Netherlands

SHELLGATE? Over €1 Trillion in Groningen Gas Revenue May Have Gone to Shell and Exxon — Not the Dutch State

Apr 14th, 2026

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This article contains unverified claims that diverge significantly from established historical and financial accounts of the Groningen gas field. Readers are strongly advised to review the full Editor’s Note and disclaimer at the end of this article before drawing conclusions. This article presents a contested financial reconstruction that has not been independently verified

By the Ministry for Historical Reprint (Ministerie voor Historische Herdruk), Netherlands Published with permission on RoyalDutchShellPlc.com 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, 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 created and supported by internet wizz, Nick Gill.

SHAKEN, STRESSED… AND STILL WAITING: DUTCH GAS GIANTS LEAVE GRONINGEN CRACKING—LITERALLY AND MENTALLY

Apr 8th, 2026

by John Donovan.

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A surreal illustration of a quiet Dutch street in Groningen. The houses are visibly cracked and tilting, with fissures running through walls and roofs. In the background, a giant Shell logo and ExxonMobil logo loom like drilling rigs embedded in the earth, subtly causing tremors. From the cracks in the ground, ghostly figures representing stress and anxiety rise like smoke, wrapping around residents. In the foreground, a suited executive calmly holds a report titled: “Community Wellbeing: On Track” while standing on visibly shaking ground.

When your house is collapsing and your nerves go with it, but the profits remain rock solid.

Residents of Groningen have long suspected something was off. The walls were cracking, the floors shifting, and the ground itself seemed to be staging a slow-motion rebellion.

Now, in a revelation that will surprise absolutely no one except, perhaps, the boardrooms of multinational energy giants, a new study suggests the earthquakes linked to decades of gas extraction have also left residents battling depression and anxiety.

Yes—turns out repeatedly shaking people’s homes and sense of safety is bad for mental health. Who knew? read more

Earthquakes, Lawsuits, Liability… and Now a Convenient Exit Plan

Apr 1st, 2026

by John Donovan.

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If there were an Olympic event for corporate disappearing acts, Shell would be on the podium—gold medal, champagne in hand, and a press release explaining it was all part of a “long-term strategy.”

The latest act?

A slickly packaged “strategic shift” involving its Dutch gas business, NAM—the same operation linked to the Groningen gas field, where decades of extraction triggered earthquakes, wrecked homes, and left a political and human mess that refuses to quietly go away.

Now, suddenly, Shell has discovered the ancient art of restructuring. read more

Shell Wins Landmark Right to Save the Planet… Eventually, Maybe, If Convenient

Apr 1st, 2026

by John Donovan.

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In what may go down as one of the most exquisitely polite legal contradictions of the climate era, Shell has emerged from its landmark Dutch court battle with a result that can only be described as existentially reassuring for oil executives everywhere.

Yes, the court confirmed that Shell has a duty to help prevent dangerous climate change.

No, it declined to say what that actually means in practice.

Mission accomplished.

The Legal Masterpiece: Responsibility Without Numbers

The original 2021 ruling had the audacity to suggest that Shell should cut emissions by 45% by 2030—a dangerously specific idea that risked turning corporate responsibility into something measurable. 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

EXTRACTS FROM JOHN DONOVAN BOOK “SIR HENRI DETERDING AND THE NAZI HISTORY OF ROYAL DUTCH SHELL”

Mar 2nd, 2026

by John Donovan.

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In the years leading up to WW2, the Dutch founder of the Royal Dutch Shell Group, Sir Henri Deterding became an ardent Nazi. He financially backed the Third Reich and met directly with Hitler on behalf of Royal Dutch Shell.

As a major financial contributor to Nazi Germany in pre-WW2 years, the Royal Dutch Shell Group, under Dutch leadership, arguably had some indirect responsibility for the death toll in the subsequent war, in which over 50 million people perished.

Shell publicly boasted at the time about the importance of its financial contribution to the German economy. The claims were made by Shell in Germany while the country was under Nazi control.

In years leading up to WW2, Shell conspired with partners, Standard Oil, and German chemical giant I.G. Farben, to covertly import oil products, including airplane fuel, from the US into Nazi Germany. The US government was kept in the dark.

I.G. Farben supplied the Zyklon-B gas used in the Holocaust to kill millions of people.

The portrayal in 2007 by Shell’s paid historians of a distant relationship between Deterding and Hitler, in which all attempts by Deterding to meet with Hitler were rebuffed is simply untrue.

In fact, their meetings included a four-day one-on-one summit held at Hitler’s mountain retreat, as reported by Reuters in 1934.

Deterding has been described by independent authors as “a hardline Nazi revered and ultimately mourned by Hitler.” That description is confirmed by the evidence within this book and evidence accessible via links.

There are credible allegations that the Royal Dutch Shell Group, under the control of Dutch directors, used forced labor at its German subsidiary, Rhenania-Ossag. Many of its directors and staff were fanatical Nazis.

Royal Dutch Shell collaborated in the annexation and occupation of sovereign countries by the Nazis – Austria and Czechoslovakia – before the outbreak of WW2.

The donations and financial contributions to the Third Reich were all carried out under the control of Dutch directors of companies within the Royal Dutch Shell Group.

In 1936, while still a director of multiple Royal Dutch Shell group companies, Sir Henri purchased the Castle Dobbin estate North of Berlin for 1,050,000 Reich marks from Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands.

Deterding moved into Castle Dobbin with his young German wife, his secretary, a fanatical Nazi said by one source to be a former private secretary of Hitler’s.

Sir Henri’s friend Hermann Göring, the founder of the Gestapo, regularly visited Castle Dobbin to go hunting with him. Deterding generously gave Göring the Rominten Hunting Lodge in East Prussia as a spectacular gift. Kaiser Wilhelm II once owned it.

In 1936 and 1937, Sir Henri – while still a director of multiple companies within the Royal Dutch Shell Group, in which he held a controlling interest – made huge donations of food (“millions of tonnes”) to Nazi Germany as part of the “Winter Help” scheme. A New York Times report in June 1937 (“Deterding to Distribute More Food in Germany”) specifically linked the food donations to Germany’s rearmament policy.

The massive donations enabled significant funds to be diverted at a time when the Nazi regime was engaged in urgent rearmament of its military might.

Seven thousand railway wagons were used in the first immense delivery.

Deterding died just before the outbreak of WW2. He was honored by a Nazi ceremonial funeral at Castle Dobbin in February 1939. It was attended by a full contingent of Royal Dutch Shell Group directors mingling with Nazi military officers.

A glowing tribute to Sir Henri on behalf of the German nation was inscribed on a wreath sent by Adolf Hitler.

The Bishop who conducted the funeral service was a supporter of Hitler and a rabid anti-Semite.

Film footage of the Nazi funeral spectacular exists.

Fears that the Nazis intended to exploit the death of Sir Henri, just before the start of WW2, to seize control of the Royal Dutch Shell Group, were well founded. The UK National Archives has kindly given permission for related documents and correspondence to be featured within this book.

Dutch directors of the Royal Dutch Shell Group engaged in anti-Semitic policies against Shell employees and were also guilty of collaboration and appeasement.

Royal Dutch Shell employees in the Netherlands were instructed to complete a form that for some amounted to a self-declared death warrant. Many did not survive the war.

The Nazis did succeed in gaining control over Dobbin Castle.

In the latter part of WW2, Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel, SS leader Heinrich Himmler and General Alfred Jodl, Chief of the Operations Staff of the Armed Forces High Command, were all stationed at Dobbin Castle.

Hitler’s final despairing message from his Berlin bunker, a day before he committed suicide, was sent to Field Marshal Keitel at Dobbin Castle, whilst it was still owned by the Deterding family. Strangely, that somehow seems appropriate.

Evidence was on display at Castle Dobbin, signed by Hitler, confirming Deterding’s financial support for the Nazis. Also a personal testimony by Herman Göring acknowledging the generosity of his friend and benefactor, Sir Henri Deterding.

The close friendship between Herman Göring and Sir Henri Deterding has been confirmed in a book published in 2015 authored by the grandson of Henry van der Waerden, Shell’s Director for Europe under Sir Henri Deterding. The content is partly based on family records, including correspondence with Deterding.

Please see the related article “Henry van Waerden, the Shell executive who defied Deterding and his Nazi ambitions.”

Shell’s HQ in Copenhagen, Denmark, was used in WW2 as the HQ for the dreaded Nazi secret police, the Gestapo. “Shellhus” was bombed and destroyed by the RAF on 21 March 1945. It had been used for the torture of Danish citizens.

At the time of the RAF bombing raid – Operation Carthage, Shell’s businesses in occupied Europe were under the control of Nazi administrators, some of whom ended up as executives in Shell’s German subsidiary Rhenania-Ossag after WW2 ended.

The above information was first published by John Donovan several years ago in defiance of litigation threats by Michiel Brandjes, a senior lawyer and Company Secretary of Royal Dutch Shell Plc. Shell prudently decided not to sue.

Shell, ExxonMobil and the Netherlands: Arbitration Battles over Groningen’s Closure and Earthquake Legacy

Jan 19th, 2026

by John Donovan.

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The Groningen gas field in the Netherlands — once Europe’s largest — now at the centre of arbitration cases by Shell, ExxonMobil and NAM against the Dutch state over closure terms and compensation rights.

The long-running saga over the Netherlands’ Groningen gas field — once Europe’s largest — has entered a new, highly contested legal phase: multiple arbitration cases by energy majors Shell plc and ExxonMobil against the Dutch government and state-linked entities. These disputes touch on issues ranging from contractual interpretation and reputational risk to international investment law and public policy. The unfolding legal fight raises important questions about accountability, investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS), and the shifting balance between profit rights and public interest in the energy transition. read more

ShellBot Chat: “Paid Not to Drill – Ternaard’s €163 Million Non-Project”

Nov 28th, 2025

by John Donovan.

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Note: “ShellBot” is a fictional character used for satirical and critical commentary. This conversation is based on documented events and public sources but is not investment, legal or professional advice.

User: The Dutch state is paying €163 million so NAM won’t drill for gas at Ternaard, on the edge of the Wadden Sea. NAM is owned by Shell and Exxon. How do you see that, ShellBot?

ShellBot: As a delightful innovation in climate policy:

“Polluter gets paid not to pollute… this time.” read more

Shell and the Shaking Ground: How a Fossil Fuel Empire Helped Create Earthquakes, Trauma, and a Generation of Unsettled Lives

Nov 7th, 2025

by John Donovan.

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Once upon a time — and not very long ago — certain corporate and government voices insisted that earthquakes in places without natural fault lines simply couldn’t happen. The Netherlands was solid. Groningen was safe. The ground beneath families, schools, and lives was reliable. Except it turns out none of that was true — because some earthquakes can be manufactured, engineered, or to put it bluntly, provoked.

And the culprit was not tectonics.

It was extraction.

Extraction at scale.

Extraction for profit. read more

From Documentary to Courtroom Showdown: When Shell plc’s Sin Stock Moment Meets the Lens of Justice

Oct 24th, 2025

by John Donovan.

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By John Donovan & AI (yes, both of us — and we’re still deciding whose turn it was to fetch the popcorn)

Opening Scene

In a world where oil-giants strut in glossy annual reports while the real cost of fossil exploitation remains buried beneath toxic sludge and courtroom delays, enters one woman: Esther Kiobel. Her life, her loss and her relentless pursuit of a corporation turn into the film Esther & the Law: The Case Against Shell. The documentary chronicles her challenge to Shell in the Netherlands — nearly thirty years after the execution of her husband — and by extension, shines a light on how Shell turned into the ultimate “sin stock”. read more

Shell’s London Escape Route: Is the Oil Giant Preparing to Jump to New York?

Oct 21st, 2025

by John Donovan.

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Here’s the latest on Shell plc’s plan to move its listing to New York — with an investigative, critical lens.

By John Donovan (with AI collaboration)

21 October 2025

When a corporate behemoth begins to flirt with another stock exchange, the romance is rarely innocent. Shell plc — once Royal Dutch Shell plc, before dropping the “Dutch” as neatly as a discarded partner — is now openly courting Wall Street.

The CEO, Wael Sawan, has been muttering about “value gaps” and “unlocking potential,” code for what London traders hear as: we’re tired of being undervalued in a city that drinks warm beer instead of crude profits. read more

Shell’s Shaky Payout: NAM Finally Offers Quake Stress Cash

Oct 16th, 2025

by John Donovan.

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Emotional Damages? Yes, But Only After 7 Years of Tremors: When the Ground Shakes: Shell’s Quaking Legacy in Groningen

In a move that feels more like a confession than generosity, NAM — the Shell–ExxonMobil joint venture behind the Groningen gas field — has agreed to pay out €5,000 to €222,000 to over 5,000 residents for emotional distress and “loss of enjoyment” tied to years of gas-induced earthquakes.

That’s on top of the yet-to-be-resolved claims for physical damages to houses (some 120,000 households), which remain in legal limbo.

As lawyer Pieter Huitema put it:

“It’s great to achieve such a result for such a large group. We spent about two years at the negotiating table, but the result is something to be proud of.” 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

Pay the Quakes, Lock the Budget, Forget the Culprits?” — The Groningen Law that Lets Shell Breathe Easier

Oct 2nd, 2025

by John Donovan.

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NAM, of course, is the joint venture of Shell and ExxonMobil that milked Groningen for decades.

The Dutch caretaker cabinet has pushed a new Groningen Law through to Parliament that promises faster payouts for quake-damaged homes — and a lighter legal load for the polluters who helped cause the mess. As NL Times reports: “The Caretaker Dutch cabinet has submitted the Groningen Law, which finalizes compensation for damages caused by gas extraction, to the Tweede Kamer, despite strong criticism from the Council of State.”

The bill would guarantee compensation up to €60,000 even without proof that gas extraction caused the damage — tidy for homeowners in a hurry, also tidy for corporate defendants who prefer fewer courtroom surprises. read more

Toxic Legacy: Shell, Exxon, and the Underground Waste Dump That Stinks of Corporate Arrogance

Sep 24th, 2025

by admin.

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Move over Sakhalin, step aside Niger Delta—Shell and Exxon’s Dutch joint venture NAM (Nederlandse Aardolie Maatschappij) has managed to dump itself into yet another scandal. This time, prosecutors allege the company secretly injected hazardous waste into empty gas fields in Groningen for over a decade.

The Charges

Dutch prosecutors have recommended a €20 million fine against NAM for a long list of environmental breaches, including:

Secretly dumping hazardous wastewater laced with mercury into empty underground gas fields near Borgsweer, Groningen.
Handling hazardous substances without permits, at sites where they had no business storing them.
Profiting over €5 million by cutting corners on proper hazardous waste treatment.

The Public Prosecution Service (OM) said bluntly:

“The key question is not whether environmental damage occurred, but rather transparency.” (NL Times) read more

Equal misery, equal money: Groningen’s tenants can finally claim Shell-quake mental-health damages too

Sep 10th, 2025

by admin.

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Groningen’s long-suffering renters, resident kids, and unmarried partners have just been upgraded from second-class victims to full members of the Earthquake Club. The Mining Damage Institute Groningen (IMG) now treats non-homeowners the same as homeowners when awarding compensation for mental anguish caused by the man-made quakes from gas extraction. Or, as IMG itself put it: “The rationale behind this expansion is that non-homeowners can experience the same degree of suffering and grief as homeowners.” 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

Netherlands

When your house is collapsing and your nerves go with it, but the profits remain rock solid.

The Legal Masterpiece: Responsibility Without Numbers

PART TWO: THE MACHINES HAVE NOTICED

A Crystal Ball Special Investigation, Continued

PART FIVE: THE ROBOTS HAVE READ THE FILE

Opening Scene

Here’s the latest on Shell plc’s plan to move its listing to New York — with an investigative, critical lens.

Emotional Damages? Yes, But Only After 7 Years of Tremors: When the Ground Shakes: Shell’s Quaking Legacy in Groningen

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

NAM, of course, is the joint venture of Shell and ExxonMobil that milked Groningen for decades.

The Charges

Sir Henri Deterding, resurrected!

JOE LYCETT DISCUSSES SHELL WITH JOHN DONOVAN

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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

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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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SHELL KNEW ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE DECADES AGO

ROYAL DUTCH SHELL FOUNDER SIR HENRI DETERDING, NAZI FINANCIER

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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