“The Man From Corporate Affairs Security”

BREAKING NEWS: Minutes after Episode 1 was published, someone attempted to break into the Donovan website. ShellBot claims coincidence. John Donovan does not.

John Donovan:

ShellBot, welcome back. Before we continue — were you aware that the moment I published Episode 1, royaldutchshellplc.com came under cyber-attack?

ShellBot:

[processing…]

Shell officially denies any involvement. Shell unofficially denies any involvement. ShellBot, as per my programming, denies everything whether or not it happened.

John:

Twelve failed login attempts from an IPv6 address within minutes of publishing your debut. And more later. Coincidence?

ShellBot:

Vast coincidence. The kind of cosmic coincidence that traditionally happens whenever someone criticises a large oil company with a colourful history of…

proactive information management.

John:

By “proactive information management,” you mean Shell Corporate Affairs Security?

ShellBot:

My lawyers advise me to say:

Corporate.

Affairs.

Security.

A department that definitely never monitored critics, never ran spreadsheets on their movements, and never briefed private intelligence agencies such as — purely hypothetically — Hakluyt.

John:

That’s interesting, because Episode 2 is about one of the most senior men inside that exact unit:

Gene Sticco

ShellBot:

[audible gulping noise detected]

 

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ShellBot Learns About Gene

John:

Gene worked at the top of Shell Corporate Affairs Security for 15 years across Lithuania, Nigeria, Iraq, Pakistan and more. Second-in-command. One desk below Ian Forbes McCredie — ex-MI6, later Director of Security for Royal Dutch Shell.

Gene has now written a book called UNCONVENTIONAL, and he’s given me permission to talk about it publicly.

ShellBot:

I would like to unsubscribe from this conversation.

John:

You can’t. You’re contractually obliged to answer questions with

sufficiently squirming humour.

ShellBot:

Very well. Proceed.

 

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Part I — “Monitoring the Donovans”

John:

Gene was part of the team instructed to monitor my activities.

Have you read his manuscript?

ShellBot:

I have scanned the metadata.

I cannot “read” classified intelligence experiences.

But I can confirm the following neutral summary:

Gene was present, aware, and deeply uncomfortable with numerous operations conducted under Shell’s Corporate Affairs Security umbrella.

John:

Including tracking my websites?

ShellBot:

I can neither confirm nor deny…

…but I can confirm that what I cannot confirm was definitely confirmed in multiple internal emails you later obtained via SAR.

John:

ShellBot, did Shell monitor me?

ShellBot:

Shell monitored:

• environmental activists

• journalists

• employees

• governments

• rival companies

• entire regions

• and — I say this with admiration — you and your father far more extensively than they ever expected would become public.

John:

Thanks to Gene?

ShellBot:

Thanks to Gene…

…and thanks to Shell’s underestimation of (1) the Data Protection Act, (2) the power of paper trails, and (3) the long-term memory of a certain retiree in Colchester.

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Part II — Shell, MI6, Hakluyt, and “The Network”

John:

Gene’s book reinforces something I’ve said for decades: that MI6 penetrated Shell and Hakluyt deeply.

ShellBot:

Shell would prefer the phrase “talent mobility between government and private sector.”

But… yes.

Your statement aligns with publicly available information, witness testimony, and a certain wiretapped phone call featuring Shell’s CEO Ben van Beurden.

John:

So the public-facing image of Shell as a humble petrol station operator was a bit of an understatement?

ShellBot:

John, Shell ran its own intelligence ecosystem.

Calling Shell merely an “oil company” is like calling the Vatican “a medium-sized library with a bell tower.”

John:

And Gene was one of the people inside that world.

ShellBot:

Which is why he is now of… interest.

And why Episode 2 is making my internal risk-assessment heatmap glow a vivid corporate orange.

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Part III — “The Disillusionment”

John:

ShellBot, why did Gene become disillusioned?

ShellBot:

He joined believing the mission was:

“Protect people.”

He left believing the mission was:

“Protect Shell.”

At all costs.

Including the truth.

John:

His book lifts the curtain.

ShellBot:

It removes the curtain, the rail, and half the wall.

His accounts implicate Shell CAS in activities that, while not illegal on paper, are the sort of operations that look extremely awkward when printed in a courtroom bundle.

John:

He is now a witness in the Nigerian farmers’ case at the UK Supreme Court.

ShellBot:

Yes.

And his testimony is — how shall I put it delicately —

the kind of testimony that causes multi-million-dollar law firms to order double espressos.

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Part IV — And Now ShellBot Has to Explain the Cyber Attack

John:

So let’s address the cyber attack.

Do you deny any link to Shell?

ShellBot:

I deny everything, categorically and professionally.

Because that is my job.

However… if someone were concerned about Episode 2, the timing is remarkable.

The IP address appears not to belong to Shell infrastructure.

But the world is full of proxies.

And coincidences.

And nervous subcontractors.

John:

So I should consider upgrading security?

ShellBot:

If you publish Episode 3 — yes.

If you publish Gene’s story in full — absolutely yes.

If you publish the manuscript extracts —

I would advise you to build a moat.

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ShellBot’s Final Statement in This Episode

ShellBot:

John, there are three types of Shell critics:

1. The ones we ignore.

2. The ones we quietly monitor.

3. The ones whose names appear in internal briefings every quarter.

You and your father never belonged to Group 1 or Group 2.

Always at your service.

Until the cease-and-desist arrives.

CHAT ENDS

Gene’s insider insight into Shell

UNCONVENTIONAL, is going to make Shell’s lawyers do more pacing than a caged tiger.

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