RETIRED SHELL CHIEF SAFETY OFFICER: Royal Dutch Shell (RDS) has gained its reputation as an organisation with no morality that if it can get away with it will lie repeatedly even when trapped by its own evidence, by its own falsehoods. It seems based on its track record RDS has no justification to support its protestations about public authorities using whatever legitimate means they can to dig out from the corruption cesspit the truth.  

By Bill Campbell [from 1996 to retirement Upstream Senior Maintenance Engineer, Global Consultant on this and Techical and Finance audits before retirement as SIEP Audit Manager]

Re the article on the Moerdijk explosion and the Dutch prosecutors getting to the truth don’t you think it’s a bit rich that RDS protests? Royal Dutch Shell (RDS) has gained its reputation as an organisation with no morality that if it can get away with it will lie repeatedly even when trapped by its own evidence, by its own falsehoods. read more

ABUJA, May 10 (Reuters) – The Nigerian government has accused former President Goodluck Jonathan and his then oil minister of accepting bribes and breaking the country’s laws to broker a $1.3 billion oil deal eight years ago, a London court filing shows.

The deal, in which Anglo-Dutch company Royal Dutch Shell and Italian peer Eni jointly acquired the rights to the OPL 245 offshore oilfield, has spawned legal cases spanning several countries.

In papers advancing a London commercial court suit against Shell and Eni, lawyers for the Nigerian government said Jonathan and former oil minister Diezani Alison-Madueke conspired to “receive bribes and make a secret profit”, keeping the government from getting what it was owed from the deal. read more

Neil Munshi in Abuja and Anjli Raval in London: 10 MAY 2019:

The Anglo-Dutch and Italian companies paid $1.3bn for the block, but Nigeria believes the undeveloped deepwater block could be worth at least $3.5bn and damages should now be calculated on that basis, documents filed in the commercial division of the High Court in London said.

The claim in the English courts alleges that Shell and Eni “both paid bribes” either directly or indirectly and senior executives at both companies “received bribes (or were intended to receive bribes)” as part of the 2011 deal. read more

LATEST FROM BLOOMBERG NEWS:

In another payment recounted in the lawsuit, Peter Robinson, then Shell’s regional vice president, ended up with “several hundred million Swiss frances”… Shell last year accused Robinson of taking kickbacks, but said he purposely tried to hide it from the company. The Nigerian government says none of the transactions could have happened without the support or willful “blind eye” of Shell CEO Peter Voser, former CFO Simon Henry, and current head of integrated gas Wetselaar, among others. Its oil and gas exploration director at the time Malcolm Brinded was “closely involved,” the government claims. Brinded is also on trial in Milan.

By Kelly Gilblom, Jonathan Browning, and Chiara Albanese
7 May 2019, 12:29 BST

*Nigeria says top Shell brass approved illegal OPL 245 oil deal

*Companies also denied wrongdoing in 2011 criminal bribery case

Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Eni SpA face additional corruption allegations over a Nigerian oil deal, after the West African country’s government said in a London lawsuit that it believes a handful of executives, including CEOs, were tied to more than $1 billion in bribery payments.

In court documents filed in early April, the Nigerian government said the oil companies’ senior managers agreed in 2011 to make a large payment for an offshore oil block, understanding the money would trickle down to government officials and senior executives from both companies. The filing singles out individuals who haven’t previously been caught up in the scandal, including former Shell Chief Executive Officer Peter Voser and Maarten Wetselaar, the current head of its large natural gas business. read more

Image from Shell In Nigeria website

MEMORIES OF A RETIRED SHELL NIGERIA EXPAT 

Hello John

Saw your pic with Esther Kiobel on the website. Brought back some old memories.

I cannot find any stuff on this but did you know that a certain *Xxxx Xxxxxxxxxx was working in Port Harcourt when his wife was murdered in the Shell camp in their own bungalow?

Forgot the date, must have been in the early 90s. read more

The new claim, dated April 8 and signed by Jonathan Cary, was filed against 14 defendants, including Shell, Eni, Malabu and their respective subsidiaries. Shell and ENI initially claimed they did not know the money would end up with Mr Etete and his cronies, evidence has shown that claim to be false. After a joint investigation by Global Witness and Finance Uncovered, Shell later admitted it did know the money would go to Mr Etete.

Oladeinde Olawoyin: 6 MAY 2019

The Nigerian government is seeking about $3.5 billion in damages from oil giants Eni and Shell over the controversial Malabu oil deal, PREMIUM TIMES has gathered.

The new claim is contained in a London court filing by the Nigerian government against the two oil multinationals and other parties involved in the long-running case.

The court documents, obtained by this newspaper’s London partners, Finance Uncovered, and seen by PREMIUM TIMES, shows the government also alleged that the Malabu deal was “corrupt” and not done in the interest of Nigeria. read more

Nigeria could seek as much as $3.5 billion in damages from Royal Dutch Shell and Eni over an allegedly corrupt deal for one of Africa’s biggest untapped oilfields.

The Federal Republic of Nigeria has filed a claim in the High Court in London against the two oil companies over the deal in which they acquired the OPL 245 oil licence for $1.3 billion. It alleges that the deal was corrupt and resulted in Nigeria receiving “no or negligible value” for rights to the “extremely valuable” offshore licence, which it estimates was in fact worth “at least $3.5 billion”. read more

A Dutch court ruled that it has jurisdiction to hear a damages suit brought against Royal Dutch Shell by four widows of the Ogoni Nine, environmental activists executed by the Nigerian government in 1995.

The four widows accuse Shell of being complicit in a crackdown by the government against peaceful protesters in Ogoniland, in the Niger Delta.

The judges at the Hague District Court said they will allow the suit to go forward, though the claimants must still prove their case against Shell. Shell denies wrongdoing in the case that has gone on for decades. read more

Esther Kiobel and John Donovan, 28 April 2019, days before a Dutch court ruled in favour of Esther and her co-plaintiffs in an action against Shell allowing their case to proceed

By John Donovan

In 1996, Shell used the sinister specialist services of what could be described as an in-house spying resource set up by former MI6 officers, Hakluyt & Company Limited with titled Shell directors acting as the ultimate spymasters.

At that time, Sir William Purves was Chairman of Hakluyt & Company Limited and Sir Peter Holmes, a former Chairman of Shell, was President of the Hakluyt Foundation. Both were also major shareholders in the corporate spy outfit, while also being Shell directors.

Hakluyt was allegedly set up to carry out “deniable” corporate espionage operations.

A German-born secret service agent Manfred Schlickenrieder working undercover for Hakluyt was sent to Nigeria on a mission relating to allegations of environmental damage caused by Shell’s oil drilling in Ogoniland.

Extracts from a related front-page article published by The Sunday Times in 2001 under the headline MI6 ‘Firm’ Spied on Green Groups:

Schlickenrieder sometimes posed as a left-wing sympathizer and documentary filmmaker.

He also tried to dupe Anita Roddick’s Body Shop group to pass on information about its opposition to Shell drilling for oil in a Nigerian tribal land.

His company was a one-man band with a video camera making rarely seen documentaries.

He made a film on Shell in Nigeria called Business as Usual: the Arrogance of Power, during which he interviewed friends of Ken Saro-Wiwa, the Nobel prize nominee, who was hanged by the military regime in 1995 after leading a campaign against oil exploration. Schlickenrieder sent a letter to a Body Shop executive saying he had been researching the activities of Shell in Nigeria…

Fouad Hamdan, communications director of Greenpeace Germany, said: “The bastard was good, I have to admit. “He got information about our planned Atlantic Frontier campaign…”  He added: “Manfred filmed and interviewed all the time…”

The Sunday Times article is short on dates and information about what Shell’s undercover agent was up to in Nigeria, but it was at a time when litigation was being contemplated against Shell by relatives of Ken Saro Wiwi and Ogoni Nine widows.

Perhaps information about the purpose and timing of his spying mission in Nigeria will be contained in the confidential Shell internal documents the Dutch Court has ordered to be handed over to Esther Kiobel and her co-plaintiffs. Sight of his briefing by Shell/Hakluyt could be very revealing.

Part of the Kiobel & Co Dutch case against Shell relates to alleged Shell bribing of witnesses in the Ogoni Nine trial, which ended with the hanging of all nine individuals, including Ken Saro-Wiwi and the beloved husband of Esther Kiobel, Dr Barinem Kiobel.

Salient extracts from the Wikipedia article “Ogoni Nine”

The executions provoked international condemnation and led to the increasing treatment of Nigeria as a pariah state…

At least two witnesses who testified that Saro-Wiwa was involved in the murders of the Ogoni elders later recanted, stating that they had been bribed with money and offers of jobs with Shell to give false testimony – in the presence of Shell’s lawyer.

Shell’s close association with former MI6 people has continued through the years. They always seem to be lurking in the shadows.

I am in possession of irrefutable evidence that an ex MI6 man Ian Forbes McCredie,  hired by Shell to be head of Shell Global Security, was also part of Hakluyt & Company.

More recently, Ben van Beurden, the current Chief Executive of Royal Dutch Shell Plc mentioned in a telephone conversation that Shell had hired former MI6 people in connection with the OPL 245 oil deal. He did not know that the conversation was being covertly recorded by OPL 245 investigative authorities.

Two of the defendants in the current OPL 245 criminal $1.3bn  corruption trial against Shell in Italy are indeed former MI6 agents; namely John Copleston and Guy Colegate.

Would someone kindly explain how any of this sinister and unscrupulous activity is compatible with Shell’s claimed core business principles, including honesty, integrity and transparency?

ARTICLE ENDS

Disclosure by the author of this article: The lead claimant Esther Kiobel, her lawyer Channa Samkalden of the Dutch human rights law firm Prakken d’Oliveira representing the widows, and the acclaimed human rights organisation Amnesty International, have all acknowledged the involvement of John Donovan in bringing *this case. (*See Writ of Summons in English and Dutch served on Shell 28 June 2017 – copy obtained from US Pacer public electronic court records) As Esther generously said on 28 April 2019, the Dutch case would not have happened without the help of John Donovan.  read more

By John Donovan

According to Wikipedia “The Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People, also known as (MOSOP), is a mass‐based social movement organization of the indigenous Ogoni people.” Legborsi Saro Pyagbara is named as being the President of Mosop in November 2014.  read more

Dan Etete, a former Nigerian oil minister and convicted money launderer, has been linked with the dealREUTERS

Margot Gibbs, Emily Gosden: May 2, 2019

British executive is named in court documents

A mysterious British executive has been identified as the recipient of millions of pounds from a $1.3 billion Nigerian oil deal at the centre of one of the industry’s biggest corruption scandals.

Peter Bosworth and the trading firm he ran, Arcadia Petroleum, have been named in multiple court documents as among the ultimate recipients of funds from the allegedly corrupt 2011 deal in which Royal Dutch Shell and Eni, the Italian company, acquired a prized offshore oil block, The Times and the investigative website Finance Uncovered can reveal. read more

The four widows claim that the Shell operating company has bribed eight witnesses. Those witnesses are said to have played an important role in the conviction, and thus have the death of their spouses partly on their conscience. Shell has always denied this. So the judge wants more evidence that the eight people have been bribed. “That could be done by hearing witnesses, for example.”

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

Carel Grol

Four Nigerian widows who litigate against Shell RDSA € 28.48 + 1.24% must provide tougher evidence. The court in The Hague ruled on that on Wednesday morning.

The Nigerian women Esther Kiobel (m) and Victoria Bera with their lawyer Channa Samkalden for the verdict at the court in The Hague. They are two of the widows who take Shell to court for the executions of their husbands in 1995. Photo: Bart Hoogveld for the FD

The case revolves around the execution of nine men from the Ogoni tribe in 1995. Widows of four of them are going to trial against Shell. The oil company is said to have conspired with the Nigerian state and to be partly responsible for the death of the nine men, the women claim. read more

Barinem was hanged in November 1995. He had spoken out against the enormous pollution of Ogoniland, an area in southeastern Nigeria where Shell won oil. Eight others were hanged with him, including writer Ken Saro Wiwa. They were called the Ogoni 9.

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

Nigerian Esther Kiobel (center) and Victoria Bera (right) with their lawyer Channa Samkalden for the verdict at the court in The Hague. Photo: Bart Hoogveld for the FD

Carel Grol

Esther Kiobel is a combative grandmother. And happy, too. In fact, she feels “great” in the wide and high corridor on the second floor of the palace of justice in The Hague.

She has just heard that the Dutch court is handling her case. The trial that she and three other ladies, all widowed, filed against Shell. It is an intermediate step in her search for justice that has been going on for more than two decades and takes place on three continents. read more

Esther Kiobel, right, and Victoria Bera, centre, whose husbands were among nine men killed in Nigeria in 1995, with their lawyer Channa Samkalden after the hearing in The Hague. Photograph: Robin van Lonkhuijsen/EPA

Wed 1 May 2019 13.33 BST

A Dutch court has ruled that it has jurisdiction to determine whether Royal Dutch Shell was complicit in the Nigerian government’s execution of the Ogoni Nine, environmental protesters who fought against widespread pollution in the Niger Delta.

In a 50-page ruling hailed by campaigners as an “important precedent” for global human rights cases, judges at The Hague’s district court said on Wednesday that they would allow the case to go forward, also indicating that the claimants – widows of four of the activists – would be able to bring further evidence to prove their case. read more

Bart H. Meijer: MAY 1, 2019 / 11:12 AM

* Case brought by widows of activists executed in 1995

* Shell ordered to turn over any papers that could help claimants

* Shell denies any liability in “strongest possible terms”

* Large punitive damages award unlikely in Netherlands

By Bart H. Meijer

THE HAGUE, May 1 (Reuters) – A Dutch court said on Wednesday it has jurisdiction to hear a damages suit brought against Royal Dutch Shell by four widows of activists executed by the Nigerian government in 1995.

In a preliminary decision, judges at the Hague District Court said they would allow the suit to go forward, a rare win in a decades-long legal fight, though the claimants must still prove Shell’s liability. Shell denies wrongdoing.

“This procedure will continue,” said presiding judge Larissa Alwin, reading the decision of a three-judge panel. read more

“Today’s ruling will have great significance for people everywhere who have been harmed by the greed and recklessness of global corporations.”

1 May 2019, 10:08 UTC

The District Court of The Hague today issued an interim ruling in the case brought by Esther Kiobel and three other women with regard to Shell’s involvement in the unlawful arrest, detention and execution of their husbands by the Nigerian military. It ruled in favour of the plaintiffs, that the court does have jurisdiction of the case and that this should not be time barred.

The court also ruled that Shell should hand over some confidential internal documents to the plaintiffs’ lawyers, and that they would have the opportunity to examine witnesses. read more