good retirement package in the US dont they??
on Feb 3rd, 2012 at 11:03 pm
I feel the value of your posts is also minimal, just a complainer. PS – here is where you bash Denise – remember – or do we need to question your integrity the way folks question Shell leaders??
Witchy woman
on Dec 7th, 2011 at 12:35 pm
In GOM we thought that hurricane season was done. Why is Hurricane Denise causing so much damage then? Like all Hurricanes though they move on the professionals are left to pick up the pieces.
on Feb 3rd, 2012 at 5:03 pm
According to the Independent article posted today the boss of Shell is telling us all not to get too emotional about fracking. Has he not seen the confirmation that fracking causes earthquakes? You have cited the Reuters article. There are others including coverage of a fracking earthquake in Blackpool England. I have to conclude that Voser is a fracking idiot.
on Feb 3rd, 2012 at 6:03 am
Good morning John. I read this morning in Barrons that Lynn Elsenhans is now the ex-ceo of Sunoco. The public announcement by Sunoco, here,
lists her accomplishments as selling assets, shutting down plants and getting out of businesses.
on Feb 3rd, 2012 at 12:16 am
US Citizen
Thank you for your unsolicited feedback. It was typically of zero value.
I think you need to learn how to read before commenting.
I don’t see any mention of Denise there, and as far as I am aware Deepwater would appoint the VP.
Typically you have it wrong again and incidentally the new appointment is great. If it was Denise, she did well.
Maybe its about time you left as you contribute little apart from personal attacks.
on Feb 2nd, 2012 at 2:02 pm
Is Voser now also being jinxed by the famous Brinded spell? This decent and down to earth Swiss financeman is trying to tell the world that Shell will increase production from North Sea fields by extending the life of these fields (Sky Sunrise interview). I am taking bets with some friends this will not happen. All observable actions by Shell is that they are retrenching from the North Sea. Voser emphasised that there will be a lot of job creation in the UK….. Now, where have we heard this before????
And he says (Bloomberg story):
‘Shell will increase production to about 4 million barrels of oil equivalent a day in 2017-2018. Last March, it said daily output would rise to 3.5 million barrels this year and 3.7 million barrels by 2014′.
Promises, promises, promises. This translates into bonuses and a bit later in ‘new insights’ or other factors that could not be foreseen. I give it to him he is not as audacious as Brinded who predicted 7-8 years ago that Shell would be doing close to 6 mln bbl/d around now.
I am not calling the man a liar. I would not dare to with his army of lawyers in Shell. But how should we call someone who ‘not speaketh the truth’?
Shall we keep it as ‘tarred with the same brush as Brinded?”
on Feb 1st, 2012 at 12:33 pm
US Citizen, you are probably right. I expect it will be higher than the $10b I shared. Everyone over there knows that Motiva has had a spinfest on the information. Contractors have been told to shut up and not report the facts. That is what happens when the Tom Purves came back and took over. Everybody knows it. You are a suck up and everyone knows that too. I’m glad that you remain oblivious, even to the day that Shell reaches up and drops you over the cliff like they have done so many in the last several years. Shell….good people and crappy leadership. We all know it!
PS… Stay tuned for the Purves retirement announcement coming soon to a garbage can near you!!
on Feb 1st, 2012 at 1:00 am
Uncle Tom – your data on CEP at Port Arthur costs is wrong – so stop spreading lies. Just quit if you are that unhappy.
on Feb 1st, 2012 at 12:56 am
To Witchy Woman – get off the Denise Rants. She is a very talented hard working woman of integrity. Not every HSSE position needs to be filled by HSSE career folks. In fact – folks with line experience, which she has, are in a very good place to lead HSSE organizations. I did and did just fine. You are just an unhappy person who is mad you or yours did not get that job, give it up and let the biased outsiders do their shell bashing, not shell people who are simply bitter at their lot and should realize how darn lucky they are. Or – please quit and become a shell outsider – might help us both out.
on Jan 31st, 2012 at 7:19 pm
Having read that the former RBS-CEO, Fred Goodwin, has been stripped of his knighthood by UK authorities. Makes you wonder if and when Sir Phil Watts will stripped of his one. No doubt Phil’s selfish behaviour at the helm of Shell did more harm to the industry and private investors than Fred.
on Jan 30th, 2012 at 2:42 am
Are there cases where UK employment lawyers have won against shell? REPLY BY JOHN DONOVAN: Don’t have knowledge of any such case, but I recommend you to a lawyer who has sued Shell many times on our behalf. Four High Court cases for IP theft and breach of contract. Two for libel. All settled by Shell with damages and all legal costs paid. The lawyer is Richard Woodman, a partner at Royds Solicitors, 65 Carter Lane London EC4V 5HF Tel: 020 7583 2222. Richard knows Shell well and all of the tricks of their legal department. Richard is head of Royds Employment Department and specialises in all aspects of employment law. He was recommended to me and turned out to be a great asset and kind friend in our years of successive legal battles with Shell. Thanks in great part to his dedication and expertise, we never lost a single case against Shell. Also had a great barrister team led by Geoffrey Cox MP QC, a courtroom orator who verbally bashed in open court a High Court judge who was blatantly biased in favour of Shell. Judge forgot to declare that his life long friend had Shell as a client. The judge also had an undeclared commercial connection with Tom Moody-Stuart, the barrister son of Sir Mark Moody-Stuart, the then Shell Chairman. By coincidence, or otherwise, the Judge shocked the legal world by unexpectedly resigning after we had made a formal complaint to the Lord Chancellor. The Judge joined the aforementioned friends company, which worked for Shell. Apologies for rambling on.
on Jan 29th, 2012 at 5:38 pm
I hope we get an SE/SD professional as the new VP of Deepwater SE/SD and not another import to a senior position.
on Jan 28th, 2012 at 6:19 pm
Old Timer – I am afraid that there clearly is very little news (i.e. aspects of Shell’s work) for the Donovan’s to rant on about recently. A great deal is re-printed as though it’s new but is merely old stories and anti-Shell propoganda that is old history. Yes, we learn from history but we don’t have to regurgitate it repeatedly. The lead story today linking Shell with Jewish skin lamp shades is really gutter press and totally deplorable nonsense from the Donovan’s. REPLY BY JOHN DONOVAN: You are entitled to your view. Considerably more evidence is being accumulated as a result of many newspaper archives from Europe and the USA, and books as far back as the 1930′s, all being made available and searchable online. In a few months time, we will publish all of the additional evidence. Those who are interested will be free to read it. The evidence is overwhelming. It includes information and documents from Shell’s own archives, which Shell was concerned would come into our possession. We have Shell internal communications obtained by us under the UK Data Protection Act revealing Shell’s anxiety at this prospect. As indicated, Shell has threatened legal action in relation to this subject. We are 100% confident that for obvious reasons, no action will be taken. We are not talking about allegations, but historical fact. Deterding/Royal Dutch Shell pumped funds into the Nazi regime for many years and Shell continued to do so after Deterding resigned as Director General. Deterding remained a Shell director until the day he died in Nazi Germany. He had a Nazi funeral attended by Nazi officers and senior Royal Dutch Shell officials. A personal message from Hitler was read at the grave. With regards to the hideous lampshades, Royal Dutch Shell was in bed with the conglomerate, IG Farben, in the manufacture of synthetic gasoline, which fueled the Nazi war machine. The close relationship involved other questionable collaboration between Royal Dutch Shell and IG Farben both in Germany and worldwide. An IG Farben subsidiary, Degesch, manufactured Zyklon B, the poison gas used at the extermination camps. IG Farben used slave labor sourced from the concentration camps. Shell was run by a Nazi. In the Nuremberg trial, Directors of IG Farben were charged with being members of the SS. Some were found guilty of war crimes.
on Jan 27th, 2012 at 1:14 pm
John
Great stuff to re-post some historical events in Shell. It shows that your network has mostly been spot-on predicting what was wrong and what would happen.
It also shows how long a big company can continue on a substandard level and still do reasonably well. Could it be that a high oilprice has helped a bit?
I remember that evil Watts still very well. He has gone completely silent the last few years, exactly what can be expected of a small minded man. Presumably he is working his Japanese garden and repenting in his home church, trying to buy absolution and still hoping not to go to hell but instead a very long time in the purgatory…. I fear in vain!
It would be also be nice if you could dig out some old records in which the man with the facial hair (aka Mr TFA) has been promising increasing production levels and if I am not mistaken, he even projected more than 6 million bopd to be reached about now. But he never delivered and still is on seat!! He has been at it for some 15 yrs or more by now. In the past we learned faster in Shell but then there was less fear and more decent people at the top.
Keep the good work up!
on Jan 23rd, 2012 at 2:22 pm
SHELL EXPECT US: REPLY TO WILLIAM TELL BY JOHN DONOVAN. We have exchanged email correspondence with you. As I believe I have pointed out to you previously, if you supply any Shell internal emails, we would insist on giving Shell sight of the emails before publication of the emails or any related information. It is our normal practice to give Shell the opportunity to comment on authenticity unless the information comes from a trusted source.
on Jan 18th, 2012 at 5:46 pm
Well, well – if anyone wishes to get a flavour of what is possible in the wild west of Ireland I suggest you watch the wonderful John Michael 2011 film “The Guard” starring Brendan Gleeson. Anything & everything is possible out there.
on Jan 6th, 2012 at 11:56 am
Are we to understand that the violent conduct we witnessed on Irish newsreel shots from Corrib in Mayo were fueled by Shell supplied alcohol to Irish policemen …tell me no …innocent decent people protecting their homes
on Jan 6th, 2012 at 11:40 am
John saw your reply it all happend ok problem is the Hague is now in charge of the situation all Irish corrib staff have been silenced four people have been let go over their part any one who speaks or produces evidence will suffer big time the cops who got the booze are watching from the sideline also in silence hoping for a clean outcome . If it was all exposed the project be stopped that came from the horses mouth Shell .
on Jan 6th, 2012 at 10:38 am
I am ashamed by the conduct of Shell HR in the Anti Discrimination case. As a company we should honour these issues. The mentioned HR rep (Van Barlingen) in the article did much more damage to Shell’s reputation by her cold reply and non-action.
I truly hope that senior HR management will overrule this decision and decide in favour of Mr Gatti.
on Jan 6th, 2012 at 9:16 am
Mr Donovan are you aware that a one thousand euro reward is on offer in Mayo for the name of the supplier of large amounts of alcohol to local Garda on behalf of Roadbridge Shell. REPLY BY JOHN DONOVAN: I have seen the various allegations and comments posted here, but no evidence. If anyone has any evidence to support these allegations, please sent it to me: john@shellnews.net
on Jan 5th, 2012 at 12:04 pm
Still criminal offence to bribe Gardai Rb who supplied it? next you will say you didn’t pay for home improvements or will you ?
on Jan 5th, 2012 at 11:12 am
Roadbridge supplied no booze to Garda on Corrib others supplied it Roadbridge were told to pay for it get your facts right jp
on Jan 4th, 2012 at 11:47 pm
Corrib Project comments from G Hamilton not correct Roadbridge Shell main contractor supplied large amounts of booze to police protecting the project now the press have a hold of the story and panic has set in….oh what a tangled web we weave when first …etc ect
on Jan 4th, 2012 at 11:18 pm
Roadbridge Shell main contractor supplied booze in large quantities to cops on the corrib frontline now cops in a panic because press have a sniff of it cops not pleased with Shell
on Jan 4th, 2012 at 7:42 pm
In in response to George Hamilton, Shell Corrib have bigger problems than Gardai gifts. The lead project planners RPS have informed Shell that every land owner agreement they have could be deemed to be invalid because certain landowners got special disguised extra payments by way of cash, home improvements..etc… whilst the rest got the bare minimum for access to there land. The Irish Shell CEO is gone over this matter.
on Jan 4th, 2012 at 6:35 pm
Shell Corrib Gas Project losing the much needed support of the local police force. By leaving them in a very embarrassing position over Illegal Christmas gifts. Heads are rolling Peter Voser CEO now involved – Shit is hitting fans everywhere
on Jan 3rd, 2012 at 12:55 pm
John D, Someone should tell Mr Wallach of Beaumont enterprises that the Motiva project has long surpassed the $7B dollar price tag. This project will come in north of $12b, 2 years late and is being tagged as one of Shell’s worst projects. The project would have been killed by both partners of Motiva but too much money had been sunk into the effort, notionally $4B, to walk away from it.
on Dec 24th, 2011 at 6:43 pm
We would like to wish all visitors and contributors a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
on Dec 22nd, 2011 at 7:54 pm
The Bonga spill obviously is unforgiveable. A relatively young facility should not leak oil. But the disaster as mentioned by many journalists will be minute. It is light oil and most will evaporate and disappear before hitting the beach.
In 1979 there was a spill of another magnitude: the bottom of tank 6 had dropped out in Forcados. There was 1 meter oil in the terminal and Bert Ockeloen, the General Operations Manager flew over it the next day and stated: I may lose my terminal so break the wall and flush it into the sea. We talk of 100,000 tonnes of Forcados crude. Fortunately it was in the middle of the rainy season, there were no spark arrestors on the export pumps and the oil was lapping at the base of these…. God took a kind eye on Forcados that day. After flushing the lot into the sea, it all disappeared within weeks. Not a trace to be seen. Some small money and fish was given to local villages. Only the channel used to move the oil to the sea remained polluted and was cleaned up many years later. It all was possible because there was a military government suppressing the press and life was good for Shell!
So, bad marks for spilling oil on Bonga but it is not the end of the world. Nigerian bacteria are very strong and will eat it all up!
on Dec 20th, 2011 at 2:41 am
I absolutely love your blog and find the majority of your post’s to be precisely what I’m looking for. Would you offer guest writers to write content in your case? I wouldn’t mind producing a post or elaborating on a lot of the subjects you write regarding here. Again, awesome web log! REPLY BY JOHN: All are welcome to submit articles for publication, relating to Shell, this website, its owners and related matters. Does not matter if the content is positive or negative. Any allegations must be substantiated with evidence. Links can be inserted. Please note that we will not allow the forum to be used for advertising purposes.
on Dec 8th, 2011 at 7:59 pm
What the hell are you two talking about with these hurricanes? Just hot me thinks.
on Dec 8th, 2011 at 5:21 am
yes Witchy Woman, and just like after a hurricane you can pick up the pieces, but the casualties are gone forever
on Dec 7th, 2011 at 12:35 pm
In GOM we thought that hurricane season was done. Why is Hurricane Denise causing so much damage then? Like all Hurricanes though they move on the professionals are left to pick up the pieces.
on Dec 2nd, 2011 at 3:47 pm
So Golden Triangle MAN – Lets assume Purves and Smallwood are as bad as you say and assume that the project execution was lacking – over budget and overschedule, one editorial comment for you – I assume you would have known how to pull off the most complex US refinery project in the last 50 years with better results – but you do not seem to grasp the magnitude and size.
Having said all that – you state – ” Because of the decisions of Motiva leadership, and Tom Purves in particular, this project could have done so much more for the city of Port Arthur. They decided not to.”
Decided not to what? How can any one debate that this Shell investment – late and overbudget, is a huge coup for Port Arthur in jobs and tax base?? How?? More permanent and contract jobs for years and years? What on earth are you doubting about that. Look in the mirror and realize your hatred for Purves is clouding your view on the long term big picture.
on Nov 30th, 2011 at 11:40 am
Read this Shell spin…..
When Motiva Enterprises completes it’s epic expansion project, the Port Arthur facility will not only be the largest refinery in the nation, but will also serve as a blueprint for other companies to accomplish similar feats.
“This is the first major investment of this scale in 30 years,” Nick Smallwood, expansion project director, said Tuesday.
Smallwood and Tom Purves, a former Port Arthur refinery manager and now Motiva vice president were guest speakers at the Greater Port Arthur Chamber of Commerce, where they updated those in attendance on the project.
“This is an exciting time. We are getting to the point where we are completing construction and getting ready to start up,” Purves said. “We are looking forward to the next few months when we can hand you the keys to this huge economic engine.”
Purves returned to Port Arthur to direct the integration, startup and commissioning of the world scale project.
The only blue print that this project creates is one of how terrible leadership can impact the viability and success of a project. This will be one of shell’s worst projects ever. Because of the decisions of Motiva leadership, and Tom Purves in particular, this project could have done so much more for the city of Port Arthur. They decided not to. As soon as this project gets close to completion, Smallwood will get the heck out of there and Uncle Tom Purves will be retired. He didn’t get brought back to lead the start-up effort. He doesn’t know how. He flooded the plant with his cronies to protect him. This project will come in well over budget and 2 years late. How can that be a footprint for an “epic project”? Unbelievable propaganda by Ms Rutherford.
Tom, enjoy your retirement. I know we all will!!!
on Nov 25th, 2011 at 2:48 pm
Fracking will be good for South Africa, especially since it will provide plenty of gas that will displace expensive imported gas. I have heard that there will be in excess of 2500 jobs from start up of the project, a vast majority of whom will be South Africans. All-in-all a good piece of business for the country despite all the negative press provided, in the main part, by ill-informed and people with political agendas.
on Nov 24th, 2011 at 10:52 am
Fracking in the Karoo by Shell how is it a good project for South Africa? How many people will be employed on the project?
on Nov 3rd, 2011 at 5:03 pm
Thanks John for sharing the Nigeria spills link with us. It brings back happy memories from the old days when I was involved in many of the wells that are now being sabotaged or are failing. From the photos it is clear we should thank Huub van Engelshoven who decreed that Shell would use solid block trees even on land. Normally these are used offshore but he knew way back to not rely on good maintenance and honest nigerians. Solid block trees are much more sturdy than composite trees. The extra costs must have paid off. But now there is a genuine mess for a whole host of reasons. Nigeria needs to sort itself out first methinks.
on Oct 31st, 2011 at 1:27 pm
Oil players told to toe the line to earn licence to operate (Brunei Times)
EXTRACT: OIL and gas players must toe the line if they want to secure a licence to operate from the government, the energy minister yesterday warned as he scored Brunei Shell Petroleum Sdn Bhd (BSP) amid allegations of irregularities in the tender process and for not fully contributing to local business development despite its long presence in the Sultanate.
In a speech at the Brunei Shell Vendor Forum, Minister of Energy at the Prime Minister’s Office (EDPMO) Pehin Datu Singamanteri Colonel (Rtd) Dato Seri Setia Dr Hj Mohd Yasmin Hj Umar urged oil and gas contractors to strictly observe the government’s policies on local business development, business integrity and safety. “They are essentially the ingredients for licence to operate,” he said.
on Oct 31st, 2011 at 1:26 pm
ALSO FROM THE BRUNEI TIMES:
Zero tolerance on corruption
EXTRACT: Energy minister voices gov’t displeasure over transparency issues at Shell vendor forum:
QUESTIONS on business integrity, transparency and checks against corruption in the relationship between Brunei Shell Petroleum (BSP) and contractors have surfaced…
on Oct 30th, 2011 at 3:16 pm
“Sucking up” (as you put it) to potentially massive new emerging markets (e.g. China, India & Brazil) is exactly the way to go for any company. I am also sure that a great majority of Shell’s shareholders (myself included) want this to happen – why allow the likes of Exxon, BP etc. to do this and not Shell?
REPLY BY JOHN DONOVAN: I am sure most will agree with you, but in the case of China, is it prudent to inject huge funds, as we are all doing, into a regime with an abysmal human rights record, which is vastly increasing its military power, including naval forces and its nuclear arsenal, and has acted recklessly in pursuit of its ambition for orbital weapons? I guess we are all hoping that the Chinese government and its aggressive military will decide that it would not be prudent to destroy its customer base, bearing in mind that almost all consumer goods these days seem to be manufactured in China. Wal-Mart is probably its best customer. Greatest respect and affection for the Chinese people, but its leaders are another matter. Remember Tiananmen Square. Remember Tibet. Is it morally correct to deal with governments who have no respect whatsoever for human rights?
on Oct 28th, 2011 at 10:53 am
Verna leaving to go to Bechtecl would surprise me. She knows how bad Bechtecl is and have been on this project. The only reason Bechtecl is still around is due to the relationship between Riley Bechtel and the Saudis. I hear Funk will leave in the dead of night, which tells me Uncle Tom isn’t too far behind with his retirement. You can bet he will take care of his little boy. As for the article on timing, just like Shell….. Everyone knows that the project is 2 years late. They continue to push start-up dates into 2012. Everyone involved with the project knows it is a bust. I’m now hearing numbers in the $11-12b range. It has gotten so bad that the Motiva folks won’t even share the cost numbers with anyone. The contractors feel that Motiva doesn’t want to hear the truth and that is fine with Bechtel. What a shame! Uncle Tom, I hope this is what you were looking for. I hope they include Tom’s severance package in the cost of the project and just do us all a favor and dump him. Give him his big retirement party so all the old Shell cronies can show up and tell their good stories and act like none of this matters. Tom, you stink, have stunk for awhile, and everyone I talk with over here in PortArthurville looks at you as a plague. Your are spoiled meat and no one will align with you…… except Jeff. You 2 deserve each other.
on Oct 27th, 2011 at 2:12 pm
To Par Cepper & Triangle Watchman: I hear that Purves and Funk have now aligned thoughts on Motiva for project reduction. Means Rutherford could leave Port Arthur for Betchel. Good news eh!
on Oct 25th, 2011 at 5:05 pm
The Americans really are THE bully boys of the planet. What right do they have to have legal jurisdiction over what happens elsewhere on the globe, particularly when the plantiffs are not American. Yet another example of Nigerian’s trying to get a fast buck.
on Oct 23rd, 2011 at 10:29 pm
Comment received in response to the article: Will Malcolm Brinded be attending the funeral of his friend Gaddafi?
Maybe Brinded’s not going to the funeral but is he going to be the next Chairman of Network Rail?
(Name and email address supplied)
on Oct 23rd, 2011 at 1:13 am
PAR Cepper, trust me, I know what I’m talking about. Uncle Tom is the root problem. Funk is just hanging on. As soon as they get rid of Tom due to a failed project, some say one of the worst ever in Shell, Funk will be gone quietly….. Lauher has already been dumped.
on Oct 21st, 2011 at 9:51 pm
triangle watchman: you don’t know what you are talking about. Funk is about to strike and you are still on about Uncle Tom. The problem really is that there too many druggies on the work site. Gee what a mess.
on Oct 20th, 2011 at 7:53 pm
“Dr. Goodluck Diigbo points out: “This is a tricky clause in the report, which can create confusion and grounds for the usual excuse by Shell not to fulfill its obligation to the Bodo people. I think this is why a critical review of the report is imperative because it is already sowing seeds of conflicts within and between the Ogoni people and their neighbors. I hope that others would not claim what is not theirs”….The Community listed are the original owners. I think SHELL and the Ogonis used the sympathy they (ogoni) enjoyed to intimidate Bolo people into silence… I am aware that SHELL and Bolo have been court for 25 years now
on Oct 19th, 2011 at 2:41 pm
Message to Monday N.K. We have received your comment criticising Shell’s conduct in the Nigeria Delta. Unfortunately we cannot decipher some of the points you are making. Can you please resubmit it after seeking help in re-drafting so that our readers can understand what you want to say.
on Oct 15th, 2011 at 9:14 am
Good to see that Shell (SPDC) has a website that reports on oil spills in its operational areas in Nigeria. Covers operational oil spills, theft, sabotage and other illegal attacks. Clearly shows that each year between 2005 and 2010 the very large majority of oil spills is from sabotage (despite the twaddle coming from Amnesty, environmentalists and Nigerians with an axe to grind with Shell). Even the Dutch newspaper “De Telegraph” has praised the website.
on Oct 14th, 2011 at 11:37 am
Re the article of Motiva getting funding from the Enterprise funding, Unlce Tom Purves and the Motiva leadership knew exactly what they were doing. They had the same game plan with the city of Port Arthur and the tax abatements. They showed all the upside of the Crude Expansion project with promises of 300 new jobs and a bunch of local commitments for local workers. As soon as they received the Enterprise funding and the tax abatements, they let Bechtel bring in workforce from outside the area. Re the 300 jobs, they did not include the many jobs they were cutting in the base plant, forcing retirements and reducing positions…. all the while advertising the new jobs for the new sections of the expansion refinery. A shell game to say the least and shows the capability of Shell’s senior leaders, especially the one Tom Purves, who no longer has a career. He is just hanging on until the last few checks are signed for this elephant of a project, now ballooning to over $10BILLION. A reminder that Tom promised it would not go a penny over $8.5BILLION. My my my… if you want details on this one, just ask Ms. Verna Rutherford…. Remember Tom……. I’m watching……
on Oct 8th, 2011 at 2:28 pm
Zebulon John Egai: the only one that can fix this is your own government. So to all Nigerians, revolt against your own corrupt government and try to get a rule of law in your beautiful country. Once that is achieved (more or less) the rest will improve too. After all the demonstrations in arab countries, it is now time that you guys start this too in Nigeria. Only Nigerians can fix this. As long as you have that massive corruption (at all levels) life will be hell for everyone.
on Oct 7th, 2011 at 11:56 am
shell and its partners, in niger delta, have violated united nations framework convention on climate change, GAS FLARING is regularly going on,who can help us. thank you.
on Sep 15th, 2011 at 7:00 am
Hey dutchdude, good point on survivors of indiscretion in shell ranks. But let lowly team leaders push back when managers are disingenuous and we are swiftly severed. There is no justice. Even if SR restores some of the morale and spirit; nothing will compensate those whose spirits were disgraced after being subjectively ranked then terminated. What self-appointed organizational development ‘guru’ convinced whom that this was a way to improve the Culture? 1.5 x 1y pay was an insult to those who were not given a choice. I guess the only remaining hope is that karma or God and the heavens, mete the ‘justice’ deserved by the ignorant souls who enacted this heartless process! As detached from the current conversation as this may seem; please consider my comments as further example of how Shell seems to contort Priorities!!!
on Sep 13th, 2011 at 4:44 pm
To retiree: No sir, I don’t want any more fatalities or spills in Shell. The sad fact is that inside Shell and outside as a society we have become too foregiving to inferior HSE performance. Who still blinks an eye when 1 person is killed in our business? The HSE staff use a matrix that only when more than 3 or 4 are killed the incident becomes major. The BP oil spill showed that even such a worse case scenario is survivable for the company and most of its senior managers. How many BP managers lost their jobs over that incident? Reality is that the oil industry is building up for the next Piper Alpha, (many current managers don’t even know about that incident anymore; outside UK this is a fact). Dear retiree, we want the same. No fatalities, no big oil spills and no more managers who get away with it all….
on Sep 12th, 2011 at 2:46 pm
Sorry Itchy woman I have no idea who you are talking about! I am sure most other readers of this site have no idea.
on Sep 11th, 2011 at 5:59 am
Macannon, you know very well who I am referring to. The Ego has landed in Houston.
on Sep 4th, 2011 at 1:44 pm
Probably due to the fact the boss was a woman “Twitchy Woman”? That said, what are you referring to and where are you referring to?
on Sep 3rd, 2011 at 3:24 pm
So, no-one wants to work in HSE then. Strange how only two people applied for a senior position. I wonder what caused that?
on Aug 30th, 2011 at 11:22 pm
As some commentators have said, abandoned and old fashioned facilities and pipelines exposed to the oil surface that they become impacted by natural agents (sun, rain, etc)will definitely leak and spill most oil considering the chain of pipelines in Ogoni. More importantly, reports have it that $hell staff and government officials, the Rivers State military taskforce and buyers from outside and within the state are behind this oil bunkering, which has been only few year in operation. By and large $hell and the government are still the culprits, because they use outdated, exposed materials and hungry youths in the community to still get this oil, while pretending operations in Ogoni have been stopped.
on Aug 28th, 2011 at 4:09 am
dutchdude’s comment: “Unfortunately this UK spill was too small.”
So you would prefer that the North Sea take on a 5 million barrel spill to prove a point?
on Aug 25th, 2011 at 8:42 pm
Oldtimer, you are too forgiving towards Glen Cayley. His HSE record is truly terrible, and one wonders how many chances a senior managers gets in Shell to demonstrate he is incompetent in manageing safety? Seems Shell needs a “BP moment” to wake up, as they did not (want to) learn from the BP spill at all. Unfortunately this UK spill was too small.
on Aug 25th, 2011 at 4:55 pm
So according to this sites main headline pipeline sabotage prevails yet again in Nigeria. Seems like these so called “disaffected” youths are in the same category as the yobs, layabouts & benefit cheats that rioted in the UK recently. Poor little things. No excuse should be made for these saboters in Nigeria who cause the vast bulk of the oil spillage in the Delta region.
Yes John I do defend Shell’s record in Nigeria for the most part. No oil company is immune from error (neither are individuals). They have provided an immense amount of money to communities for many many years, unlike the Nigerian Government and Tree Hugging Societies. The latter lot are just there to cause mischief and justify their own presence.
on Aug 24th, 2011 at 7:41 pm
Macannon: As I said, if the wells had been properly suspended or abandoned, and the flowlines and infrastructure cleaned and removed (in accordance with standard industry practice – especially in Holland) there would have been no corroding, leaking, flowlines and production facilities, and no possibility of leaks due to corrosion or sabotage. Whether or not sabotage took place, corrosion alone has resulted in the release of huge quantities of oil in Nigeria, as it did at Gannet. The facilities and flowlines in Nigeria were left full of oil. Over the years most of it has leaked into the environment.
on Aug 23rd, 2011 at 12:23 pm
Outsider, I have never stated that saboteurs were responsible for the Gannet leak so like others on this website you should not exaggerate or add words to what has been stated. It is the amount and impact of the leak that is important and it is this that may well have been overstated to get a story or prove the “value” of tree hugging groups. Your statement concerning wells and flow lines etc. being left filled with oil – is that substantiated with hard evidence? I stand by my initial statement, the major problem with pollution in Ogoniland lies with the Ogoni’s who have sabotaged the infrastructure. COMMENT BY JOHN: Reference your last sentence, blaming the Ogoni as the major problem with pollution in Ogoniland, is it not fair to ask, where is your comment substantiated by hard evidence? It also seems appropriate to ask, do you defend Shell’s overall past and current conduct in Nigeria?
on Aug 23rd, 2011 at 9:47 am
Macannon: if the wells in Ogoni land had been abandoned (or properly suspended) and the surface flowlines and infrastructure removed, there would have been no possibility of sabotage. Instead, wells were left filled with oil and gas under pressure, as were corroding, leaking flowlines and production facilities. Whether or not sabotage had taken place, corrosion would have ensured that large quantities of oil and gas would leak into the environment, as happened at Gannet. Or perhaps you prefer to have us believe that the Gannet leak was also the work of saboteurs?
on Aug 22nd, 2011 at 2:31 pm
Question is Outsider are you, WWF, Greenpeace or anyone else able to say how much has been spilled? Wait until the correct numbers have been ratified by the authorities. As I said earlier the likes of Greenpeace are often way out with their numbers as they know very little about the subject. As for Nigeria (particularly Ogoniland) most of the problem is not from (ex-Shell) wellheads but from damaged pipelines. For damaged read sabotaged by locals for their own gains. Please provide evidence of widespread negligence by Shell in their responsibilities in Ogoniland for securing wellheads. Indeed wellheads, flow lines & other facilities in Holland, Malaysia etc. etc. were adequately sealed. HOWEVER, these countries did not have the saboteurs that caused the subsequent pollution. As ever with Nigeria the cancerous corruption prevails and do-gooders and tree huggers jump on the band wagon as they have little or no knowledge about the subject. All they can see is an opportunity to bash an international company. Let’s see them attempt to blast the Nigerian Government – result would be that they got nowhere.
on Aug 22nd, 2011 at 12:52 pm
So Cayley feels the inspection and maintenance programme let them down? This would infer that changing some ink on paper will fix the problem.
Now Glen is a nice fellow and a geologist so he maybe forgiven for being so ignorant. I would expect these farcical statements from HR folk but not from petroleum professionals.
I bet that the inspection and maintenance programme is a very good one. Developed and improved over many years and checked by the outside agencies. The management of this programme however is clearly lacking. And management is made up of people. And people can be hassled in doing the wrong thing as long as you scare them sufficiently.
Brinded, who set the scene many moons ago with his insisting on processes rather than common sense, has created an army of frightened drones who always agree with the boss and are happy if a series of boxes can be ticked off so all will be well. Those drones have also blindly followed the TFA policy of Brinded. And being an ex Exxon guy, Crayley knows all about following orders. The mistake he made is to think the orders from his current bosses are of the same quality as in Exxon.
on Aug 22nd, 2011 at 12:31 pm
Macannon – are Shell really able to be so precise about the volume of the Gannet spill, or should their figures be considered as comparable with the 5000 barrels/day of the initial MMS press releases on Macondo. In Nigeria, as elsewhere, the operator (Shell) was responsible for securing their producing wells and infrastructure when production was stopped. The pollution which occurred after Shell stopped production was only possible because Shell failed to fulfil its obligations. It is striking that Shell did not leave leaking wells, corroding flowlines and collapsing production infrastructure in Wassenaar or Schoonebeek when they stopped production from the fields.
on Aug 21st, 2011 at 4:32 pm
At the end of the day the very small amount of oil allegedly leaked (“estimated at 218 tonnes”) will disappear very rapidly and cause very very little damage to the environment. Of course now Greenpeace (they of the over statement of Brent Spar pollution!!!!!) will continue to exagerate volumes (as will others) to the extent that the entire Gannet Field reserves have leaked into the North Sea. It really is that time of the year when there is so little news to report on. Ho Hum.
on Aug 20th, 2011 at 7:31 pm
Outsider it seems to me that you’ve read way too much into what Veritas said in his post. He didn’t say that since it was stopped after 10 days all was OK. As for Nigeria you appear to have joined the uninformed Tree Huggers in accusing Shell of the pollution. A vast (yes vast) majority of the oil spills in Ogoniland post date (yes post date) Shell’s involvement in the area. Sabotage by Nigerians who want to steal the oil and also get damage money are the primary causes.
on Aug 20th, 2011 at 4:14 pm
Veritas: you seem to be implying that because Shell have finally managed to stop the flow after 10 days, then everything is OK? How long must a well flow and how many thousands of tonnes of crude oil need to be released into the environment before a problem exists? I guess the Nigerian leaks should not really be a problem either – it’s only a matter of a few thousand barrels of light, sweet crude after all.
on Aug 19th, 2011 at 11:11 pm
John, I normally appreciate your site for its neutrality, but it’s clear now that Shell’s North Sea leak is fixed that at least two of your “experts” you cited in your August 16 post, and possibly all three, were very very wrong. I think you have done very well in the past verifying your sources, especially the chap from Malaysia, but the folks cited that day were full of hogwash and speculation. Other than that, keep up the good work. REPLY FROM JOHN: Some people might be surprised at your assessment that we are neutral in relation to Shell. As to your other comments, stay tuned. More information will emerge shortly about how far Shell can be trusted in relation to the safety and integrity of its North Sea Platforms. The information, includes a recent document supplied to me on Friday by the HSE offshore division. It is a letter from a very senior UK government official sent to a senior person at Shell Exploration and Production. We will put the letter into the public domain and also bring it to the attention of relevant U.S. regulatory authorities and Alaskan state senators.
on Aug 16th, 2011 at 4:32 pm
Suggest you put a different picture on your lead story concerning Shell still being in Syria. I’ve got one of Assad if you want one. REPLY FROM JOHN: Appreciate the offer, but have found one, unless yours is more appropriate. Thanks.
on Aug 12th, 2011 at 4:52 pm
Boy oh boy, part 7 sure has a lot of very lengthy argumentation but in honesty (and I do have Shell shares) I read nothing in there that really convinces me that you should continue to rattle on about some connection between Deterding and Hitler. An alledged connection that happened some 65 years ago. I really believe you keep this on the “front page” as a form of tabloid press titilation. Come into the present and concentrate your continued sniping at Shell based on the present system. REPLY BY JOHN: You are entitled to your view. Considerably more evidence is being accumulated on an almost daily basis, as a result of many newspaper archives from Europe and the USA, and books as far back as the 1930′s, all being made available and searchable online. We will publish all of the additional evidence. Those who are interested will be free to read the evidence, which is overwhelming. It includes information and documents from Shell’s own archives, which Shell was concerned would come into our possession. We have Shell internal communications obtained by us under the UK Data Protection Act revealing Shell’s anxiety at this prospect. Shell has threatened action in relation to this subject. We are 100% confident that for obvious reasons, no action will be taken. We are not talking about allegations, but historical fact. Deterding/Royal Dutch Shell pumped funds into the Nazi regime for many years and Shell continued to do so after Deterding resigned as Director General. Deterding remained a Shell director until the day he died in Nazi Germany. He had a Nazi funeral attended by Nazi officers and senior Royal Dutch Shell officials. A personal message from Hitler was read at the grave.
on Aug 12th, 2011 at 2:33 pm
John, Regarding your response to “Austria1″ that you do not believe that current Shell management sympathizes with the Nazis… If this is indeed the case, why are you so affixed on this topic. “The past is the past”, there are enough present issues that you could direct attention towards. Why do you “live in the past” ? REPLY: A legitimate question. The answer can be found here: Royal Dutch Shell Nazis Secrets Part 7: Why does it still matter?
on Aug 11th, 2011 at 6:27 pm
I have read with concern that the current Shell management sympathises with Nazis. Is this correct? REPLY BY JOHN DONOVAN: I have not read that and I am sure that they do not.
on Aug 11th, 2011 at 5:50 pm
The comment that “SPDC has not produced oil in Ogoniland since 1993″ (from Andrew Vickers) reafirms my point that all subsequent oil spills (last 18 years) have been caused by sabotage from the Ogonis themselves. In many cases encouraged by the village elders and MOSOP leaders. Their aim? To get large amounts of money from Shell et al. About time these people were held to account and not Shell. I am also amazed that Shell is still responsible for these pipelines if they no longer produce from the area, surely the Nigerian Government is now responsible? This is certainly the case in the likes of Malaysia where Petronas takes over full responsibility where a company has stopped production (yes I know, and made the well heads etc. safe) and relinquished the acreage. Heh ho no doubt it’s the age old problem of mega corrupt senior Nigerians seeing an easy way to fill their Swiss bank account, likewise lawyers (most being the leach scum of this earth) and tree huggers thinking they’re doing good (idiots).
on Aug 9th, 2011 at 11:43 pm
Get over the alias thing John, or start calling out 95% of your posters. Be consistent – is that not what you ask of Shell?? Live up to the standard you ask others to live by! SMH: REPLY BY JOHN D: The vast majority are not as personally abusive or blinkered as yours self-evidently are, as can be confirmed by glancing through your record of postings here. I have the courage to post outspoken comments using my real name. You do not. Since you make more postings here than any other visitor and are by far the most outspoken – a self-proclaimed Nemesis – it really is time that you worked up the courage to reveal your real name? What’s the problem? What are you afraid of by coming out into the open? If you have told us the truth about accepting gifts/hospitality from Shell suppliers, I am sure you have nothing to fear. With a deluded outsize ego like yours, how can you bear to remain anonymous? Don’t forget to supply a nice colour pik along with your name.
on Aug 9th, 2011 at 11:41 pm
Right John – do hot share your background data, cant share that – but clearly ID the person with your links. Swell job of high integrity posting. Get that point! Of course you will tell us you have lots more facts, can not share them, but I can tell you who it is with my links! Wow – crazy that you can not see that behavior is shady and that if Shell did something like that, you would call out the lynch mobs. Trust us, we have more data, but we can not share it!! REPLY BY JOHN: Same reply as previous: Your analysis of the situation was based partly on an inaccurate assumption. You are unaware of the background facts. I have not revealed detailed content of extensive emails on this matter with an insider source, emails to the Fat Cat in question, nor my entire related email correspondence with a top lawyer at Royal Dutch Shell, Michiel Brandjes. I have nothing further to add at this time regarding the allegations other than to say that I have to be rather more careful than you in what I say, bearing in mind that I do not hide behind an alias, as you choose to do.
on Aug 9th, 2011 at 3:35 pm
That’s right Goodluck Diigbo you weren’t given N10 million, it was probably more like N20 million. The MOSOP organization is well known for it’s corruption – again, where does all the money they ge in various compensations? NOT to the Ogoni people who are hoodwinked into believing MOSOP is doing them good.
on Aug 9th, 2011 at 6:05 am
I hope the county commissioners understand and more importantly the people of this area understand the implication of supporting this pipeline. Besides the environmental effects, this pipeline will take jobs away from the precious Sabine Neches Waterway.
A pipeline project that could create thousands of American construction jobs and lessen the country’s dependence on foreign oil is getting attention from Jefferson County, and could gain the approval of it’s leaders.
At Monday’s County Commissioner’s meeting a resolution concerning the TransCanada Keystone XL Pipeline Project is on the agenda for approval.
on Aug 8th, 2011 at 11:30 pm
Wow – a new low – no facts – just unsubstantiated claims by someone with initials that match the initials of someone else and John is willing to accuse a shell “fat cat” of sexual harassement and having affairs. You keep topping your self John. Show me how this is fact based reporting? But you only post facts right John? Shell does something like this and you add this to our eveil portfolio right John? Geez, give me a break. You indict your self over and over, making this way too easy John. Evil huh?? REPLY BY JOHN: Your analysis of the situation is based partly on an inaccurate assumption. You are unaware of the background facts. I have not revealed detailed content of extensive emails on this matter with an insider source, emails to the Fat Cat in question, nor my entire related email correspondence with a top lawyer at Royal Dutch Shell, Michiel Brandjes. I have nothing further to add at this time regarding the allegations other than to say that I have to be rather more careful than you in what I say, bearing in mind that I do not hide behind an alias, as you choose to do.
on Aug 8th, 2011 at 4:57 pm
I bet that of the “potential” £250 million that Shell might have to pay Ogoniland some £249.999 million will go into the Swiss & British bank accounts of the few Ogoni “chiefs” who will be laughing their heads off at the stupidity of the world courts. When will people learn that these “chiefs” get their minions to sabotage the pipelines (they don’t care that their own people get killed in the process) then wait for the lawyers (who themselves make a fortune from the courts) to lay blame on anyone they can. Why isn’t the Nigerian Government in court being accused?
on Aug 7th, 2011 at 1:30 am
Refer to Shell Malaysia’s comment dated 24th July ” Their shared services centre (now known as Shell Business Services Centre) is a fine case study of how unsuspecting employees are hired, used and disposed. Long work hours, under incompetent team managers, guarantees quick turnover. Staff turnover at this entity has remained high for years….at one point, exceeding 40%. It is essentially a sinister tactic to keep costs low. Yes indeed…Finance management scored brownie points to save cost. The Shell bosses never have do their own claim, others always pay for them-so they donot know what is the actual situation. In IT, a new joiner now only gets his computer at least after 2 weeks of joining. In HR, they donot know even when a new arrival come anymore..or worst still, leaver left. All these are outsourced.
So the staff who are affected suffer. Staff claims takes months to get processed and sometimes lost in the sytem. You have great helpdesk who log your complaints and never come back to your rescue. However we would like to thank some excellent staff in the service centre who did an excellent job inspite of the long hours and low pay. They have since left. We wish them all the best.
It is really unbecoming of Shell to outsource these services ( more to come ). However it does prove that Shell reconginses their own processes are is too complicated and overhead is too high.
Let us advise Shell, there are many ways to cut cost painlessly. One quick win is to remove alot of those SEG/LC ( at least 30% )in the Centres who BS their way up. They do nothing but travel to their regions, creat work ( not value ). For now they are hiding behing the Quarter U$6.6bil windfall and good oil prices.
Voser – its easy to find them- they are the ones who collect all the nice stories and publish them in the SWW after your profit announcement. Some of these VIPs travel with their camera, go to plan their travel with family, go to places they have not been. The Opcos staff they visited all know about this. But because of the visitor’s seniority, they wont speak out as their IPF or progression would be affected. The turnover at this Management level is as low as 0.01%. Wonder why?
We know this is not what you have been told, The cost saved is used to fund the HR,IT and Finance Dudes in the centre.
Look at HR, IT and Finance..they are in such a big mess after the outsourcing. Be ahead of the trend, insource these critical and essential services back especially HR where it really matters. As this makes a happy work force who can generate more $$ for you. Donot take these away. SMN
on Aug 4th, 2011 at 10:44 pm
Go read the posts I have made where I state that all individuals and companies make mistakes, of course we have. No attempt to hide from that at all John, come on, read the posts and stop looking uneducated!!
ALL articles are gathered – sorry – not even close – but nice try!
Later -
REPLY FROM JOHN: You ask me to go and read your posts again. If you don’t mind, I would rather accept that you have already conceded on that point. Apart from posting articles ourselves (over 20,000 on this website) we pay for a live news feed of Shell related articles and take all that are gathered, irrespective of whether they are positive or negative in relation to Shell. That is a fact.
on Aug 3rd, 2011 at 4:50 pm
Ironical – oh that is sweet – that word should be your middle name John! Oh – I just love those old buried links from 2009 for a Wikipedia article, come on John, you can do better than that. Posted anything since then? All kinds of articles you can link to that are posted every week about Shell activities in the community. Love this – look at his lead in;
Royal Dutch Shell is responsible for many important initiatives in relationship to the environment, encouraging business start-ups, supporting charitable causes and other good works. With regard to the environment, Shell has however been accused of [1]greenwash“, betraying new energy future promises, and in March 2009,[2]announced its intention to abandon wind, solar and hydro power in favour of biofuels.
Shell does some good things, but they are accused of being greenwashers! Love it – John bent over backwards to try and show that Shell does some good things while being liars about their policies. Great job John.
Love it John – look at the tags of your posters – what percentage use their real name? Look at all blogs – find the real names. You should really be able to indentify with Delusional huh John. My Dad and I were wronged 40 years ago, so Shell is evil and that is all their is to it. Move on with your life, what is left of it fella.
Sure hope your good will continues to let me post, or you will be a censor – you have written about that before with respect to a certain company you allege does that, right John! You are so close to Shell that you know why we make decisions right John, ie Tell Shell! Go ahead and stop be from posting John, I would really enjoy the next step in that dialogue!
Signed your Nemesis – Lazy, coward, uneducated, delusional, misplaced loyalty Uscitizen. At least I am no longer evil or uneducated! Enjoy your day , I know I will.
Please excuse all typos and grammatical errors.
REPLY BY JOHN” More rantings from uscitizen who apparently is mesmerized by this website. As I recall, the RDS initiatives article that I authored contained all positive information. Some modifications were then made to provide balancing information because of comments made by other contributors to Wikipedia who alleged the article was biased in favour of Shell. Please point out any article anywhere else on the Internet or otherwise, containing so much information about the good works of Shell. All articles about Shell are gathered and appear on this website, irrespective of whether they are positive or negative in content. As to your threat about the next step in the dialogue if I fail to publish your rantings, what exactly do you think you can do to compel me to publish your comments? Finally, are you really so deluded that you do not accept Shell is guilty of ANY misdeeds? Was the reserves fraud an illusion? And what about the settlement of litigation arising from Shell’s human rights abuses and long term pollution in Nigeria? It appears that you only look at this blog and do not read the posted articles such as the one on the front page of the Guardian newspaper today.
on Aug 2nd, 2011 at 6:42 pm
John, I am still looking for your posts telling the world that Shell does good deeds, come on – post them again!! From your nemesis – a lazy, uneducated and evil Shell employee!! Please keep the compliments flowing. Did I have any spelling/typing errors – whew – I sure hope not – John might cast mean thoughts about my capabilities again!! I am so hurt! REPLY FROM JOHN: I just found it ironic that you castigated another person on this blog for making an “undeducated” post. I accept that your spelling errors were caused by laziness. Don’t worry, since you hide behind an alias to insult people, no one will be able to identity you personally. Is there any chance that you will ever work up the courage to make postings under your own name, as I do, taking legal responsibility for everything I say? You cannot claim with any shred of credibility to being my Nemesis, when you hide behind an alias and are entirely dependent on my goodwill to permit you to make postings on this website. Based on your overall postings, I do not believe that you are evil or uneducated. Delusional, perhaps. Certainly proud of the company you work for. There is nothing wrong with loyalty, even if sometimes misplaced. As to Shell positives, there is a permanent link: ROYAL DUTCH SHELL INITIATIVES
on Aug 2nd, 2011 at 6:37 pm
Thanks for the tip and for showing again the pettiness(sp??) that defines who you are John. I sincerely apologize for trashing your site with my poor speed typing skills! Trust me, I know how to spell these words! But the content of my comments got through just fine, you even seemed to be able to grasp them John and know what words I mis typed! Thanks for the help, but I am too busy to type in word, proof and then post, I will pass on your tip of the day. Got any more value added tips? PS – lazy implies you did not put forth the effort required for the job, the effort I put into posts on your site was just right. Nice try though! Keep living in the past and the future will pass you by, oh it already has, my bad.
on Aug 2nd, 2011 at 12:19 pm
Misspelling (or is that Miss Spelling, who actually cares) does not mean an uneducated post. (I have to say that it would help by having a larger “box” to comment in so that more of the typed sentence can be viewed and not located halfway down the page.) I have to agree with the comments from “uscitizen” concerning the repetitive, and now somewhat boring, link of Shell to the Nazi’s from over 60 years ago. I think it shows more about your mentality than that of present day Shell. It is also very clear that “shell malaysia” is someone with a major grudge against the company, perhaps sacked for under performance? Poor spelling? Shell continues to provide handsomely to the local communities throughout East & West Malaysia, above and beyond government requirements set in PSC’s etc. Shell cannot be blamed for the oppressive nature of the Malaysian system / government. Rather than quoting a load of legal court/case numbers, can “shell malaysia” please expand / describe what employees have been unfairly dismissed for? My experience with Shell is that dismissals are for pretty serious offences, most of which are included in the contracts that staff sign on joining the company. REPLY FROM JOHN DONOVAN: Shell used to have an internet discussion forum – “Tell Shell” – supposedly for uncensored lively and open debate. It had a nice wide space for each posting. As I have previously pointed out, Shell was caught secretly censoring postings. Shell then suspended the facility before it finally disappeared without trace. As to Shell’s historical association with the Nazis, no one is forced to read the articles and related evidence we provide. It is not compulsory. With regard to postings in the box, you can type your comment into a Word doc then copy and paste into the box. This would enable uscitizen to identity typing errors. Visitors can click on “All” at the top of the Shell Blog column to read the postings in a wider box.
on Aug 1st, 2011 at 8:08 pm
I know John – you would never imply anthing underhanded with your main page lead in stories on our alleged Nazi affiliations from WW2 about current leadership. Read your own posts where you say the behavior you post about WW2 still exists today. Right John?? And outspoken – your post of course made no sense. The hard working E&P folks do not have time for this, but they are of course the ones John is bashing the most fella! Make up your mind.
That is it, I am part of the Shell propganda bot! Just can not accept that there are many many good folks, all up and down our chain of command, who do things right to make this a good company. One that many many smart folks want to work for.
And Shell Malysia, if you really think my fellow employees acts of giving back to the community are part of a shell cover up, god bless your poor bitter soul, you have of course slammed many many good peoples intentions with your callous undeducated post. I know John, you have tried so hard to point out the good deeds of Shell, so very very hard. Keep it up John, we really really do believe you!! Right! REPLY FROM JOHN DONOVAN: You have the cheek to accuse others of making uneducated posts when you cannot spell uneducated (or for that matter, “anything”, “Malaysia” or “propaganda”). Or perhaps you were just being lazy? Senior management at Shell does still trade with the enemy – see Royal Dutch Shell Nazis Secrets Part 7: Why does it still matter?
on Jul 31st, 2011 at 2:03 pm
This is in response to the erroneous statement by ‘Macannon’ regarding unfair employee dismissals in Malaysia.
“I am sure that some (probably a majority) got their just desserts and are now merely joining on the bandwagon of some genuine cases.” – Macannon
Every case of unfair dismissal is sent to the courts by the local Labour Office in Malaysia. Only the local Labour Office can do so after investigating the merits of the case. The process is lengthy and costly for the employee who was unfairly dismissed.
Please read the details to avoid being misinformed. (Just Google ‘Malaysia Labour Department’).
Due to outdated employment laws, it is impossible for any employee to ‘join the bandwagon’. The dozens of cases of unfair dismissals of Malaysian employees is testament to how Shell is putting up a public show (via ‘works of charity’) while ignoring its own Business Conduct Guidelines.
Shell Malaysia’s modus operandi is very similar to the Ken Saro Wiwa case. When it is obvious that Shell is not going to win the case, it offers to settle ‘out of court’ just before the start of the trial.
Don’t take my word for it. Check the evidence.
http://www.mp.gov.my/ (Type Shell in respondent).
on Jul 30th, 2011 at 11:02 am
Some very fair comments from “Viktar” and “uscitizen” – all companies and people (including the Donovans) have their faults. The more you are in the public limelight the more you are able to be attacked. Shell does a great deal of good charitable work and projects that Governments (particularly African ones) should be doing them selves. Unknowledgeable idiots such as “outspoken” clearly have little or no close knowledge of the company or have a gripe against the company (lack of promotion, poor performance etc.). Why is it that if anyone praises Shell on this site he/she is classed as “fictional”, “shameless”, “grovelling” or “part of Shell’s propaganda organ”?? I think “outspoken” is someone who has a problem with Shell and cannot accept anything good said about them. Remind you of someone else?? REPLY BY JOHN DONOVAN: No individual has done more than me to highlight the good works of Royal Dutch Shell. I collected information over a number of years and included it all in a Wikipedia article “Royal Dutch Shell initiatives” providing many reference sources confirming the authenticity of the information. The article was deleted on the basis that it was biased in favour of Shell. I have previously stated that the vast majority of Shell employees are decent hard working people. My concern is in regard to the rotten apples who remain in senior management positions despite serious misdeeds, including for example, participation in the management of a rigged tender for a major contract (Tim Hannagan) or involvement in the cover-up (Malcolm Brinded). Tim Hannagan – currently Global Brand Standards and Performance Manager at Shell International Petroleum Company – was not the mastermind (Shell executive Andrew Lazenby), but he went along with the planned deception designed to steal IP information from several companies and stop them from approaching rival oil companies. Hannagan attempted in a subsequent Witness Statement to distance himself from the corrupted process in which the contract was miraculously awarded to a company that never participated in the tender. David Pirret is another senior Royal Dutch Shell executive with skeletons rattling around in his closet. All of these individuals are free to sue me if they dispute what I am stating. I still have the evidence. It still smells. For an independent view of Shell’s activities, including its horrendous record in Nigeria, this article is worth reading.
on Jul 30th, 2011 at 8:55 am
John, I saw USCitizen’s recent comments on your blog. This ‘gentleman’, if he is a ‘real’ person and not a fictional product of Shell’s propaganda organ, is living breathing proof that being a shameless, groveling suck-up apparently pays off big time at Shell. I wonder which part of the company he works for. Doubt he works for the ‘real’ part of the company responsible for finding and producing oil. Those folks are too smart and too well educated to swallow that kind of crap. Besides, they simply don’t have time for this nonsense.
on Jul 30th, 2011 at 6:56 am
Bad news, guys. I hear Funk is out but Koontz is in. Folks at Convent are goin to screem! Funk is a bad dude, but koontz is worse. His sneakyness is only surpassed by his union hate.
on Jul 29th, 2011 at 4:38 pm
Thank you for your post Viktar, but you will never be able to convince these poor Donovan folks that Shell and its people are anything but evil nazi lovers bent on destroying the world. I have shown repeated examples of good, but old man Donovan says, oh I am not bashing the people, there are lots of good people, just the company – he does not realize they are the same thing! There are many many examples of good – and I am headed out to one now, helping a shelter for battered women, with a lot of evil shell folks. Thanks again – and I am sure Donovan will have a rebuttal on your example on some ulterior motive we had. And if you say it increases our chances to make more money – guess what – you are right – and do things the right way! They do go together. We all make mistakes, people and companies. Key is to learn from them – and despite Donovans insistence – we do. I can hear the response now, oh well – we are proud of our company! REPLY BY JOHN DONOVAN: Please cite any comment or posting on this or any other website where we have made the comment you falsely attribute to us i.e. that Shell and its people are evil nazi lovers bent on destroying the world. People will be able to draw their own conclusions if you fail to provide an example. You will not be able to do so because we have never stated or implied that this is the case. That false accusation destroys any credibility you had here. I can only surmise that you have been too lazy to read what we have said in historical context about Shell and its Nazi past that the company would prefer to forget.
on Jul 29th, 2011 at 12:22 pm
Shell was helpful in coordinating a JV between I.M. Skaugen and InQtel called HUSH LLC.
It’s an enterprise aiming to stop piracy and terrorism on the high seas. It’s a good example of an ethical oil initiative. Not all oil news is bad news.
We installed the HUSH Hub on Norgas Carine almost a year ago, it saved crew morale, delivered security, and new revenue. Everyone is happier and safer. Now all of our ships have this equipment. All our crews are safer and we’re fighting terrorism and piracy.
We are offering the HUSH Hub to other maritime fleets and thereby doing our part to increase global stability.
Google: inqtel skaugen HUSH
Google: shell inqtel HUSH
on Jul 24th, 2011 at 5:03 pm
Shell entities in Malaysia have yet to prove themselves to be worthy employers. Getting a lawyer who deals with employment issues in Malaysia is hard enough, what more spending a decade pursuing your case in the courts. Only genuine employees who were unfairly dismissed would pursue this path.
The fact that the Malaysian employment laws, the product of neo-colonialism, favours the employer is good news for multinationals like Shell. A ‘gold mine’ of sorts. Most multinationals have been taking advantage of this for decades. However, Shell has taken it to a new low.
Their shared services centre (now known as Shell Business Services Centre) is a fine case study of how unsuspecting employees are hired, used and disposed. Long work hours, under incompetent team managers, guarantees quick turnover. Staff turnover at this entity has remained high for years….at one point, exceeding 40%. It is essentially a sinister tactic to keep costs low.
Shell Malaysia is where it is today thanks to the hardworking people that built it over the past 100 years. And what did they get in return ?
Shell’s mercenary tactics against its own people is well documented (refer civil cases in previous post and elsewhere on this site).
The question is, how many more lawsuits have to be filed before Shell cleans up its act?
Is it another Nigeria waiting to happen ?
C’est la vie!
on Jul 23rd, 2011 at 2:15 am
Shell’s announcement ( Reuter) of a Manufacturing JV Service company with a CNPC to avoid paying low value drilling is applaudable. However they are in the wrong business. They should leave to people who are good at it. It take years to perfect this. Shell expats who are highly paid and lack of business acumen will sure see the demise of the JV before it starts. Furthermore why Singapore? Trust me. Of course this is not important to Peter Sharpe as he has scored his brownie points, as usual ( capitalising on BP’s Macondo as well ) and would have retired and blame it on others like the CNPC Chinese.
Its not to late- Shell Voser- suggest you focus on your core business and aim at reducing your own Shell overhead and let the service companies do their work for you more efficiently. Dont leave it to Mr Sharpe.
on Jul 20th, 2011 at 5:37 pm
London Lad- the expats today are no longer the professional expats we have in the 70s/80s. The expats then worked very hard and are sincere in coaching locals. The expats today except a handful I am afraid knows nut.
We shall find out who is right soon. Why are IOC partnering with NOC everywhere? They see they no longer can survive by themselves. We shall see.
on Jul 20th, 2011 at 5:21 pm
I used to love working for Shell but no longer anymore as there is so much internal process and not enough external focus. I thought I am the only one but alas about 80% of my colleagues feel the same… we are tired and are thinking of leaving..before we leave. Suggest Shell to do a people survey and ask the above question.
on Jul 19th, 2011 at 11:48 am
Hey Shell team – Respect to you for having such an open comments policy. Shows you dont’ have as much to hide as some may think! REPLY BY JOHN DONOVAN: Sorry to say that there is a misunderstanding on your part. This is not a Shell website. “TellShell” – Shell’s internet discussion forum for claimed open and lively debate was first secretly censored by Shell, then “temporarily” suspended, then closed. This was because the discussions became too open and lively for Shell management.
on Jul 18th, 2011 at 10:37 am
Why were these Malaysians dimissed? Malpractice, fraud, poor performance etc. etc.? I am sure that some (probably a majority) got their just desserts and are now merely joining on the bandwagon of some genuine cases. Shelll in Malaysia is a good employer and a vast majority of their staff would agree.
on Jul 17th, 2011 at 2:50 pm
Unfair Employee Terminations in Malaysia
Despite being the world’s number one Fortune 500 company, Shell has a long way to go to comply with its own Ethical Guidelines.
The previously well respected company has taken the stand that if there are no local labour laws to protect its employees, then, ‘anything goes’. Unfairly dismissing employees is a rampant practice in Malaysia. It is so common, that Shell Malaysia has appointed multiple legal firms to defend itself. In the capital of Kuala Lumpur alone, it has appointed at least three separate legal firms to deal with the piling cases.
Unfortunately, these are only cases that went to courts. For every such case, there were many more that never reached the courts. The losers are not Shell…it is the victimised employees. Unlike Western countries, the only legal remedy Malaysians have is to go through the legal process, which sometimes take more than 10 years. Many victims don’t bother with this and just accept their fate and try to move on.
Employees are often bullied into resigning or given poor performance evaluations by their incompetent supervisors. Usually, the management needs a scapegoat to put the blame on. The lax employment laws in Malaysia makes it an ideal place for Shell to literally do as it likes.
The following are just some of the cases that are pending in the Malaysian Labour courts. (Claimants names removed to protect privacy). For full details of each case and findings, please go to the court website http://www.mp.gov.my/ and type ‘Shell’ in respondent. This is publicly available.
I would strongly recommend potential Shell employees to consider carefully before signing the dotted line.
Case No. 8/4-234/97
50 employees vs Sarawak Shell Bhd
2 8/4-406/97
4 employees vs Sarawak Shell Bhd
3 8/4-653/97
5 employees vs Sarawak Shell Bhd
4 8/4-8/98 Miss G vs Sarawak Shell Bhd.
5 8/4-166/98
5 employees vs Sarawak Shell Berhad
6 8/4-334/98
2 employees vs Sarawak Shell Bhd.
7 7/4-732/11 Mr K vs Shell Malaysia Trading Sdn. Bhd.
8 14/4-1996/07 Mr M vs Shell Malaysia Trading Sdn. Bhd
9 3(15)(3)/4-1461/04 Mr J vs Shell Malaysia Trading Sdn. Bhd./Shell Malaysia Limited
10 22(19)/4-2884/04 Mr N Shell Malaysia Trading Sdn. Bhd.
11 8/4-653/98 C & 5 others vs Sarawak Shell Sdn. Bhd
12 8(17)/4-770/00 Mr R vs Sabah Shell Petroleum Company Limited
13 1(15)/2-155/02 Workers Union vs SHELL Malaysia Trading Sendirian Bhd., SHELL Refining Company Bhd., SHELL Malaysia Limited dan Tiram Kimia Sendirian Bhd.
14 27(12)/4-851/02 Ms R vs Stesyen Minyak Shell Jana
15 12/1-357/04 Workers Union vs Shell Malaysia Trading Sdn. Bhd, Shell Refining Company Bhd, Shell Malaysia Limited & Tiram Kimia Sdn. Bhd
16 20(28)(12)/4-733/04 Mr A vs Shell Refining Company (FOM) Bhd.
17 8/4-1377/04 Mr H Sarawak Shell Berhad
18 17/4-2322/04 Mr A vs Sabah Shell Petroleum Company Limited
19 22(6)/4-2455/04 Mr J vs Shell Malaysia Trading Sdn. Bhd.
20 8/4-2607/04 Mr J vs Sarawak Shell Berhad
21 17(8)/4-2622/04 Mr Y vs Sarawak Shell Berhad
22 10/4-3272/04 Mr P vs Shell Malaysia Trading Sdn. Bhd.
23 20(13)/4-618/06 Mr M vs Shell Malaysia Trading Sdn. Bhd.
24 26/4-1017/06 Mr A vs Shell Malaysia Trading Sdn.Bhd
25 1/1-1329/06 Ms R vs Stesyen Minyak Shell Jana
26 11/4-1879/06 Mr M vs Shell Refining Company (Federation Of Malaya) Berhad
27 10/4-2258/06 Ms L vs Clamshell Dredging Sdn. Bhd
28 2/4-201/07 Mr V vs SHELL AUTOSERV MALAYSIA, A DIVISION OF CHAMP DISTRIBUTORS SENDIRIAN BERHAD
29 1/1-912/07 Shell Employees Union vs Shell Malaysia Trading Sdn. Bhd. Shell Malaysia Limited & Shell Refining Company (F.O.M) Bhd
30 20/4-307/08 Mr M vs Shell Malaysia Trading Sdn. Bhd
on Jul 14th, 2011 at 12:05 pm
Is there a career path in HSSE?
Only time will tell when we see who the new people are in these senior positions. Time to send the right message to HSSE staff
on Jul 7th, 2011 at 7:02 pm
Well Joe McBloggs I guess the problem is that key people in the Scottish authorities are more concerned with their independence from England than some old story about Shell.
on Jul 7th, 2011 at 2:52 pm
Why is it that the Scottish authorities are so lax when calling Shell to task? It has been many years since the two workers died on Charlie and it took the site of Donovan and actions of retired auditors to keep the attention going albeit at a very low level. Otherwise all would have been forgotten and swept under the carpet.
One almost would believe that many operators and members of the policeforce are member of the same masonic lodge and we all know that the brothers are there to help each other?
I bet that nobody in the UK authorities will ever take Brinded to task for his TFA policy and other hypocritic remarks on ‘Safety is our top priority’. It is disgusting. The feeling of justice has gone.
on Jul 7th, 2011 at 8:38 am
Risteard O’Domhnaill’s stirring documentary about the Shell Corrib Gas Pipeline controversy in Rossport, Ireland, shows a community’s fight against big business
The Pipe DVD is now for sale on http://thepipe.myshopify.com/ and Amazon in the UK and Ireland only, at £12.99 and €14.99.
on Jun 30th, 2011 at 12:56 pm
Read an article from about this time last year… wanted to share it with the readers of this site as it is becoming a prophetic reading…. Steve cleaning up the Gulf Coast. He has alot in common with the groups that helped BP last summer… except the scum he is cleaning up are bad leaders, not oil on the beach….. Tom, when does your time to come to get cleaned up and leave?
By Joe Blow
It was with some elation that I heard of Mr. Purves’ fall from grace with his superiors. In fact I popped the cork on a fine bottle of wine that I have been saving for just such an occasion. As I sipped my wine and imagined what must have happened, many theories ran through my mind, “Did Botts suddenly grow a brain”, “Did Williams realize what an idiot Purves was”, “Did Voser finally listen to the people”. Unfortunately for so many, this is a measure of justice, not the absolute Justice we deserve.
It is no secret to people who have read past comments posted on this blog, Tom Purves is rotten to the core. The destruction he has wreaked on the gulf coast is unimaginable. It has been mentioned that Tom will see this move as a reward, that is a clear sign of the delusion that he lives in. The remaining world can clearly see that Tom is being brushed aside so that he may be promptly blamed for the albatross known as “CEP”. I find it quite comical myself. When Forrest managed CEP it was failing from lack of management, Tom will cause a complete 180 and bring his signature style of micromanagement to the project which should accelerate the projects failure.
The important message in these moves is clear. Steve Rathweg is being sent in to restore some integrity in the VP role. The key for Steve is to understand the damage Tom has done in his time, to recognize the remaining threat that Tom’s minions pose, and to figure a way to neutralize and re-engage the people of the gulf coast sites that have been so severely de-moralized. Steve is a good guy and I expect that he is more than capable of fulfilling this tall order.
on Jun 28th, 2011 at 11:45 am
I wonder what value/reserves Shell will be attributing to last year’s multi-billion dollar shale gas acquisitions now?
on Jun 27th, 2011 at 8:01 am
The third company in the NYT list of shale gase producers is EOG Resources. EOG Resources is the new name for Enron Oil and Gas Company
on Jun 19th, 2011 at 4:04 am
Motiva paid him $3mm into CIDA. But trust me, he has no idea about the oil sands crude coming as Shell has kept it quiet until the pipeline can get approved. Everyone thinks it is Saudi crude that will fill up the CEP. It will be oil sands crude and all the environmental emissions that will come from it. John D should try and contact Hilton and get his feedback
on Jun 18th, 2011 at 11:26 pm
I wonder how much Shell has paid Hilton Kelly? He hasn’t said much about CEP.
on Jun 16th, 2011 at 1:22 am
I’m glad Shell refuted the statement re Saudi Aramco being the sole supplier of crude. As soon as the keystone pipeline gets approved, Shell will exercise it’s 50% equity rights and push Canadien oil right into Port Arthur. I’m sure my environmental buddies in Port Arthur are not aware of the oil sands crude coming to Port Arthur or they would already be screaming. There was another article that came out yesterday that stated that Saudi Aramco is pushing oil to China more and more. Get the facts straight or Shell will….
Oh and by the way, there is no way in hell that the project will be finished in 1Q 2012. Everyone knows it. Ask Shell for a retraction on that one.
on Jun 15th, 2011 at 4:46 pm
There’s a certain irony in Ann Pickard’s lecturing of the Australians. I believe her previous assignment included responsibility for Nigeria? Have her views on greenhouse gases really changed so significantly since she arrived Down Under?
on Jun 13th, 2011 at 5:50 pm
Watching Tom:
Also wanted to ask how are you guys doing with the Life Saving Rules. Are the whites being fired for breaking a life saving rule and blacks keeping their jobs like in Norco?
Wow – this site reaches new lows. Some of you Shell folks just need to take care of your business and stop trying rationalize things away. Geez, if you raise your kids like this we are in big trouble with the next generation. Have Mom and Dad handle any problems, its ok Johnny they are just picking on the (fill in the blanks) portion of the population. Give me a break.
on Jun 13th, 2011 at 5:45 pm
It’s a little odd that the news is dominated by the first (very small)shipment from Pearl, while Shell is invoking force majeure on very large volumes normally exported from Bonny.
on Jun 11th, 2011 at 2:33 pm
The article titled “Saudi Arabia will be sole source supply for Motiva Port Arthur” doesn’t tell the whole story over here that we see on the ground. Firstly, Saudi Aramco, during 2008, cut crude supplies to the US, and therefore Motiva as it’s largest supply base, and sent incremental crude to China, namely for better profits. Secondly, if Shell ever figures out how to get Canadian oil sands crude down to Nederland, the Arab heavy will back out pretty quick. Shell owns so much equity in the crude supply bbls for Port Arthur. A lot of stumbling blocks exist to finish the pipeline from Cushing down to the Gulf Coast. Until that time, I expect the answer is Arab heavy. When that pipeline opens up to the GC, you will see both oil sands and Arab crude filling up the crude unit at Port Arthur….
of course, that assumes that the infamous VPS-5 crude unit ever gets finished. The article talks about 1Q2012. Anybody over here with a real view on the ground knows the only thing that will be complete is the Coker. My my, the spin doctoring that Shell tries to do is sickening……
Has anyone seen Funkhouser lately? We don’t see him doing any work…..
on Jun 10th, 2011 at 11:57 am
It should be noted that Mr Jim Hartsock has now been placed in a role called Turnaround Manager – Operations Integration. He knows nothing about turnarounds nor operations. He only knows Tom. Tom Purves is a joke and continues to show the impact of his heavy hand on our site. There is no way that Jim Hartsock ought to even be here. Those in the know like Mr Steve Sanders understands how this played out. Steve gets a visit from Purves some time back and gets told that he will make a job for Hartsock. All the while, Tom is actively working to cut the throats of several people over here trying to make a difference and delivering severance packages to these people by adjusting their performance factors. Tom, time may move on. Your legacy doesn’t. It died with your credibility. We all now count the days when you are gone. Limp off into the sunset, with your tea jug and enjoy your wife and family. You have done enough damage here. And take Jeff Funkhouser with you. I hear he got into a little bit of trouble with the police over here and Tom helped send him to Saudi Arabia for a little bit of work to calm the issue down.
Keeping our heads down and waiting for true leadership to show up.
on Jun 9th, 2011 at 7:07 pm
Watching Tom:
Also wanted to ask how are you guys doing with the Life Saving Rules. Are the whites being fired for breaking a life saving rule and blacks keeping their jobs like in Norco?
on Jun 9th, 2011 at 7:04 pm
Watching Tom:
Please tell me you have met Mr Joey D, from NORCO. Funks right hand man. If you have not met him yet, you are missing a real treat. He is a Douche Bag. Funk pulled him out of Norco after he was given a manager job that he could not handle, got himself in too deep, and had to bale. Chances are if you see Funk, Joey will not be far behind like puppy. He is on special assignment (special project there) cause Norco had enough of him and he knew it. He is getting paid big bucks for nothing cause he is a piece of garbage. Talk about a chump. Before he was promoted, he could not even quality on the easy CR-1 job in Norco, had to go out on disability and sucked his way up the ladder after that. NO one likes him and he knows it. I am hearing they have enough of him there, I can only imagine. If you get a chance, go check out that snake, but dont turn your back on him, he is just a bad or worse than Funk or Tom.!!
on Jun 9th, 2011 at 5:21 pm
The people @ PAR understand it all.
on Jun 8th, 2011 at 6:51 pm
JEEEEEZ WatchingTom Purves can you please use some language that most people that use this site can understand. (e.g PAR = ? Funkhouser is who? Lauher =? etc. etc.) I am sure you have good intent with your rambling, but, please make it more understandable to the wider audience. I would suggest, for example, a bit more titilation (aka the Sun newspaper – that’s over the pond newspaper for you or aka the nonsense correlation STILL used as titilation by this website for Shell and the Nazi’s). To be quiet honest I have never seen such a rambling on this website with names that 99% haven’t got a clue who they are!!
on Jun 8th, 2011 at 2:24 am
Just a quick update from the little town called PAR…. As it has been well documented by now, Tom Purves has set up shop back over here in Motivaland after his demotion….. i mean transition back to PAR to quote “help get this project straightened out”….. never mind the fact that he has never ran a project of this size or anything comparable. So the very next thing that he began to do is try and suck up all of his buddies, which some call minions, to come help him….. The most notable chump is his main side kick Jeff Funkhouser. Believe me, he is staying low until he can slide out of town. All of Shell knows he is a joke…. yet the senior leaders of our company have let Tom have his way. The 2nd stooge, Forrest Lauher, just got ran off and will leave the site shortly. He should have never been given the project, was not equipped to be successful, should have been fired back in 2008 when they took the project away from him. He failed miserable as site leader for PAR and was finally found out. Funk, you will be next.
Now, we have an audit team come in from the Hague to review how our pipe module project went. The lead honcho for this part of the project, Mr Jim Hartsock, another one of Tom’s boys, mysteriously gets an opportunity to go to the NPRA in Denver instead of participating with the audit team. Can you imagine that one? Why would it be ok first of all for one of your project managers( re Hartsock, I say this lightly) to go to NPRA while this pitiful project tries to stumble across the finish line. Secondly, wouldn’t you think Jim would have useful information to share with the audit team? Where is Jim for his interview? “I’m sorry… he is in Denver at an NPRA conference….. Seriously Tom???? And who would Hartsock be meeting with in Denver….. none other than Jerry Crail of the infamous Tom Purves gang.. Jim, I guess you were setting up your next gig with Crail and the Upgrader outfit up north…… May be you can do better than you’ve done here…. This is the guy Tom saved from Tosco when they dumped him at Wood River. He got Crail to hire him at SGS, then made Quinn give him a job at Convent, and when Quinn finally got tired of him there, forced the PAR gang to take him in on the project. He gets assigned to watch the pipe modules at remote locations, all the while working from his home in St Louis….. and low and behold, the modules are screwed up….. Lots of questions that need to be asked…. Can’t get answers from Hartsock because he is in Denver following Crail around….. for some of us, this is getting really old Tom. Do us a favor, come clean, and retire. You are done man…. You are no longer da man! and haven’t been.
Shell execs who read this still….. find out about Jim Hartsock…. and while you are at it, look into Jeff Funkhouser…… These 3 are bad and need to be dealt with.
John D, why don’t you send these 3 an emil and ask about this one? Share their responses with us…..
on Jun 6th, 2011 at 3:21 pm
Me thinks JanBlauu that you’ve been smoking something you shouldn’t be smoking!! There is absolutely no way that IOC’s will disappear in 5-10 years or less. The likes of Petronas (very well trained by Shell & Exxon in the 70′s & 80′s) are good performers. Most others (e.g. those NOC’s in Oman, Venezuela, Indonesia & Nigeria) have very lazy incompetent local staff who remain still very dependent on the expat doing the work while they themselves cream off millions. Long live the IOC’s and the expats. Local staff need to get realistic with their dreams while at the same time thinking of theor country and not just their own Swiss bank accounts.
on Jun 6th, 2011 at 5:39 am
John- I think I know what Mirilad is talking about..in 5-10 years ( or maybe earlier), there will be no International Oil companies (IOC) and all the National oil companies ( NOC ) will be fully independent and contracting the service companies to extract oil/gas. Why need IOC as middle man? This is an outdated business model. Its time to replace the high overheads and expensive expats who do not add values but add costs. JB
on Jun 1st, 2011 at 11:59 am
well Mr. London lad, u seem to think all national oil companies fail…why not quote successful ones.. REPLY BY JOHN DONOVAN: Have not got a clue what you are talking about?
on May 22nd, 2011 at 9:43 am
REPLY TO “Google” and “Googler”: The reason why we have not published your comments/allegations is because to the best of our knowledge they are baseless and therefore seriously defamatory of the relevant third party. You are also wrong in stating that the relevant article has been deleted. It has just moved down due to the posting of new articles. We researched the background of the person in question and found nothing to substantiate your allegations. If you have any such evidence, send it to me by email and we will reconsider the matter. You want to make allegations hiding behind an alias using our facility, under our name. That is not something we are willing to do. We also note that you have submitted comments under multiple aliases, not just the two most recent ones. With regard to the subject of publishing allegations, our attention was recently drawn to an article published by Time Magazine: “The Caligula Effect: Why Powerful Men Compulsively Cheat.” We have decided not to publish the related allegations.
on May 22nd, 2011 at 12:16 am
An excerpt from the Port Arthur news at the end of 2010…..
PORT ARTHUR — As 2010 draws to a close, Motiva Enterprises is gearing up for a busy 2011 — the busiest time yet for the company’s expansion project.
“I got involved with the project a little over five years ago and now we have a little over one year to two years to go. There is light at the end of the tunnel and everybody is getting excited about start-up,” Forest Lauher, Motiva general manager, said Tuesday.
I guess that light at the end of the tunnel was a train for Forrest Liar.
The time has come to right the boat and get the bad leadership out of our site….. Forrest you are #1…… there are 2 more to go…… Jeff Funkheiser and Tom Purves……. When these 2 go, it will be a good day…… Until then, we have to feel good that the Shell senior execs have started to unwind this mess that was created by Tom….. Forrest, good riddance. Enjoy your slow boat to Houston….. Wonder how long that temporary assignment is going to be before they ship you out under the cover of the night. Good luck!
on May 16th, 2011 at 8:27 pm
John – Further to the comment by Anonymous. I am not arguing if Shell did or didn’t get involved with the Nazis. I used to be a frequent visitor to this site but rarely visit anymore since you seem to be totally obsessed with Shell’s Nazi involvement. This is very old news and it is time to move on to news and topics that are more timely. REPLY BY JOHN: Thanks for taking the trouble to comment. The focus on Royal Dutch Shell’s Nazi past will be expanded with further facts resulting from more research. Other significant developments are in the pipeline. This is not a subject we have any intention of dropping, as will become abundantly clear in coming months. If you find the subject so objectionable, simply ignore it and just stick to current news and events, which are still covered. Someone is interested because site traffic has increased, not declined, since we highlighted Shell’s close association with Hitler and the Nazi party. Nothing staggering, but still well over 2 million hits every month.
on May 15th, 2011 at 6:16 pm
John, this growing obsession with Nazism is trivialising of other people’s suffering and has nothing to do with Shell as a company at all. It is, frankly, a bit weird. It is also immensely hypocritical to accuse Shell of insensitivity while expropriating the suffering of others in the service of your personal crusade. REPLY FROM JOHN: It is absolute nonsense for you to claim that Shell as a company had nothing to do with the Nazis. If you read the book “A HISTORY OF ROYAL DUTCH SHELL” authored by historians paid by Shell who were given full access to Shell archives, you will see for yourself that Shell had a great deal to do with Hitler and his henchman. Shell pumped funds into the Nazi coffers. The evidence is confirmed and expanded by a variety of independent reputable sources, including numerous newspaper reports. You seem to be in complete denial.
on May 8th, 2011 at 10:55 pm
John,
I saw the article stating that a blow in the Artic from one of Shell’s propose wells would not produce more that 9468 bbls/day.
Who is the manager and/or PR moron at Shell that released that statement? 9468 bbls/day, max. Really? You don’t say? That level of accuracy and precision impossible to obtain. How about you folks at Shell trying again to come up with a ‘meaningful’ estimate, instead of this kind of useless crap.
on May 8th, 2011 at 1:42 pm
Marvin Odum who probably has the worst safety record in Shell goes for a diversity vote and someone who has no safety experience to replace the VP of safety he just fired. Clear message where his priorities lie.
on May 8th, 2011 at 8:58 am
John, has it ever occurred to you that your increasingly frequent evocations of Nazism and the Holocaust to score points against Shell might itself be considered deeply offensive and insensitive? REPLY BY JOHN: A number of valued contributors to this blog have complained about the focus on Shell’s Nazi past. “Musaint” decided to stop visiting. Another said he was thoroughly bored. The subject is controversial and the header graphics designed to shock. Shell managed to escape the public odium it was due from its financial support for Hitler and the Nazis. The blame was all heaped on to Deterding even though Shell continued its financial dealings with the Nazis after his resignation as head of the company and even after his death. This is all becoming clearer as a result of evidence emerging from the transfer of newspaper articles from microfilm to searchable online digital archives. We have gathered many more articles from newspapers in the USA, Canada ant the UK (The Scotsman, The Daily Mirror, The Daily Express, The Guardian, etc) and they will all be incorporated into a revised single reference source. We intend to make sure that what you describe as “scoring points”, but is a history of Nazi party funding which contributed towards tens of millions of horrific deaths, is brought to the attention of the world. We note that only one item was highlighted in the many Shell internal documents Shell recently supplied to us in response to our 2011 SAR application under the DATA PROTECTION ACT. It was a reference to our article on this subject. Because we consistently keep a link to the Nazi Secrets article as the top feature on our site, it ensures that the Shell/Nazi/Hitler subject appears at number 6 or 7, dependent on browser, on the first page of a Google search for “Royal Dutch Shell” out of 2.6 million results. For obvious reasons, its the subject that Shell would least like attention drawn in such a prominent rankings position when people Google “Royal Dutch Shell”.
on May 7th, 2011 at 2:16 pm
@Londonlad,
Maybe what Omani 1959 is trying to do is gather enough information so that he and his other idle, non productive friends can take to the streets of Oman again, to try and blackmail the government into cancelling the production sharing agreement with Shell, and then the Omani government can sell 100% of its Oil and Gas and thereby gain far higher revenues.
This in turn (he is hoping for, or surmising at this stage) will lead to higher salaries for the woefully inept and unproductive, Omani nationals, but I must admit not all the Omani nationals are lazy and unproductive. By and large most of them try to do their best, but their ‘best’ falls far short of the western standard of ‘best’.
The expected salary increase will only lead to further financial woes and will drive them further into a credit crunch, when they take out (more) loans, without having the foresight to realise that these loans have to be repaid to the financial institutions.
Or is he hoping that when all this extra money comes rolling in the Government will act like an indulgent parent and pay off all their outstanding loans, as was one of the demands when they took to the streets previously?.
Has he forgotten that Shell does the marketing side of the business, thereby ensuring that the produced oil is sold on the international market? If Shell leaves, does he think that the Ministry of Oil and Gas can pick-up where Shell left off and market/sell their Oil stocks on the open market?
I think not.
It would be most beneficial for Omani 1959 to do a bit more research into the effects of nationalizing an Oil company, as carried out around the world? Have a look at Iraq, Yemen, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and others and see how, or even if, the country has benefitted from the nationalizing of the oil companies, and they most certainly have not increased their production outputs.
on May 7th, 2011 at 2:07 pm
to LondonLad answering your question so what if Shell takes it’s contracually agreed oil in Oman, we Omanis (80%) are living on poverty line and Shell is stealing and sucking our oil, this oil fortune which Shell sweeps (34% share) from under our feet should go back to us Omanis not to this giant oil leech.
thats why we initiated an oil nationalization campaign in our country to get back this valuable natural resource.
I coud not find in PDO’s annual report any evidence on how much exactly Shell takes from our oil.
if you have any reference on how much Shell takes from our oil I will be thankful to you.
on May 5th, 2011 at 4:09 pm
To Omani1959 :So what if Shell takes its contractually agreed oil in Oman? All facts and figures can be found in the company (PDO) annual reporting. Instead of trying to cause trouble (have you been sacked or passed over for a position?) just get on with an honest days work.
on May 4th, 2011 at 12:04 am
Trying being an experienced floorhand, welders helper on the pipeline and an Occupational Safety and Health Tech in the oil and gas industry as a FEMALE…I dont care what anyone says, its still the “good ole boys world” in O & G…wish me luck that maybe an honest job will come my way. Safety isnt a game people and the next time you look at missing hands and caved in sculls you’ll remember how much you need peope like me. It all turns to the right but that cant happen if no ones alive. Ya’ll be careful out there and LISTEN.
on Apr 25th, 2011 at 6:33 pm
can anyone give any evidence or a proof that Shell:
(The company takes around 200,000 barrels of crude per day – 5% of its global production – from a relatively risk free and highly profitably operation.{in Oman})
reference: “Royal Dutch Shell profiting from Sultan’s absolute rule in Oman”
any other reference will be highly appreciated.
kind regards.
on Apr 21st, 2011 at 3:08 am
Alot of international workers on our site working this project, coming from the team who said they would hire locally for the tax abatements…… and the city officials bought it….. Wonder if this guy lived on downtown Port Arthur???
A contract welder working on the Motiva plant expansion in Port Arthur who was found dead Monday was identified as Arnel Ocampo.
Ocampo, 52, was from the Philippines, said Justice of the Peace Brad Burnett.
Contractors said that they saw him slumped over on a scaffold at about 5:15 p.m. and tried to yell for him, but he was not moving, Burnett said. The contractors told the judge there was welding equipment on the scaffold with Ocampo.
Emergency responders were contacted and Ocampo was taken to Christus St. Mary’s Hospital in Port Arthur where he was pronounced dead at 6 p.m., Burnett said. The judge added that he did not notice bruises or any sign of a fall, but did order an autopsy.
Ocampo was a contract worker with International Plant Services, said Burnett.
Autopsy results are still pending.
Read more: http://www.beaumontenterprise.com/news/article/Contract-worker-who-died-at-Motiva-plant-1342631.php#ixzz1K7SuwGYU
on Apr 20th, 2011 at 5:47 pm
to Elias777 thanks for your solidarity with the campaign to nationalize our oil and rightly said oil leeches like Shell should stay away from our country.
All the best.
on Apr 19th, 2011 at 3:59 am
@KuchingKid,
Spot on with your comments regarding the Omani’s.
They all have this attitude that they get sent overseas to complete their degree, and then come back to Oman and expect to walk into a (Manager’s) job, with an office, a computer, two cell phones, and a group of workers below them to do all the work. The expats just have to sigh and get on with what they were employed to do.
on Apr 18th, 2011 at 7:17 am
To Elias777 : You state that “Venezuela have done pretty well to nationalize oil” – tell that to the people of the country who are only just waking up to the fact that Charvez has wasted most of the money on pet projects & sponsoring other evil regimes (& his own overseas bank accounts)whilst at the same time leaving the people in poverty and with very little human rights. If Omani 1959 wants his country to go the same way so be it. Perhaps they will eventually see sense and go on the streets to get rid of such stupid ideas. Fact is Omani’s tend to be very lazy people and get others to do the hard work.
on Apr 16th, 2011 at 1:45 pm
To Oman 1959, I wish you all the best with your campaign and I hope you succeed to get all the documents, I’m sure you have the knowledge and technology to process your own natural resources. If UAE and Saudi Arabia did it why not Oman? Venezuela also have done pretty well to nationalize oil, why not Oman? Is time for developing country to take care of themselves, OIL LEECHES should stay away from Middle East.
on Apr 13th, 2011 at 8:02 am
To omani1959 – let’s face it Iraq, Yemen and now Libya have NOT improved their oil production under nationalization and most certainly have reduced production recently. Corruption and laziness of locals make nationalization very problematic. By the way, if you blog on this site (or others) expect other peoples views, even if you don’t like them.
on Apr 13th, 2011 at 3:03 am
to Kuchingkid I did not ask about your opinion on nationalization, I only wanted some information about the2004 agreement between Shell and Oman government.
there were too many oil nationalization success stories in the past :
Saudi Arabia nationalized its oil from Aramco
UAE nationalized its oil from Adnoc
there is also Iran, Iraq, Libya, Yemen who all had success stories with their nationalisation.
hope you fail and our campaign wins.
on Apr 13th, 2011 at 2:29 am
It may be a pain, but, is it illegal to spy on someone just to gather information? I don’t think so. The problem comes when there is something to hide!! REPLY BY JOHN DONOVAN: Witness intimidation and related burglaries are illegal and amounted to a criminal conspiracy to pervert the course of justice. The conspiracy continued even into the three week High Court Trial heard by a Judge who failed to disclose that his lifelong friend, the founder of an IP firm, had Shell as a client. The Judge also neglected to disclose his connection with the barrister son of the then Shell chairman Sir Mark Moody-Stuart. The Judge expressed not the slightest interest in Shell’s spying activities. He allowed Shell to engage in a carefully contrived deception at the climax of my three day cross-examination designed to entrap me. The case was settled. Shell paid all legal costs, said to be over £1 million. We accepted an unsatisfactory settlement offer from Shell knowing that the Judge was blatantly biased against us. We wrote to the Judge asking him to comment on the undeclared conflict of interest. He refused to enter into correspondence with us. We later complained to the Lord Chancellor about the conduct of the Judge. The Judge subsequently resigned in controversial circumstances in a blaze of publicity. The first to do so in many decades. He then joined his friends firm, the one that worked for Shell. He also entered into a commercial relationship with the Legal Director of Shell UK who had represented Shell in court.
on Apr 12th, 2011 at 6:34 am
To omani1959 : like many fully nationalized companies they often fail miserably due to incompetence of the locals who are put inpositions they cannot cope with. Additionally they are finacially raped by senioe local staff who take most of the profit and squirrel it away in Swiss bank accounts. PDO will be no different – lazy / corrupt locals will be the beneficiary. Hope your campaign fails.
on Apr 10th, 2011 at 2:18 pm
we are leading a campaign in face book to nationalize our oil company in Oman “PDO” :
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_194036703966156&ap=1
we desperately need any information about the 2004 agreement signed by our government with Royal Dutch Shell which owns a staggering 34% share in PDO.
I will be very grateful for anyone who can give us some details about this agreement.
on Apr 9th, 2011 at 4:59 am
“Refugee from Shell slams fracking” – what scientific knowledge does Wuganalee have to state such drivel? That said, the article has very little substance to make me support his arguments. He seems to be yet another Ogoni trying to get money from an international company. Perhaps he should try and do an honest days work to get some cash.
on Apr 8th, 2011 at 11:47 am
So it will be interesting to watch as Uncle Tom Purves has to come clean on the cost of the Motiva CEP project. He originally sold it as a $7B project as the clown Lauher and the rest of the project team put their pencil to paper and came up with the costs. Of course, all of those people have been run off the project. Meanwhile, the owners gave Uncle Tom a chance to come clean back in Dec 2008 when they shipped him back over to clean up the mess. Most of his check estimates came in north of $10B. What does he do? He goes back and says “Not a penny more than $8.5B and we can get this project complete.” Well, he has had to go back to the well several times since then and the project stands at an approved budget of something north of $9B. He is going back for another $0.5B soon. The estimates still say north of $10B. Uncle Tom, we wish you well. Glad to see you are a big project guy much like your buddy Forest. And let’s not forget that the start-up plan for this albatross is pretty bad. Who is running that show? Take a guess….. Uncle Tom’s sidekick “da Funk”. This is going to be a hoot to watch as it comes across the finish line. All I can say is No clue.
on Apr 5th, 2011 at 10:29 pm
REPLY TO USCITIZEN: You seem to be deliberately trying to mix up what i have stated and what “OUTSPOKEN” has alleged. I authored the article “Shell is very different from Enron“. There were a number of articles by various publications comparing the Enron scandal with the Shell reserves scandal. The article by The Economist “Another Enron” is one such example. “OUTSPOKEN” provided related comments as a result of reading my article. OUTSPOKEN has already responded to your comments. You have acknowledged that there were former Shell employees at Enron who you describe as traders. In any event, I am not responsible for other contributors opinions/comments, whether from OUTSPOKEN, you, or anyone else who supplies comment for publication on this website.
on Apr 5th, 2011 at 5:58 pm
God Bless Donovan and the person Outspoken who can not post for himself on this site. First Outspoken – shame on you for doing consulting work for Enron – you day out of one side you did not know how they made money , clairvoyant one, and then work for them as a consultant. Using the Donovan connect the dots skills, you are crooked. Secondly – as a lowly consultant, I am sure you had no real insight to how folks behaved or did business. But wait, if you claim you did, then you reinforce my orgininal thought, shame on you for doing business with them? So which is out oh outspoken one – indict yourself or admit you really did not know how they did business???
John, John , John – must you continue to dig while you spin, – nice try – Managers vs Execs. The guy was clearly implying that Shell managers/Execs worked for the corrupt Enron and Shell is corrupt – so any questions. Please. Name on ex Shell Manager who had anything to do with the big Enron decisions! Thought so , the silence is deafening.
I feel for folks like you! Have fun spinning this one!!
PS – maybe Shell survived our crisis , and it was a crisis, because there was no comparision to Enron, ya think?
Later – I may change my tag and send my thoughts to John so he can post for me – Come on Outspoken – if you are so Outspoken post for yourself!!
NOTE FROM JOHN DONOVAN. USCitizen included within his posting the comments made by “OUTSPOKEN”. I have deleted the repeated relevant OUTSPOKEN comment about ENRON, which can be read below. All that is left here is the latest comments of USCitzen.
on Apr 4th, 2011 at 2:15 pm
POSTED On BEHALF OF “OUTSPOKEN”, A FORMER EMPLOYEE OF SHELL OIL USA: John,
I read the comment by the one reader about doing a criminal background investigation of your family.
Sounds like Shell at work here. Slander and defame those that would question the good name of Shell. Cast aspersions upon their good name. Destroy their credibility. Break them and their allies. What a tired and tawdry way of doing business.Thuggery disguised behind a thin veil of respectability provided by the carefully crafted corporate image.
As a doubter of Shell management’s quality of character and their manner of doing business you have become one of the feared and despised ‘OTHER’. The OTHER are to be neutralized so that they can not cause difficulties for the Shell corporate family. The OTHER are the enemy of all good Shell loyalists.
REPLY BY JOHN: I have no idea who made the comment.
on Apr 3rd, 2011 at 8:01 am
I wonder, has anyone investigated the Donovans for previous bad / criminal past family members? I am sure there must have been, but, does that make them responsible for the past family behaviour? REPLY BY JOHN DONOVAN: No one has said that current Shell employees or descendents of Sir Henri Deterding have any responsibility for his actions. They do not. Royal Dutch Shell boasts of its long history. Check out “Our History” on shell.com. As can be expected, although praiseworthy events are rightly covered, there is no mention whatsoever of Royal Dutch Shell massive financial support for Hitler, which saved the Nazi party from oblivion. The dark side of Shell’s history is hidden in the closet along with millions of skeletons. Due to the same driving motive – GREED – Shell has continued throughout the years to do business with evil dictators and still does. e.g. in June 2009, Shell settled a US Court case for $15.5 million in respect of complicity in torture, murder and human rights violations in Nigeria. As for “criminal past family members,” there are none of which I am aware.
on Mar 31st, 2011 at 5:35 pm
I would suspect that Mr/Ms Lao is speaking in a perspective very relative to his or her own experiences. I guess Shell has done an ‘excellent job’ in the ‘relative-subjective’ opinion of all who only value the profits of their behavior. Too many contributors to this site have cited personal experiences with unethical behaviors in Shell’s local and corporate/global-level ‘systems’.
on Mar 31st, 2011 at 9:22 am
First time on this website. What is the matter with the site owners? So bigoted persons. Shell does an excellent job in poor countries despite all the anti-Shell nonsense posted here.
on Mar 30th, 2011 at 11:17 pm
POSTED ON BEHALF OF AN OUTSPOKEN FORMER EMPLOYEE OF SHELL OIL USA: Yes I have something to say to uscitizen. Get a life. And learn to read and think for yourself. You come across like some Hitler Youth PR manager. Hail Mighty Shell. You also might want to read a book entitled ’1984′. It is a good read.
Not that it is any of your business but I used to consult for Enron. I did so for years so I know of the beast of which I speak. Unlike many former Shell employees I refused to take their job offers because I could not figure out how those clowns were making money, outside of their gas pipeline business. As it turned out, they weren’t. And for your information, some of Shell’s former senior level managers who went to work for them couldn’t figure that out either and left in short order. But these were the honest former Shell managers, some of whom I knew quite well.
However, as is always the case, birds of a feather flock together, and the slimier of the former Shell managers stuck around at Enron to begin second careers. Eventually, the big bad Wall Street wolf huffed and puffed and blew their house of cards apart. Couldn’t have happened to a nicer bunch of crooks. The sad part of the story is about all the good, hard working employees that got ‘f***’ by their own management, not to mention all the investors that lost their investment. In that regard RD Shell management and Enron management come from the same ‘rape’em and stab’em’ school of business economics. They make off like bandits with their inflated salaries and stock options, leaving the investors and employees holding the bag. It is fortunate for RD Shell investors and employees that Shell had the resources to survive their own massive corruption scandal. Aside from that, RD Shell management and Enron management were not that dissimilar in the way they operated. They still aren’t.
on Mar 29th, 2011 at 2:36 pm
Geez, John Strikes again with a headline full of spin. Name one member of their senior or central leadership team who was a Shell exec. Sure they had some traders, but I guess you think traders set company policy and are the ones who mislead the world on Enron earnings, right John. Your integrity is not up to the standard you seem to want to hold others. Tip – your headline makes the uneducated think that leaders of Enron were ex Shell folks. Either change your headline or admit you mislead folks, that is the standard you espouse! But you will not, we know you too well. The spin meister!!
REPLY TO USCITIZEN FROM JOHN: You accuse me of spin, but engage in blatant spin yourself. This was not a comment made by me as you purport, but by a former employee of your company. The headline was a direct extract from the comment in question. The former Shell employees working for Enron were described in the comment as Shell managers, not Shell executives as you wrongly state. Hope you don’t mind me correcting your inaccuracies. I am sure “OUTSPOKEN” will have something to say in reply.
on Mar 27th, 2011 at 7:11 am
Dilbert, you must be joking ! If you are in Shell long enough, you know it is just lip service. Those Whites with skirts are preferred over colored in key positions. Since when you do you see a colored SEG in the EC. It will never happen. We have given up long time ago.
on Mar 26th, 2011 at 2:48 pm
Peter Voser really knows how to motivate the hired hands:
Announces that DIVERSITY is top on his agenda. Odum (US Country Chair) follows with the statement that “persons of colour” are his top priority.
Sweet! Now my incompetent management will be incompetent females “of colour”!
What am I supposed to tell young white male hetrosexual engineers when I interview them? That they will love watching the diversity candidates promote past them because diversity is a wonderful thing? Sure it is, now get back to your cubicle and make your boss her bonus.
on Mar 21st, 2011 at 3:34 pm
So, when are these Nazi secrets exposed. I am still waiting! So far nothing worth reading!! REPLY FROM JOHN DONOVAN: Sounds like your alias should be “NOT INTERESTED”. Can only surmise that you have not read the entire 9 part article. Or perhaps you are unconcerned that Shell helped finance the Nazis and hence the concentration camps, where millions perished in horrific circumstances. We have already provided copious evidence from independent reputable circumstances and much much more is in the pipeline. The Internet will prove to be a disaster for the reputation of Royal Dutch Shell. More newspaper archives from around the world are being made available on a searchable basis online. More books are available online on a searchable basis. Same applies to foreign language books and articles including from Germany. We have further confirmation of Shell’s direct contact with Hitler and Shell’s funding of the Nazi Party. Shell is certainly interested. Shell senior management was in contact with me on the subject earlier this month, after discussions with the paid historians responsible for “A History of Royal Dutch Shell”. It is obvious from the comments made by Fat Cat CEO Peter Voser about current events in Libya that Shell is still prepared to deal with the devil, driven, as always, by unscrupulous greed.
on Mar 16th, 2011 at 4:28 pm
From RIA Novosti:
Russians Rush for Iodine Pills:
Russian military units stationed on the island of Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands, which are disputed with Japan, prepared for a possible evacuation because of the nuclear threat, only days after they were warned about the tsunami.
on Mar 15th, 2011 at 12:47 pm
amazed nothing on this site about Kashagan; another mega-project quickly going down the pan in Shell’s hands
on Mar 11th, 2011 at 9:53 pm
No tsunami impact on Sakhalin projects says Upstream Online:
Oil and gas projects near Sakhalin Island off Russia’s far-eastern coast have seen little impact from the tsunami triggered by a massive earthquake in Japan, supermajors operating in the region said. Russia ordered a tsunami warning in three …
on Mar 11th, 2011 at 4:13 pm
Any news from Sakhalin about the effects of the quake/tsunami? Yuzno Sakalinsk is only about 400 miles from the epicentre
on Mar 3rd, 2011 at 1:25 am
John, how bad is the trouble in the Middle East going to hurt Shell on crude? I know the deal with there partners on Motiva crude but what about other areas? REPLY BY JOHN DONOVAN: Others contributors to this blog are better qualified than me to answer your question.
on Feb 27th, 2011 at 8:56 pm
uscitizen is right, market demand is significant in setting consumer prices. no evil in working that process to full advantage. No, the upset in the balance occurs when individual and corporate self indulgence exploits other individuals, communities, cultures and the environment, whether on the supply or demand ends of the system. Every expense incurred from entertainment, travel, training, and drilling in deep water impact the supply cost. Responsible citizens understand this and are forever conscious of the impacts of their behaviors on all costs to the community, the environment and supply-side costs as they impact consumer prices.
on Feb 21st, 2011 at 5:06 pm
To the poor fellow who wants to know why coke is more expensive than oil on a volume basis – God help ya! Next product up for his review – bottled water. Market demands , market demands. People will pay , companies will sell. REPLY FROM THE POOR FELLOW IN QUESTION: John, I have a response to USCitzens ‘predictable response. How about a monopolistic duopoly that exists between Coca – Cola Corp. and Pepsico and that prevents the rise of any meaningful competitor????? ‘Market forces’ my ass. The same thing is occurring in the bottled water business only the Nestle’ company has jumped into the fray and that keeps the situation somewhat more ‘fluid’, no pun intended.
on Feb 21st, 2011 at 5:04 pm
I give, I call uncle. I can not continue a debate with someone who clearly is not listening and thinks acceptable ethical, moral and legal behavior with vendors, ie once or twice a year activities at de minimus levels, will drive me to corrupt practices. You win, I am crooked, all folks in all industries around the globe who have business relationships with behaviors identical to mine are crooked and we can not manage the slippery slope. Happy, good. I can see a lot clearer how your logic works and that the black and white world you live in is applied with your assumptions about peoples standards, values and ethics. Later and moving on. Please have your sarcasm meter calibrated before reading this post.
All the other accusations are too numerous to debate, others can engage you on that. I know how I am asked to behave, how I am expected to behave, how I am graded vs that behavior and how I apply that standard to my organization. All in my organization sleep well. Our community neighbors appreciate our behaviors and the stewardship we apply to our business. All I got pal.
REPLY FROM JOHN DONOVAN: For the sake of argument, let’s accept that you are a responsible person of integrity who acts at all times in accordance with the Code of Conduct. Unfortunately some Shell employees/managers/executives are greedy and thoroughly dishonest. Some climbed to the very top of the company. One even received a knighthood while secretly engaging in a multi-billion dollar securities fraud. Allowing vendors to treat Shell employees to freebies and Shell employees to treat government oversight officials to gifts, is a recipe for scandal, as per the notorious Shell sponsored Drugs, Sex & Corruption scandal involving the U.S. Minerals Management Service, which made news headlines in 2009.
on Feb 20th, 2011 at 1:06 am
POSTED ON BEHALF OF A FORMER SHELL OIL CO EMPLOYEE: John,
FIRST SUBJECT: Can anyone in the US food industry or petroleum industry explain to me in reasonalble and rational terms why Coca-Cola, etc., sells for about $1 US per liter retail, while gasoline sells for about $0.75 per liter US retail, which includes a host of Federal, State, and local taxes. Am I missing something here??
SECOND SUBJECT: John,
After 9/11 the US Congress passed an ill considered piece of legislation called the USA Patriot Act. Provisions of that Act are up for renewal this year. One of the more onerous provisions has to do with the attaining of search warrants. The Patriot Act did away with the protections from ‘unreasonable search and seizure’ that had been in place since the signing of the US Constitution in the late 18th century. That particular provision is set to expire shortly and an extension is currently under debate.
When I think about it, the Fed’s could use this statute to literally walk into Shell USA offices and go through everything Shell has in the way of business records. Everything. The cause would be suspicion of conspiracy to commit espionage. Wonder why that has not happened given that NCIS had/has had Shell under investigation?
Perhaps it was due to high level political connections in the Bush Administration, and continued high level connections in the US government. What do your readers think?
on Feb 15th, 2011 at 6:39 pm
REPLY TO US CITIZEN: Unfortunately the code is meaningless since Shell senior management has a track record of supporting corrupt practices, engaging in corruption, securities fraud, IP theft, price fixing cartels, fictitious trades, putting profits before employee safety, sponsoring industrial espionage, using Shell employees as unknowing guinea pigs in a study of carcinogenic properties at a chemicals plant, informing on Nigerian gangs Shell was secretly funding, disguising Iraqi and Iranian oil shipments which were in breach of UN sanctions. This list is endless and includes involvement in torture, murder and human rights abuses. It really is deeds, not words which count. Shell’s ethical code is a sham. And we can see how Shell treats whistleblowers. I admire your loyalty to Shell, but it is sadly misplaced. As to your acceptance of gifts, free golf and “outings” from vendors doing business with Shell, the intent is obvious. It is to buy influence. That is corruption. It remains to be seen if the level of corruption – the gifts and freebies – are approved by Shell, but in that case it is an unwise unethical enticement to vendors and potentially a very slippery slope.
on Feb 15th, 2011 at 5:35 pm
Nope – will not share that with you. But we have a tracking system where we log all of our vendor contacts and where we log offers that are out of compliance. Violate these polices and you get fired. Questions? We have had to fire folks for these violations. We are expected to flag violations that we see. We do not run to a hate site and post them, we deal with it.
Read the document you posted closer – while it does not list the limits, it refers to them.
ever offer, give, seek or accept G&H
that exceed prescribed value limits,
unless line manager approval has
been obtained. These value limits
are listed at intranet site.
If you are going to post a document read it!
on Feb 15th, 2011 at 12:35 am
REPLY TO US CITIZEN: Could not find the G&H limits within the Code of Conduct. Apparently published on the Shell Intranet. Perhaps you can kindly tell us what they are provided that does not put you in the position of revealing confidential internal information.
on Feb 15th, 2011 at 12:20 am
Wow – we went from items described as acceptable in our code of conduct, Yes Joh the standard is always that the activity does not influence your decisions, to visiting ladies of leisure and needing protection. I rest my case. John, you are like some politicians, take an extract out of context. If you read the whole policy , that I review every year, you would see that there are limits that have to be reported if you go over or are invited. That sidetrip to Vegas better have been reported by the person you replied for John. All of mine are reported and logged. You clearly did not understand the reciprocity approach that many of us take. You have a business relationship with a vendor, you ensure that for business entertainment, you reciprocate. That takes out any doubt that you did something for benefit. Try to understand how that works. There is no hole for me to get out of John, but you are in a cavern quoting part of a standard and applying it out of context. How do you know if it impacted my decision or not? I am not about to put my job at jeopardy for a lunch or a golf game. And to the guest that went thru you, shame on you for your accusations. Insulted me and my family. I will not do the same to you, higher standard. Good day. PS – read the whole policy John and then let folks know about the limits and why they are there.
on Feb 11th, 2011 at 9:54 pm
POSTING ON BEHALF OF A FORMER EMPLOYEE OF SHELL OIL USA:
Reply to US Citizen:
When I was working for Shell USA I once had a vendor (who will remain unnamed for the present time), and whose services I was evaluating, offer to fly me out to their corporate facilities in California in their corporate Boeing 727 to ‘look over their operation’. On the return trip they indicated that there would be a stopover in Las Vegas for a little ‘R&R’. Prostitution is legal in Nevada, and they asked if I have ever visited any of the more famous ‘recreational institutions’. Of course, there would be a little gambling, etc., at the casinos. A good time would have been had by all. I declined the invitation. The vendor was not ‘passing the grade’, and they were clearly trying to either buy me off or set me up. It didn’t make much difference.
This sort of thing was, and still is, not uncommon in the oil industry. It is the sort of thing that comes with being a ‘member of the club’, so to speak. The vendors supply the ‘entertainment’ in return for business being kicked their direction. That is the quid pro quo. (Does this remind you of the Sex and Drugs scandal at DoI??).
I am certain that you enjoy your ‘benefits’ and that you have a good time, being that you are obviously ‘a member of the club’. (I presume you ‘use protection’??? Wouldn’t want to give the wife an unwanted ‘gift’.)
on Feb 11th, 2011 at 7:58 pm
yes, every Shell employee that is cowardly silent when they see unfair, unjust, unsafe, unlawful or immoral acts. ..and especially those whom I have seen commit these acts while getting recognized and rewarded for some pretentious accomplishment. Those that get away with political games for their own advancement are the most proud to work for Shell. I was once very proud of Shell, and very proud to be an employee. I earned a very comfortable living,and probably overlooked things while raising my family, that became intolerable as I aged. Be proud of your company, do well and take care of your family. Do all that you can to influence when you see someone violating these values. Hopefully you will never be exposed in the way that I was, to behaviors and activities that you can no longer influence or tolerate.
on Feb 11th, 2011 at 4:52 pm
REPLY TO uscitizen: Every time you pay us a visit, you dig yourself a deeper hole. You admit accepting gifts, lunches and free golf from parties doing business with Shell. This is what it says in the Shell Code of Conduct: “You must not offer, pay, make, seek or accept a personal payment, gift or favour in return for favourable treatment or to gain any business advantage.” Do you think these parties are lavishing gifts on you because of your sex appeal and great personality, or to gain favor? Based on your postings I think we all know the answer at least in relation to the latter. With the time you spend on free lunches, free golf/outings etc plus visits here, currently several times a day, I am surprised you have any time left for work? I have deleted from your comments the inclusion of the postings to which you are responding, because the repeats in my view only cause confusion.
on Feb 11th, 2011 at 3:57 pm
REPLY TO “bware” BY “uscitizen”:
So you just bashed every Shell Employee that is proud of Shell. We are all wonderful, dedicated, self-sacrificing lieutenant or pawns? I have said on here that a company, like people make mistakes. Never said Shell has not. What we refuse to take is the bashing that John and people like you hand out. Stating that the intent of the company is to make money in spite of all the stakeholders. Pure rubbish and if you really paid attention you would know that. I have worked with people like you, we know your type. I sleep very well, you have not read all my posts. If this company was EVIL as you and Johnnie state, then I would have been asked to violate operating permits to make money, look the other way to get the units back up on time, etc. We simply do not do that or allow that. Some operating companies do, that will get you fired at Shell. Now you and John will call me a Liar, but you have not been in my shoes and that is how we and I do business. Simple. And if you can not see how a person who works for a company that trains us to do business right is bashed because of some mistakes as an evil company, so be it, you are the one who is myopic and looking thru some colored lenses. Later, gotta go violate a permit and gas the community – that is what I do every day right?
on Feb 11th, 2011 at 3:48 pm
THIS REPLY IS IN RESPONSE TO THE POSTING BY JOHN DONOVAN COMMENCING “In fact your posting was published hours ago…
My bad – it was not there when I refreshed but one I posted after it was?? Oh my Vegas and Atlantic City – we clearly are not communicating. $20 lunch at the local Mexican place. Sometimes I buy sometimes they buy! $50 round of golf, sometimes they buy sometimes I buy! Oh and I have nothing to hide from the Shell system John, turn them all in. Taking a trip to Vegas or Atlantic City would be against the policy, I do not do that. You chose to start this web page, so I all realize you are in a much different place than folks who come on here. PS – why do you not call out all of the folks bashing shell and not using their real names, I thought so! So I guess the fact that they are hurling abuse while hiding their identity allows us to draw conclusions about their honesty, courage, integrity and credibility. Right John! Now we see how your argument falls apart, as most of your arguments do! See ya, till next time. Enjoyed the distraction!
Headed off to Wimbledon with a supplier soon, RIGHT!! That is what John thinks a Business meeting is to further a business relationship!!
on Feb 11th, 2011 at 6:26 am
…of folks like uscitizen…no responsible character traits here. All of Shell is always great. If one believes that they exploit, rape, and abuse resources and people, then one must be vindictive. uscitizen is clearly a hopeless patsy. ..or maybe he is a dedicated employee that does not want to see his beloved Shell being immoral… or a manager/director who is trying to defend the charge that he has so proudly stood by. I like others in today’s new shell could no longer live like this. If you sleep well every night, knowing what Shell’s only true motive is, no matter how well you deny it to yourself; and without ever communicating it to anyone, then God bless you. You are one wonderful, dedicated, self-sacrificing lieutenant or pawn. This all boils down to Shell’s ability to irresponsibly disregard communities, cultures, the environment, humanity, and the personal impact on individuals, for the sake of energy exploitation for profit. No, uscitizen, I have worked with people like you, for people like you, and have had people like you work for me; not becoming part of the character-absent, immoral culture, and speaking honestly when you see injustice, is the only way to be truly content. Defending immorality, can only mean internal misery, no matter how much you want to believe that preserving your position and honoring Shell is what’s important. There are far too many observable, irresponsible acts committed by Shell, not to at least admit awareness. Some of us see these behaviors carried out by such a significant player in the exploitation of our resources as EVIL. Something tells me that you may be in a position of some influence. How well are you really sleeping? please forgive me if i have this all wrong; i am just trying to figure out the means of your die-hard , servant position.
on Feb 10th, 2011 at 11:19 pm
REPLY TO uscitizen: In fact your posting was published hours ago. Guess you forgot to refresh the page. We remain keen to have people speaking out for Shell. That should have been plain from the fact that we have continued without exception publishing your abusive comments about us over recent years. What I am pointing out is that there is a vast difference between us making comments in our own names about Shell, which we are prepared to defend in court, compared with you making defamatory comments about us while hiding behind an alias posting name and an alias email address. Shell has our current address for correspondence and the service of legal proceedings. We were in contact with Shell just days ago via our home address and await a response. I am sure visitors to this site would be impressed if you posted under your real name (and supplied us with your address details – not for publication) so that we were in the same position as Shell is with us i.e. able to challenge us in the libel courts. If you have confidence that your personal acceptance of gifts, lunches and “outings” from parties doing business with Shell Oil will not be frowned upon by Shell senior management, then at least declare your name. BTW, are the “outings” to Atlantic City or Las Vegas? If you continue to insist on hurling abuse while hiding your identity, others will be able to draw their own conclusions about your honesty, courage, integrity and credibility. On reflection, bearing in mind the hole you have dug for yourself in relation to the subject of bribes/corruption, you are probably best advised not to disclose your real name.
on Feb 10th, 2011 at 9:31 pm
Oh Donovan – you did not post my last entry. What part of it violated the Blog rules? Yes folks – when you post some hard truths the great hope for ethics will not post it! Wow – pot calling the kettle black, but that would mean your accusations against Shell have some merit, so naaah. Bad analogy! Lets just say you make mistakes that folks can interpret as evil, bad form, low ethical standards. See how tough it is to meet your standard of pleasing everone all the time?. Tough world out here John, come join us.
on Feb 10th, 2011 at 6:22 pm
“Interested
on Feb 10th, 2011 at 2:12 am
What is happening in PA with CEP? I understand there have been talks about this blog. The funny thing is that after the note from Norco about the three new comers all talk stopped. Would like to hear what OSHA had to say about the mishap.”
They might have realized what kind of site this was and realized they were posting in the wrong place and found someplace more credible!
on Feb 10th, 2011 at 6:20 pm
“RELY TO US CITIZEN:
You cannot change now what you have stated here in the past. Fortunately visitors can look back at your comments and decide for themselves whether my statement that you have admitted accepting gifts from vendors and seem to consider such gifts to be an entitlement, is a fair assessment. You have now also admitted accepting free hospitality. Lunch, presumably washed down with free beer or wine. You also mention social outings. The list grows. What next. This is the corporate culture that resulted in the Sex, Drugs and Corruption scandal. With regards to whistleblowing, I suggest that you check out relevant legislation enacted in the USA and the UK to protect whistleblowers. You will then be better informed. Far from being illegal, whistleblowing is protected. Shell has a whistleblower helpline, but unfortunately it is fatally flawed, which is perhaps why Shell employees contact me, rather than Shell. With regards to Shell employees generally, we know that the vast majority are decent hard working people and have said so many times. Our problem is with the Shell fat cats who will deal with the devil and flout Shell’s own claimed ethical code to enrich themselves. In future, if you wish to make defamatory and abusive comments about us, please set up your own website so that we can take appropriate legal action against you. We can hardly do so when the comments are published on our own website (with you hiding behind a pseudonym). We have the courage and integrity to make comments in our own name and at our own cost.”"
More blah blah rheotoric! Right I am dirty. Perhaps you should see how the business world really works, since you clearly have no clue. And no, no wine or beer Johnnie, we have a alcohol policy that I do not violate, unlike some folks who send confidential information to you and violate company policy, I do not. PS- show me where I used the word entitled, PS – I already ready my old post to see how some one could possibly misconstrue my comments and mis represent them like you did, and I was right , one could not. I have some new data to form my opinions about your character.
on Feb 10th, 2011 at 2:12 am
What is happening in PA with CEP? I understand there have been talks about this blog. The funny thing is that after the note from Norco about the three new comers all talk stopped. Would like to hear what OSHA had to say about the mishap.
on Feb 9th, 2011 at 1:09 am
RELY TO US CITIZEN:
You cannot change now what you have stated here in the past. Fortunately visitors can look back at your comments and decide for themselves whether my statement that you have admitted accepting gifts from vendors and seem to consider such gifts to be an entitlement, is a fair assessment. You have now also admitted accepting free hospitality. Lunch, presumably washed down with free beer or wine. You also mention social outings. The list grows. What next. This is the corporate culture that resulted in the Sex, Drugs and Corruption scandal. With regards to whistleblowing, I suggest that you check out relevant legislation enacted in the USA and the UK to protect whistleblowers. You will then be better informed. Far from being illegal, whistleblowing is protected. Shell has a whistleblower helpline, but unfortunately it is fatally flawed, which is perhaps why Shell employees contact me, rather than Shell. With regards to Shell employees generally, we know that the vast majority are decent hard working people and have said so many times. Our problem is with the Shell fat cats who will deal with the devil and flout Shell’s own claimed ethical code to enrich themselves. In future, if you wish to make defamatory and abusive comments about us, please set up your own website so that we can take appropriate legal action against you. We can hardly do so when the comments are published on our own website (with you hiding behind a pseudonym). We have the courage and integrity to make comments in our own name and at our own cost.
on Feb 8th, 2011 at 11:54 pm
“”REPLY TO “uscitizen”: Have not heard from you since you admitted accepting gifts from vendors doing business with Shell. It was obvious from your comments that you considered such gifts/bribes to be an entitlement. With regards to whistleblowing, you obviously support the people at Shell like Jeroen van der Veer who knew for years that shareholders were being given fraudulent information about Shell’s claimed oil and gas reserves and did not inform the people who own the company or bring the multibillion dollar securities fraud into the open. Shell Production Geologist Dr Huong, who did blow the whistle internally, was sacked and then buried in court injunctions and prison committal proceedings to silence him.”"
Ahh – another great example how the pristine Donovan family will take words and distort them. I of course said nothing that would imply I took bribes and considered them an entitlement. I of course said that in the matter of doing business all over the world, some people buy lunch, some people pay for a social outing and that is part of doing business. I of course pay as often as someone pays for me, but John would not know that because he does not know me personall, just like he does not know the many shell employees he slanders every day as evil and bad. And he also inferred about my feelings about whistleblowers! Notice that he did not even address this fundamental ethics and legal issue that I did pose – if you share company confidential information, we might go after you. That is the law right John. That is the ethical thing to do right John. I would also infer , using your approach, that since you accept illegal information, that you are unethical and a criminal. Correct? Have a good day. PS – I only came back because someone said you called me out, can not ignore that now can I johnnie!! Have a good bitter life!! I am sleeping well, but geez, if I was accepting illegal information I could not!
on Feb 1st, 2011 at 10:55 am
REPLY TO “uscitizen”: Have not heard from you since you admitted accepting gifts from vendors doing business with Shell. It was obvious from your comments that you considered such gifts/bribes to be an entitlement. With regards to whistleblowing, you obviously support the people at Shell like Jeroen van der Veer who knew for years that shareholders were being given fraudulent information about Shell’s claimed oil and gas reserves and did not inform the people who own the company or bring the multibillion dollar securities fraud into the open. Shell Production Geologist Dr Huong, who did blow the whistle internally, was sacked and then buried in court injunctions and prison committal proceedings to silence him.
on Feb 1st, 2011 at 10:45 am
REPLY ON BEHALF OF A FORMER EMPLOYEE OF SHELL OIL USA: To USCitizen: Read the Wikileaks revelations recently? Or is that an ‘inconvenient truth’? Shell only has its senior management to blame for all of that. Need to watch those ‘loose lips…’, and put your corporate propaganda organs into high gear doing damage control. We thought you had had enough and were through with this website. Promises, promises. That is So much like Shell management. You cannot trust a word they say. Have a good day.
on Jan 31st, 2011 at 8:06 pm
Ahh the conspiracy theorists rise. Oh yes, RD is plotting all kinds of evil things! Geez, you folks need to get a life. Yeah if you leak company confidential information, you might have someone trying to figure out who it is! What a concept. Maybe one the us government may want to look into!
on Jan 31st, 2011 at 12:12 am
POSTED ON BEHALF OF A FORMER EMPLOYEE OF SHELL OIL USA: This is for shellwaarbenjijnu:
I now live in that mystical land of Shangrila. Thanks for asking. To be honest, I was just being a bit of a smartass with that MI6 comment, but the analogy seamed apt. In the States Shell employs former FBI types for their security group, and they have connections with their buddies at the FBI. Yes, it is indeed a dirty and tangled web RD Shell has woven. RD Shell is doing its best to co-opt and compromise politicians and those governmental agencies that have ‘watch-dog’ functions over the legality of their operations. Call them what you want, RD Shell or the fictional ‘Spectre’, the company still stinks and they threaten the rule of law in those countries in which they operate.
on Jan 30th, 2011 at 1:48 pm
Ah “former employee of Shell USA” – regarding MI6 it is even more tangled than you know. Shell has former UK intelligence service operatives on payroll. A certain Ian “McCreepy” is engaged in tracking down employees who leak to this site. No doubt through his web of connections busies himself with trying to crack open this site and determine the identity of the contributors.
on Jan 29th, 2011 at 10:11 pm
POSTED ON BEHALF OF A FORMER EMPLOYEE OF SHELL OIL USA: John,
The more I read about RD Shell the more they resemble the dastardly fictonal criminal entity ‘SPECTRE’ of Ian Fleming’s James Bond novels and movies. Is this a case of art imitating life, or the other way around? Where is MI6 and James Bond when you need them?
on Jan 27th, 2011 at 1:14 am
Someone From Port Arthur:
You guys had to have met the infamous Joey D, (He will be found right up The FUNKS ass, cant miss him. Please let us know what you think, Please dont be shy we all know that he is a piece of shit!!!! along with the other two that were shipped over there to save the day…
on Jan 27th, 2011 at 12:33 am
POSTING ON BEHALF OF AN OUTSPOKEN FORMER EMPLOYEE OF SHELL OIL USA: John,
I read your latest Wiki-leaks posting. I knew the Dutch government held a significant stake in the giant Groningen gas field in the Netherlands, but did not know it was 40%. That means RD Shell’s stake is 30%, and they pay a boat load of taxes on what they earn from that field as well. Likewise for Exxon.
So, why has Ireland given away the Corrib gas field to Shell and its partners? It seems to me that the Irish government should be able to cut a deal similar to what the Dutch have with RD Shell and Exxon in the Groningen gas field. And RD Shell and their partners should pay income taxes as well.
RD Shell has done a good job of co-opting the Irish government to get the deal they wanted. That much is clear.
on Jan 20th, 2011 at 12:26 pm
I wonder what “associated marketing businesses” to Stanlow can mean?
on Jan 18th, 2011 at 10:55 am
POSTED ON BEHALF OF A FORMER EMPLOYEE OF SHELL OIL USA:
Hello John,
Your Canadian reader is quite correct about his geography, of course.
However, I bet much of the air pollution from Fort McMurry circles the globe at that latitude and makes it to Prudhoe Bay the ‘long way’, particularly in the summer. No doubt air pollution from the Russian Arctic oil complexes makes it to Alaska and beyond as well.
As a kid growing up near Yellowstone Park there were times when the smoke from the Alaskan forest fires would reduce the visibility in Northwest Wyoming to just a few miles.
Much of Los Angeles’ air quality and pollution problems today are not home grown, but come with the wind all the way across the Pacific from China.
My point here is that air quality in the Alaskan offshore Arctic is not going to be impacted to any measurable degree by RD Shell’s drill ship and small flotilla of supporting vessels in a two month drilling program. The allegation that it will have any measurable impact is probably pretty much of a joke.
My regards to your Canadian reader.
on Jan 17th, 2011 at 9:09 pm
While the former Shell Oil employee may have a point on the motives of the DOI, his geography is a bit off. To say the oil sands in Alberta are “just next door” is a stretch. Prudhoe Bay to Fort McMurray is about 3600 km (2250 miles) or about the same as Los Angles to Boston
on Jan 15th, 2011 at 12:33 am
POSTED ON BEHALF OF A FORMER EMPLOYEE OF SHELL OIL USA: John,
Read the stories about RD Shell’s air pollution permits being ‘deficient’, thereby delaying the issuance of a drilling permit for next year. This is nonsense. Something else is going on at DoI.
The amount of air pollutants emitted by land rigs, and the Prudhoe Bay complex, not to mention the massive tar sands projects in Albert, which is essentially just next door to Alaska, dwarf anything RD Shell might emit in a 2 month drilling program.
DoI has decided to ‘stick it’ to RD Shell for other reasons. Maybe it has to do with the Gale Norton affair, or the ‘sex and drugs’ scandals, or the current ongoing investigation by DoI and the Navy. Whatever the cause, RD Shell has a ‘political problem’ that they may not be able to overcome. Don’t count on Shell ever getting to drill in the offshore anytime soon.
Maybe RD Shell should contract for a modern drilling rig, that might help their cause. The fact that they are not going after a modern rig indicates they know something else is going on.
When the Republicans lost the White House Shell lost its sponsor. They are on the outside looking in now.
on Jan 14th, 2011 at 2:30 pm
POSTED ON BEHALF OF A FORMER EMPLOYEE OF SHELL OIL USA: John,
I have been reading the continuing saga of Dr. Huong. RD Shell is a vindictive company. Anyone who knows how they operate knows this. But in Dr. Huong’s case the pernicious hypocrisy of Shell management has climbed to new heights. They sued this poor man because they could get away with it in the corrupt Malaysian legal system. The claim of ‘defamation’ is a joke on Shell’s part. Shell’s conduct in this case is a classic example of ‘corporate tyranny’. Nigeria is another.
Keep this story in the public eye. It is a lesson and a warning to all who would ‘cross’ RD Shell.
Beware the ‘Yellow Peril’.
on Jan 13th, 2011 at 9:16 am
EGrainger, perhaps I’ll help get some response to your questions started. Yes, it is hard for some to see Shell as the responsible party in some of the Niger Delta events. My opinion is that oil exploiters are responsible for collaborative responsibility, with governments, communities, cultures and the environment. Sabotage of their facilities only indicates that they have not completed the whole package. Maximizing profit can mean neglect of stakeholders.
on Jan 12th, 2011 at 12:59 am
I am currently investigating Shell’s position within Nigeria, more specifically the Delta; when I came across your website. It is crammed with an insane amount of information I can’t even begin to take half of it in, it’s a great resource, thanks.
Something I never thought I would say before investigating their operations in the war zone that is the Delta is that maybe Shell isn’t that bad. I am more than sure this comment will rub a few backs up – passionate is an understatement for the debate established on here! I don’t think I’ll ever be able to say categorically whether or not as a company I think they are ethical or not. YES they chose the Nigerian Government over local communities as their key stakeholder, but that’s because without them they wouldn’t be able to operate at all within the region let alone country.
Growing up I always thought in the back of my head: Shell… they are bad. I remembered vaguely at the age of 7 hearing about the Ogoni activists executed because of their protests for basic human rights to the wealth of their countries resources and since then have avoided buying their products. BUT 98% of all the oil spills occur because of militant activity and the volatile environment of the country. It’s a war zone! Global compact says you must deal with local communities responsibly (in which I 100% agree with) but I can see the other side of this very complicated/controversial coin. Shell could say that this works within a functional society but law and order has broken down to such a catastrophic state in the area that the rule of Govn. and law – does not apply.
I can’t help but think that no matter what they do (PR wise) to try and portray their efforts to make a difference the media will always screw them. Negative coverage is SO MUCH more interesting to read and we all love a good rant.
It would be great to hear what everyone thinks of my views.
Feel free to read more on my blog (if of interest) - http://prforyourinformation.blogspot.com/
With regards to Shell – What happens when you are doing your best but the media screws you? Instead of trying to do good your just painting yourself green?
on Jan 10th, 2011 at 10:27 am
POSTING ON BEHALF OF A FORMER EMPLOYEE OF SHELL OIL USA: John, Got an observation and a question.
The observation is that from all the comments you get, and the articles you run, like that on Dr. Huong, it is clear that RD Shell management is highly cannibalistic and has a nasty tendency to jettison their best and brightest for self-serving ‘political reasons’. It was that way when I was at Shell so things haven’t changed much, except to get worse.
The question I have for all the critics of your ‘revisit of yester-year’ is this:
If the clock were turned back to the 1930′s does anyone have any doubt that today’s RD Shell management, European or American, would sell out their Jewish employees? Remember that Shell USA is headquartered in the ‘Deep South’ and in the heart of Southern Baptist Country. Come on folks, be honest. We all know that today’s sterling gang of managers would do it in a heart beat, and without a second thought. And they would do just to suck up and earn the ‘brownie points’ to further their careers.
Think about that for awhile.
RD Shell is such a well led corporation.
REPLY COMMENT BY JOHN DONOVAN: I will duck that question. What I would say is that some members of Shell top management have ruthlessly abandoned claimed business principles out of greed, ambition and/or misguided loyalty to dishonest colleagues.
on Jan 9th, 2011 at 10:27 pm
More on TP…. Trust me, the fact that Tom Purves single handedly ruined the careers and reputations of many in his 4 years at the helm will be his legacy for those in the ranks. For the SEs in Shell, you are right as they will look at the project called CEP and will let that determine what his ride into the sunset is titled. The facts re CEP are this…. Good concept, bad timing, leadership ( Lauher ) that was in over his head ( remember Tom hired his little buddy off the streets after CP dumped him, project’s initial estimate is $3.5b; Tom gets it approved for $7b; the project goes off the rails due to no controls and inadequate leadership with Bechtel and Lauher and his team, the control estimates come in at $10b, Tom gets it re-approved at $8.5b. And we are where we are. Still trying to get it completed, 2 years later. Project will still be over $10b. Start-up will be what it is going to be.
As for leadership being Shell’s finest, I don’t disagree that this is probably the best Shell can put on the front line. This isn’t saying much as most in the trenches know that Purves carries alot of weight with Motiva and the Saudis since he is the only senior left over from the early days of Motiva. But give me a break, the other leaders brought in are the ones Purves brought in, not shell’s best. At least if he is going down, Shell’s senior leaders let him “do it his way”. Trust me, they all deserve each other. the rest of us just will wait it out anddo our best.
on Jan 9th, 2011 at 4:12 pm
Those observing and those being impacted by TP’s needy ego, do not his legacy make. When it comes right down to it, he and the Funk were seen as saviors to a project needing better management. And this is what gets played outside of Shell. If he pulls it off with cost improvement, and is able to connect all upsets to Bechtel (and others), his retirement package will be one to be envied. The Reuter’s article excerpt below eludes to that view; managers brought in to ‘restart’ the project after Saudi ARAMCO became concerned about cost, must be Shell’s finest.
“The $5-billion project, begun in 2007 was stopped for over a year in late 2008 due to concerns by Motiva partner Saudi Aramco about the cost and management of the expansion. Work resumed in 2009.”
on Jan 9th, 2011 at 2:30 am
Mr. Donovan, here is what I can tell you since the PR spin on this was pretty shallow…. The crane, a part of the CEP project, and being operated by Bechtel, toppled over backwards, falling into and across a piperack. This damaged the piperack extensively, taking out power lines, collapsing into a resid tank that we had just put back in service. This also trapped an individual in one of the vacuum trucks in the surrounding area. A very bad event indeed but played down to the external community for obvious reasons. Another problem due to Bechtel which should have been fired from the project back in 2009 instead of all the people Tom Purves ended up letting go that were trying to help. Maybe Purves and Funkhouser with their little tag-along plant manager can help to right this one. Believe me, it is going to get worse before it gets better on this project. OSHA is in here investigating. We’ll wait and see what they find.
on Jan 8th, 2011 at 9:29 am
POSTED ON BEHALF OF A FORMER EMPLOYEE OF SHELL OIL: John,
I read your expose’ on Dr. Huong’s ordeal. As a student of history this is the sort of thing you would expect from the fascists or Bolsheviks of days gone by. The two ideologies are different sides of the same twisted coin.
RD Shell’s cultural roots show clearly in the way they treated this poor man. And their conduct was and is despicable. That man did not slander Shell. Truth is not slander.
on Jan 6th, 2011 at 3:23 am
Dr. Huong, you are not the only one who has been done wrong. The only truth here is that Shell senior mgt is bad. Tom Purves, here in the US, has done similar deeds as you refer to. He has lied about good people in our company and between him and the HR cronies, who sole job these days is to serve senior mgt, created fabrications that led to good people leaving our company. A strong similarity is the level of diligence that senior mgt and HR exhibited going after these people to run them out of the company. Tom also lied and had performance factors changed, after the manager had set them, to allow people to be targeted for severance packages across all of our GC sites. He falls into the same mix of senior managers that you reference; the only difference is the country. Shell senior mgt has changed this company we have all been proud of and have served our entire careers for. Flat out frustrated and no end in sight. Shell mgt won’t respond to you becauase they have no backbone and won’t stand up to be judged by their deeds. Face it, this company is a 3rd rate company with weak leaders. This unfortunately is as good as it gets until major changes happen.
on Jan 5th, 2011 at 9:51 am
It would be surprising if the Frontier Discoverer meets current emission standards. The vessel was built 45 years ago. Imagine trying to get an emissions certificate for a 1965 automobile…
Shell claims to have spent over $2bn on its Arctic exploration programme, but are proposing to use a vessel which should have been sent to the scrapyard many years ago. A new vessel would cost perhaps $500 million, but would last for 35 years and would include all the latest safety and environmental equipment. How can Shell claim to be serious about emissions, safety, and environmental protection while trying to use equipment constructed when the issues were not even considered – the Frontier Discoverer was built before the first major offshore blowout (Unocal, Santa Barbara channel) occurred in 1969.
on Jan 3rd, 2011 at 8:45 pm
Golden Triangle Watchmen:
Did the Norco TRIO show up yet? Useless Joey D (No degree just like “Funk”, BB- rule breaker, and Gabby Dipp (brainless). They are all coming from NORCO to save the day over there in Texas. Again Funk pulling strings for Joey. His dictatorship at Motiva Norco was too long and over thank god. They were running him out so he had to call his long lost buddy Funk to help him out. This useless piece of shit is like a grade 2 or so making way too much money for a person with no degree who skated on everyone else’s coattails his entire career at Shell/Motiva. He failed to let everyone know that he was getting demoted and moved, this is why he called Funk for a favor, to make him look good like his is actually going there to save the day, or so he thinks. It is truly amazing how he lasted this long in the company. Well all I can tell you guys over there in Texas is watch out. Joey is one of the biggest SNAKES there is and will use everyone and anyone to get what he wants, he is a dictator. As for the other 2 they are just as useless or more…..
Happy New Year!!!
on Jan 2nd, 2011 at 6:58 pm
That TP was able to reek the havoc that he did, on the organization and on people’s lives. No justice that no one had the wisdom or guts to stop him. .. Or that he is still in any position at Shell. … but the biggest injustice of all, is that there has not been nor will there probably ever be, reparation for his damage to personal lives! Yep more of the ‘dialogue’ of alignment, being ‘spoken’ in today’s Shell.
on Jan 1st, 2011 at 11:21 pm
Funny is not what would come to mind for Tx City from where I sit if Jeff gets run off from Motiva and goes to hang on to his next apron with KC. Many of us, who read this website, remember the Tom and Jeff show when it was here. Not even close to being funny. I am just blown away that Shell has let it exist as long as it has. He got fired up here when CP decided that he would not be a manager. Peple up here remember what the knife felt like when he was working for Tom 2 levels down in the organization. I’m sure he has a nice little reason to go to BP with his Norco buddy still around. Was part of why he is no longer married I’m sure. The boy is no good. Trust those who know him. And neither is Purves. He is old school Shell with some friends in HR. The only reason he hangs around. Tom must be counting his days.
on Dec 31st, 2010 at 2:02 am
About Jeff it would be funny if he would end up at Texas City BP with KC and his other friend from Norco. Poor BP.
on Dec 24th, 2010 at 9:24 pm
POSTED ON BEHALF OF A FORMER EMPLOYEE OF SHELL OIL USA: Response to Golden Triangle Watchman: Hey Buddy, you got it right. The Nazi story isn’t about Nazis, or Hitler. It is all about the mediocrity of Shell management, their lack of integrity and character, and how those major personality faults in senior leadership reflect in the corporate business decisions, in how they treat their people, their business partners, and how they deal with governments. It is about the consequences of bad leadership and the need for a serious house cleaning in the management ranks at Shell, and a change in corporate management culture.
on Dec 24th, 2010 at 2:57 pm
Re Interested…. I think you will see a bad start-up because the construction is / has been bad all along. There is no contractor, excluding Bechtel, that feels good about what they have participated in. Re Tom, retirement by end of 2011 or sooner if he is successful in pushing the project to completion sooner. Face it, he got demoted and sent over here to clean the mess up he created. He is only interested in his legacy and his ego, nothing else. Re Jeff, too young to retire and he has an ex wife who owns half of what he gets so he will want to keep working. As soon as Tom leaves, Jeff will be disposed of in a quiet way. He knows it, Tom knows it, and Shell mgt can’t wait. Jeff is bad to the bone and just dirty. Has been as I understand it for many many years. Forrest won’t be too far behind. He is a joke and just does what these 2 tell him to.
Re Shellie… wake up. This story isn’t about Nazis. It’s about how Shell mgt continues to connect themselves with bad people, bad govts, and because the leadership we have for our company is weak and basically programmed to preach the same message, they are bad. Not so much because they are evil I belive; they are just bad and weak leaders. Not much left to say.
on Dec 24th, 2010 at 2:17 am
Thanks GTW for update. Started some calls about start up people who plan to leave mid-year 2011. I wonder how this will work for TP & J?
on Dec 23rd, 2010 at 11:09 pm
REPLY TO Shellie: What a strange posting. You seem to be under the impression that we are in some way making money from this website. In fact, it costs us money every month with no incoming revenue. No subscription costs. No advertising. No donations. We deliberately operate on an entirely non commercial basis so that no one can fairly accuse us of trying to make money out of telling the truth about Shell. With regards to the Nazi aspect, I note that thus far no one has disputed the facts as stated in Royal Dutch Shell Nazi Secrets. The evidence, much of which has been buried in newspaper archives for several decades, is overwhelming. Shell decided to deal with the devil for financial gain. It is still following the same policy. We have no intention of dropping the subject. In fact, as will be seen in the New Year, we will ensure that the Nazi chapter in Shell’s history is taken up by the mainstream media. I appreciate that some Shell employees may feel uncomfortable about working for a company stained by its Nazi past, and from the plunder, corruption and pollution in Nigeria. And now Shell is in bed with state sponsors of terrorism – Libya and Iran, but that is the history and current business record of Shell. Evil is in the DNA of this company, which pledges honesty, integrity and transparency in all of its dealings. How on earth does that equate with news stories over the last six months alone and even with those published in recent days. If anything we have published was untrue, Shell would have had the website shut down within hours. It does not try to do so, because any court case would only focus more attention on its evil track record. That’s the truth of the matter. With regards to your personal insults directed at my father, he served in the British army for 12 years and fought the Japanese in Burma. He has a disabled pension and medals to prove his record in World War 2. It is rather more commendable than Shell’s.
on Dec 23rd, 2010 at 10:12 pm
John, can you stop this stupid campaign of nazi thing? This is going no where.
Is your cranky, eccentric old man after this? Ask him to enjoy rest of his days or is he planning another duplicate site to keep your extended family fed.
These pictures from the 60 year old nazi grave are annoying. I work for shell and agree/ disagree with
some or many policies. But you have no freaking right to speak on employees behalf. For one thing, shell is feeding us and other at least millions directly/ indirectly
and your attitude stinks with these nazi & other idiotic, stretched stories.You and your kids (if you can have any), have made their
bucks by these dubious & parasitic activity. STOP when you can…Your sight was interesting during shell restructuring last year with different and real people participating but it is
pathetic now. Same people appear to be posting things under different names..same things with different make-up. If you have any sense then look around, most companies
in the world in 21st century work in similar way. I participate in many blogs online but have not seen such a vicious poison in today’s world. Your kids, if any,
will of course be thanking you for arranging their future source of income. Please wake-up, listen, look around and stop this non sense.
You did your job, screwed Sakhalin but now dont screw more ; it has started to hurt as an employee.
on Dec 21st, 2010 at 5:47 pm
What’s the latest on the epitome of morals, KA, that the GEP Folks so dearly loved?
on Dec 21st, 2010 at 12:51 pm
Interested – Nothing is being said because nothing is really happening or different on the project. It is getting built. Uncle Tom Purves got sent over here to “fix it” but everyone who knows Tom knows he hasn’t got a clue how to run these big projects. But him and Jeff are going to fix it. Right… The last feedback I got from my contractor buddies is that Uncle Tom called them all in here lately and told them they would finish by end of 2011. They won’t tell him any different but know that is a farce, which is the fundamental root of the problem. My understanding, when Tom could have come clean with the board, told them the project would get done for $8.5b when in fact every control estimate and check estimate that different groups did for him said no less than 10. He wanted the project to get done and lied to make it happen. Tom has no issues lieing to anyone. He has done that pretty consistently over his career and continues. We all expect he will wrap it up in 2011 or 2012, collect his stock, and retire. This will be one retirement that should raise the company stock price due to ethics and morals getting better when he leaves. Until then, it’s the Jeff and Tom show because all Botts could do to punish Tom was to demote him and send him to Port Arthur to clean up the mess he created. Wow, what a punishment. He was over here all the time anyway.
on Dec 20th, 2010 at 3:42 pm
What is going on with the Port Arthur CEP job? Can’t find out anything.
on Dec 18th, 2010 at 12:11 pm
I am also an exUS Shell staff. I think I know uscitizen from his style of writing. He was one of those continually on the take – bad apple as far as we were concerned. Amazing of him talking about Grofaz!
on Dec 16th, 2010 at 8:27 pm
REPLY TO uscitizen: I guess we both have got a little over-excited in the heat of discussions. What I will do is thank you for all your postings here and wish you all the best for Christmas and the New Year.
on Dec 16th, 2010 at 7:51 pm
“I used to work for Shell USA. The company you describe did not exist in my day, except at the lower level, sometimes, and I seriously doubt it exists today. In fact, the staff was always looking for a little G&C from one vendor or another. (G&C – graft and corruption, as in: tickets to ball games, free meals, etc. All in return for throwing business the way of the vendor. This was and still is a time honored ‘quid quo pro’ in the oil industry). Senior management always played games, especially with reserve bookings (does that bring back a memory or two?). No offense fella’, but your blathering about how great Shell is kind of reminds me of the blathering the Germans did in the 1930′s about how great GROFAZ was (look that one up). You are obviously a bright guy and the German’s are bright people. But there are: ‘none so blind as those who will not see’, and ‘none so deaf as those who will not hear’. You live in a world of willful self delusion. A fraud. You have ‘bought in’ to the system in order to move up the food chain. If Shell was such an ethical outfit how come all the criminal investigations regarding bribery, and so on. Guys like you always make guys like GROFAZ possible.”
Right – nice try. I work in M and have worked in many many sites and what you describe does not exist. Of course we have had folks who made mistakes and took things from vendors that they should not have, and they were punished, many lost their jobs. And John, yes there are acceptable levels of gifts, and if you do not think there are then you are living in la la land. Of course I do not equate folks to Nazis, I am glad you see how silly that line of reasoning is and maybe you will stop comparing today’s senior leaders to yesterdays senior leaders alleged wrongdoings. Weary of this, we all work we were are comfortable and where the standards are consistent with our values. There are many folks who clearly do not understand and want to understand the high level the vast majority of Shell folks operate. Good stewards who comply with company and legislated requirements and are expected to. Done with this debate, I have too many other value added things to do, but since I am lazy and dumb, wish me luck.
on Dec 15th, 2010 at 11:10 pm
REPLY TO “dutchdude”: We try to avoid censorship but agree that the insults detract from some excellent and informative postings and lively debate. Perhaps contributors will kindly bear this in mind in future postings on this blog as I will.
on Dec 15th, 2010 at 5:03 pm
To John D.: John maybe it would be a good idea to post a rule for the blogs that personal insults to fellow bloggers are not allowed. Your blog serves a purpose of discussion, that certainly can’t be had in Shell. The returning personal attacks distract from the real purpose of your blog. There is enough in Shell to write about, let’s not attack each other at this forum, since we all took the time to log in to your site (without a doubt from our own machines and not the company’s!!)
on Dec 15th, 2010 at 10:34 am
POSTED ON BEHALF OF A FORMER EMPLOYEE OF SHELL OIL USA: I have a response for US Citizen.
I used to work for Shell USA. The company you describe did not exist in my day, except at the lower level, sometimes, and I seriously doubt it exists today. In fact, the staff was always looking for a little G&C from one vendor or another. (G&C – graft and corruption, as in: tickets to ball games, free meals, etc. All in return for throwing business the way of the vendor. This was and still is a time honored ‘quid quo pro’ in the oil industry). Senior management always played games, especially with reserve bookings (does that bring back a memory or two?). No offense fella’, but your blathering about how great Shell is kind of reminds me of the blathering the Germans did in the 1930′s about how great GROFAZ was (look that one up). You are obviously a bright guy and the German’s are bright people. But there are: ‘none so blind as those who will not see’, and ‘none so deaf as those who will not hear’. You live in a world of willful self delusion. A fraud. You have ‘bought in’ to the system in order to move up the food chain. If Shell was such an ethical outfit how come all the criminal investigations regarding bribery, and so on. Guys like you always make guys like GROFAZ possible.
on Dec 15th, 2010 at 12:48 am
REPLY TO “uscitizen”: Still twisting my words. “Lazy and/or unintelligent” was and remains my assessment of you personally based on your postings, and does not reflect at all on Shell employees in general who are loyal to the company and defend its actions when they deem that it is being wrongly maligned. You say the company you work for would never tolerate you taking inappropriate gifts from vendors. This seems to suggest that you take gifts from vendors which YOU consider are appropriate? You go on to accuse me and conscience driven Shell whistleblowers of being on a par with the Nazis. A reference to the most evil regime in history responsible for tens of millions of deaths, including the mass genocide carried out in concentration camps. Is that really your considered opinion?
on Dec 15th, 2010 at 12:05 am
Agree with DutchDude, the “revelation” that Shell had people in Nigerian ministries etc is not new, and was always well known. Suppose the diplomats have to put something in their reports, but this is not a big reveal.
on Dec 14th, 2010 at 10:45 pm
Nice shot, lazy and unintelligent huh. So that is what you think about Shell employees who have the guts to defend their company. What a useless tool. Let me give you some data. The company I work for – from EVP down – would never tolerate me mis reporting data to government agencies, violating Environmental permits on purpose to make production targets, cooking the books on fixed costs vs capex, taking inappropriate gifts from vendors. That is how I was trained by EVP’s down and that is how I train my folks and the folks who work for them. We will fire people who do that and have. No exceptions. Is there a different standard at the highest levels, I do not have enough data to draw conclusions. Does not stop you, but it does stop me. Now – how will you react? I lie. right. Show me data, sorry John – company confidential. The info you get from Shell insiders violates our business principles, but you are glad to take it right John. Where does that place you and the Shell employees who violate our policies? On par with the Nazis I would say!
on Dec 14th, 2010 at 6:39 pm
REPLY TO “BEMUSED” POSTED ON BEHALF OF A FORMER EMPLOYEE OF SHELL OIL USA: I have a comment regarding ‘Bemused’s’ comment:
Is it just me or does anyone else think ‘Bemused’ is a few bricks short of a full load. (One good cheap shot deserves another).
on Dec 14th, 2010 at 5:15 pm
Is it just me or does anyone else get the feeling that John isn’t married?
on Dec 14th, 2010 at 12:05 pm
I am now retired but I have been at one time a ‘secondee’ to another oilcompany in which Shell had a considerable interest. Occasionally I felt pressure to pass on business secrets. So I did some soul searching and decided that I was placed there to transfer technical knowhow and for the rest act as if it was my own company. (They did pay my salary after all via some convoluted mechanism). Thereafter it always was very easy for me how and on what to communicate with Shell central office (in those days there was no head office) and this behaviour earned me the trust of the employing company. Hence I am still on good terms with them.
But I certainly do know of many people who would simply spy on request of the head honchos in Shell and pass on any kind of business information they asked.
I guess you just make up your mind whether you can still look yourself in the eye while shaving in the morning. In the end even the Shell honchos respected this behaviour, or at least they pretended it since my brief was to transfer technology and help the company to attain a higher level of knowhow.
on Dec 14th, 2010 at 10:30 am
POSTING ON BEHALF OF A FORMER EMPLOYEE OF SHELL OIL: I have a question for RD Shell corporate loyalist ‘dutchdude’:
‘If this ‘seconding’ is as good a thing as you say it is then perhaps RD Shell would like to disclose in which other countries it has ‘seconded’ those governmental ministries charged with oversight of RD Shell and their indigenous oil industries.
I am particularly interested in the Irish, Australian, Canadian, and US governments.
I am certain the US Justice Dept. and the FBI would also be interested given that such ‘seconding’ is very much a criminal violation of US law. Now I wonder why that is? I guess American’s have funny, even ‘Victorian’, ideas about ethics and ‘fair play’.
No? I thought not.
With all due respect RD Shell ‘dutchdude’, although you are a good little loyal drone with a good future at RD Shell ahead of you, you are as we say in Texas : ‘So damn full of it your eyes are brown.’ That is a quaint American saying for you know what.
on Dec 14th, 2010 at 4:35 am
DutchDude, Certainly ‘being in bed with’, or ‘having people in the Nigerian government could be a good thing. And I’m sure initial intent was probably meant to develop a relationship that served Nigeria and Shell. But it sure sounds to me like Shell abandoned some values and principals, to manipulate this relationship. Would you really expect senior leaders to reveal to you in hallway chat, that Shell is “in the Nigerian government” do whatever it takes to profit from Nigerian oil?
on Dec 13th, 2010 at 3:52 pm
In the corridors I have chatted with a few senior managers and all of them have an explanation why we have people in the Nigerian government, and how this is a good thing for Shell. I have also worked with Nigerian government secondees and we all knew that anything we did or said would go straight to the Nigerian leaders. So not really a big secret revealed here; was always right in front of us. And how can it be “infiltrating” if we all know about this? I know many other issues I can get upset about, but this wikileak is not one of them.
on Dec 12th, 2010 at 3:34 am
REPLY TO JOHN DONOVAN:- John- entirely agree with trying to keep management on the straight and narrow. With the wikileaks details concerning Pickard and the Nigerian Government it seems however, that the Shell Code of Conduct and General Business Principles do not apply to senior figures within Shell. This is terrible, just so terrible. I thought I was working for a principled company – how naive I have been. Morals do not seem to factor with these people. It shows how cut throat the o&g business is. Shell is and will always be ‘me first’. What about men and women ‘for others’? It’s going to take a complete turnaround of management and behaviour before Shell becomes the company it longs to be.
on Dec 10th, 2010 at 6:47 am
REPLY TO ROSIED: Our objectives are simple. We want Royal Dutch Shell executives to act at all times in accordance with Shell General Business Principles which include the claimed core principles of honesty, integrity, openness and respect for people in all of Shell’s dealings.
This is surely not an unreasonable ambition given that the principles were devised by Shell, are promoted by Shell and are supposedly current and binding on all Shell operations everywhere. In other words, we are only asking Shell executives to do what they already claim to be doing.
The plain fact is that if Shell executives had abided with the SGBP, scandals such as the reserves fraud involving blatant deceit and cover-up, the preventable Brent Bravo deaths which flowed from the Shell “Touch F*** All” safety culture on North Sea Platforms, and the more recent PR humiliations arising from outrageous examples of greenwash advertising, could not have occurred.
We do not believe that it is morally acceptable that Shell executives are indemnified so that even if they cheat, deceive and cover-up serious misdeeds, treating shareholders and the public as gullible fools, they are still able to walk away as winners. In the case of Sir Philip Watts, with a severance package/pension pot reportedly worth $18.5 million USD. We think that this is disgraceful situation at odds with all ethical norms including the SGBP and will continue to say so on this website.
The SGBP is being been used as a PR tool to promote undeserved confidence in the scruples and honesty of Shell senior management. For example, the SGBP featured in the Form 20F Declarations filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission thereby generating confidence in the proven reserves volumes which had been inflated i.e. were false.
While Shell execs continue to make pledges of ethical trading which they flout, we will continue our humble efforts to expose their hypocrisy and we welcome the support of others who like us are not prepared to put up with such deception.
The gap between Shell rhetoric and reality is evidence from Shell’s appalling track record including a leadership role in price fixing cartels, numerous Clean Air Act violations, repeated environmental infringements, multimillion dollar fines for groundwater contamination, more fines for unauthorised venting and flaring of gas. We also have to add to this litany, Shell’s exploitation and reckless disregard of the safety of its employees and its global espionage operation against its own employees trying to prevent whistleblowers. Shell’s industrial espionage activity in the USA and Nigeria has been exposed in 2010. We first became the target of such activity in the 1990′s. Richard Wiseman, the then Legal Director of Shell UK Limited was the spymaster. Other Shell espionage/dirty tricks operations, including infiltration and undercover activity in Nigeria involving Ken Saro-Wiwa, was also underway at the same time. Shell’s involvement in the murder of Ken Saro-Wiwi has been exposed by the Guardian newspaper. This is why Shell settled for $15.5 million the related US court case in June 2010. It could not allow damning evidence of torture and other human rights violations to be exposed in open court. The rule bending Mr Wiseman was of course the perfect choice for the role of the Chief Ethics & Compliance Officer of Royal Dutch Shell Plc. Poacher turned gamekeeper.
Regarding the Royal Dutch Shell Nazi controversy, as previously indicated, Shell is still following the same unprincipled policy. Recent and current Shell fat cats have continued to deal with the devil in the form of evil dictatorships in Nigeria (who in collusion with Shell murdered Ken Saro-Wiwi and other Nigerians), Libya (a state sponsor of terrorism which blew Pan Am 103 out of the sky), Saudi Arabia (Shell’s US business partner – the largest funder of Islamic terrorists) and Iran, the supplier of roadside bombs maiming and killing American and British soldiers. Iran also trains the Taliban on how to use the IED’s. And now Shell is getting into a closer embrace with the Russian Mafia. Claimed business principles are readily ditched in favour of oil and gas reserves.
on Dec 10th, 2010 at 1:56 am
I guess I am one of the “hard working decent people ” who works for Shell. I guess I am not “getting” the Nazi issue. Really? We are Blogging about what Shell Execs did during WW2? No doubt, any involvement with the Nazis is regretfull!! I just don’t make the connection with todays issues (and of course issues). I am a young (mid 30′s) staff guy, so I am comming from that perspective. If it matters.
Next, Is the intent of this site to; 1) Destroy RDS, or 2) fix the problems in RDS?
New to the site, thanks!
on Dec 9th, 2010 at 7:56 pm
REPLY TO US CITIZEN: I think we can safely leave it to others to decide who is twisting words. My comments about the vast majority of Shell employees being hard working decent people is already on display for all to read and reflects what I have said many times. I stand by my comments about Royal Dutch Shell Nazi Secrets and have supplied overwhelming evidence from independent reputable verifiable sources. You do not put forward “good arguments” because you are either too lazy or too unintelligent to do so, or perhaps both. Also note there is no comment about Shell’s connection with the rankings you took delight in drawing attention to, ignorant of the fact that Shell is a paying client of the company which produced the rankings. I also note there is no comment from you about the WikiLeak revelations today concerning Shell’s espionage in Nigeria, infiltrating every government department. Add that to recent other news about Shell in Nigeria. Plunder, Murder, Corruption, Pollution. Yet you continue to defend the most evil company on the planet. This is not a glib comment but a carefully considered and researched assessment based on evidence I am fully prepared to present in court if Shell disputes what I say.
on Dec 9th, 2010 at 12:30 pm
John, you are so messed up. You now equate a reputable organization and Shell employees with people who admired Hitler. I do not even have to pose good arguments, people read your words and see how twisted you are. Miserable life you lead. Sleeping well in the US, see ya!
REPLY TO “USCITIZEN”: Hitler was admired by many, including his financier, Royal Dutch Shell Group. Hitler was arguably the most evil person of all time. So much for being admired. Shell spends tens of millions of dollars on global advertising campaigns, so of course many people are deceived and know nothing about Shell’s conduct e.g. its role in corruption and human rights violations including murder and torture in Nigeria, for which it has recently paid millions of dollars in settlements and fines. That’s the facts, as opposed to the PR propaganda paid for by Shell designed to fool the public. And by the way, were you aware that Shell is a paying client (member) of the organization responsible for the rankings by which you apparently set such great store? I think not. That potential conflict of interest should have been declared alongside the rankings, but of course was no where to be seen. I only discovered the financial linkage as a result of some detective work. Shell contributed towards the cost of the rankings publication you have cited.
on Dec 9th, 2010 at 6:30 am
Thank you Donovans with your own wikileaks website! Shell has been saying for years to want to stimulate diversity. But what they have done is to reduce diversity but simply hire more women. American women in particular. And somehow I cannot shed this feeling that Shell has been less than fortunate about picking those ‘diverse adding’ females. All of them run on high testosterone levels, are presumably frustrated they were not borne male and what is worst: they give the impression of not being averse to corruption or assume the business principles are not for them. They blend in well with the current top as often pointed out by the Donovans. And was Cook not removed because she was not good enough after a string of disasters? Even Boeing had problems and she was on that board too. And then the Miss Boynton, kicked out after cooking the books. It would be better if she had cooked a nice stew. And now Pickard. I bet she will survive in Shell, crooks like each other. Who can guarantee me that she is not selling out Shell to the US government? And the list of bad women is much longer. It has gone a bit quiet on Gale Norton, but she seemlessly fits in with this diversity enhancing lot! The bad thing of all this is that there were (and are) many genuine good women in Shell who could make a difference. But Brinded and his cronies do not want change, they just want to milk Shell as long as possible and get out unharmed. Apologies for digressing but I am a great believer in true diversity.
on Dec 4th, 2010 at 7:43 am
REPLY TO DANIEL: That was a brief parting. 2 minutes before you returned with another comment. The current generation of Germans obviously bear no responsibily for what happened in World War 2. Same applies to Shell employees and to the vast majority of Shell employees during the war years. However, a stigma will always be attached to Germany, Royal Dutch Shell and the Shell brand arising from the actions of those in leadership positions at that time. Recent and current Shell fat cats have continued to deal with the devil in the form of evil dictatorships in Nigeria (who in collusion with Shell murdered Ken Saro-Wiwi and other Nigerians), Libya (a state sponsor of terrorism which blew Pan Am 103 out of the sky), Saudi Arabia (Shell’s US business partner – the largest funder of Islamic terrorists) and Iran, the supplier of roadside bombs maiming and killing American and British soldiers. Iran also trains the Taliban on how to use the IED’s. And now Shell is getting into a closer embrace with the Russian Mafia. Claimed business principles are readily ditched in favour of oil and gas reserves.
on Dec 3rd, 2010 at 11:01 pm
I was leaving it occurred to me. Perhaps we shall see sites like this disparaging the German people and blaming them for all the ills the are beseeching Europe today. After all there is fairly convincing evidence pointing to the fact that the German people supported Hitler as well. I could try and point out who wrong that would be, but … why bother people will see what they want to see
on Dec 3rd, 2010 at 10:53 pm
Alas adieu adieu
Thank you for the past, some very good info and discussion. I too no longer care to ‘look’ so I shan’t.
I bid thee farewell
on Dec 2nd, 2010 at 1:29 am
We can look at this history vs present behavior in another way. As I stated previously, the move from whole system/eco-sustainability toward dominance of the fittest, is where corrupt ethical and moral practices displace responsibility. The ‘dialogue’ that is taking place has been loud and clear for the past couple of years: managers play with US regulators, managers indulge in hedonistic self-centered activities, we indulge in the pursuit of energy profits even in Iran, AND rewards keep flowing for top leaders. Mr V enjoys a new +22% salary up from 3.2M in ’09 to 4.4M. Now don’t get me wrong, he did an excellent job of getting rid of ~6000 employees and made sure all who followed the rules were also rewarded, whether they drank too much, sexually accosted their underlings, had sex on company property, or perhaps circumvented environmental regulations. …so… do you hear the ‘dialogue’ of alignment? Are we behaving much different than any other time energy extraction and profit became the idol. We are behaving like this at all levels in the organization (internally) and in our relationship with the world. Dialogue no longer takes place. The conversation for alignment becomes one-sided, and all who want to survive in the big-oil game, become servant to the indulgences required to compete. Don’t look to see a change in Shell’s moral or ethical behavior, internally or as a world citizen, unless it is a change that serves someone, and ultimately the organization. I agree, greed is the evil that replaces responsibility. But let’s face it; the rewards for the skilled and greedy, far outweigh any motivation to care for anything beyond self and the enterprise.
on Dec 1st, 2010 at 10:07 pm
I have to say I agree with John. A) If you don’t like it, don’t look. B) I think the history of a company is it’s genealogy, since a leader to be must accept a companies history and culture to even be considered for a leadership position. If a person really believes that history is justified “for the good of the company” he is going to repeat it. We see this over and over within Shell in spite of their lip service to “adherence to the highest principles”
on Dec 1st, 2010 at 10:55 am
RESPONSE TO “SIGNING OFF”: NO REFUNDS. Reference your assertion that you can’t subscribe to this site unless we only focus on current Shell misdeeds, I would make the point that there are no subscription fees. We have been operating websites focused on Shell since 1995. Shell issued a press statement in March 1995 complaining about our activities. All of our sites have always been operated on an entirely non commercial basis, with no subscription charges. We turn down on a regular basis companies wishing to pay us to place adverts on the site. We have refused all donation offers including from a Russian source during the Sakhalin2 debacle. Thus, we are free of any influence other than from people like you who hopefully enjoy the spectacle of Shell management being embarrassed and belittled from time to time as a result of our activities. So we listen to what you say, but want more people to be aware of the Royal Dutch Shell/Nazi relationship and will campaign accordingly. There will be a major development in this regard later this month. The site continues to attract astonishingly high traffic for a “gripe site”, with over 2 million hits in November. Many German companies, including Daimler-Benz, had associations with the Nazis. Royal Dutch Shell was a foreign company, yet pumped funds into the Nazi party in a variety of ways saving the Nazi party when it was in danger of going bust. Only one German company – I.G. Farben – had a worse track record. Shell was in bed with I.G. Farben, jointly owning and operating German companies which used concentration camp slave labor in the production of synthetic oil to fuel the Nazi military. Although we accept that the whole matter is controversial, we intend to make more people aware of Shell’s record of funding and supporting the Nazis.
on Dec 1st, 2010 at 3:40 am
I have to echo the message from Disappointed. The Nazi linkage is tiresome. I love reading about how Shell is a bad guy as much as most that visit this site. But this is out of hand. Daimler-Benz was also associated with that regime (utilizing slave labour) as I’m sure other companies were benefiting from Hitler. I almost have to ask – what brand of car do you or does your family own? I want to hear about current Royal Dutch infractions. I just cant subscribe to this site otherwise.
on Nov 30th, 2010 at 10:30 pm
REPLY TO “USCITIZEN”: Hitler was admired by many, including his financier, Royal Dutch Shell Group. Hitler was arguably the most evil person of all time. So much for being admired. Shell spends tens of millions of dollars on global advertising campaigns, so of course many people are deceived and know nothing about Shell’s conduct e.g. its role in corruption and human rights violations including murder and torture in Nigeria, for which it has recently paid millions of dollars in settlements and fines. That’s the facts, as opposed to the PR propaganda paid for by Shell designed to fool the public. And by the way, were you aware that Shell is a paying client (member) of the organization responsible for the rankings by which you apparently set such great store? I think not. That potential conflict of interest should have been declared alongside the rankings, but of course was no where to be seen. I only discovered the financial linkage as a result of some detective work. Shell contributed towards the cost of the rankings publication you have cited.
on Nov 30th, 2010 at 8:22 pm
Make sure you post this about the evil empire since you post all things good and bad, right John???
Shell Makes list of most admired companies
LINK SUPPLIED
on Nov 29th, 2010 at 11:24 pm
REPLY TO MUSAINT: What is obvious from your comments is that you have not even bothered to read the 9 part “Royal Dutch Shell Nazi Secrets” or otherwise you would already know about the overwhelming evidence from independent, reputable, verifiable sources, confirming Shell’s funding of the Nazis. You have not challenged a single stated fact. Shell’s association with the Nazi is distasteful but it is also factual. Exactly how long do you think the information would remain on display on this website if it was propaganda as “Disappointed” suggests? I can guarantee that unlike you, Shell lawyers have read every word and checked all the quoted evidence. If the facts were untrue, Shell lawyers would have had the site closed down within hours. You have been visiting this website for a number of years and despite what you say, what’s the betting that you will do so again? You and “Disappointed” and your comments will always be welcome. Unlike the Tell Shell discussion forum for uncensored lively debate (closed after we caught Shell lawyers secretly censoring critical comments) we publish all postings relating to Shell and/or us. I do however hope that anyone offering comment on these matters will first read the 9 part article. That would be a much fairer way forward than the blanket criticism offered by a person (whose views I normally respect) who dismisses the evidence without even knowing what it is. As to your comment about having a large chip on my shoulder, I somehow don’t think your revelation will come as a surprise to people who are regular visitors here. Most will have surmised that we are not fond of Shell’s overpaid hypocritical top brass, who put themselves before the best interests of Shell employees (who are ruthlessly tossed out on mass with many being forced to reapply for their own jobs). Or in the best interest of shareholders, who have been defrauded and treated with contempt, particular those in the UK who are now second class citizens as a result of the reserves scandal. They are a bunch of incompetents, who due to their own negligence, have to endure the humiliation of a website using the top level domain name for the company – Royal Dutch Shell Plc – to expose the truth about Shell, including its support for the Nazis.
on Nov 29th, 2010 at 10:47 pm
The Shell-Nazi link focus of this site seems to have reached new levels of hysteria with the human skin lamp shades article. Ironically this could have come out of the propaganda kitchen of Joseph Goebels himself. The swastika on the Shell shop at the top of the page is the last drop for me; I will now remove this site from my favourites list. Thanks anyway for the much higher quality content in days gone bye.
on Nov 29th, 2010 at 8:03 pm
I have kept silent these past couple of weeks whilst some appalling dross is written / inferred by the Donovans linking Shell to the Hitler regime. (I am sure Mr. D. you will now come back with umpteen references to bore me to bits about how you can show this that and the other to show how Shell colluded with anybody / regime on the planet.) Point is that some of your recent “attacks” on Shell (viz Hitler)just show how large a chip on your shoulder (and your fathers) you have. Your bitterness shows very clearly through in recent weeks. Shame, as some of the attacks against Shell and their decision to operate in Iran I agree with – this continuous historical linkage to Hitler gets very very tedious and when you show the lamp shade angle it is way over the top – some would say madness. Perhaps readers to this forum and Wikileaks should investigate past Donovans and maybe / allegedly being able to link their ancestores to other historical disasters / tragedies. Bottom line is that this site is now bordering on the rediculous and has lost its value. I shall sign off permanently as I see no value whatsoever in logging in to this nonsense. Bye.
on Nov 28th, 2010 at 2:34 pm
POSTED ON BEHALF OF “EXSHELL”: John, it is vital in my view that Julia (Australia’s PM) should also be aware of Shell’s terrible track record. FLNG is a new technology and Shell has just announced that they are going to pump in billions in their new FLNG development. I am sure that Shell will destroy this pristine Australian waters.
on Nov 28th, 2010 at 8:37 am
Donna Getz’ account of problems following a well test mirror an event in Drenthe in Holland when production from a sour gas (H2S) well was released during a well test during the 1980′s, causing a herd of cows in an adjacent field to drop dead. I don’t think it even made the Dutch news after the farmer and local community were reminded of the importance of Shell (NAM) to the local economy. I’m sure there are plenty of readers of this site who can provide additional information.
on Nov 20th, 2010 at 5:43 pm
MESSAGE TO THE SOURCE SUPPLYING US WITH INFORMATION RELATING TO SHELL RELATIONSHIP WITH IRAN. YES, WE ARE SAFELY RECEIVING YOUR INPUT AND ARE DULY GRATEFUL. IT IS BEING USED AND WILL BE INCLUDED IN AN IMMINENT MAJOR MAILING TO U.S. GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS, SENATORS AND CONGRESSMAN. PLEASE KEEP THE INFORMATION COMING. WE WILL PUT IT TO GOOD USE. WE FULLY UNDERSTAND WHY YOU HAVE USED A SPECIAL EMAIL SERVICE TO PROTECT YOUR IDENTITY AND SECURITY, WHICH DOES NOT ACCEPT REPLIES.
on Nov 20th, 2010 at 5:26 pm
If anyone is interested, we have a copy of a Shell SECRECY AND RESTRICTED USE AGREEMENT from October 2006 involving “IOOC, Iranian Offshore Engineering Company, a company organised and existing under the laws of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Agreement covers: “so called Sulfinol Process which is a regenerative process developed by SHELL and Affiliates of SHELL for the removal of acidic components from a gas stream employing an aqueous solution containing sulfolane and/or sulfolane derivatives with addition of an amine.” The agreement is self-evidently not quite as secret as Shell had hoped. Copies available on request subject to any injunction by Shell and its 1200 strong legal department which includes 720 lawyers, 80 of which are “intellectual property professionals”.
on Nov 19th, 2010 at 1:27 am
I think that as we weaken toward ego-cenrtic, there is no grey. One immoral or unethical act changes white to black. We have seen this in our behavior in the Niger Delta; this is part of the SHELL system, observable and destructive to the world that we exploit. As 66 stated, living up to moral and ethical practices will become an increasingly difficult challenge as finding and extracting energy becomes more difficult. Many have shared on this site, observations and experiences of internal breakdowns in moral and ethical practices and behaviors, in all levels of the organization. I assert that ‘grey’, is in the dialogue between top leaders and their subordinates and ultimately through the rest of the organization. What is alarming to me, is the present alignment with compromised standards. We do not have a choice about whether ‘alignment’ works, alignment always works. The responsibility of leadership, from the top down, is to insure that Shell’s relationships, practices and behaviors, internally and in the ecosystem (ALL of the World that is not Shell), contribute to sustaining the ‘whole’ (Shell and the world). This dialogue to get to that alignment is the grey. Sustaining the whole is white, compromising any of it is black.
on Nov 18th, 2010 at 8:58 pm
Very interesting posts. I suppose I turn off from debates that describe things in such stark terms as “evil” or “good”…I do think there are just so many shades of grey in all aspects of life that black and white terms hardly ever do any situation justice! But your unpacking of the term evil is a useful way of looking at it as it relates to folks views of Shell at present. I agree with John 100% that the business principles should either be upheld fully (even if it means losing business and/or pulling out of certain countries) of they should be dumped. Shareholders should be told this upfront and get to vote on the issue – either we will uphold the BPs and that may have some impact on short term dividends, or we will dump them altogether, and take whatever reputation hit that may result – I would have an open and honest debate on this whole issue and then put it to the shareholders. I sense that Realybware is right that we are re-entering an era of ‘ get their first, develop it fast’…and the Business principles may come under greater pressure then now! On the pesticides/drins issue – agree it is worrying, but caution again that hindsight is a great thing, and we simply did not know about the dangers of certain chemicals then as we do now. Asbestos is a classic example of that.
on Nov 17th, 2010 at 11:56 pm
REPLY TO “66″.
Pleasure to discuss these issues with someone who makes their points in a reasonable balanced way. With regards to the similarities between then and now, basically Shell is still keen to deal with the devil (e.g. the fanatical Iranian regime and the alleged reformed state sponsor of terrorism, Muammar al-Gaddafi) to achieve its business objectives, irrespective of ethical/moral considerations. The history of Royal Dutch Shell published in 2007 was revealing about the anti-Semitic behavior of Royal Dutch Shell towards it own employees. Its authors came unstuck resting their defense (of Shell funding the Nazis) on the basis that Deterding’s attempts to meet with Hitler were all rebuffed, thereby drawing the conclusion that the Nazis attached no importance to Royal Dutch Shell/Deterding. Unfortunately they were apparently unaware that in fact Hitler had a four day meeting with Deterding at Hitlers mountain top retreat. The Nazis also arranged for an official from the German Foreign Office to be seconded to Deterding as a personal assistant to facilitate liaison with Hitler. In addition, Dr. Georg Bell, a German spy, acted as a joint agent/delegate of Deterding and Hitler. The close relationship between Hitler and Deterding was evident from the wreath that Göring sent to the funeral of Sir Henri, which contained a personal tribute from the Fuhrer. The Reichsmarschall was a personal friend of Deterding. Since you have the RDS history book, please check out the parts dealing with Shell managements handling of contamination issues caused by the manufacture of pesticides and herbicides. Shell knew early on what a potential long term and persistent environmental and health menace these pesticides were. Yet they kept producing them and moving production to new locations, even as one country after another banned their use. An extremely ugly story of corporate greed with utter contempt by Shell fat cats for the welfare of its employees and the public. We will shortly publish an email we are sending to Senators/Congressmen in the USA. It will deal with the unfortunate track record of Shell, which is pressing US politicians and the Obama administration to allow Shell to drill in the Arctic Ocean. The content will be relevant to the issues we have discussed. It will cover recent/current Shell corruption, fraud, industrial espionage, pollution and human rights scandals. Shell fat cats, not ordinary employees, are the target of our campaigning activities. We want Shell to either abide with its own claimed business principles, or ditch them so that no one will in future be conned by blatantly false promises of honesty and transparency. I do not know of any other company that has a track record as disgraceful as Royal Dutch Shell. The dark side of Shell is very dark indeed.
on Nov 17th, 2010 at 11:24 pm
realybware: Well said! The moral decline in Shell commenced after van Wachem stepped down. Then there was a succession of leaders with an anglo-saxxon mind. They employed consultants and injected the top with like minded people. And they removed over the years all those who said that the king went naked. And the rest is history. It not only happened in Shell but in many other decent companies. It is hard to believe but in the mid 90s there were still many banks run by decent bankers!
Thank you for your post, I wish I could express myself so well!
on Nov 17th, 2010 at 8:06 pm
66 and Mr D, I think that in order for Shell to remain a sustainable enterprise, there needs to be some philosophical re-alignment in leadership to the moral and ‘good’ vs the ‘evil’ that Mr D refers to. In an organization where profit becomes idolized over all else in the ecosystem, the ‘idol’ becomes all-important to the point that many things and ultimately ALL things will be sacrificed to that end. This is where not only Shell but other oil exploiters have crossed the line in the past. Doing business with the devil is a rewarding affair when we become servant to ego (vs eco). Synergy in an organization, vs individual isolation, competitiveness, (and self-serving greed): are only a reflection of how the ‘whole’ positions itself in the global ‘theater’. Mr Hoffmeister’s pompous attitude about BP is an example of the top down philosophical alignment in Shell today. Although he is no-longer at the helm, his presence definitely still defines SHELL. And no doubt Mr V and his minions ‘align’ helplessly through a new subservient, ordered organization, driven by Mr V’s single-mindedness about the ‘idol’. We will all compete to play that game until we feel our individual morales are being exploited too far. An interesting description of the alignment i am referring to is reprinted below from another source:
Evil is characterized by selfishness and purpose. It maintains that it is both important and correct that those who are worthy should succeed, while the weak and unworthy perish. The efforts of good to distribute wealth generally are viewed as cheating the truly deserving. . Evil characters do not regard other characters (co-workers)–not even other evil characters(co-workers) –as worthy of respect. They are always willing to take advantage of another’s misfortune. Any generous act, either by giving away treasure (recognition) or by taking risks on behalf of another, must be justified by some advantage to the character taking the action (ego-centerd vs whole/organization) . Evil characters often believe that good and neutral characters are pretending they are not evil in order to fool others and gain an advantage.
Good and Evil are usually referred to as the “moral” dimension or axis of alignment, while Law and Chaos are referred to as the “ethical” dimension or axis. Thus neutralities may be distinguished as Moral Neutrality or Ethical Neutrality.: {end of reprint}
I SEE SIGNIFICANT SACRIFICE OF THE ETHICAL AND THE MORAL ALIGNMENT IN SHELL. Are we returning to the behaviors of drillers who wanted to ‘get there first’;…. as we move into a world of progressively more difficult exploitation? Again, the alignment through the organization is a mirror of the global attitude of the whole as ‘designed’ at the top.
on Nov 17th, 2010 at 4:53 am
Thanks for your resposne John. I do indeed understand that a company’s history in its entirety must be accounted for, and to a certain extent lives on in terms of the companies reputation. However, where I disagree with you is in thinking that the misdeeds of 70 years ago are indicitive of management practices today. Now I know you don’t think much of today’s management, but that is a quite seperate matter to how the place was run 70 years ago. In other words – it has no real bearing on the Shell of today, and how it operates. When I heard first about the Nazi link with Shell, I looked with interest to see if the 100 year history of Shell, published a few years ago, would deal with it at all, given it is not the sort of thing companies want to be reminded off. I was pleased that they did cover it (including a photo of the headquarters in the Hague flying the Nazi flag). Did they cover the issue fully – probabaly not – but I take my hat off to the company for dealing with it at all – I know of many companies who would not have. You describe Shell as “the most evil company on earth.” ….
they have their faults for sure, but in my humble opinion they are a long way from that.
on Nov 14th, 2010 at 11:26 pm
Panalpina and Hofmeister, bribes in Nigeria. I am certain that the top management knew all about the goings on. About 5 years ago a scandal nearly erupted but was quenched. (Or as the say in Nigeria: ‘de disting was quench-oh by de Oga’. SPDC had made around 500 million dollars disappear over the years to all kind of community projects. No trails could be found in the books. And this for a company that should be able to trace every dollar spent anywhere. Because it is shareholder’s or taxpayer’s money. So I am sure that Hofmeister et all just assumed the bribes via Panalpina would disappear in the great wash. I am not an accountant. But as an engineer I know we can and must and do certify for instance every weld on long pipelines. The exact location, date of weld, weldingrods used, name of welder, and an X-ray photo is included. If you can do that, you should be able to trace every dollar spent? Unless you don’t want to?!?
on Nov 14th, 2010 at 10:46 pm
Remind me again…when did WW2 end? Why are you tainting good employees names who work today at Shell with the misdeeds of the company over 70 years ago. Weird. REPLY TO “66″ BY JOHN DONOVAN: As I have said before, the vast majority of Shell employees are decent hard working people. The company is to blame for the misdeeds you mention, which have indelibly stained the name of Royal Dutch Shell for all time. The catalog of misdeeds such as the securities fraud, all driven by pure greed, continue to this day, including dealing with current evil regimes in Libya and Iran. Add to that bribery and corruption in the USA and in Nigeria. And what about the deadly toxic legacy from pesticides, not to mention pollution on an epic scale e.g. decades long gas-flaring in Nigeria and widespread groundwater pollution in the USA. All taking place while Shell pretends to abide with its much trumpeted business principles, including honesty, integrity and transparency. What a joke. I can only assume from your comments that you would prefer not to know about the dark side of Shell. We believe that all Shell stakeholders and the public are entitled to know the ugly truth about the most evil company on the planet, including its role as the financier of the Nazis.
on Nov 11th, 2010 at 9:09 pm
POSTED ON BEHALF OF AN EMPLOYEE OF SHELL OIL USA: IN REMEMBRANCE: I remember walking through the American military cemetery at Normandy one bright summer day many years ago. It was full of American tourists that had unloaded from about a half dozen tour buses. I have never seen so many grown men break down and cry in my life.
My father was in the US Navy and served in submarines in the Pacific theater. 25% of those folks died in combat. In the early days of the war he served in the surface fleet and fought the Japanese Imperial Navy at a place called Guadalcanal. The war in the Pacific was a very dirty, brutal business and not many prisoners were taken, by either side. Your father knows about this, first hand. Many American men who fought in that theater literally hated the Japanese to their dying day. A sad but true fact. My father detested them as a people for what they did, for what he had seen, and for what he had experienced, and would not have a thing to do with anything Japanese, or made in Japan. To his dying day.
10′s of millions of Chinese died at the hands of the Japanese.
In Eastern Europe the Nazi’s were as brutal in their treatment of the Russians as they were in their treatment of the Jews. That war was a war of extermination, and 10′s of millions of Russians died as a consequence.
And the sad but true fact of life is that Royal Dutch Shell, along with other companies here in the US, were ‘invested’ in the Nazi’s and in the Germany economy. That includes Ford Motor, General Electric, and so on. Let us not forget the Swiss. It is not a pretty story.
However, Royal Dutch Shell is unique amongst this rogues gallery of amoral profiteers because Deterding’s support and influence came at a very critical time in the rise to power of Hitler and the Nazi Party. I have little doubt that without Deterding the mid-20th century history of Europe may have been much different. Perhaps the Communists would have gained a stronghold in Germany. We shall never know. However, it is unlikely that this alternative path of history would have been as violent, as viciously brutal, and as destructive as that resulting from the rise to power of the Nazi’s in Germany.
And without the German’s raising hell in Europe and Russia it is unlikely the Japanese would have tried to take on both the American’s and the British Empire in East Asia by themselves. The Japanese lacked the necessary natural resources, especially oil, and the Royal Navy and the US Navy were simply far to powerful.
Royal Dutch Shell has a host of stinking skeletons in their corporate closet, and their management doesn’t seemed to have learned much, or wanted to learn much, from the past conduct of their guiding predecessor, Sir Henri Deterding.
on Nov 10th, 2010 at 11:24 am
Hofmeister pompous as ever.
Last night I watched the BBC documentary on the Macondo blow-out. It was easy to relate with all that was said by the various participants. But two things stuck to my mind: the media and politicians (Obama included and leading the way) are like a troup of rabid dogs. The moment someone is down, they all attack in a feeding frenzy. All with hidden agendas, all completely oblivious of what their actions might cause. Presumably this is their job and I expect hardly anything else from these charlatans.
But then I saw several times that smug toad Hofmeister dumping on BP in general and Hayward in particular. I have seen this devious american arrive in Shell. He was instrumental in pushing the salaries and bonusses of the top echelons to excessive heights, he introduced the ‘behavioural skills’ at the expense of engineering skills, he pulled in many americans that have generally made a mess of things and when he finally was removed, sorry transferred, he travelled as an emperor through the whole of the USA. All under the title of ‘President’. A non-job if ever there was one. He is a disgrace to the people where he came from (Amish). And now he has become an ugly toad kicking someone who is down on the ground. This shows his real character. I advise all girls NOT to kiss this toad in the hope a handsome prince would emerge. You never know, pigs might fly too.
on Nov 9th, 2010 at 11:32 am
POSTED ON BEHALF OF A FORMER EMPLOYEE OF SHELL OIL USA: My response to US Citizen is this: As a former Shell employee I know how Shell management functions in ways that would scare the crap out of you. What I have to say about Shell’s very public ‘good works’ (by very well meaning staff) on a local scale versus the conduct of Shell management internationally and on major projects is this: You can make a vampire look respectable and presentable with enough make-up and a good external ward-robe, but lurking underneath that pretty facade still lurks the predatory, blood sucking vampire.
on Nov 8th, 2010 at 9:52 pm
Reply to uscitizen: Back with your usual insults that we have come to expect. You mention about Shell volunteer work in a good cause, then go on to predict that we will accuse Shell employees of having other motives, and based on this false assumption, trot out a put down – “Chew on that” – when in fact we have not said anything at all. I authored a Wikipedia article in 2009 – Royal Dutch Shell initiatives - which included coverage of the help Shell has given to many people, small businesses and charities. It was deleted by other editors on the basis of being biased in favor of Shell. Not that it is any of your business, but we have supported charities all of our working lives, including the Red Cross, and provided help to a US children’s charity on this website. This of course is all beside the point. The reason for your latest rant and rage is the Royal Dutch Shell Nazi Secrets article. If you had read it all, you would know that in the years after Sir Henri Deterding retired as the CEO, Royal Dutch Shell Group continued with the appeasement and collaboration with the Nazis, piling more money into the Nazi coffers, which funded the preparation for war. I suggest before making further comment, you read it all, including the extensive evidence from reputable independent sources.
on Nov 8th, 2010 at 8:47 pm
PS – tell all the folks that we helped out this weekend with many Shell volunteers that we do not resemble in any fashion a “good corporate citizen”. We did this because our moral standards require us to, as employees and citizens. Next thing you will say is that we had other motives, and you can not begin to know how wrong that is or how that insults the individuals who care greatly about our neighbors and their well being. Chew on that. When is the last time you or your blog company did something to help your fellow man, and I am not talking about your hollow rants about Shell to educate the poor common man about how evil Shell is. If you are doing it, tell us about it. I have not seen anything so in true Donovan journalistic behavior I assume you have done nothing. Am I right??
on Nov 8th, 2010 at 8:40 pm
Your determined efforts to connect the alleged individual support of an old RDS exec to today’s company is a huge affront to the people that make up today’s company. We resent and reject your allegations that this is what this company and it’s people stand for. You have done more to destroy your credibility than any organized, does not exist, corporate effort to do the same. Thanks – now the whole world can see what an obssessed irrational family looks like – The Donovan’s!!!
on Nov 8th, 2010 at 7:54 pm
POSTING ON BEHALF OF A FORMER EMPLOYEE OF SHELL OIL USA:
I have a response for ‘concerned shareholder’, and other ‘concerned shareholders’:
Henri Deterding’s only real motivation for supporting the Nazi’s before their rise to power was clearly driven by his desire to recoup his losses, and prevent further losses, due to the Bolshevik revolution in Russia and the threat that ideology posed elsewhere. Deterding was an old style, ruthlessly ambitious robber baron, like Carnegie, Vanderbuilt, and J.P. Morgan, etc. He wanted HIS Russian oil fields in Baku returned to Shell. And Deterding was not alone in his admiration for Hitler. Joseph Kennedy and Henry Ford were admirers as well. And Ford was a financial sponsor, as well as a rabid anti-semite.
Today, Shell’s motivations for dealing with unsavory regimes like the Libyans, the Iranians, etc., is purely based up the desire to secure further access to large reserves of oil and gas. Nothing more, nothing less. Shell management doesn’t give a holy rat’s rear end about the consequences of supporting regimes such as these, just as Deterding didn’t give a holy rat’s rear end about the consequences of supporting the Nazi’s. Deterding’s only concern was for profits, just as it is Shell’s only concern today. Today Shell management doesn’t care that their partner in Brazil, Cosan, has a history of using forced slave labor in their cane fields to support their ethanol production plants, just as Shell in Deterding’s day didn’t care about getting in bed with I.G. Farben in Germany, who use extensive amounts of slave labor.
There are more that just a few parallel’s between the ethical behavior of Shell management today to that of the Nazi era.
Like it or not, Deterding and Royal Dutch Shell played a major role in facilitating Hitler’s rise to power and all that came after. Deterding’s financial help, support and influence were crucial to the rise of Nazi facism in Germany. Without Deterding’s help history may have taken a far different and less violent and deadly turn. That is Royal Dutch Shell’s history. Hiding that history, and the recent history of Shell conduct, serves no purpose other than to create a marketing illusion for the general public. It is an abject fraud. And the conduct of the company, past and present, reflects the quality of character of Shell management (lack thereof) and the corporate culture that promotes such management. By any standard of measure, Shell is not, and historically never has been, a ‘good corporate citizen’.
Remember the old saying: ‘Those who fail to learn the lessons of history are doomed to repeat them.’
on Nov 8th, 2010 at 11:07 am
Ha, ha. I think it’s time that Allie Romeo verifies his “sources” as part of his “communication studies”. A funny story , much unlike the current poohah on this site about the link between Shell and the nazi’s. That’s a bit like trying to connect the current British Government (and the current British voters) to the attrocities committed during the colonial era. We have to look back and learn from history, but at a certain point it becomes a bit cheap and meaningless…
on Nov 7th, 2010 at 7:58 pm
It’s also small dash for greedy corrupt Nigerian politicians. About time all their foreign accounts were investigated.
on Nov 4th, 2010 at 5:41 pm
In Nigeria they say ‘pay small dash, finish palaver’. And 30 mln is only a small dash for Shell…
on Oct 31st, 2010 at 12:07 am
MESSAGE POSTED ON BEHALF OF BILL CAMPBELL: REPLY TO HANS BOUMAN:
Dear Hans
Re the well design you are probably right but having listened to the BP Drilling Engineer and others (he gave good testimony) I am not convinced that they will be proved negligent – their argument will be that other opinions are subjective after the fact and the BP well was fit for purpose. Certainly I do not think their actions will clear the high hurdle of gross negligence (based on the testimony provided under oath) according to the US definition of same.
Interesting to me that BP had every confidence in their Deepwater Horizon Drilling Engineer (also previously Drilling Engineer for Thunder Horse) who handled the two relief wells with Haliburton doing the cement jobs on these also.
With your contacts in the great School of Drillers out there are you aware how the relief wells were completed ? Were these like the Deepwater Horizon well, or did they not have the courage of their convictions.
I am sure if the well design was changed in line with what their critics (including Shell) have stated publicly the ambulance chasing Lawyers will not doubt use this against them.
Many thanks for your positive feedback
regards
Bill
on Oct 30th, 2010 at 4:07 pm
To Bill Campbell:
Thank you for a very good analysis and lucid story. Recently I was asked by a local business club to give a presentation on this blow-out. And I ended with a blow by blow account of the last hours before the mishap, nearly word for word the same as in your story. Obviously we both were guided by the good BP report of the blow-out.
I agree with Bill that with a good execution of the event the well might have been saved but I am personally convinced that the design of the well did not help preventing the blow-out. (No lockdown ring in the wellhead, and not running a liner to be tied back later). When you drill these extremely difficult wells, you will have a very small operating envelope and margin of error. To handle the operations perfectly you need the best people you can get and they must also be kept focussed all the time. It appears that too many critical operations had become routine and or were delegated down to lower levels. The tests were too short and in my view should have been attended by the most senior toolpusher on the rig, this is not stuff you delegate.
Why all this has happened will presumably become clear over the next few years when the lawyers of the three companies involved will get rich in various courtcases.
And I am not convinced with what I have read that this well has been properly killed. Squeezing in all that mud and cement merely created two vertical pancake fracs and oil and gas still may percolate through and surface at a later date. BP had the chance to do a proper circulation kill but it looked as if they and the autorities all wanted to get it over with as quickly as possible.
This blow-out was a classic where many things that ‘never will go happen’ all happened and at the most awkward moment. This is the story for nearly all major blow-outs!
on Oct 28th, 2010 at 6:06 pm
Messers Pals & Kennedy of Bloomberg really ought to research a topic before writing about it. Just what is meant by “Shell is targeting hard-to-reach rock formations in Australia, the U.S. and China”? Coal seams for CBM in Australia are not in the criteria of hard-to-reach. There are undoubtedly challenges in the optimal exploitation of CBM but the technology / techniques are hardly new or “hard-to-apply”. In any case the geoscience and engineering capability in Shell is more than enough to address the task. My comment applies equally well to the (presumably) tight gas assets in North America and China. The tone of the article implies Shell will have trouble delivering meaningful gas production from these “hard-to-reach” formations. Yes, the technical challenge is greater than with conventional gas, but then Shell has invested serious money in researching the technologies and techniques required. Will Bloomberg reporters write an article in the same vein throwing doubt on the ability of the BG-Group to deliver from similar formations in the same countries? One thing is for sure, the BG-Group do not have recourse to the R&D back up in-house to Shell.
on Oct 22nd, 2010 at 3:54 pm
FURTHER COMMENT POSTED ON BEHALF OF A FORMER EMPLOYEE OF SHELL USA: ‘The difference between overt ‘bribery’ and the far more subtle ‘influence peddling’ is much like the difference between rape and seduction. It is all a matter of technique. One method is patently illegal and the other is not. But the end result is the same. Someone always gets ‘buggered’. A horse by any other name is still a horse.
Big business is now in the mode of ‘courting’ political officials and ‘appropriate other officials’ with ‘favors’ and ‘special considerations’. Some of those ‘special considerations’ may entail future employment, with all the associated benefits of a favored employee, e.g., Gale Norton, formerly of the Dept. of the Interior in the US, and Pat Doyle, former Irish Garda superintendent.
In the end, it is the public interest that takes it in the teeth, and all to the financial benefit of big business. ‘
on Oct 20th, 2010 at 12:10 am
REPLY TO MUSAINT POSTED ON BEHALF OF A FORMER SHELL OIL USA EMPLOYEE:
Cheers. Kennedy was a politician and meddled when he shouldn’t have. However, that self serving nonsense was motivated by local Boston politics. But that is old news. The problem with the way the Irish government has (mis)managed its hydrocarbon resources goes back almost 20 years, to radical changes in policy/law by government officials who ultimately spent time in prison for corruption. That too is old news. But I am sure you are aware of that fact already.
on Oct 19th, 2010 at 3:19 pm
Jeeez “Former employee of Shell Oil USA” that’s a lot of words (all I think I’ve read) but, still no hard documented evidence of substantial reserves you state (i.e some independent authority), albeit your geological argumentation may be a plenty it still needs the drill bit to prove it correct. As important is that you do not show/prove that Shell has bribed the Irish Government aka your article. I know fully you are referring to Northern Ireland – Kennedy stuck his nose into both sides of the countries, and as stated helped raise funds for terrorists.
on Oct 19th, 2010 at 1:29 pm
POSTED ON BEHALF OF A FORMER EMPLOYEE OF SHELL OIL USA.
To Mr. Musaint: It does seem like you are a true blue ‘loyalist’. By the way, the Ireland I was referring to was not Northern Ireland so your comments about Teddy Kennedy are irrelevant.
Furthermore, British-Irish politics bores me. It is somewhat like North-South politics in the US. The ‘South shall rise again’ and other such nonsense. The Irish are independent and the Empire is dead. It is time to get over it and move on.
If you are a poor man, $100 is a lot of money. If you are a rich man, it is chump change. The Corrib discovery is on the order of about 1 trillion cubic feet of gas. Not huge by North Sea standards, but nothing to piss away either. For a small country like Ireland those reserves are a considerable treasure. Everything is relative. Until natural gas was discovered the only reliable naturally occurring hydrocarbon fuel resource the Irish had was peat.
We also know the Irish government gave Shell, et al, one of the best tax/royalty deals in Europe. That is a matter of record. Instead of following the Norwegian model of resource development, they followed the Louisiana model for resource development. So, I stand by my assessment. The Irish got ‘buggered’, and by their own government.
The real problem with Ireland is that their government has no national energy policy. No surprise, most governments don’t, the Norwegians being the obvious exception.
While the Corrib find was not ‘huge’ it was substantial, and there are more gas accumulations likely to be found. Perhaps oil as well, depending upon the type of source rocks in the region.
And that gas came from somewhere. It was not a gift from the ‘wee little people’. There are ‘source rocks’ that generated that gas. And they are most likely to be coal bearing given the composition of the gas.
And as we all know, new drilling technologies are allowing the oil industry to exploit the gas reserves locked up in source rocks in ways that were never possible before. In the US we have added hundreds of trillions of cubic feet of natural gas reserves in the last decade alone with this new technology and will add hundreds of trillion of cubic feet more in the next decade. These sources rocks can contain more trapped gas than they have expelled and has been trapped in conventional reservoirs.
It is a very good possibility that the source rocks that generated the gas found at Corrib will be located and will be exploitable. If not now, most certainly in the not too distant future. And it is also likely that those source rocks will contain more exploitable gas than is found in the trap at Corrib (which I presume was ‘filled to the spill point’). So, the Irish need to decide how much of their resources they are going to give to big oil and how they are going to allow those resources to be developed. I see no evidence of a coherent Irish policy in that regard. They need go consult with their Norwegian neighbors.
But Ireland clearly has a far better energy resource than natural gas. Wind, and lots of it. The royalty revenues from the exploitation of their gas reserves could allow the Irish to develop that very plentiful and virtually inexhaustible supply of clean energy, and establish the power distribution network, all to the benefit of the Irish themselves.
And as we also all know Shell management’s attitude about this energy resource is rather retrograde in this regard. They are not fans of the development of wind energy resources. Why? It cuts into the market for natural gas and their profits. It is competition. Mr. Voser’s very recent comments make it quite clear how Shell ‘officially’ views the development of wind energy resources. But wind power is definitely in the future of the Irish, and in a big way.
So, Ireland needs a national energy policy. A good policy will serve that country well. The current policy does not, but it does serve the oil and gas industry well. And if the current government cannot get its act together and establish a national energy policy that is in the best interests of the country, then the Irish should give them the boot and elect responsible representatives.
on Oct 18th, 2010 at 6:59 pm
To the ex-Shell employee of Shell USA regarding his/her comments on the Corrib gas controversy. You may not like the way that the Irish Government has handled this issue, however, they are the elected body and secondly you show no hard evidence that they have been bought, bribed, or even buggered as you nicely put it by Shell. You also mention Ireland has “considerable hydrocarbon resources” – please quote a reliable source (with reserve numbers) where such a comment can be believed. Me thinks that you are merely trying to stir some trouble here without any evidence to truly back up your statements. Reminds me of Teddy Kennedy when he kept sticking his big US nose in to Irish politics and attempted to get money for the IRA terrorists!!
on Oct 16th, 2010 at 2:19 pm
Mr engle, helping to maintain honesty contributes to dialogue, “cleaning up negative postings” is censorship as in 1st amendment! Go-away!
on Oct 14th, 2010 at 2:51 pm
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on Oct 13th, 2010 at 1:02 pm
Mr Voser is ill-advised to make such comments on BP / Macondo. He attracts to Shell the headlines seen in the Daily Mail and is now a hostage to fortune just as Tony Hayward became when he told the world “he would focus like a laser on safety for the next two years” on succeeding Lord Browne. In addition his observation ” to correctly investigate the accident one had to examine the thinking behind the particular well design BP used” is interesting in the light of the Brent fatalities. Just what was the thinking behind the “design” of the piping patches which eventually failed?
Do the Swiss have a translation for the expression “people who live in glass houses should not throw stones”?
on Oct 12th, 2010 at 2:39 pm
Musaint: fully agree that The Brent Spar fiasco was nothing more than a publicity stunt by Greenpeace without any factual basis for their claims. My point was that Shell will always be at the mercy of public opinion.
on Oct 11th, 2010 at 4:32 pm
“Alleged Shell deception in Sri Lanka”. Using your own words Mr. D. (in red, in capitals) “it certainly seems authentic” – and the reason you give (in the same sentence) is “it talks about Shell deception and a hidden agenda”. What sort of reason is that to believe the story is genuine and not someone (yet again) trying to cause mischief!! Like the News of the World, it helps sell a story ……
on Oct 10th, 2010 at 4:03 pm
Should be noted that at the time of the “Brent Spar fiasco” the guys from Exxon kept a very low profile as 50% owners of the structure AND Greenpeace admitted that they got the numbers wrong on the amount of residual oil left in the spar. Just proves that the action by thugs and tree huggers, particularly in Germany, was based on incorrect facts. Basically don’t always believe what is printed on paper and in websites!!
on Oct 6th, 2010 at 2:27 pm
At the time of the Brent Spar fiasco, there was a boycott and vandalism of Shell’s filling stations in Germany, which was very effective in bringing the message home to Shell’s management in the Hague that they were at the mercy of public opinion. This website has been publicising Shell’s large scale ongoing business relationship with Iran, so it is hardly surprising that it has been experiencing “technical problems”
on Oct 6th, 2010 at 4:11 am
uscitizen of poor comprehension, i don’t think anyone objects to IPFs. FORCED RANKING is where mistakes are made. You may have more data and more cards in your deck but you obviously don’t believe anything shared in this forum that exposes destructive ethics and blatant injustices. Great leaders were terminated in the first round that did not have the chance to work a PIP. Unexpected low numbers were given with no forewarning. Having a better retirement than most citizens is far less than some of these folks deserved. Your statement really sounds far more socialistic. Like someone said a while back, it sure sounds like you have a lot of ownership in some of these ‘schemes’. …or maybe you are just naive and delusional. And I’ll tell you how RIFs were handled in the companies of some of my peers: PIPs along with voluntary retirement, ends up yielding more than needed. Keep your judgement to yourself about low performers getting what they deserved. Some loved Shell as much as you do, and would do anything they could to work a PIP and be productive for a few more years. … and again there are people protected that are poorer performers. ….DUDE!
on Oct 5th, 2010 at 4:53 pm
Golden Triangle is spot on about Tom and unfortunately this style of “leadership” is now all too common with the senior management in many other Shell business units. As an example in SENA Mr. Q spent 2009 claiming that his business was doing very well and that he had no intention of following the 2009 MOR process. Early 2010, after one of his best business years yet, he announced that they would now need to implement an MOR process. Of course this meant staff would now have far less alternatives as most of the other groups had completed their MOR last year. In some cases he had actually recruited staff from other companies in 2009 and less than one year later they were being told they may no longer have a job now.
Timelines were missed throughout the entire MOR process keeping most staff in dark about whether they even had a job until June or July. Job descriptions were often posted wrong and critical details like job location and job grade were changing constantly after the positions closed. HR and senior management took no responsibility for any of these missed deadlines or changes. As we saw in the other groups selection was based more on who you knew not your past IPF’s, CEP or performance. Many of the new roles were filled by staff who had little or no experience in that business while the much more experienced staff were terminated. Certainly it did not seem to make any sense for a business unit that supposedly has an aggressive long term growth strategy. Bottom line more than 30% of the staff were not placed and forced to take early retirement or severance packages.
As the final indignity HR and senior management then decided they would reduce the termination payments for all exiting staff. Realizing this could create issues for them they decided to provide the employees with a termination package, including a final termination amount, and then only notify them just before they left that they “had made an error” and the actual amount would now be about 30% less. So much for Shells General Business practices or ethics. Certainly some of this was reflected in the 2009 Shell People survey with most measures like Integrity and Leadership down more than 10% from 2008 but as mentioned senior leadership obviously does not pay any attention to this data or Mr. Q and others would be moving on.
on Oct 5th, 2010 at 4:29 pm
For – MR no personal ID for Mr uscitizen dude!
real user I’d, REALLY!?! … Like yours? HAh. Yes some packages were bestowed upon folks with lower ‘relative performance’,mostl of these folks were prompted to their humble positions, because of their knowledge, skills leadership abilities. Most did not deserve to be discarded with paltry pensions. These folks are for the most part on their mid 50s+. they gave the best part of their life to shell and were top performers. IPFs were formulated to execute a scheme that someone will claim is the reason for profit improvements. It doesn’t matter what some of these folks are suffering through, that’s too human. This was executed in a suffering economy, on folks who are beyond favorable age. The IPF rate/ranking is no magic, and in in some cases removed the most effective Leaders. There are many ways this could have been executed without abusing those who have given so much to shell. .. All because someone decided to prove that leadership responded to the people survey accountability topic. Forced ranking in our plant environments is destructive to synergy and ultimately devasting to the unfortunate who end up terminated unjustly. Leaders can behave like tp, jf, ka, deserving no respect from their reports, and end up rewarded. But a poor shift team leader, who might be facing respectable upsets in their personal life lose focus for a while and there is no compassion.
What you have is partial data, and if you think you can make solid opinions based on one side of the stories, yeah right. Ps – folks in their Mid 50′s who worked 30 years got much better pensions and severance packages than 90% of America – you must broaden your blinders dude. And like it or not – raises have to be based on a yardstick, you have a better proposal, oh yeah – give all the same, that way many can be carried by a few. I really like that idea. Not your idea – give me yours – how do you do it better? Talk to your peers and see how they do it at other companies, you will find that no system is perfect. They all rely on people to manage it well, my experience is that Shell does this better than most, and yes I have gotten some low IPF’s and they were based on bad years. I recovered and did fine! So can others! PS – IPF’s are not just about profit sharing , it is about base pay raises also. Gotta have a yardstick to determine who gets what, fact of life unless you want to be a socialist economy and maybe we have found your issue!! Peace and hope all works out ok for you and yours!
on Oct 5th, 2010 at 4:18 pm
Golden Triangle Watchdog – I am not in HR – so do not try to play cards you do not have. You clearly have an agenda, do not enjoy working for Shell, so be it. Any one as unhappy as you needs to join the ranks of Donovan. And I have my next job, so no career advice from you will help me. Have a good life, if you can. Find some thing you will be happy doing and stop blaming others for your attitude, you own that dude.
on Oct 1st, 2010 at 12:34 pm
US Citizen…. I have no hatred for Tom Purves. What I actually hate is favoritism, lying, egotism, manipulation, hypocracy. Tom exhibits all of these and very little leadership skills. Tom falls in this catagory along with the fact that he flat out lied to get people off the payroll that he didn’t want on the payroll and senior leadership knows that. He also lied about some other things which will eventually come out, like environmental performance at our plant. That has been buried deep to allow for the CEP to get its permit. Just look around and see how many of our past environmental dept from 2 years ago is still in place or with the company. A complete turnover….. Does anyone wonder why? Motiva got rid of them because of what they found. I’m sure Hilton Kelley could get an ear full if he hasn’t already. Alot of this was on Tom’s watch and he knows it as did the Motiva CEO. I’ve worked here at the Port Arthur plant for 20 years. Tom had a good message early on but it became clear pretty quickly that he was no good, had his favorites, and was not interested in changing the culture, just status quo. He ultimately has a few close allies that he brings with him everywhere, like Funkhouser, Laugher, Hartsock. Man, this is the best he has got. My understanding on Jeff is he got sold from the company with Tosco up north and came back in because Tom got him a job with the company. Here you have a man with no formal education, other than how to suck up, getting up to 1 step away from a plant manager. You wonder why. The folks in the rank laugh at this guy. He has long forgot what true leadership is about. Tom created this and has allowed this to grow. And the issue I have with HR is they have become nothing but a group of staffers, hanging on to the senior leaders, doing what they are asked to do, assuming their role is to identify and help develop the leaders of tomorrow, with very little understanding of what true leadership in the field needs to be. The People survey is a joke and all know it. It stopped being useful after the first edition. Senior leaders don’t use it except to update every other year what they heard. And you can discount my feedback all you like….. gas cards were paid to get the numbers up. With you being in HR, I can understand why this whole topic doesn’t feel good. It’s ok…. Go hook up with Jeff Funkhouser, he can find you a job.
on Oct 1st, 2010 at 5:04 am
real user I’d, REALLY!?! … Like yours? HAh. Yes some packages were bestowed upon folks with lower ‘relative performance’,mostl of these folks were prompted to their humble positions, because of their knowledge, skills leadership abilities. Most did not deserve to be discarded with paltry pensions. These folks are for the most part on their mid 50s+. they gave the best part of their life to shell and were top performers. IPFs were formulated to execute a scheme that someone will claim is the reason for profit improvements. It doesn’t matter what some of these folks are suffering through, that’s too human. This was executed in a suffering economy, on folks who are beyond favorable age. The IPF rate/ranking is no magic, and in in some cases removed the most effective Leaders. There are many ways this could have been executed without abusing those who have given so much to shell. .. All because someone decided to prove that leadership responded to the people survey accountability topic. Forced ranking in our plant environments is destructive to synergy and ultimately devasting to the unfortunate who end up terminated unjustly. Leaders can behave like tp, jf, ka, deserving no respect from their reports, and end up rewarded. But a poor shift team leader, who might be facing respectable upsets in their personal life lose focus for a while and there is no compassion.
on Sep 30th, 2010 at 6:51 pm
Don’t let USCitizen fool you….. The Shell People Survey is a joke and everyone, who takes it , knows it. Most plants have to give our employees a gas card to take it. And I know for a fact that the HR community has told most all of the senior mgt not to follow up on it….. but instead to read it and listen to what the people are saying and what their concerns are, but dont spend the time doing anything with it. Let’s be real…. Shell is a good company with good benefits. The senior leaders stink because they have forgotten the most important principle that kept Shell strong….. the people. Today, you have the people…..and then you have the senior execs and HR.
By the way, Uncle Tom, how is that new job going? Enjoying your little cubicle over in CEP along with your tea pot? All I can say is… count the days till retirement. You are done.
Golf coast watchdog – if leaders just threw out the bad data garbage you did, you would be posting all over here about lack of integrity and lying fools! Our site gave out no gas cards, and some sites did do that once years ago, but that was stopped. And your fact about what HR doing is flat wrong, we are talking about it and doing something at our site. Geez, youo are full of bad data! You really need to get over your obsession with Tom – kinda like some folks have this obsession with Shell. Get over it, your life will be better!
on Sep 30th, 2010 at 6:47 pm
sure sounds like you own some of the new schemes being practiced. also sounds like you reside in a safe little fraternal consortium of self accrediting,and probably self-rewarding ‘dillusionists’. your people survey results are far different from the ones that we have seen for the past three cycles.
Right – no sorry to dissapoint you, but I am just a lowly work who is very appreciative of the fact that I work for a good company. Way to bash me when I give you data, not I do not reside on a safe little fraternal consortium, I work in one of our plants on the factory floor and I did not, nor did any of my coworkers get gas cards for taking the survey, talk about integrity – throw bad information, some would call it a lie, and then complain about leaders ethics. Glass housees dude. Get a real user id fella.
on Sep 30th, 2010 at 9:21 am
I see ex Sakhalin and bully David Greer has resigned from Regal Pet, wonder where he will create carnage next!
on Sep 29th, 2010 at 11:29 am
Don’t let USCitizen fool you….. The Shell People Survey is a joke and everyone, who takes it , knows it. Most plants have to give our employees a gas card to take it. And I know for a fact that the HR community has told most all of the senior mgt not to follow up on it….. but instead to read it and listen to what the people are saying and what their concerns are, but dont spend the time doing anything with it. Let’s be real…. Shell is a good company with good benefits. The senior leaders stink because they have forgotten the most important principle that kept Shell strong….. the people. Today, you have the people…..and then you have the senior execs and HR.
By the way, Uncle Tom, how is that new job going? Enjoying your little cubicle over in CEP along with your tea pot? All I can say is… count the days till retirement. You are done.
on Sep 29th, 2010 at 9:20 am
sure sounds like you own some of the new schemes being practiced. also sounds like you reside in a safe little fraternal consortium of self accrediting,and probably self-rewarding ‘dillusionists’. your people survey results are far different from the ones that we have seen for the past three cycles.
on Sep 28th, 2010 at 10:21 pm
To John Donovan – Right!! That is clearly what we are doing – an eveil empire! I am happy and I assume you are! Hard to be with all that hate, but whatever floats your boat.
To the person who used to uscitizen as their id?? ; we just completed our last survey and it was not at all like the Dow feedback. I will not share the details because that is company business, but i will contrast our reality with your Dow comments since you are sure we are the same!
Pros
World class manufacturing capability and processes – Check
Pretty good marketing – Check
Good benefits package – Excellent benefits package – one of the best in the world at Shell – folks can retire with few worries.
Ability to exercise flexibility in work arrangements – Huge focus on family /work balance – I was able to manage a very very sick kid, lots of time off and worked from the house alot and got good reviews. I have enabled many folks who work for me to have alternate work schedules based on a family situation.
Good place for new graduates to gain skills – Check – we get the best of the best still, put up a poster and we get many many applicants – hourly and professional jobs.
Cons
They paint a target on your back after you’re 55 – all of a sudden you become a burden. – Not the case at Shell
The rating system is impossible to succeed in – if you do its because you’re someone’s golden boy or girl. Sorry about that, but not the case at Shell.
Once you get a bad rating, it’s almost impossible to make an improvement. Not the case
High reliance on contractors for many jobs. Check
Very limited capital in some businesses – makes for a very boring job if you’re a good engineer. Check and that is why we are selling some assetts so we can afford to put capex into the remaining assetts.
Pay levels in manufacturing are lower than competitors. Not the case at Shell – we pay very well.
Shell Cons
Slow to make decisions
Too bureaucratic – hard to get work done – very risk averse company
We do not hold our folks as accountable for delivering results as we should.
Unclear career paths
Advice to Senior Management
Realize that many of your people enjoy their work and you’re stifling their contributions by not making the tough decisions. Don’t let them wilt on the vine – either put some money into the business or sell off the ones that you really don’t want. Agreed – this is what we are doing. No company is perfect – we are not. Our own folks told us we were letting some folks get away with not delivering – most of those folks are gone now. Different than Dow, but we have our own issues also!! Great place to work!
on Sep 28th, 2010 at 8:07 pm
bottom line is these “grievances” are in most cases legitimate positions and opinions about ‘management gone wrong’. The new world inside shell is not much unlike Dow and GE. Here is an example from a Dow employees people survey and link to more of this review:
Pros
World class manufacturing capability and processes
Pretty good marketing
Good benefits package
Ability to exercise flexibility in work arrangements
Good place for new graduates to gain skills
Cons
They paint a target on your back after you’re 55 – all of a sudden you become a burden.
The rating system is impossible to succeed in – if you do its because you’re someone’s golden boy or girl.
Once you get a bad rating, it’s almost impossible to make an improvement.
High reliance on contractors for many jobs.
Very limited capital in some businesses – makes for a very boring job if you’re a good engineer.
Pay levels in manufacturing are lower than competitors.
Advice to Senior Management
Realize that many of your people enjoy their work and you’re stifling their contributions by not making the tough decisions. Don’t let them wilt on the vine – either put some money into the business or sell off the ones that you really don’t want. http://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/Dow-Chemical-Reviews-E207.htm
I’m sure mr voser and others will receive huge bonuses for saving the company from those low performers. you are not hearing from those who have been kept, as they are either now playing the game well, or they scared and keeping their mouth shut. these tactics did nothing for GE’s or Dow’s stock prices, but someone was well rewarded for enacting them.
on Sep 27th, 2010 at 10:05 pm
USCitizen – Are you going to continue defending this evil Shell management treacherously engaged in dealing with the fanatical Iran regime which is supplying the roadside bombs maiming and killing American and British soldiers?
on Sep 27th, 2010 at 9:29 pm
Sure glad all of the folks at Shell plants have found some work to do and stopped posting grievances on this biased gripe site!! Has slowed way down as it should!!
on Sep 22nd, 2010 at 1:38 pm
Drill a relief well simultaneously? Peoples brains must have frozen over in Alaska. A relief well is a exactly the same as a ‘normal’ well, just harder. The odds of a blow out are the same. To drill one in the remote chance a blow out occurs would be to double your exposure?? We can argue over the merits or intrinsic safety of arctic drilling but lets not be stupid.
on Sep 17th, 2010 at 3:34 am
Infantile? It’s a pity the energy invested in creation & maintenace of this site would have been focused in a more productive venture. As a retiree, I remember joking with other colleagues that if we lost an email, we could probably find it on this site – so this site actually does have some intrinsic value.
on Sep 11th, 2010 at 3:20 pm
REPLY TO “NIGERIA”:
I have provided volumes of evidence including a leaked 93 page Shell internal document containing admissions about Shell’s track record in Nigeria. Also information about a $15.5 million settlement by Shell of long standing litigation by a Wiwa family member and other Ogoni. Plus links to countless independent articles about Shell’s conduct in Nigeria. In response, not a single piece of evidence, just an infantile comment.
on Sep 11th, 2010 at 1:49 pm
as usual: Donovan equals no clue
on Sep 9th, 2010 at 1:03 pm
Both of you seem to have migrated to far on your points of view. Shell is by no means the evil corp that it is made out to be here. In my opinion its biggest fault is that it tries to hold it self to a standard that frankly is beyond it (or any other major). Its record in Nigeria is poor, however, I don’t think any other major would be different. Indeed I wonder why Shell refuses to leave, it makes little profit, has a terrible safety record just as bad press. However, a large amount of blame must rest squarely on the country itself for their own corruption and waste.
On the other hand, I think Shell continues to be profitable despite itself. It is for the most part run these days but a bunch of yes man (and women) that have no balls or convictions. I doubt whether there is a coherent strategy anywhere in management. In my opinion Transition 09 (what a joke) will make things worse as they methodically removed experienced people and disenfranchised the rest which will result in the departure of the remaining competent people that refuse to work in such a company.
on Sep 9th, 2010 at 9:07 am
REPLY TO MUSAINT:
It is remarkable that you continue to defend Shell’s dreadful track record in Nigeria when even Shell has admitted that it has contributed to the fighting and corruption in that much plundered and polluted country: See CNN Report: “Shell admits blame in Nigeria” published on 11 June 2004. Two other revealing articles about Shell were published on the same day: “Bribery and corruption put fresh dent in tarnished image of Shell” (The Independent) “Memos expose Shell’s years of lying” (Daily Telegraph). And returning to Nigeria, an article published the following day by The Times: “Shell’s gas burn-off targets in doubt“. And here is a leaked copy of a 93 page report prepared and paid for by Shell containing admissions about Shell’s track record in Nigeria: “PEACE AND SECURITY IN THE NIGER DELTA“: You have also conveniently forgotten Shell’s settlement for $15.5 million of the Wiwa case in June last year: “Shell’s blood money settles the Wiwa case“. Here is a link to many more reports about Shell’s conduct in Nigeria. To top it all, here is a list of admissions and apologies by Shell. And yet you persist in trying to defend Shell? With regards to events surrounding Sakhalin2 leaks, continuing to stand by your conclusions and allegations based on ignorance of the facts and related ill-considered assumptions, does you no credit. I would have thought more of you if, under the circumstances, you had apologised.
on Sep 9th, 2010 at 7:53 am
Your article “Allegation of death threats surrounding Shell leaked emails”, should ideally be read on a stand alone basis. As is I stand by what I said. Your add-ons in response do not change my opinion of the danger you put the informer into. The Russian mob/secret police (whatever you want to call them) are not stupid, but, they are thugs. Yes again I use the word “alleged” as many of your financial statements on how much you’ve cost Shell are not factually proved. Yes I do attack this website and some of its contributors for nonsense reporting on Shell in Nigeria. Fact is that Shell performs far better than many companies throughout the world.
on Sep 8th, 2010 at 6:57 pm
REPLY TO MUSAINT:
With regard to the snide comment about exaggeration “again”, here is the link to the Argus Media article containing an interview with the so called “Kremlin Attack Dog”, Oleg Mitvol when he states in the clearest possible terms where he obtained the evidence supporting the then $10 billion dollar lawsuit (later raised to $50 billion) he was threatening to bring against Shell: http://www.shellnews.net/images/Mitvol.pdf The source had genuine concerns about the project on ethical grounds supported by evidence. I did exactly what the source asked me do to. I have never released anything about the source which might allow them to be identified and have no intention of doing so now. Mitvol did give a subsequent interview to The Sunday Times confirming my involvement. The article was read to me over the phone hours before the Sunday Times was being printed. However, it did not appear in the paper. When I subsequently made a SAR application to Shell under the Data Protection Act, I obtained a copy of a Shell internal email discussing the pending Sunday Times story which said that my actions had cost Shell £11 billion ($22 billion at the time). The emails stated Shell’s wish to have the story killed. By co-incidence or otherwise, the story was killed. Mitvol insinuated during an interview with a tabloid published on 8 August 2007 that Shell had offered him a $50 million bribe to drop his investigations into the Sakhalin2 project. The tabloid has an audio record of the interview. This is the response I received from Shell EP General Counsel Keith Ruddock in response to the bribe allegation: “The lack of a rebuttal from, or comment by, Shell does not in any way constitute an acceptance on Shell’s part of the accuracy of any of the points made by you whether now or in the future, and whether on this or on any other matter, and we continue to reserve our position accordingly in respect of those matters.”
Leaked emails involving a director of Sak2 provide evidence that Shell was well aware of environmental risks involved in construction but this was covered up. This MUSAINT is the company you defend so regularly, particularly in regards to Shell’s disgraceful evil record in Nigeria. Returning to the Sakhalin2 source, information the source courageously provided through me was submitted in evidence by the WWF to the UK House of Commons Environmental Audit Select Committee. The relevant minutes of evidence, including a link to the leaked documents and emails, was ordered by the Committee to be published under parliamentary copyright. Under the circumstances, it is you who should be hanging your head in shame for jumping to assumptions without knowing the facts.
on Sep 8th, 2010 at 6:03 pm
“Evidence I provided to the Russian government cost Shell billions of dollars” – perhaps true, perhaps an exaggeration again. One thing I would not be proud to put into print Mr. D is that “the source disappeared without trace” – most likely (I believe the inference) as a result of your disclosure to the authorities. They are a viscious group in Russia and it would appear that your source may well have lost his life as a result of your actions. I would hold my head in shame. These death threats were from Russians and not Shell I would hazard a guess. I hope you sent the sources’ family a letter of condolance.
on Sep 8th, 2010 at 2:05 am
A few spare minutes, so I used them to browse the last 9 months since last looking in. The big industry change is the DW Horizon and there is plenty of speculation about similarity in Shell – could it happen here etc. I have moved on a couple of years ago, but in Houston 2005-8 I don’t believe that the Shell well engineers would have ever allowed the scope changes and shortcuts that were made by BP. I remember clearly that a “long string” option in one of our wells was categorically refused and we had to run the liner with tieback at cost >$10mln. Safety at stake, and good engineering practice.
What finally drove me (and a good chunk of the Americas exploration leadership) away from Shell was GoM related, however: the inability to hold to a strategy and the imposition of personal agendas from global leadership. For all Bichsel’s faults (and there are many), once he was convinced you had a valid strategy he left you to get on with it. He had a certain trust level. Once he was kicked upstairs Americas completely lost any independence in both strategic and tactical direction and lease sales were micro-managed from The Hague by people with almost no hands on knowledge of the prospects. many man-years of careful effort to prepare for lease sales were over-ruled by telecon by failed explorers sitting across the atlantic who fancied they knew a thing or two about the GoM. Yes, we won plenty of leases, but never the right mix to build a balanced portfolio of opportunities. After this dispiriting experience, plus the parachuting in of the failed explorers back to Houston, it was definitely time to be off.
on Sep 5th, 2010 at 7:13 pm
This Corrib business is starting to get a right old bore!! Firstly the locals should be thankful for the business that it brings and secondly others (such as Tom McAndrew) should realise what benefits Shell provides with it’s donations to the community / schools. NOT everything that Shell gives should be seen as a bribe or sweetener!! The Greens and Tree Huggers on this planet should realise that Shell, and other companies, do add value to the lives of communities throughout the world.
on Sep 5th, 2010 at 11:51 am
Memo to “Wilt Staph” : Most of the pollution in Ogoni Land (and other areas) is down to malicious pipeline damage caused by locals trying to steal oil, not Shell.
on Sep 5th, 2010 at 11:18 am
CEP – there was no problem with the concept as originally designed, but unfortunately was blighted (corrupted??) by the short termism and “worship thy boss” ethos which came into Shell in the 1990′s. The result is a devaluation of CEP to mean “crass exaggeration of performance” or “continual erosion of profitability”.
on Sep 5th, 2010 at 8:16 am
Well done to BP for getting rogue well under control at last so that it poses no further threat. Shouldn’t have happened at all – but in the end it is safe. Good!
Memo to Shell: Why not pretend that your operations in Nigeria are actually onshore USA and apply the same environmental rules and concerns as if it was millions of Americans at risk not millions of Ogonis?
on Sep 5th, 2010 at 5:47 am
The summary here re HR all rings true from where I sit. It has been documented here well the work of Tom Purves in the Gulf coast. He was able to change people’s performance factors and make them low enough that , when the severance packages came around, they would be eligible to be let go. Tom knew that the packages were coming because of his relationship with HR, specifically the now retired Glenn Gilchrist. Both he and Tom were able to advocate for the severance packages and also customize and pinpoint those that they wanted to get rid of. This is all well known and will always be Uncle Tom’s legacy, not the screwed up CEP project. Ultimately, Glenn retired because HR likes to feed off anyone, including their own. And ultimately, Uncle Tom will get a nice payoff and ride off, or walk off , into the sunset with his little ice teamaker and enjoy his life all to himself. Not the legacy he wanted to end with I’m sure. And for HR, they haven’t served the people in a long time. They are there for senior leadership and somehow through Hofmeister, Dalzell, Gilchrist, and others, fancy themselves as having the ear of the top brass helping to create and develop the future leaders of the company. What a sad state of affairs our company now sits in with HR’s help. Their own brand of competency mapping for leaders ( aka CEP) ended up creating the 600-750 ( or whatever number Voser landed on) of senior executives to get the heave ho…. Makes you wonder what the CEP is really all about. Gilchrist has now gone on to start another business. Glenn, enjoy yourself and hide behind your web page. Uncle Tom, tell Funkhouser to roll over and get you a glass of tea.
Remember, we’re watching….
on Sep 4th, 2010 at 5:35 pm
retiree, no doubt, the recent pension pay-out savings scheme, executed by the very subjective, ‘relative performance’ sentencing, was hatched from one of the latest HR-inspired soup-of-the-day, organizational-performance-improvement plans. When you hear a manager comparing site performance tactics to McDonalds and Starbucks, clearly someone was led to the wrong seminar… and hasn’t the sense to distinguish the difference.
on Sep 3rd, 2010 at 12:18 pm
On the HR business in Shell: after that evangelical Hofmeister wormed himself into the position of head HR, things went downhill rapidly. He kept traipsing all over the world to all the nice and expensive spots and invited planeloads of HR folk to discuss whatever HR discusses. He made statements that he would be proud to see someone at an airport and see immediately ‘this is a Shell HR person’. He destroyed all good systems we had such as evaluation, development and resourcing of staff. The same staff lost their senior focal points whom they could trust to discuss personal matters and instead the HR circus was swamped with outsiders who only could deal with computer systems and told all staff that they were responsible to look after their own career.
Open resourcing became the biggest farce of Shell and I believe it is now called MOR (Managed Open Resourcing). Few people dare say that Open Resourcing never should have introduced because it feeds on the ‘me first’ principle. Nobody would do anything for the company if he or she would not get personally better from it. Where all that led to has been obvious the last 10 years or so.
And then HR people were being promoted into very senior and overpaid positions that were dealing with business. The development of staff had started to crumble and we got a prime example of the blind leading the blind. He received help from Gary Steel who as director for LEAP had the whole CMD dancing the macarena and when he noticed it all went belly-up, left Shell to go and wreak havoc at ABB. Carol Dubnicki came (for a hideous salary caused by a simple mistake of the senior resourcer who keyed in the wrong number) and left in disgrace having achieved nothing apart from leaving more wreckage. And then Hofmeister started to tour the USA as a royal, pretending to know the business. I am convinced he promoted that other silly woman Cook into several levels beyond her competence. She was so bad, she would have made a good modern HR person in Shell! As Shell employs above average intelligent people, these soon followed up and saw what was rewarded: promises over performance, agree with the boss and ‘me first, never mind the company’. A great many low and mid level HR folk are now employed and hired from outside. Presumably for diversification but more likely for ensuring there is no more corporate memory. And these outsiders have no feel for the business nor its people. Neither do they care!
I believe I have said enough. I am very glad to have retired and can look back on the good old days…. I wish all current employees success in dealing with HR (Human Remains according to Sir John Jennings), but always beware of false or silly information, double check yourself and keep looking over your shoulder.
on Sep 1st, 2010 at 7:31 pm
John Dear
My comment on Shell HR. USELESS
Other synonyms . . . .
Non-Existent, Know Nothing, Won’t Help – Keep Redirecting, No experience, Every Question looked upon as Confrontation,
Should I say more! Why have a local HR group who is useless? Bottom line, you end of getting frustrated and quit asking questions after going thru all that BS!
on Sep 1st, 2010 at 3:25 pm
Would anyone like to comment on the HR organisation within Shell? I’ve had a fair few run in’s with them so far- they all seem to be blimmin’ useless! But perhaps that is like most HR organisations in big corporations (?). It seems like they really do not care about the individual. I’ve been pushed from pillar to post when I ask for clarification on a particular policy. We are told to contact the outsourced help desks sitting in Poland, KL etc. as HR in the business don’t seem to either have the time or skill to deal with local employees. What has Shell become?? Any advice please on how to deal with HR and actually get them to help me would be most gratefully received.
on Aug 31st, 2010 at 1:26 am
Pensioner 009, First, I am a long time user of this web Site myself. Second, I am sure I am not not the only one who has not taken kindly to his condesending and obviously inflated opinion of himself and his put downs of others on this site. His so called “advice” was more of an insult than advise. His “advice” to “primoregggazz” and his Range Rover were thinly disguised insults, not advice. This was not his first time to do this. If you like and respect him, that is your choice but I am sure there are others that do not agree. Read back on how primoreggazz responded to his co called “advice. I will not be commenting further on this issue or Musaint. those that respect his opinion and methods can read his comments. I will not.
on Aug 30th, 2010 at 9:49 pm
Musaint, those who have been viewing this blog for longer than just a few weeks know you as a respected contributor, so pay no heed to the recent comments.
As to Shell Diesel quality, I got shot of my Disco years ago – far too unreliable always breaking down. For 5 years now my deisel X5 has run on nothing but Shell Diesel and is just fine.
I would more likely suspect contamination in the filling station tanks – possibly water in the tank. This is far more common than many people realise. Trouble is you only find out after you have driven away.
As for new formulations of diesel – that’s driven by EU regualtion – the UK should NEVER have joined.
on Aug 30th, 2010 at 5:18 pm
GSAP/GPMR and the HOUSE OF CARDS
When the GSAP project started up in 2003, we were soon drowning in Powerpoint slides. One image in particular stood out. It depicted the existing Legacy MI systems as a “house of cards”, on the point of collapse. And here was GSAP, to the rescue !
The next stage is well documented. GSAP got nowhere trying to replace the MI, and within 4 years had to be rescued itself. The saviour was a new MI project called “GPMR”, which curiously set off using almost the same methods and technologies that had just failed. You can’t keep a good “strategy” down.
3 years later, GPMR itself looks in need of rescue. Delivery to date consists of 2 humble ‘pathfinders’, both plagued by performance problems, and using different client technologies because of an architectural cock-up. The rising sense of panic is unmistakeable. Developers desperately clone whole chunks of legacy structure without really understanding it, while their seniors trim scope and push back delivery dates – in spite of which efforts, published plans still show GPMR finishing the rest of job (a magnitude more than they have done so far) in little more than a YEAR.
Meanwhile, the original MI (the “house of cards”) is still there. 7 years on death row have done some damage, but systems are still running and generally outperforming GSAP/GPMR. Almost nothing has been decommissioned.
Credit where it is due. 7 years of pitiful delivery would have sapped the morale of lesser teams, but GSAP/GPMR have remained true; true to the sense that “strategy” is what counts, not results; true to the belief that if you continue spending shareholders’ funds for long enough, success will one day come your way. And they are still on-message: open a GPMR 2010 slide pack and you find the original 2003 “house of cards” graphic is still there !
on Aug 30th, 2010 at 7:47 am
I am sure we were all suitably impressed by your condescending attitude and your bragging about your car. Frankly, sir, if you are trying to impress folks, you might want to try a different tactic than condescension and bragging.
Oh yeah, you do not help your credibility by bragging as most who do that do it to cover their shortcomings. From the way you write, i am convinced you must have many to cover.
on Aug 29th, 2010 at 5:33 pm
Well my poor little munchkin (EXSF), my comments were aimed at someone who (a) spouted on about poor performance with a Shell product, for which I merely asked some questions to help understand his problem, (b) on his response & pontification about having a Landrover tractor, merely explaind what car I had and that it had improved with the Shell product. We don’t all dislike Shell on this website.
on Aug 27th, 2010 at 5:49 pm
Musaint, it is only fair to tell you that the reason I found your remarks offensive was your clear strategy of casting aspersions on others comments. You give them no respect at all by casting aspersions on the intelligence of people you do not even know. I am giving you the same respect that you gave them. If you want your comments to be respected, then you should try treating others with the same respect you might want. Right now, you seem like a Shell Troll to me.
on Aug 27th, 2010 at 5:39 pm
Het Musaint, does doing commercials for Shell pay well? Just wondering and I would guess I am not the only one.
on Aug 24th, 2010 at 6:05 pm
Forgot to add that my car is a Audi Q7 V12 TDI. It’s well tuned and runs on Shell. Any time you want to test your tractor against a Shell run vehicle please let me know.
on Aug 24th, 2010 at 1:13 pm
Just offering advice – fact is that others, like myself, have found the Shell product extremely good. Mine is a well serviced vehicle – is that your problem perhaps?
on Aug 23rd, 2010 at 5:41 pm
MUSAINT – what on earth are you on, if you haven’t got any decent advise to add…don’t comment, yes i do have a diesel motor, if i would have filled up with unleaded, the motor wouldn’t work, surely any dimwit would know this! decent car? well i think my landrover discovery tdv6 hse is a prestige model, not some run of the mill family car that you probably drive…..with reference to 3-4 tanks to work the shell fuel out of the system, well my landrover mechanic filled his range rover up with bio fuel and that took 3-4 tanks of normal diesel to clear out the the bio fuel so it was an approximation!
on Aug 23rd, 2010 at 2:03 pm
I have worked in Nigeria and the much used expression there was: ‘You pay small dash, finish palaver’. I see this still holds true. But I am not certain whether this palaver will disappear. The country as a whole is simply too corrupt and all the poor citizens are victims.
on Aug 22nd, 2010 at 9:20 pm
Posting made on behalf of “Jon Alpert”:
One summer, I worked for Shell Chemicals – making No Pest Strips and Flea Collars. Management said the ingredients were harmless. But once a week – all the employees would line up for blood tests – and one or two would be told to stay home for a week.
Even 40 years later – I’m super sensitive to insecticides. My body swells up if i’m near fly spray.
You can’t imagine the toxic clouds that emerged from the machines when they broke down on a hot summer day.
on Aug 21st, 2010 at 5:24 pm
Well “primoreggazzo”, I can only offer up some suggestions to your problem. (1) make sure you really have a diesel and not an unleaded car, (2) make sure you buy a half decent vehicle – this could be your main problem. That said, who said you would need 3-4 clean tanks to solve the problem – some cowboy garage?!? “I have refilled the tank after almost running empty” – that’s plain stupid you should check the fuel guage!! My car has absolutely no problem with this product, infact its performance has improved dramatically.
on Aug 21st, 2010 at 2:46 pm
POSTED ON BEHALF OF “primoreggazzo”: I have recently filled up with Shell diesel……landrover discovery tdv6 …….the motor doesnt like this fuel at all…..i have re filled the tank after almost running empty…..still sluggish and erratic……apparently its gonna take 3-4 clean tanks to work its way out of the system………do not use bio diesel or this new shell diesel if you have a landrover
on Aug 19th, 2010 at 4:14 am
Well Uncle Tom has shown up now over here at PAR. I guess the mourning over his demotion is now over. He is able to get the Funk to cut off the alarm clock in the morning and they both ride to work to save the day at Port Arthur. Tom, look deep in the mirror, keep looking, deeper… and listen to the voice that keeps telling you that you screwed it up… the whole gulf coast… people’s lives… because of your controlling ways and the fact that the RVP job was over your head….. Now you can manage the Funk…. have Funk tell little boy Forrest and the brit on the project how to eat the cabbage. You and Jeff deserve each other…. I would just watch the knife in his hand and make sure it doesn’t end up in your back…. remember you taught him well.
Boy I can’t wait to see how you finish up doing SPI-100 on PAR since that became your passion over the past few years.
Remember, I’m watching…..
on Aug 15th, 2010 at 7:10 pm
I know that I have commented on this age old story about Shell selling their Rajasthan acreage before (this story and my comments are probably like a cracked record), but, the issue should be put at the doorstep of 2 Shell individuals – namely Messrs. Wildig and Parsley. I know I have been corrected by somebody previously, but, these two individuals killed off Shell’s E&P presence in the sub-continent (that includes Pakistan which has also proved a money earner for Premier Oil). Probably the Swiss inbred & nodding-donkey Bichsel signed the final death-knell for the sub-continent but Parsley and Wildig were the real culprits. Why oh why was an idiot PE (Wildig) by background given the responsibility to defend exploration decisions?? Hard-nosed that he was, I liked the genuine ability of someone such as Murris to decide on entry or exit on a country. The likes of Bichsel / Parsley and most especially Wildig had absolutely no idea.
on Aug 15th, 2010 at 5:00 am
Musaint, ‘Geismar thingy’ is probably across the pond from you in the southern US. Just not the same morale and energy as there once was. Probably still a better place to be than many other Shell sites. Some of the most committed folks in the organization are disappointed by some leadership decisions.
on Aug 14th, 2010 at 6:33 pm
What, where, is this Geismar thingy that a number of posts are moaning & minging about. Must be a lousy place to work if there’s so many mingers “working” there!!
on Aug 12th, 2010 at 1:14 pm
Useless PTL, I think that the recent change in VP leadership is important. some other things that are important:
1. Some newer employees do not have the respect for Shell and the work ethic that we once knew at Geismar.
2.Some first line leaders are playing the destructive,force ranked competition game and believe in it. The top rated folks are thriving, and love it, no-one else is inspired. This ONLY works in sales groups or piece-work production.
3.Some of the key folks who really understood and believed in the culture of which you speak, have been removed.
4.Some folks currently in key leadership roles,do not believe in that culture, or have no idea of what we are talking about. “Task oriented supervision is better”.
5.Some of the changes in recent years have been good for the site. It would be critical to not destroy all of the changes for the sake of ‘a better culture’.
6. Many of the supervisors currently in place were selected because they are more capable of task supervision and have no idea of what empowerment of their work teams looks like.
I think that your question goes much deeper than this; just wanted to share some thoughts.
on Aug 12th, 2010 at 3:21 am
hey geismar gator, history says, many were given over-extended periods to qualify, or to ‘get comfortable’, or to re-take tests and walk-throughs. It doesn’t matter what race you were. Technicians in training are now being held to more standardized, specified time frames to demonstrate progressive success in learning and skill development.
on Aug 12th, 2010 at 1:28 am
For the Geismar Folks…. Do you feel that the “culture” at Geismar will return to what it has been in the past, or is the damage too deep to reverse itself??? I personally see no benefit in staying at a plant that treats supervision the way that we are treated in Geismar. Are the Motiva sites any better? Is there any place in the organization for someone who actually cares about his direct reports and not climbing over the backs of his peers just to get to the next grade??? If so, someone please point me in that direction, I fear that Geismar is a lost cause…
on Aug 11th, 2010 at 9:28 pm
Agree 100%. A Japanese log carrier built in 1965, with a drilling package added in 1975 is not exactly the state of the art in drilling vessels (and I’m sure the cabins don’t measure up to Norwegian standards of luxury!). But I’m also sure it’s cheap (if 300K/day is cheap?). Maybe with the cancellation fees Frontier Drilling (owned by Shell and the Carlyle Group at the time the contracts were awarded) will be able to afford a refit – after ten years it’s well overdue.
on Aug 11th, 2010 at 9:17 am
I seems to me that there is one Royal Dutch Shell subsidiary that is well acquainted with the stringent and successful Norwegian ‘rules of engagement’ for drilling and production in the North Sea and Arctic. That would be Norske Shell, RDS’s Norwegian subsidiary.
I am certain those folks can operate in the US Arctic far more competently and safely than Shell USA’s Gulf of Mexico ‘run and gun’ gang. And I am dead certain Norske Shell would never approve of Shell USA’s current choice for a drilling operator for their Chukchi exploration campaign.
Shell USA spent $2 billion on leases and now apparently wants to use an obsolete, but refurbished ‘rust bucket’ to drill their exploration wells to ‘save a little money’. Why not contract a Chinese rig? They are ‘dirt cheap’ (if they don’t sink).
Seems to me Royal Dutch should think seriously about how it staffs and manages its US Arctic exploration effort. It may be time to import some operational and managerial competence. It could pay huge dividends down the road. One screw-up on the part of the ‘junior varsity’ and the gig is up.
Just a thought from a former Shell Oil USA employee.
on Aug 10th, 2010 at 11:25 pm
hey justthefactsmaam i guess you represent the historic geismar family. You know how it goes out here in geismar. If you are part of the family you get the best training and all the time you need to qualify. You even get unlimited chances at taking the test. Black technicians don’t get the same treatment. Blacks have a certain time frame to qualify and a more diffucult time during training.
on Aug 7th, 2010 at 11:53 pm
Absolutely False, While I agree David G. is a clown, the two technicians in question were dismissed because of their competency. It has nothing to do with their race, in fact, if the truth would be told they were hired because of their race. The people who should really be terminated are the people in HR who hire some of these “slugs” and send them to an operating unit, where they arent capable of learning and performing the duties of an operating technician. Then someone like a David G. is forced to make a very tough decision, Fire a black tech. or let his/her continued incompetency reflect on his performance.
This is a lose/lose for a Mgr. But in these two cases David G. made the right decision.
on Aug 7th, 2010 at 2:59 pm
Geismar Gator, word is that the first one of which you speak did not receive due process;he/she was even held accountable in a job they were not yet qualified in.??? The word out there also has it that this most recent one of which you speak, just could not meet the requirements, and that due process was followed, via progressive discipline process. If the ‘fly on the wall’ has this wrong, please share it here.
on Aug 7th, 2010 at 3:23 am
racial tensions brewing over in geismar, David Gates is at it again this time a one of the only four black female technicians is his victim. That’s two black technicians in a year. There’s also been other problems with blacks not gettin promotions over here also. I guess you can say another one bites the dust.
on Aug 6th, 2010 at 12:13 am
CORRECTION TO MY LAST POST
an important correction to my use of the word retribution. The statement should have read: Forced ranking is subject to favoritism and RETALIATION, not retribution..
on Aug 5th, 2010 at 6:08 am
CorporateHR, too bad Mr TP will take this as a move in his favor. It seems unfair for those whose lives were changed, some after 30+years of service, that TP gets moved around instead of out. Severance payments do not replace the additional years that some would have worked. Reduced Pensions do not compensate for the years of life that were given to Shell. Retirement and financial plans and goals were destroyed for some. My personal opinion is that there is no reasonable cause for the way that some of these staff reductions were executed. Many team leaders that were terminated were far more effective than some that were kept. Forced ranking is subject to favoritism and retribution. RE SR, hopefully what he has experienced since he left Geismar has helped to prepare him for this challenge.
on Aug 3rd, 2010 at 11:14 am
Word is out on the street….. Tom purves moves back to Port Arthur to take the lead on the project, rathweg replaces Tom, Farid moves to west coast, and unbelievably a Mark Byrd takes the helm at The flagship. My thoughts….. Clearly a demotion for Uncle Tom but he won’t look at it that way. This is where he wants to be, buried deep in motiva central where he can hide out in a small office on Savannah with his little tea pot barking orders to funkhouser and helping(?) out. Trust me uncle Tom doesn’t look at this as a demotion. He just gets to drop his knapsack off full-time now in the apartment with Jeff and ride to work together instead of playing MLT boy. Big win for uncle Tom. Re rathweg, good move for Steve but boy he has his hands full…. This isn’t geismar. Uncle Tom leaves him the keys with 4 years of baggage and mistrust. Also uncle Tom has been clear that he thinks Steve is a doofus saying it public ally many times. No love loss between these 2. Now Steve on his trips to port Arthur has to get in the middle of Tom, Forrest, and da funk on issues. 3 is a company 4 is a crowd and Steve will see first hand what that relationship looks like. Re farid, he gets to move home to the west coast so he is happy…. Not sure his Martinez replacement will find it the same way. Re bird, ……good luck.
on Aug 2nd, 2010 at 6:49 pm
CorporateHR,thanks for affirming this for me. I would have been shocked to hear if the SR that I knew had compromised his values and morals.
Some very welcome news just out on reassignments of SR and TP will help to re-instill some trust, collaboration and energy in the gulf coast sites. Too bad this took place after we suffered through TP’s rank & yank slaughter. Those who no me will probably recognize me when I say that the dedicated, energized morale that we once knew can only be returned by rebuilding the reciprocal loyalty that TP’s tactics have so efficiently destroyed. The biggest challenge for SR will be dealing with TP’s minions that have been advanced and rewarded for their subservient dirty work under TP. They are still in place and the working folks in the organization will have a hard time being inspired by these cowards that they have watched execute the humiliating destruction of the personalities and lives, of the first line leaders that they respected and admired.
Hopefully the adage, ‘good Shell, bad leaders’, evolves to ‘good Shell recognized bad leaders’.
…..bad leaders will ultimately destroy an enterprise…..
on Aug 2nd, 2010 at 11:41 am
Bware….. These 2 men are 2 totally different men and everyone knows it. SR tries to lead thru his people the right way. TP never will have a f2f discussion as he is not comfortable with conflict, yet he will write a book in an email. TP is also a long lived control freak who gets lost in the details trying to make decisions. Those that are his minions such as j funkhouser, Forrest lauher, Jim hart sock, etc all know this and just march to his beat because they prosper. Funk has done so many incredulous things he ought to be in jail. TP allows him to get away with it and so does the HR leadership. SR has more credentials as a leader than TP will ever have and clearly more morals. Shell can double it’s profits but it can’t run from the lack of leadership currently happening.