A version of this editorial appeared in print on February 26, 2012, on page SR10 of the New York edition

Oil drilling off the North Slope of Alaska now seems virtually a sure thing. This month, the Interior Department gave tentative approval to Shell’s plans for responding to a potential spill in the Chukchi Sea, an important step toward approval of the company’s plan to drill six wells in the Chukchi’s frigid and forbidding waters. The company still needs a permit, and before the administration grants one it must be absolutely sure that Shell can meet the safety conditions stipulated in the approval. read more

Malcolm Brinded

“I confirm that in my experience Shell UK operates oppressively against small business people.  Its staff has acted unscrupulously and possibly illegally. The tactics of Shell UK management is completely opposite to the honesty and integrity promised by Shell in its code of ethics.”

By John Donovan

At the 1999 Shell AGM in London, Malcolm Brinded (above) rather surprisingly walked over and introduced himself to me. We had corresponded, but never met. At the time he had just taken over as Country Chairman of Shell UK.

I managed to corner him into setting up an informal meeting at the AGM between Shell executives, including Brinded and Group Chairman Mark Moody-Stuart, with a group of thoroughly disgruntled Shell UK service station retailers, to whom I had supplied shareholder passes to gain entry. read more

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXifgcaCTW8

Mr. Stanley was sentenced to 2½ years in prison, three years after he pleaded guilty to orchestrating $180 million in bribes to Nigerian officials between 1995 and 2004. He oversaw the bribes and made several trips to Nigeria to meet with senior officials where his role, according to federal prosecutors, was to figure out who to bribe.

Fri Feb 24, 2012 6:12pm EST

* At issue is reach of 1789 US law used to sue corps

* Lawsuit accuses Shell of aiding Nigerian rights abuses

* Ruling expected by the end of June

By James Vicini

WASHINGTON, Feb 24 (Reuters) – The Supreme Court will weigh next week whether corporations can be sued in the United States for suspected complicity in human rights abuses abroad, in a case being closely watched by businesses concerned about long and costly litigation.

The high court on Tuesday will consider the reach of a 1789 U.S. law that had been largely dormant until 1980, when human rights lawyers started using it, at first to sue foreign government officials. Then, over the next 20 years, the lawyers used the law to target multinational corporations. read more

ROXANA - Shell Oil Co. says it plans to close its oil blending and packaging plant, resulting in loss of 83 local jobs and bringing to an end the company's direct presence in the area, which dates back almost a century.

2/24/2012 @ 11:38AM

Daniel Fisher, Forbes Staff

Next Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum, a case that asks whether former residents of Nigeria’s Ogani region can sue Shell in U.S. court over human-rights abuses committed by local government forces.

The decision may hinge on how justices view the skin-crawling comparison between Shell and I.G. Farben, the German chemicals conglomerate that actively participated in Nazi crimes. No one’s accusing Shell of being another I.G. Farben, exactly — the German company prospered in part on the labor of 50,000 slaves. read more

The Xena: Warrior Princess star and six other Greenpeace protesters sneaked onto the Shell-contracted Noble Discoverer at Port Taranaki at dawn yesterday, climbing its 53-metre drilling tower and hoisting banners which read "Stop Shell" and "Save the Arctic".

PTT Exploration offered 220 pence for each Cove share, 13 percent more than Shell’s proposal, according to a statement today. Cove surged 21 percent to 235 pence in London trading, indicating investors are betting on further bids.

Friday, February 24, 2012

The US Coast Guard is proposing a 500-meter safety zone around each of the two drill ships that Shell would use if its plans to spud exploratory wells in Alaska’s Chukchi and Beaufort Seas this summer are approved.

Shell requested the zone to reduce any chances of vessel collisions outside of the normal shipping channels. The request was also made due to safety concerns for the Noble Discoverer crew, as well as the environment.

A 500-meter safety zone would be established around the mobile offshore drilling unit Noble Discoverer, which Shell has said it would use to drill exploratory wells in the Chukchi Sea. The proposed zone would be established from July 1 through October 31. Coast Guard officials suggest that the safety zone will greatly reduce collision threats, which could result in oil spills or the release of natural gas. read more

OIL giant SHELL stunned experts yesterday by bidding to boost its reserves with a £1billion gamble on Mozambique in East Africa.“This shows how desperate Shell are to boost reserves,” said one expert.

Shell’s £1bn Africa punt

Thursday, February 23, 2012

OIL giant SHELL stunned experts yesterday by bidding to boost its reserves with a £1billion gamble on Mozambique in East Africa.

It revealed a 195p per share offer for COVE ENERGY which holds an 8.5 per cent stake in one of the world’s biggest gas fields there.

It contains the equivalent in gas of more than TWO BILLION barrels of oil.

“This shows how desperate Shell are to boost reserves,” said one expert. Cove shares raced 25 per cent to 193.5p.

East Africa is one of the fastest growing frontiers for oil and gas exploration. Shell’s offer is one of only a handful of deals in the past decade. read more

We must not feel too sorry for Malcolm. He has millions accumulated in his pension pot from FAT CAT bonuses etc to fall back on and has probably negotiated a great severance package to buy his silence.

By John Donovan

What is noticeable from the news dispatches reaching us today from the Corrib Gas War front-line is that both sides are video taping each other.

The use of such technology in sensitive circumstances, reminds me of the surprise expressed by a Guardian newspaper journalist went he arrived to carry out an interview at Shell London HQ about our activities.

First he discovered that it was not going to to be a one-to-one conversation. Instead Shell was represented by a Shell director, Shell internal and external lawyers and for good measure, someone from Shell media. read more

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qu4JZ4_Nxl4

Hello Alfred, John

Here’s a link to an article and video on a Corrib incident that happened to me this week. This is how Shell and their partners are building relations with the local community.

John Monaghan

The Irish Times – Friday, February 17, 2012

North Mayo residents protest at road disruption by Corrib gas haulage

LORNA SIGGINS, Western Correspondent

NORTH MAYO residents have begun a series of protests to reclaim the road they say is being lost to the local community and overtaken by heavy traffic of working equipment and haulage associated with the Corrib gas project.

The residents, who are not aligned to any formal protest grouping, say they feel “abandoned by the State and all its agencies”.

The residents of Pollathomas, Aughoose, Lenamore, Aughagower, Barnacuillew and Glengad live along the L1202 coast road, which runs parallel to the Sruwaddacon estuary in inner Broadhaven Bay. The L1202 is currently one of the main haulage routes for work on the onshore Corrib gas pipeline. read more

We can now read in a court deposition given under oath, the dramatic and emotional account by van de Vijver himself of how he was brutally pressurised into resigning by his colleagues, including Jeroen van der Veer. A masterclass in backstabbing.