Shell in court over claims it hampered fossil fuels phase-out

Daniel Boffey in Brussels: Mon 30 Nov 2020 11.12 GMT

It will be heard that a cache of internal and external documents proves that Shell has known about climate change at least since the 1950s and has been aware of its large-scale consequences at least since 1986.

FURTHER EXTRACTS

A court in The Hague will hear claims that Royal Dutch Shell has broken Dutch law by knowingly hampering the global phase-out of fossil fuels, in a case that could force the company to reduce its CO₂ emissions. read more

Nigerian Supreme Court Upholds Oil Spill Award Against Shell

Elisha Bala-Gbogbo: Last Updated Nov 30, 2020

Shell, the largest oil producer in Nigeria, have been beset by lawsuits involving the West African nation, many of them in courts in the Hague and the U.K.

EXTRACTS

Nigeria’s Supreme Court dismissed an application by Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s local unit to review a $467-million award for damages caused by an oil spill half a century ago. Justice Olabode Rhodes-Vivour led a five-member panel of the court Friday that unanimously dismissed Shell’s bid for lacking merit. read more

Oil Majors Are Paying The Price For Investing In Renewables

By Alex Kimani – Nov 19, 2020, 7:00 PM CST

Big Oil has been frequently lambasted for trying to burnish its green credentials through half-hearted investments in renewables. That might have been true for much of the past decade, but it appears to be changing as the oil and gas majors have started putting down big money into clean energy. For instance, European oil majors including BP Plc. (NYSE:BP), Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE:RDS.A), Eni SpA (NYSE:E), Total SA (NYSE:TOT), and Norwegian national oil company Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) have already invested billions of dollars in renewable energy and made big clean energy commitments.Yet, Big Oil just can’t seem to catch a break, with stocks of oil and gas companies that are investing heavily in renewables being punished by the markets. read more

English translation of an article published today by the Dutch Financial newspaper, the FD.

Shell and Exxon are aiming for multi-billion dollar green subsidies

Carel Grol: 16 November 2020

Four multinationals that want to store the greenhouse gas CO₂ in an empty gas field off the Dutch coast will apply for a subsidy at the end of this month. According to estimates, this subsidy could amount to around € 1.5 billion.

In brief

• Four multinationals, including Shell, want to participate in a large-scale CO₂ storage project in a gas field under the North Sea.
• It is estimated that a subsidy of € 1.5 billion will be applied for.
• If the subsidy is paid, there will be less money for solar energy.

Four multinationals, including Exxon and Shell, will apply for a subsidy for CO₂ storage in a gas field under the North Sea. This grant is controversial as it is a huge amount for something that has never been done on this scale. There are less than 25 active large CO₂ storage projects worldwide. The so-called Porthos project in the North Sea should really be a breakthrough for Europe. read more

Shell Climate Change Ads Axed From Facebook

Greg Winterton: 16 November 2020

Extracts

Some Shell advertisements, including for its electric vehicle-charging firm Greenlots, have been removed from Facebook over concerns around transparency of environmental policies and climate change.

Shell’s advertisements – part of rebranding efforts to place emphasis on its renewable energy divisions – were labelled as sponsored, but did not include a disclaimer stating they were paid for by the firm.  read more

Shell has tried to shed its image of corporate killer like a snake would its skin.

Dear Shell: After 25 Years, Are You Finally Ready to Accept Your Role in the Murder of Ogoni 9?

The Ogoni 9 — Ken Saro-Wiwa, Saturday Dobee, Nordu Eawo, Daniel Gbooko, Paul Levera, Felix Nuate, Baribor Bera, Barinem Kiobel, and John Kpuine — were murdered 25 years ago for their campaign against Shell. Photo by Martin LeSanto-Smith.

The fossil fuel giant could have tried to right its wrongs, grave as they were. Instead, it has chosen profit over people, indifference over action. This article originally appeared in OilChange International. ANDY ROWELL: November 12, 2020

And so another grim, painful milestone is reached. It is now a quarter of a century since the Ogoni 9 were murdered in Nigeria. read more

Dow Chemical, Shell Oil Sued Over Dirty Well Water Near Yosemite

Maeve Allsup Legal Reporter: Nov. 11, 2020, 12:00 AM The Dow Chemical Co. and Shell Oil Co. manufactured and sold soil additives containing a cancer-causing chemical without proper research and precautionary measures, which led to the contamination of certain wells in a county near California’s Yosemite National Park, a lawsuit filed Tuesday in San Francisco alleges.

Madera County seeks to recover costs to restore drinking water supply wells that it alleges are contaminated with 1,2,3-Trichloropropane, a chemical found in certain soil fumigants used to control worms that infest plant roots, the suit says.

TCP is an ingredient in products that were manufactured, marketed, and sold by the companies in…

FULL ARTICLE (PayWall)

COURT: Cal. Super. Ct.

COMPANY: The Dow Chemical Co., Shell Oil Co. (Bloomberg Law Subscription) read more

Nigeria protests target Shell in UK, Netherlands

Activists have mounted demonstrations at Shell’s headquarters in London and The Hague, in protest over the killings of the Ogoni 9 in Nigeria, 25 years ago.

By Ed Reed: 10 November 2020

Eight activists from Extinction Rebellion Rotterdam climbed a Shell storage tank in Pernis. A spokesman for the group, Marjolein: “Although Shell is obliged to clean up the oil, they appear to be failing to deliver on their promises as always. That is why today we protest at one of Europe’s largest oil refineries: to show that Shell cannot get away with this and to encourage the people in the Ogoni area. ” read more

Shell Singapore to cut 500 jobs over three years amid Pulau Bukom reorganisation

UMA DEVI: [email protected]: Twitter @UmaDeviBT: TUE, NOV 10, 2020 SHELL Companies, the local subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell, is set to cut 500 jobs or about 38 per cent of its local workforce over the next three years as the group makes changes to its largest refinery, on Pulau Bukom.

A Shell spokesperson told The Business Times that the company will go from 1,300 staff to approximately 1,100 by the end of 2021, and down further to some 800 employees by the end of 2023.

The earliest staff movement related to the reorganisation will take place in the fourth quarter of 2021, added the spokesperson.

In a statement on Tuesday, Shell said Pulau Bukom will pivot from a crude-oil, fuels-based product slate towards new, low-carbon value chains. This is the company’s latest step towards its overarching ambition to be a net-zero emissions energy business by 2050. read more

Will Shell’s share price ever recover?

Edward Sheldon, CFA: Tue, 10 November 2020, 7:22 am GMT·

It’s fair to say 2020 has been a challenging year for Royal Dutch Shell (LSE: RDSB) investors. As a result of Covid-19, and the subsequent drop in demand for oil, Shell’s share price has plummeted. Year to date, shares in the FTSE 100 oil major are down about 50%.

Can Shell’s share price recover? I think it’s possible. That said, there are a few things that need to happen for the FTSE 100 oil stock to rebound. read more

OGONI REMEMBERS KEN SARO WIWA’S MURDER 25 YEARS LATER AND RENEWS DEMAND FOR AUTONOMY

November 10, 2020

KorneBari Nwike

On November 10, 2020, the Ogoni people, in the homeland and in the diaspora, are poised to celebrate the 25^th Anniversary of the judicial murder of Ken Saro Wiwa and other Ogoni leaders with renewed calls for Ogoni autonomy. Twenty-five years ago, on November 10, 1995, Gen. Sani Abacha, bolstered by the Justice Ibrahim Auta tribunal and Shell Oil Company, impulsively murdered Ken Saro Wiwa, one of Africa’s finest and eight other Ogoni leaders for demanding Ogoni political autonomy within Nigeria. Ken Saro Wiwa was an acclaimed writer and Africa’s foremost environmentalist who lead the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP). read more

REMEMBERING OGONI 9 HERO

DR. BARINEM NUBARI KIOBEL

By John Donovan

This year is the sad Silver Jubilee of a landmark human rights atrocity. 

Today is the 25th anniversary of the death of Dr Barinem Nubari Kiobel who is lovingly remembered every year by his widow Esther Kiobel.

Dr Kiobel was a member of the “Ogoni 9” (which included Ken Saro-Wiwa), all innocent people executed in  Nigeria on November 10, 1995, by the murderous Abacha military regime. The regime was closely associated with and actively supported by Shell. read more

XR activists protest Prelude “death machine”

The $12 billion vessel started up production in July last year, only to be shut in in February as it was plagued with technical problems and has been in lighthouse mode ever since, with frequent clashes between unions, Shell management and contractors like Sodexo about conditions on the vessel. Last week the company posted an impairment post-tax charge of A$924 million…

A GROUP of Extinction Rebellion protestors descended on Shell’s Perth headquarters over the weekend, defacing the entrance and writing chalk on the pavement in protest of Shell’s Prelude FLNG vessel, describing it as a “death machine”.

Police were called to the scene by Shell security, however no arrests or move on notices were made and by Monday morning all evidence of the protest had been removed. read more

Sneaky online censorship move by Shell Climate Change VP John MacArthur

When I revisited MacArthur’s Linkedin page yesterday, I discovered that all trace of his remarks and the adverse comments they had attracted have vanished.

By John Donovan

John MacArthur leads Shell’s Group Carbon strategy, climate change and energy policy and carbon innovation. See screenshot below downloaded on 06 Nov 2020 from here

John is not having a good week.

A few days ago he posted comments on his Linkedin page promoting Shell’s new climate change campaign on social media. read more

‘Greenwashing’ and ‘dirty tricks’: Shell sparks fierce backlash with emissions tweet

AOC and Greta Thunberg lead criticism of multinational fossil fuel firm

Her tweet refers to executives at Shell who have publicly admitted they knew decades ago that burning fossil fuels would cause the planet to warm. Shell chief executive Ben van Beurden said in a Time magazine interview this year: “Yeah, we knew. Everybody knew.”

Harry Cockburn: 03 Oct 2020

Multinational oil and gas company Shell – the second-largest investor-owned company in the world – is no stranger to the criticisms and concerns of the environmental movement, but this week, the energy giant inspired fresh anger with a tweet asking how people were reducing their emissions. read more

Oil giant Shell tries to hand off the climate-change fight to consumers and gets roasted by AOC, Greta Thunberg and thousands more

By Rachel Koning Beals:Published: Nov. 3, 2020 at 8:12 p.m. ET

We welcome the #energydebate, the oil major counters

Royal Dutch Shell PLC had a poll for consumers this week: What habits are individuals willing to give up to cut emissions, it asked.

A stampede of Twitter responses had a follow-up for the oil-and-gas super major: Are you serious?

Some comments, which eventually topped 4,000 as of Tuesday, made note of the less than 200 poll responses (for an account that has some 550,000 followers) to this four-answer query: read more