Their hope and expectations were that Saro-Wiwa’s hanging would silence the Ogoni people and send signals to the rest of Nigeria’s Niger Delta about what awaits anyone who raises questions about the unfair and inhuman distribution of the wealth of the people of the Niger Delta.

By Fegalo Nsuke

Ogoni, the people and the land represent an oppressed nationality, a people persecuted by their own government for seeking respect for their human and environmental rights especially over their natural endowments, a people whose government have authorized its armed forces to unleash on them, unimaginable brutality with assurances that military crimes against the Ogoni people will never be questioned nor punished.

Over 4,000 Ogonis have been killed since 1993 in state-sponsored terrorism and quite regrettably, no one has been prosecuted, punished or indicted in the Ogoni saga. read more

One of the listed articles focussed on allegations that Shell was spying on its own employees. Runar Kjørsvik, a whistleblower from the Shell Nyhamna Gas Plant, had discovered to his shock and horror that Shell was in possession of surveillance photographs of him taken by persons unknown. He alleges that Shell used undercover agents to spy on him.

Norske Shell whistleblower, Runar Kjørsvik

By John Donovan

Nearly two years ago, I published an extraordinary series of articles about the sinister conduct at Norske Shell, the Norwegian subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell Plc.

Links are provided below in date order.

A translated example of one of the news articles published in Norway in the late few days is printed below. They reveal the pressure being put on the Norwegian government over the involvement of “external investigators” in so-called fact-finding surveys used in proceedings against employees. read more

Printed below is an English translation of an article published today by the Dutch Financial Times, Financieele Dagblad.

Shell links concrete climate targets to the top reward

Royal Dutch Shell CEO Ben van Beurden

Bert van Dijk: 3 December 2018

Oil and gas multinational ShellRDSA € 26.71 – will set concrete medium and short-term climate goals. The remuneration of the top of the company is partly made dependent on the achievement of those goals. With this, Shell is meeting pressure from large shareholders who asked for it.

Shell announces the changes in a joint statement with shareholders. The changes must go into effect in 2020.

Climate agreement of Paris

In 2017, Shell formulated the ambition for the first time to reduce its CO₂ footprint (a measure to measure CO₂ emissions, ed.) Of its energy products by 2050. Although CEO Ben van Beurden then indicated that he wanted to be settled, the company did not give concrete medium and short-term goals. Shell did not want that, because the company was afraid, among other things, to lose too much flexibility when making business decisions. read more

‘Shell wants to be as transparent as possible, but we can not force ourselves to throw confidential information on the street on the basis of anonymous sources.’

Shell keeps profit tax in the Netherlands secret

Laurens Berentsen

Shell does not answer the question of whether it pays corporation tax in the Netherlands in addition to the income tax on gas extraction by the NAM. The oil company does not want to confirm or deny reporting on this in the newspaper Trouw. However, it can be concluded from the annual reports of Shell companies that the company does not pay tax on its profits in the Netherlands.

‘Shell wants to be as transparent as possible, but we can not force ourselves to throw confidential information on the street on the basis of anonymous sources.’ This is the reaction of CEO Marjan van Loon of Shell Nederland to the message from Trouw that the British-Dutch multinational does not pay any profit tax in the Netherlands. While Shell does make a profit in the Netherlands, even if the NAM remains out of consideration. For example, with its chemical plant in Moerdijk, the refinery in Pernis and petrol stations along the motorways. read more

By John Donovan

No, the headline is not referring to the OPL 245 oil deal in which former Shell and ENI executives and the companies themselves are currently on criminal trial in Italy on corruption charges.

Both companies have prior convictions for illicit joint activity that most people have forgotten.

In September 2006, the European Commission fined Shell $137m for their role in a cartel that fixed the price of bitumen. According to a report published in the Houston Chronicle, “the EU Commission said the company was an instigator, took the leadership in the cartel and was a repeat offender”. The report went on to state that “Shell’s fine was increased by 50 percent because of its involvement in previous cartels and another 50 percent for instigating and leading the cartel.”  read more

By Russell Padmore Business reporter, BBC World Service

A court in Milan is considering charges of corruption against Eni and Shell in a controversial oil deal that led to Nigeria losing an estimated $6bn.

The campaign group Global Witness has calculated the OPL 245 deal in 2011 deprived Nigeria of double its annual education and healthcare budget.

Eni and Shell are accused of knowing the money they paid to Nigeria would be used for bribes.

The Italian and Anglo-Dutch energy giants deny any wrongdoing. read more

By John Donovan

First the email I received today from The Rt. Hon. Theresa May MP in my capacity as a member of the Conservative Party

Dear John

At a Special Council in Brussels this morning I reached agreement with the leaders of all 27 EU member states on a Withdrawal Agreement and Political Declaration marking the culmination of the UK’s exit negotiations with the European Union.

I believe what has been agreed today represents the very best deal available and honours the result of the decision taken by the British people. If Parliament chooses to approve it, it will ensure that Brexit is an orderly process and that the UK’s best days lie ahead of us. read more

Possibly 15,000 houses must be strengthened. Of these, 2500 have an increased risk and some 7,000 still have to be inspected. Sietsma predicted that the whole operation will take five to seven years.

Printed below is an English translation of an article published today by the Dutch Financial Times, Financieele Dagblad. NAM is the Shell/Exxon Joint Venture company responsible for the earthquake blighted Groningen Gas Field and consequential potential bill for untold billions to deal with damaged residences.

House in Loppersum that has been damaged by the gas quakes and whose façade needs to be supported.ROBIN UTRECH / HOLLANDSE HOOGTE

Billions of future plans for a beautiful Groningen, but uncertainty about the approach to damage remains.

Bas Knoop

Debating about the future of Groningen, while many Groningers themselves still live in uncertainty about the handling of earthquake damage and the strengthening of houses. Is that possible? Several MPs struggled with this question on Thursday evening during a debate on the future plan for the quake province.

Sandra Beckerman, MP for the SP and Groningen, even took the word ‘surreal’ in the mouth. ‘I find it difficult to talk about a hip hydrogen bus when many people do not know if they live in a safe house.’ read more

IMAGE INSERTED BY JOHN DONOVAN

Even after his arrest, Kiobel bravely campaigned to improve conditions in his home area, writing to Komo to appeal for a military withdrawal from Gokana (in Ogoniland) because of “indiscriminate shootings, killing of innocent persons.” 

Extracts from pages 35 & 36 of an Amnesty International document entitled: “A CRIMINAL ENTERPRISE? SHELL’S INVOLVEMENT IN HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS IN NIGERIA IN THE 1990s”

Ken Saro-Wiwa: Before launching MOSOP, Ken Saro-Wiwa, from Bane in Ogoniland, was a successful writer. From 1985-90, some 30 million Nigerians tuned in every week to Basi and Company, a comedy-drama he wrote for Nigerian TV.152 Several of his books won international acclaim, including Sozaboy: A Novel in Rotten English, and On a Darkling Plain.153 The prosecution accused Ken Saro-Wiwa of inciting his supporters to kill the four chiefs meeting at Giokoo. It claimed that shortly before the attacks, he told a group of supporters “to deal with the “vultures.”154 The only witnesses to allege this, Charles Danwi and Nayone Akpa, subsequently signed alleging that the government and Shell had bribed them to make false statements (see above.)155 Ken Saro-Wiwa denied the accusation.156 read more

Worker dies and two more injured at Shell Buenos Aires refinery fire

(SCREENSHOT – NOT A WORKING VIDEO)

16 November 2018

Passing this on from Argentinian colleagues: one worker has died and two more were hospitalised with injuries after a fire at Shell’s Dock Sud refinery near Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Sunday. (Video of fire here.) 

The historic Dock Sud refinery was commissioned in 1931 and last year Shell passed on ownership to its 50% controlled Brazilian subsidiary Raizen. The fire started last Sunday in a sector of the refinery that was closed for repairs, where the three injured workers were soldering. Two were able to escape the fire themselves and the third was discovered by colleagues who began fighting the fire, according to trade union outlet Prensa Obrera. He died in hospital the day after. The story has been reported in a couple of small outlets in Argentina but not anywhere else.

Translated article

TRAGIC FIRE AT SHELL

On Sunday, 11 November, at about 11 am, a fire broke out in the CD3 sector of the Raízen refinery (acquired just a few months ago from the multinational Shell) in Dock sud, Avellaneda party with a tragic balance of a deceased worker and several injured.

During the course of the morning, in the sector HV2 (high vacuum 2) also occurred a fire, in smaller scale, but that seemed to be portent of what would come next.

The episode took place at the plant called CD3, a sector subject to “plant shutdown”, an exercise planned for the restructuring and commissioning of said complex. There they were working on different companies, including Raízen (Shell), Hidrocinetic S.A., Velo S.A. (last two, outsourced under the UOCRA agreement). The fire was caused by the absolute negligence of the employer, responsible for a large number of anomalies and deficiencies in the work processes. read more

UNEASE OF SHELL STAFF WORKING FOR A REGISTERED CHILD SEX OFFENDER

By John Donovan

I understand from a Shell insider source that Shell staff are concerned about the fact that they are forced to work for a recently promoted senior Shell leader who is on a Child Sex Offenders register. He is guilty of three counts of aggravated sexual assault on a child. The date shown on court records is 2004.

Extracts from emails received from the insider source:

“INTEGRITY OF LEADERSHIP …as a Shell staff member I am always concerned about the integrity of the leadership team at any level. …there is a recently promoted individual (xxx) in xxxxxxxx in a key leadership role. Staff are not happy working for this person as he is a registered sex offender since 2004 for aggravated sexual assault against a child. XXXXXX website has his full profile including yearly pictures. All verifiable in the public domain. …but for some reason management are turning a blind eye. It says a lot for the company! His conviction lists his full name as………….. You can confirm the Shell link via xxxxxxxx. He works for Shell xxxxxxx. Staff are appalled that he has now moved from xxxxxx xxxxxx to a leader… He is now tasked to working with suppliers like xxxxxx to improve the quality of services provided to Shell. Some suppliers are now also beginning to learn his history and quietly voicing surprise.” read more

Attorney General Geoffrey Cox delivered a barnstorming warmup speech for the PM at the recent Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham

GEOFFREY COX COURAGEOUSLY DEFENDED ME FROM A BLATANTLY BIASED ATTACK BY A HIGH COURT JUDGE

John Donovan

By John Donovan

After a spectacular performance as the warm-up act for Prime Minister Teresa May at the October 2018 Conservative Conference, the Rt. Hon. Geoffrey Cox QC MP is now tipped by at least one publication to become the next PM.

When I first met him two decades ago, he was plain Geoffrey Cox, an ambitious criminal law barrister who had already founded the Thomas More Chambers.  read more

Emails exchanged between senior Shell staff including John Copleston and Guy Colegate show they knew a massive payment would go to convicted money launderer and former oil minister Dan Etete.

UPDATED SUNDAY 4 NOVEMBER 2018

By John Donovan

During a wiretapped telephone conversation held on 17 February 2016 between Royal Dutch Shell Chief Executive Officer Ben van Beurden and Simon Henry, his then CFO, BvB made reference to what he described as “really unhelpful emails” relating to the Shell/Eni Nigerian corruption scandal.

The call took place hours after Shell’s HQ building in The Hague was raided by authorities investigating the OPL 245 Nigerian oil deal. Two middle men have already been found guilty of involvement in the $1.3 billion corruption scandal. read more

Nsuke called for the removal of Shell from the governing council of HYPREP and the Board of trustees as the company (Shell) is still seen by the Ogoni people as a killer and an enemy.

Publicity Secretary of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), Fegalo Nsuke, has said the Ogoni cleanup would end up as Nigeria’s biggest scam if left the way it is presently structured.

Speaking yesterday in Bori, headquarter of Khana local government area, when he met with youth leaders of the National Youth Council of the Ogoni People (NYCOP), Nsuke said HYPREP was desperate to spend money and not bothered about the integrity of the cleanup process and the welfare of the Ogoni people. read more

By John Donovan

Shell is a major investor in Putin’s Russia, which uses revenues from hydrocarbon sales to finance illegal and immoral wars against Ukraine and Syria. Not to mention the murder of Russian and UK citizens using outlawed radioactive and chemical weapons.

Shell’s main business partner in Russia is Gazprom, whose board is filled with former KGB and other questionable characters.

Shell is partnering with Gazprom on Sakhalin 2, the Nordstream II pipeline and the Baltic LNG project. read more

Shell thinks that the likelihood of Shell having the same fate as photo company Kodak is small. “We are thinking a lot about Kodak moments.” Kodak, a long-time powerhouse in photography, proved unable to adequately respond to the rapid development of digital photography and went bankrupt.

Printed below is an English translation of an article published today by the Dutch Financial Times, Financieele Dagblad. 

‘I have to make sure that Shell does not become a dodo’

‘We are also a marketing company that serves customers from 45,000 branches. These are more branches than McDonald’s. “Photo: Peter Boer

Bert van Dijk

Shell invests $ 1 billion a year to $ 2 billion in clean energy, but still more than ten times in oil and gas. Does not the mega-concern cope with the same fate as Kodak, the photo company that went bankrupt because it reacted too late to changes in the environment?

A conversation with Jeremy Bentham, head of Shells scenario department.

Bentham (60) is the proud owner of the Dodo. A drawing of the extinct bird is framed in the room of the Shell driver. The internal ‘award’ has been passed on to Shell drivers since 1976 as ‘a warning to us all’, as is shown in the drawing.

Bentham is the eighth ‘custodian’ of the Dodo. ‘It is my responsibility to ensure that Shell does not become a dodo that reacts too late to changes in its environment.’ read more