Angry Dutch citizens on Thursday will ask their country’s highest court to put an immediate end to gas production in the Groningen region due to the risk of life-endangering earthquakes. read more

January 15, 2019

Jamie Oliver has defended his decision to sign a reported £5 million deal with Royal Dutch Shell despite years of campaigning for action on climate change. The television chef said that he had anticipated the accusations of hypocrisy that he has faced since news leaked of his agreement to design a range of deli food for the oil major’s British petrol stations. Oliver said that he had “thought a lot” before signing the deal, but had reached the conclusion that “there are pitfalls working for any client and they all have their own baggage”. He argued that the partnership “was absolutely worth it” if it meant that people had access to better-quality food. The chef, who was named an “environmental champion” by the UN Environment… read more

Jessica Jaganathan: December 26, 2018

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell said on Wednesday it has begun output at its Prelude floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) facility in Australia, the world’s largest floating production structure and the last of a wave of eight LNG projects built in the country over the last decade.

Though the project started up later and cost more than originally estimated, it is expected to further cement Australia’s lead as the world’s biggest LNG exporter, after the country took the crown in November. read more

Eni and Shell bought the OPL 245 offshore field for about $1.3 billion in a deal that spawned one of the industry’s largest corruption scandals. It is alleged that about $1.1 billion of the total was siphoned to agents and middlemen.

By Stephanie Nebehay: Fri, 21st Dec 2018 

GENEVA, Dec 21 (Reuters) – A Geneva prosecutor is reviewing material in a suitcase seized nearly three years ago to decide what can be shared with Italian authorities in a case involving oil majors Eni and Royal Dutch Shell and corrupt payments in Nigeria, his office said on Friday.

The prosecutor received the green light after Switzerland’s top court, the Federal Tribunal, rejected an appeal by Nigerian defendant Emeka Obi to prevent his bag from being unsealed.

The Lausanne court’s Nov. 8 ruling, published online, said that the confiscated material – including documents, an external hard drive, British and African passports, and USB keys – could have “potential pertinence” in the criminal investigation and the sealing could be lifted without violating Swiss law. read more

In her reasoning, judge Barbara alleged that Shell executives, including Brinded, had known that Etete would keep a part of the purchase price for himself and use the rest to “pay people”, including Nigerian politicians and public officials…

Emilio Parodi: DECEMBER 17, 2018 / 11:40 AM

* Eni, Shell knew of graft surrounding Nigeria deal – judge

* Both firms fully aware of ‘sharks’ circling the deal – judge

* Eni says judge does not have all the evidence to hand

* Shell says no basis to convict it or former Shell staff

MILAN, Dec 17 (Reuters) – An Italian judge said on Monday oil majors Eni and Royal Dutch Shell were fully aware their 2011 purchase of a Nigerian oilfield would result in corrupt payments to Nigerian politicians and officials.

Italy’s Eni and Shell bought the OPL 245 offshore field for about $1.3 billion in a deal that spawned one of the industry’s largest corruption scandals. It is alleged that about $1.1 billion of the total was siphoned to agents and middlemen.

The Milan judge made the comment in her written reasons for the September conviction of Nigerian Emeka Obi and Italian Gianluca Di Nardo, both middlemen in the OPL 245 deal, for corruption. The pair were jailed for four years. read more

Almost a year on from raids that led to over a dozen arrests, including of several former employees of the local unit of Royal Dutch Shell, charge sheets state that around 340,000 tonnes of gasoil were stolen from the oil major’s Pulau Bukom site in Singapore. Some of the incidents date back to 2014.

Smokes rises out of chimneys from a Shell oil refinery on Pulau Bukom, five kilometres to the south of the main island of Singapore on January 13, 2015. 

Around $150 million worth of oil was stolen from Shell’s biggest global refinery over several years, Singapore court documents reviewed by Reuters show, far more than reported when police first revealed the heist earlier this year.

Almost a year on from raids that led to over a dozen arrests, including of several former employees of the local unit of Royal Dutch Shell, charge sheets state that around 340,000 tonnes of gasoil were stolen from the oil major’s Pulau Bukom site in Singapore, in incidents dating back to 2014. read more

Nigeria files $1.1 bln London lawsuit against Shell, Eni over oil deal

* Milan trial related to same oil deal ongoing

* Nigeria also suing JPMorgan over transfers for same deal 

LONDON, Dec 13 (Reuters) – The Nigerian government said it had filed a $1.1 billion lawsuit against Royal Dutch Shell and Eni in a commercial court in London on Thursday in relation to a 2011 oilfield deal.

The OPL 245 oilfield is also at the heart of an ongoing corruption trial in Milan in which former and current Shell and Eni officials are on the bench.

Milan prosecutors allege bribes totalling around $1.1 billion were paid to win the licence to explore the field which, because of disputes, has never entered into production. read more

Shell’s confirmation that it is expanding the Shearwater hub could lead to further North Sea investment, according to an analyst. The Shearwater platform will serve newly-sanctioned projects like Fram and Arran, as well as the nearby Columbus field. FULL ARTICLE

While it is true that Royal Dutch Shell gave shareholder activists on climate an early Christmas present, agreeing to reduce its carbon footprint by 20 per cent by 2035 and 50 per cent by 2050 ( FT View, December 7), a closer look reveals that the commitment is a cynical game. read more

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7 December 2018

Dow Chemical Co and Shell Oil Co have been hit with a lawsuit by the city of Arcadia, California accusing the companies of contaminating the city’s drinking water with a toxic chemical found in pesticides the companies once made.

Filed on Thursday in Los Angeles federal court, the lawsuit said the companies knew or should have known that the chemical, known as 1,2,3-trichloropropane, or TCP is toxic and renders drinking water unsafe.

The companies still manufactured and marketed pesticides containing the chemical for years, the lawsuit said. read more

OPL 245 & OML 42 corruption ridden Nigerian oil deals involving Shell and a former Shell Vice President, Peter Robinson, have become even murkier. See Reuters report below. No wonder Amnesty International has publicly asked the question of whether Royal Dutch Shell is a Criminal Enterprise in relation to its conduct in Nigeria? 

By Ron Bousso: 6 Dec 2018

LONDON (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell has concluded that a Nigerian oilfield sale where it suspects an executive took bribes was not linked to a separate court case in which he and Shell face corruption charges over a $1.1 billion offshore acquisition.

The Anglo-Dutch company filed a criminal complaint in March against Peter Robinson, a former vice president for sub-Saharan Africa, saying he took bribes in the $390 million sale of onshore Oil Mining Lease (OML) 42 to a Nigerian firm. read more

SOURCE

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Jessica Jaganathan: DECEMBER 4, 2018

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell expects production at its Prelude floating liquefied natural gas (LNG) unit to start at the end of the year, a spokeswoman told Reuters on Tuesday.

“We continue to progress Prelude towards operations, with safety and quality being our main focus … We expect to see production around the end of the year,” she told Reuters in an emailed statement.

Prelude – which will process natural gas produced offshore northern Australia and export it as LNG – is expected to have an annual LNG production capacity of 3.6 million tonnes. It will also produce 1.3 million tonnes a year of condensate and 400,000 tonnes a year of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). read more

By DAVID MEYER A year ago, Royal Dutch Shell said it was going to halve the carbon intensity of its operations and products by the middle of the century. That followed investor pressure, and now the energy giant’s shareholders have scored another major win. Shell issued a big announcement Monday: Not only will it be setting short-term targets in line with its longer-term “Net Carbon Footprint” ambition, but it will also be linking these targets with executive remuneration. Greener Shell = richer executives, or at least that’s the plan — the link will be subject to a shareholder vote at the company’s 2020 AGM. FULL ARTICLE read more

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Emilio Parodi:

MILAN (Reuters) – Eni made no thorough background checks on a middleman it hired to broker a $1.3 billion Nigerian acquisition, a former board member of the Italian oil group told a Milan court.

Milan prosecutors allege bribes totaling around $1.1 billion were paid, including to middleman Emeka Obi, in the 2011 purchase by Eni and Anglo-Dutch peer Royal Dutch Shell of Nigeria’s OPL 245 offshore oilfield.

The prosecutors allege the bribes were paid to win the license to explore the field which, because of disputes, has never entered into production. Shell expects the landmark corruption trial to last many months. read more