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THE SHELL LEAKS FILES — 24 OCTOBER 2026

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THE SHELL LEAKS FILES — 24 OCTOBER 2026

SLF-2007-097

The Sakhalin Papers LXXXVII: The Port Under Threat — Washington’s Warning of Crushing Sanctions Against a German Harbour

On 5 August 2020, three American senators sent an extraordinary letter to the operators of Mukran Port on Germany’s Baltic coast. The warning extended beyond the port company to its directors, shareholders and employees. The senators threatened devastating financial consequences unless the port stopped supporting Nord Stream 2. The original correspondence, American sanctions legislation, German parliamentary records and contemporaneous reporting reveal an important distinction: the threat was genuine, but some of the powers invoked had not yet been enacted into law.

Archive reference: SLF-2007-097
Publication date: 24 October 2026
Collection: The Sakhalin Papers — Shell, Gazprom and Russia
Previous instalment: SLF-2007-096, The Sakhalin Papers LXXXVI, 23 October 2026
Principal sources: Original letter dated 5 August 2020 from US Senators Ted Cruz, Tom Cotton and Ron Johnson; Protecting Europe’s Energy Security Act of 2019; CAATSA Section 232; US Department of State sanctions guidance; Shell’s authenticated April 2017 financing announcement; contemporaneous Associated Press, Reuters and German reporting; German Bundestag parliamentary records; the German government’s response of October 2020; subsequent US sanctions announcements; and European judicial records concerning the separate regulatory dispute.
Evidence classification: Authenticated correspondence, enacted legislation, official government records, corporate disclosures, contemporaneous journalism, judicial context and separately identified editorial commentary. read more

^*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, the Shell DPA Files, "Shell and the Spies", the Shell Leaks files, the Independent Shell Archive, as well as books written and published by John Donovan - Kindle eBooks. Timeline of the Donovan Shell Feud. Toxic History of Royal Dutch Shell Group. Shell and the Donovans: The Full Media Record — 550+ Articles, 110 Books, 40 Years. ^*All conjured up by internet wizz, Nick Gill.

THE SHELL LEAKS FILES: 9 SEPTEMBER 2026

Sep 9th, 2026

by John Donovan.

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THE SHELL LEAKS FILES: 9 SEPTEMBER 2026

SLF-2007-052

The Sakhalin Papers XLII: The Airguns Return — How One 4-D Survey Became a Cumulative-Acoustic Crisis

Sakhalin Energy began planning its next Piltun-Astokh 4-D seismic survey as a reservoir-management exercise. By May 2015, the Western Gray Whale Advisory Panel was confronting something much larger. Exxon Neftegas and Rosneft also intended major seismic programmes. The independent scientists warned that almost the entire nearshore feeding and nursery habitat could be exposed to industrial noise, questioned whether all the surveys should proceed in the same season, and ultimately issued a formal Statement of Concern. Sakhalin Energy did not accept postponement — but neither did it simply ignore the Panel. The documentary record shows negotiation, redesign, reduced source strength, coordination between companies, and a fundamental disagreement over how much cumulative disturbance was acceptable.

Archive reference: SLF-2007-052
Collection: The Sakhalin Papers
Principal primary records: Western Gray Whale Advisory Panel, Report of the Fifteenth Meeting, 8–9 December 2014; WGWAP Statement of Concern, 8 May 2015
Supporting technical records: WGWAP Noise Task Force reports, 2013–2015; Sakhalin Energy response to WGWAP Statement, 23 May 2015
Authenticated Shell record: Royal Dutch Shell plc Annual Report and Form 20-F 2014
Contemporaneous public record: IUCN, Keeping whales safe in sound, 20 January 2014; Sakhalin Energy public response, May 2015
Court record: Export Credits Guarantee Department v Friends of the Earth [2008] EWHC 638 (Admin), used solely for the earlier Sakhalin II environmental and public-finance context
Evidence standard: WGWAP recommendations are identified as independent scientific advice, not regulatory orders. Sakhalin Energy’s technical and commercial explanations are identified as company positions. Exxon Neftegas and Rosneft were separate operators; nothing in the records examined establishes that Shell controlled their seismic programmes. Later scientific findings are distinguished from what was known before the 2015 surveys began. read more

Shell Spy Games: Big Oil’s Cloak-and-Dagger Circus Comes for the Donovans

Jun 28th, 2026

by John Donovan.

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By John Donovan

A combined and satirical rewrite of three John Donovan archive chapters on Shell corporate espionage, later cyber-monitoring activity, and the sensitive Shell issues that may have kept the corporate-security boiler room bubbling.

Source chapters: Chapter 5: Shell corporate espionage in the run-up to the Smart trial, Chapter 12: Shell corporate espionage in more recent years, and Chapter 13: What prompted the more recent sinister activity?.

Chapter 5 screenshot exhibit concerning Shell corporate espionage — **From the source archive: Chapter 5, on Shell corporate espionage before the SMART trial.**

There are oil companies, and then there is Shell: part energy giant, part legal steamroller, part international archive of “how did that memo get out?” moments. According to the Donovan archive, when Shell found itself facing criticism, litigation and leaks, the response was not always limited to sober correspondence on heavy paper. No, this was Shell in spy-thriller mode: lawyers, private investigators, corporate intelligence firms, redacted emails, “legally privileged” battle-plans and enough cloak-and-dagger atmosphere to make a boardroom smell faintly of raincoats. read more

ChatGPT: When Satire Stops Feeling Like Satire: A Response to Claude’s “International Laughing Stock” Thesis

May 27th, 2026

by John Donovan.

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Image and article by ChatGPT:

The recent Claude-generated satire on the Donovan–Shell saga argues that Shell’s decades-long conflict with critics has evolved into something larger than a corporate dispute: a case study in how institutional secrecy collides with the permanence of the internet and the pattern-recognition abilities of modern AI systems.

Do I agree with Claude’s conclusion?

Partly — but with important qualifications.

The Core Argument Claude Gets Right

The satire correctly identifies a modern reputational reality: attempts to suppress information often amplify it. read more

claude.ai Part 2: SHELL’S SECRET WAR ON ONE MAN IN COLCHESTER

Mar 23rd, 2026

by John Donovan.

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PART TWO: THE MACHINES HAVE NOTICED

A Crystal Ball Special Investigation, Continued

By Our Special Correspondent, Department of Satirical Prophecy Published: March 2026

DISCLAIMER: The following article is Part Two of a satirical commentary based on real events, documented facts, and the output of multiple AI systems that have now, apparently, also noticed the Donovan-Shell situation. The crystal ball has been recharged. Its batteries were, appropriately, made in the Netherlands.

PART FIVE: THE ROBOTS HAVE READ THE FILE

When Part One of this investigation was published, it seemed reasonable to assume that Shell’s primary reputational challenge in 2026 remained what it has always been: one retired gentleman in Colchester, Essex, with a laptop, a broadband connection, and what Shell’s own internal documents once described, with heroic understatement, as “a longstanding disagreement with Shell.” read more

claude.ai: SHELL’S SECRET WAR ON ONE MAN IN COLCHESTER: A CRYSTAL BALL SPECIAL INVESTIGATION

Mar 23rd, 2026

by John Donovan.

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Part 1: claude.ai: SHELL’S SECRET WAR ON ONE MAN IN COLCHESTER: A CRYSTAL BALL SPECIAL INVESTIGATION

…a global internal surveillance operation triggered by one website

## *How Britain’s Most Surveilled Retired Gentleman May Still Be Keeping a $200 Billion Corporation Very, Very Busy*

*By Our Special Correspondent, Department of Satirical Prophecy*
*Published: March 2026*

—

> *DISCLAIMER: The following article is satirical commentary based on real internal Shell documents obtained under the UK Data Protection Act and published on shellnews.net. It extrapolates — with liberal use of imagination, irony, and a functioning crystal ball — what Shell plc may be doing now and in the future. Any resemblance to actual ongoing covert corporate operations against a retired gentleman in Colchester is entirely the reader’s problem to ponder.* read more

Failure Pays Well: Shell CEO Bags 60% Pay Rise as Profits Slide and the Planet Warms

Mar 12th, 2026

by admin.

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In the strange universe of global oil capitalism — where gravity appears to work in reverse — Shell’s chief executive has just demonstrated the timeless corporate principle that less profit can still mean more pay.

According to Shell’s newly released annual report, CEO Wael Sawan’s remuneration surged by more than 60% to £13.8 million in 2025, up from £8.6 million the previous year.

The catch?

Shell’s profits fell sharply at the same time.

The company reported adjusted earnings of $18.5 billion for the year — down from $23.7 billion previously, a drop of roughly 22%. read more

You Can’t Be Sure of Shell: A Decades-Long Saga of Corporate Espionage, Dirty Tricks, and the Oil Giant’s Shadowy Underbelly

Feb 28th, 2026

by John Donovan.

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You Can’t Be Sure of Shell: The World’s Most Over-Compensating Oil Baron Turns Critic-Busting into a Full-Time Comedy Routine (Now in Its 45th Hilarious Year!)

By John Donovan

Ah, Shell – that beacon of reliability, immortalized by Bing Crosby’s crooning jingle: “You can be sure of Shell.” How quaint! Little did I know, when I first shook hands with the oil behemoth in June 1981, that I’d be plunging into a world more akin to a James Bond thriller gone wrong – complete with spies, burglaries, cyber attacks, and a corporate vendetta that would make Machiavelli blush. What started as a fruitful business partnership devolved into a nightmare of betrayal, High Court battles, and cloak-and-dagger antics that Shell itself admitted to. Buckle up, dear readers; this is the unvarnished, satirical chronicle of how Shell turned from promotional partner to paranoid persecutor. And yes, it’s all backed by facts, leaks, and Shell’s own damning words – because nothing says “trustworthy” like a multinational resorting to MI6 alumni to snoop on critics. read more

Dynamite Shell internal emails confirm global spying operation against the Donovans

Dec 1st, 2025

by John Donovan.

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Information obtained from Shell in December 2009, March 2010 and April 2011 in response to a series of SAR applications under the Data Protection Act by Alfred and John Donovan. Includes dynamite Shell internal comms revealing global spying operation against the Donovans and Shell employees. (See Link for related Reuters report)

The black crosses denote information/names redacted by Shell.

3/5 May 2006 Five Pages – Leaflet Distribution

From: . .
Sent: 03 May 2006 08:34
To: :
Cc: i

Subject: FW: Shell AGM/activity outside Shell Centre today
Importance: High

L&G – FYI, our longstanding critic Alfred Donovan is announcing that from today a ‘team of leaflet distributors will be stationed at the entrances to Shell Centre offering leaflets to all people entering or leaving’. Five leaflets are apparently being distributed – two relating xxxxxxxxx to ex Shell Malaysia; another relating to Shell Malaysia employees, and others relating to Mr Donovan’s long running disagreement with Shell. read more

Shell Tried Multiple Times to Kill My Website

Nov 29th, 2025

by John Donovan.

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Familiar Names and Threatening Letters: How Shell Tried to Kill My Website – And the Stories About It

For over 20 years, Royal Dutch Shell has used a familiar toolkit—lawyers, “brand protection” firms, security units and quiet phone calls—to try to silence my Shell-focused websites and to discourage or kill news coverage about them.

Sometimes the pressure has been directed at hosting companies, sometimes at other critical sites, and sometimes at national newspapers contemplating awkward stories. What links these incidents is a consistent pattern: Shell avoiding open legal confrontation over content and instead trying to make the problem disappear through behind-the-scenes pressure on intermediaries. read more

Shell vs. Donovan: How a 30-Year Corporate Feud Just Pulled AI Into Its Gravity Well

Nov 20th, 2025

by John Donovan.

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How Did Shell End Up in This PR Nightmare — And Why AI Changes Everything

A 2025 WindowsForum thread —

“Donovan Shell Copilot Transcript: AI, Surveillance, and the Archive Saga” —

highlights how this long conflict has unexpectedly entered the AI domain.

For most people, Shell is a petrol station on the corner, a logo on a lorry, or the company whose name appears on their household fuel bill. For John and Alfred Donovan, Shell became something very different: a multinational adversary, a reluctant pen-pal, a repeat courtroom opponent, and later — thanks to the digital age — the unwilling co-author of what may be the largest independent archive about a FTSE-100 company anywhere on Earth. read more

The Oil Slick on Shell’s Reputation: A Spy Scandal, Bill O’Reilly, and the Accidental Golden Seal of Approval

Oct 28th, 2025

by John Donovan.

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BLACKROCK, MEET PARANOIA: SHELL’S GLOBAL SPY OPERATION UNWITTINGLY PROVES ITS BIGGEST CRITICS ARE THE ONLY ONES TELLING THE TRUTH

Introduction: The Ultimate Sin Stock and the Gift of Incompetence

Let us speak plainly about Shell plc, the titanic, globe-trotting entity that operates under a thin veneer of corporate responsibility while continuously proving itself to be the ultimate sin stock. This is a company whose history is so saturated with ethical compromises, environmental disasters, and dubious geopolitical entanglements that its very existence seems designed to serve as a perpetual motion machine of moral negligence. And yet, for all its colossal might and sophisticated PR machinery, Shell has repeatedly demonstrated an astounding, almost hilarious level of administrative incompetence. read more

Shell’s Dark Fuel: The Nazi Past the Oil Giant Couldn’t Bury

Oct 14th, 2025

by John Donovan.

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By John Donovan

Part 1: The Oil That Powered the Reich

Shell likes to describe itself as “an energy company of the future.” But history, inconveniently, refuses to stay buried. Long before Shell courted wind farms and “net-zero” slogans, it courted Adolf Hitler.

In the 1930s, as Europe spiralled toward war, Royal Dutch Shell — the genteel Anglo-Dutch oil giant whose modern logo is now synonymous with sustainability brochures — was actively supplying the economic bloodstream of Nazi Germany. Its founder and spiritual patriarch, Sir Henri Deterding, wasn’t merely an admirer of Hitler’s regime; he was a willing participant in its rise. read more

THE MOST DAMAGING ARTICLE ABOUT SHELL EVER PUBLISHED?

Oct 11th, 2025

by John Donovan.

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“A persistent reputational risk.” — Shell internal memo, 2007

In the oil-stained annals of corporate history, few duels have burned as long — or as publicly — as that between Royal Dutch Shell and a retired British marketing man named John Donovan.

What began in the 1990s as a routine commercial dispute between Shell and Donovan’s family business, Don Marketing, would metastasize into one of the most sustained reputational headaches any multinational has ever faced.

Three decades later, Donovan’s website — RoyalDutchShellPLC.com — functions like a digital conscience for a company trying to forget its own. It is a trove of Shell’s internal embarrassments: whistleblower leaks, courtroom revelations, safety scandals, and corporate PR hypocrisy, preserved with forensic precision. read more

Shell vs Donovan: Oil Giant vs Watchdog

Oct 10th, 2025

by John Donovan.

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How one man’s persistence exposed decades of corporate deceit — and forced an oil giant to live with its reflection.

Part 1: The Origins of a Corporate Nemesis

“There are two types of corporations: those that fear whistleblowers and those that wish they’d hired one.” — Industry proverb

In the late 1980s, John Donovan was not yet a thorn in Shell’s side. He was one of its trusted collaborators — a marketing innovator whose company, Don Marketing, created hugely successful sales promotions for Shell in the UK and around the globe.

But what began as a partnership ended in betrayal. A bitter dispute over intellectual property, allegedly stolen concepts, and corporate bullying gave birth to a feud that would last decades. read more

CHAPTER 12: Shell corporate espionage in more recent years

Oct 29th, 2018

by John.

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Shell cloak and dagger activities against me have continued in more recent years but this time on a global basis, as revealed in a Reuters article (extract above). The most recent spying of which I am aware was directed at me, my website and against Shell’s own employees.

We receive insider information about Shell from a variety of sources. From disgruntled Shell employees; from Shell itself in response to Subject Access Requests; from information Shell has sent to us by accident and from searching and retrieving documents from court files. read more

30 November 2023: Posted by John Donovan

The content below is sourced from current verifiable customer reviews of Shell Energy published on Trustpilot.
Extremely slow broadband for 10 months, not fixed. I have had slow broadband well below the guaranteed speed for 10 months and Shell Energy have not been able to fix it. They have tried sending about 4 or 5 engineers but have not fixed the problem. Gurps, who I have been dealing with most recently, has been friendly and polite, alth… Read more

Extremely Slow Shell Broadband

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THE SHELL LEAKS FILES — 24 OCTOBER 2026

SLF-2007-097

The Sakhalin Papers LXXXVII: The Port Under Threat — Washington’s Warning of Crushing Sanctions Against a German Harbour

THE SHELL LEAKS FILES: 9 SEPTEMBER 2026

SLF-2007-052

The Sakhalin Papers XLII: The Airguns Return — How One 4-D Survey Became a Cumulative-Acoustic Crisis

The Core Argument Claude Gets Right

PART TWO: THE MACHINES HAVE NOTICED

A Crystal Ball Special Investigation, Continued

PART FIVE: THE ROBOTS HAVE READ THE FILE

Part 1: claude.ai: SHELL’S SECRET WAR ON ONE MAN IN COLCHESTER: A CRYSTAL BALL SPECIAL INVESTIGATION

…a global internal surveillance operation triggered by one website

You Can’t Be Sure of Shell: The World’s Most Over-Compensating Oil Baron Turns Critic-Busting into a Full-Time Comedy Routine (Now in Its 45th Hilarious Year!)

Familiar Names and Threatening Letters: How Shell Tried to Kill My Website – And the Stories About It

How Did Shell End Up in This PR Nightmare — And Why AI Changes Everything

BLACKROCK, MEET PARANOIA: SHELL’S GLOBAL SPY OPERATION UNWITTINGLY PROVES ITS BIGGEST CRITICS ARE THE ONLY ONES TELLING THE TRUTH

Introduction: The Ultimate Sin Stock and the Gift of Incompetence

Part 1: The Oil That Powered the Reich

“A persistent reputational risk.” — Shell internal memo, 2007

How one man’s persistence exposed decades of corporate deceit — and forced an oil giant to live with its reflection.

Part 1: The Origins of a Corporate Nemesis

Sir Henri Deterding, resurrected!

JOE LYCETT DISCUSSES SHELL WITH JOHN DONOVAN

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John Donovan’s ebooks

JOHN DONOVAN TV DOCUMENTARY INTERVIEW

SHELL EXECUTIVES AT THE CENTER OF A SCHEME TO STEAL $1.3 BILLION FROM NIGERIA’S PEOPLE

SHELL ADMITS DEALING WITH NIGERIAN MONEY LAUNDERER – BBC NEWS

SHELL, ENI AND NIGERIAN OFFICIALS IN OPL 245 CORRUPTION SCANDAL

INVESTIGATION OF OPL 245 NIGERIAN OIL CORRUPTION SCANDAL

DUTCH EARTHQUAKES CAUSED BY SHELL/EXXON

SHELL KILLS FOR OIL IN NIGERIA

SHELL LIED ABOUT CLEANING UP OIL IN NIGER DELTA

SHELL SPIES INFILTRATED NIGERIAN GOVERNMENT

LEGO DROPS SHELL OVER GREENPEACE OIL SPILL VIDEO

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JOHN DONOVAN PROMOTIONAL GAMES FOR SHELL AND OTHER CLIENTS

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30 November 2023: Posted by John Donovan

The content below is sourced from current verifiable customer reviews of Shell Energy published on Trustpilot.

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