December, 2017:
Listen to wire-tapped call implicating Ben van Beurden in OPL 245 corruption cover-up
The world’s largest-ever vessel is all set to go in 2018
Shell News Update 24 Dec 2017
Energy bosses to receive £110m reward after First Utility is bought by oil giant Shell for an estimated £240m: 24 Dec 2017
Kuwait Signs LNG Import Deal With Shell, Has `Pressing’ Gas Need: 24 Dec 2017
Activists say not so fast on drilling in Alaska refuge: 22 Dec 2017
Shell/Exxon JV (NAM) has already paid over half a billion euros in compensation for Dutch earthquake damage
Earthquake damage to 80,000 homes in the Groningen Gas Field area of the Netherlands as a result of gas drilling activities by Shell and Exxon
Translated from an article published in Dutch language on 23 Dec 2017 by Het Financieele Dagblad.
• Entrepreneurship:
How long will NAM still exist?
“You have to ask that question to the shareholders.”
Gerald Schotman, director of the Dutch Petroleum Company (NAM), the company that pumps gas from the Groningen soil, has just been asked how long NAM can continue to do so. Does the company still have a future? Schotman: ‘I will never make a statement about whether or not gas extraction can take place.’
NAM is a company under oppression. The gas price is low and that is a burden on income. Meanwhile, the NAM has to pay for the earthquake damage in Groningen. So far, that has been slightly more than half a billion euros. That amount can only go one way in the coming years. Up.
Unseaworthy Shell North Sea Platform Lifeboats!
By a Retired Shell North Sea Platform Manager
The latest lifeboat incident in the North Sea Brent Alpha is very worrying indeed to everyone working offshore and in this case the remaining Shell operated platforms.
Brent Alpha is in the process of extensive decommissioning activities in preparation for the removal by the “Spirit of the Seas” in 2019.
The problem with lifeboat release and retrieval systems has been know about many years before 2011 when the new IMO and SOLAS regulations were issued. These regulations have to be complied with by July 2019 which applied retrospectively to all shipping and offshore mobile or fixed units..
“Follow This” movement trying to make a greener Shell with new shareholder resolution
Translated from an article published in Dutch language on 21 Dec 2017 by Het Financieele Dagblad.
Shareholder movement “Follow This” will vote on a resolution at the shareholders’ meeting of Shell next year designed to make the company greener.
Shell has confirmed that the resolution will be put on the agenda.
Earlier resolutions of the movement did not succeed, because a large majority of shareholders voted against it. Last year, only 6% of shareholders voted in favor of the Follow-This resolution.
Shell is being charged with corruption in Nigeria
Shell employees at a borehole in Nigeria in 2002 where the oil comes from the ground and flows via pipes to terminals. Photo: Hollandse Hoogte / Sven Torfinn
…the crimes that would have taken place under the responsibility of Shell were carried out by Malcom Brinded, Peter Robinson, Guy Colegate and John Coplestone between autumn 2009 and 2 May 2014.
Translated from an article published in Dutch language on 20 Dec 2017 by Het Financieele Dagblad.
Shell is being charged with corruption in Nigeria an Italian judge decided this afternoon. The lawsuit starts in Milan on 5 March.
In addition to Shell, the Italian oil and gas company Eni and its current CEO, Claudio Descalzi, and a number of former Shell directors are also being put on trial. The verdict follows after months of preliminary investigation and a number of hearings in Milan.
Eni Acquires Shell Stake in Australian Gas Field
By Dow Jones Newswires
Eni SpA (ENI.MI) said Thursday that it has acquired the 32.5% stake in an Australian gas field owned by Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSA.LN)’s subsidiary Shell Australia Proprietary Ltd.Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The Evans Shoal field is located around 300 kilometers northwest of Darwin, where the Darwin liquefied natural gas plant is operating. The field is estimated to have at least 8 trillion cubic feet of raw gas in place, Eni said. The acquisition doubles Eni’s stake in the field to 65%.
The Italian company also said that it has become the operator of the retention lease NT/RL7 located in the north Bonaparte Basin, offshore Northern Australia.
Oil giant Shell to buy ‘big six’ energy rival First Utility
Credit Adrian Dennis/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
Oil giant Shell to buy ‘big six’ energy rival First Utility: The Telegraph
Shell enters UK household energy market: BBC News
Shell buys UK independent energy supplier First Utility: Financial Times
Shell’s £500m deal to sell homes gas and electricity: Oil major buys Britain’s biggest independent power supplier: This is Money
Shell, Eni Face Italian Charges Over Nigerian Deal -Update
By Dow Jones Newswires
Royal Dutch Shell PLC, the chief executive of state-backed Italian energy company Eni SpA and other industry executives must stand trial on corruption charges connected to a 2011 Nigerian oil deal, an Italian judge ruled Wednesday.
The prosecution marks a rare case in which top oil executives could face jail time for corruption allegations.
Prosecutors say in court documents that Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi and the other executives at both Shell and Eni knew most of the $1.3 billion the companies paid to the Nigerian government to acquire the drilling rights would be distributed as bribes. Prosecutors say Goodluck Jonathan, the Nigerian president at the time of the deal, received part of the kickbacks.
Oil companies Shell and Eni to stand trial in Italy over Nigeria bribes
The two oil giants and key directors are to stand trial in what may be one of the biggest corruption cases in history. It relates to bribes paid in Nigeria for the purchase of an offshore oil block.
A judge in Milan has ordered Eni, Shell and current and former Eni directors to stand trial on accusations of corruption in the 2011 purchase of the OPL245 oil block in Nigeria estimated to hold 9 billion barrels of crude.
The CEO of Italian energy concern Eni since 2014 Claudio Descalzi, and his predecessor Paolo Scaroni are among 11 individuals indicted over the alleged bribes paid to secure the oil license for $1.3 billion (€1.09 billion).
The Italian company denied wrongdoing: “Eni’s Board of Directors has reaffirmed its confidence that the company was not involved in alleged corrupt activities in relation to the transaction,” according to a statement issued by the company on Wednesday.
Shell entangled in Nigerian bribery: Ex bosses at oil major set to stand trial in Italy
Oil majors Shell and Eni, and ex-bosses at both firms, are due to stand trial in Italy over alleged corruption over an £800million field in Nigeria.
Former Shell director Malcolm Brinded, 64, who was given a CBE in 2002 for services to the oil and gas industry, is among 15 accused, including Eni’s chief executive Claudio Descalzi.
Prosecutors say a large part of around £800million paid by Shell and Eni in 2011 was distributed as bribes.
Shell, Eni face corruption charges in corporate bribery case
Anti-corruption campaigners say the trial, which is set to open March 5, will be the biggest corporate bribery trial in history, citing the heft of the two major oil companies involved. In all, 15 individuals face charges, including Eni’s current and former CEOs.
According to Milan prosecutors, $520 million of the $1.1 billion paid into an escrow account was converted into cash and distributed as bribes, while several hundred-million more went to a former oil minister.
Both Anglo-Dutch Shell and Italy’s Eni issued separate statements denying wrongdoing and expressing confidence that the court would exonerate the individuals charged and the companies themselves. Both companies are also under investigation in the case in the Netherlands and face charges in Nigeria.