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Malcolm Brinded’s responsibility for Brent Bravo deaths

Despite his sleazy record, Malcolm Brinded (above) remains President of the Energy Institute

By John Donovan

The Shell cover-up surrounding the deaths of two workers on the Shell Brent Bravo North Sea platform is coming under active scrutiny again as a result of an initiative by retired Shell *safety guru Bill Campbell. Bill is acting on behalf of the family of one of the deceased platform workers, Keith Moncrieff.

For over a decade, the truly extraordinary story about what happened was withheld from the families of the deceased and from investigating authorities by Shell and those parties over whom Shell had influence.

Mr Campbell’s actions are timely in view of the quoted continuing deep concern of Shell CEO Ben van Beurden about Shell’s safety record in an article published today by Energy Voice.

See: Shell boss ‘still unhappy’ over safety record despite redoubling of efforts.

The Brent Bravo scandal shares some common features with the OPL 245 affair. Namely, the key involvement of unscrupulous Shell boss Malcolm Brinded, alleged corruption, the involvement of a spy firm believed to be Hakluyt & Company (staffed by former MI6 officers) who acted on the instructions of Malcolm Brinded. Also, the existence of a related recorded telephone conversation, in this case automatically recorded on specialist Shell equipment.

Mr Campbell was the target of the spying activity. Shell created a team involving a large number of individuals intent on **neutralising Mr Campbell and his allegations.

Chad Holliday, the chairman of Royal Dutch Shell Plc recently received several related extraordinary emails from Bill Campbell. They were followed up with related emails to Scottish authorities and trade unions. All relate to the deaths on Brent Bravo.

In 1999, Bill led a team which carried out a safety audit on Shell’s Brent Bravo North Sea oil platform. They uncovered a scandalous situation and in the course of their investigations, generated the Audit Notes below containing jaw-dropping revelations. Including that the relevant Shell Asset Manager was mentally unstable, safety records had been routinely falsified and that the platform operated under a “TOUCH FUCK ALL” regime putting production before safety.

The audit notes contained an alarming prediction that came to pass in September 2003 when Keith Moncrieff and co-worker Sean McCue died after a gas release on Brent Bravo. (Days later a second serious incident took place on the same platform when a large section of pipe fell from a crane).

In March 2005 Shell admitted three charges over the deaths. Stonehaven Sheriff Court heard Shell admit to three breaches of health and safety rules.

In April 2005 Shell was fined £900,000 for the avoidable deaths.

However, all of the proceedings took place without the crucial full findings and dire prediction of the Shell Audit Team being disclosed to the court or the Fatal Accident Inquiry. The information was also withheld from the families of the deceased during compensation negotiations.

Shell Managing Director/Chairman/CEO Malcolm Brinded played a key role in the scandal and the cover-up. He is currently on criminal trial in Italy for his key role in the ENI/Shell OPL 245 billion dollar Nigerian oil deal corruption scandal. 

I will publish on a daily basis, articles containing copies of the letters and information sent by Mr Campbell to various parties in the run-up to Christmas. The articles will put into context the related allegations and evidence including the information accessible via the list of links below. 

My justification for the assertion “Another Shell scandal with Malcolm Brinded in a key role”. To my certain knowledge, Mr Brinded has been a key player in five Shell scandals:

  • The deliberate theft of IP property by a dishonest Shell Executive who was later able to correctly claim that he had the full backing of Shell senior management, including the then Chairman of Shell UK, Mr Brinded 
  • A rigged contract tender process relating to the Shell Smart Loyalty scheme, once again involving the same dishonest Shell Executive who had the full backing of Mr Brinded for his nefarious schemes
  • The Shell oil reserves securities fraud
  • The Brent Bravo deaths and cover-up
  • The OPL 245 corruption scandal in which he is currently a defendant in a criminal trial

For over a decade, Shell has ignored my repeated warnings about the integrity of Mr Brinded. I have evidence to support all of these assertions. 

*Mr Campbell had a long distinguished career at Shell, including as Global Consultant for Operations and Maintenance Strategy development worldwide. In 2005, he was employed under a contract with the newly created Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDS) to lead Health and Safety audits worldwide on behalf of the upstream part of the RDS business. Following his retirement, he was appointed as a Global Consultant to Shell International Exploration and Production B.V. In this capacity, Mr Campbell continued to perform HSE audits for Shell until 2008.

**Mr Campbell’s name was redacted by Shell from a related aggressively toned “Legally Privileged and Confidential” Shell internal email dated 9 March 2007 focussed partly on North Sea Safety Scenarios and North Sea Integrity. It reads like a military operation. There was an enormous circulation list, no doubt involving Shell Corporate Affairs Security names and possibly Brinded. All such names were redacted by Shell lawyers. Basically, Shell was alarmed at the prospect of Mr Campbell linking up with “the Donovans”, the main targets of the sinister countermeasures team being assembled by Shell. I know from the overall information in the email that Mr Cambell was the other Shell target in the Shell email – the target of a “Strategy to detach him from the Donovans…”

Bravo Audit Notes

Brent Bravo Deaths: The Case Against Malcolm Brinded

Loss of Containment

Enforcement History including HSE input

Non-Compliance

Submission to Justice Committee

Information sent to Trade Unions

BILL CAMPBELL QUALIFICATIONS

THE “WANTED POSTER” WE HAVE BEEN PUBLISHING FOR OVER A DECADE

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.

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