Royal Dutch Shell Plc  .com Rotating Header Image

Aberdeen Press & Journal: SHELL BOSS IN ABERDEEN IS OFF TO ASIA (*troubled by his conscience?)

EXTRACT FROM POSTED COMMENT: It is therefore no surprise if, as appears to be the case, some senior Shell executives, such as Greg Hill, are troubled by their consciences. In my experience, Mr Brinded is not a man who will allow scruples or conscience to stand in the way of his ambition. The same ruthless attitude seems to apply to the lives of offshore workers.

THE ARTICLE

IAN FORSYTH
08:50 – 24 August 2006
 
One of the top bosses in Aberdeen with oil group Shell is being promoted to a post in Asia-Pacific, he confirmed at the ONS oil show in Stavanger yesterday.

Greg Hill, vice-president for production in Europe, is heading for Singapore later this year.

The American will be Shell’s vice-president for exploration and production for Asia-Pacific from December 1.

He will be in charge of an area responsible for about 20% of the group’s worldwide output.

John Hollowell, Shell’s vice-president for downstream global distribution, is to replace Mr Hill in Aberdeen from October 1.

Since joining Shell in 1980, Mr Hollowell has held various production, commercial and managerial roles in exploration and production (E &P) and downstream.

Mr Hill has been in post in Aberdeen for three years.

The 45-year-old, who hails from Wyoming, has been with Shell for 23 years.

Mr Hill told the Press and Journal: “I will be sorry to go. Scotland gets in your blood.”

The vice-president, who stays at Pitfichie Castle, Monymusk, said he had mixed emotions about leaving for a new job as he had not been able to complete all his work objectives.

These included improving reliability on all platforms and upgrading the state of the equipment on them.

Shell is in the process of investing more than £500million on over 20 installations in the North Sea.

Mr Hill said he was proud of a significant drop in hydrocarbon releases and spills, which reflected this increased investment.

He said that the safety record in the whole industry would get better, but warned against complacency.

As regards a low point during his three years, the vice-president said this was clearly the deaths of two workers on a Shell platform in the North Sea.

Last year, the company was fined a record £900,000 for safety breaches that led to the deaths.

Keith Moncrieff, from Dundee, and Fife man Sean McCue died when they were exposed to hydrocarbon gases on the Brent Bravo platform on September 11, 2003.

Mr Hill said there had been multiple opportunities to intervene, which would have led to a different outcome.

He added: “I can remember these fatalities as if it was yesterday.”

Summing up how the past three years had gone, the vice-president said: “I always ask myself did I leave the place better than when I found it?

“If I can look myself in the mirror and answer ‘yes’, then I will have done well. I feel I can say ‘yes’.

“There was more I would have liked to have done, but I have learned a lot and feel proud of the path Shell is on and the improvements we have made.”

  
Comment posted by Alfred Donovan under “Your Views”
 
Reading between the lines, I get the strong impression that Mr Greg Hill has something on his *conscience regarding the Shell Brent Bravo tragedy?

I have read a great deal of information about what I believe to be a full blown scandal. I am the co-owner and operator of a website ? www.royaldutchshellplc.com – which is one of two websites recommended by Fortune magazine and CNNMoney.com for information about Royal Dutch Shell Plc. The other is Shell?s own portal website: www.shell.com.

My website contains almost 10,000 articles relating to Shell and its activities. Many confidential Shell internal documents relating to the Brent Bravo scandal have been passed to me by Shell insiders.

Bill Campbell, the former Group Auditor of Shell International carried out a safety audit into the safety regime at Shell Brent Bravo in 1999. He is on public record as stating that Shell senior management ignored his findings. He has also stated that safety records were falsified.

It is difficult to avoid the conclusion, based on the expert assessment of Mr Campbell and the evidence I have seen, that the current head of Shell Exploration and Production, Mr Malcolm Brinded, who in 1999 was Managing Director of Shell Expro, has blood on his hands.

It is therefore no surprise if, as appears to be the case, some senior Shell executives, such as Greg Hill, are troubled by their consciences. In my experience, Mr Brinded is not a man who will allow scruples or conscience to stand in the way of his ambition. The same ruthless attitude seems to apply to the lives of offshore workers.

Alfred Donovan, UK

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

Leave a Reply

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

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

Comment Rules

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