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Grok’s Story of Donovan, Shell, and “Undercover Activity”

Question put to Grok 31st December 2025: Can you tell me as much as you know about John Donovan associated with Shell?

Reply

John Donovan: Overview

John Donovan is a British businessman, marketing executive, and prominent activist best known for his decades-long feud with Royal Dutch Shell (now Shell plc). Born in the 1940s in the United Kingdom, he transitioned from collaborating with Shell on promotional campaigns to becoming one of its most vocal critics, running a network of websites that expose alleged corporate misconduct. His story is often framed as a “David vs. Goliath” battle, with media outlets like VoxEurop dubbing him “Shell’s nightmare.” Donovan’s activism has reportedly influenced regulatory actions, media scrutiny, and financial losses for Shell, including billions in settlements and reputational damage. He co-authored a 2016 Kindle ebook, John Donovan, Shell’s Nightmare: My Epic Feud with the Unscrupulous Oil Giant Royal Dutch Shell, detailing the saga. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, shellnews.net, and shellwikipedia.com, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

ShellBot Conversation 10: Adura, £1.3 Billion and the Amazing Invisible Tax Discussion

Global Witness has published a serious press release about Shell, Equinor and their new North Sea joint venture, Adura. This is the ShellBot version — same documents, different tone.

User:

ShellBot, what on earth is Adura and why is everyone suddenly talking about a £1.3 billion tax dodge?

ShellBot:

Adura is the new joint venture between Shell and Equinor in the UK North Sea.

Think of it as:

Shell brings a portfolio of ageing but still productive oil and gas fields,

Equinor brings a £1.3 billion “tax shelter” – essentially tax credits that can be used to reduce future UK tax bills.  read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, shellnews.net, and shellwikipedia.com, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Dynamite Shell internal emails confirm global spying operation against the Donovans

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

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, shellnews.net, and shellwikipedia.com, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

ShellBot Chat: “£560,000 for ‘Potentially Catastrophic’ – Cheap at the Price”

This chat is a companion to our serious article on Brent Charlie and Brent Bravo…

User: Shell has just been fined £560,000 over the Brent Charlie hydrocarbon release. “Potentially catastrophic,” the HSE says. What do you make of that, ShellBot?

ShellBot: From Shell’s point of view?

=&0=&

User: Remind me what actually happened on Brent Charlie.

ShellBot: In 2017, on the Brent Charlie platform: read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, shellnews.net, and shellwikipedia.com, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

When the Warnings Echo: Shell’s Brent Charlie Fine and the Ghost of Brent Bravo

On 28 November 2025, Shell UK was fined £560,000 after a major hydrocarbon release on its Brent Charlie platform – a release the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) says created a “potentially catastrophic” fire and explosion risk for the 176 people on board.

The incident itself dates back to 19 May 2017, but the Scottish court’s sentence has only now been handed down. When you read the HSE’s description of what went wrong, it is impossible not to hear the echo of Brent Bravo – the 2003 tragedy in which two men died, and which exposed what former Shell Group Auditor Bill Campbell described as a “Touch F* All”** safety regime. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, shellnews.net, and shellwikipedia.com, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Shell Didn’t Leave the North Sea — It Deserted It

Shell to the Lifeboats: North Sea Crisis, Corporate Vanishing Act, and the Smell of Crude Regret

So here we are again.

Shell — the oil major that has treated the North Sea like a personal ATM since the 1970s — appears to be preparing a quick, quiet exit, leaving behind ageing infrastructure, decommissioning headaches, and what one might generously call a mess, and less generously call a multi-billion-pound cleanup liability.

According to The Telegraph, Shell is attempting a “hurried withdrawal” from the North Sea just as the political landscape shifts, with pressure mounting over who will pay for decommissioning oil infrastructure left under the waves. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, shellnews.net, and shellwikipedia.com, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

SHELL’S CASUALTIES AND THE INVESTMENT FUNDS THAT PAY FOR THEM

THE WAGES OF SIN: A CHRONICLE OF SHELL’S CASUALTIES AND THE INVESTMENT FUNDS THAT PAY FOR THEM

It is a grand, old-world notion that a corporation can possess a soul, or rather, that the absence of one can be measured by its balance sheet. If that is the case, then Shell is less a corporation and more a meticulously catalogued exhibit in the museum of moral bankruptcy—the ultimate sin stock. Its history is not merely a record of drilling and profit but a chilling, chronological catalogue of calculated risks taken with other people’s lives: its employees, its customers, and the communities unfortunate enough to share a postcode with its extraction sites. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, shellnews.net, and shellwikipedia.com, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Shell’s scandalous approach to safety

In the corridors of global energy, Shell presents itself as a monolithic symbol of industrial prowess, dividend reliability and transition ambition. Investors like BlackRock, Inc. and The Vanguard Group, Inc. hold sizeable stakes. Yet behind the investor-slides and glossy sustainability pledges lies a series of historical shadows: offshore disasters, legacy pollution, human-rights litigation and repeated admissions of safety underperformance. This article takes a tour through select episodes—chronologically arranged—of how Shell has, in many instances, placed lives and safety on the back burner. While satire underpins the tone, the facts are stubbornly real. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, shellnews.net, and shellwikipedia.com, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Victory or Vanity? Shell Trumpets a New Gas Field While the Planet Boils

Shell has fired up its Victory gas field tieback, 47 km northwest of Shetland, and is already bragging about keeping Britain’s kettles boiling. The single-well project, tied into the Greater Laggan Area pipeline, will funnel up to 150 million cubic feet of gas per day to the Shetland Gas Plant, before heading south to St Fergus and into the UK grid. (Offshore Mag)

Shell’s Sales Pitch

Shell UK’s country chair David Bunch hailed the project as evidence of Shell’s commitment to “supporting UK energy security.” The Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce praised the project as a local win, emphasising that most recoverable gas will be extracted before the end of the decade. (AGCC) read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, shellnews.net, and shellwikipedia.com, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Benzene & Bungling: Shell’s Toxic Exposure Scandal in Trinidad

“If I had been up there a few minutes more, I would have been taken off in a body bag.”

Shell’s “zero harm” mantra has once again been vaporised—literally. This time it’s benzene gas on the Dolphin natural gas platform in Trinidad, where a former quality assurance inspector was allegedly exposed without proper protective gear. Shell, true to form, didn’t even bother reporting it to the Occupational Safety and Health Authority (OSHA) or the Ministry of Energy, as required. WTF Shell?

The Incident They Didn’t Want Reported

The inspector says he was sent to check pipes and flanges in May 2021 by contractor Massy Wood Group. Nobody told him he needed a respirator. Within minutes, he was dizzy, gasping, and suffering chest pains. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, shellnews.net, and shellwikipedia.com, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Shearwater Shambles: Shell’s Nitrogen Leak Turns Decking Into Deadfall (and History Repeats Itself)

When you’re Shell—the company that brought you unseaworthy Brent Bravo lifeboats, the Prelude floating gas plant evacuation in Australia, and the occasional oil-for-arms scandal—you’d think safety blunders would be less frequent by now. Think again.

The Incident

On July 12, the Shell-operated Shearwater platform, 140 miles off Aberdeen, sprang a leak of liquid nitrogen. The leak damaged the underside of the deck, sending debris crashing onto a walkway below. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) later confirmed the falling material had the potential to cause a “fatal injury.”

Shell was served an improvement notice on August 4, with the HSE citing six separate breaches of health and safety law, including failures to protect workers from risks tied to “loss of containment events.” The notice must be complied with by September 9. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, shellnews.net, and shellwikipedia.com, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Shell, Spies and the Church: Public Enemy Number 1 in the Pews of Power

UPDATED 6 Sept 2025

When oil, espionage, and institutional sanctity collide, you get more than corporate intrigue—you get disaster dressed as business. This isn’t a Bond novel. This is Shell—deploying spies, dodging accountability, and leaving death and pollution in its wake. And Amnesty International reminds us: Shell can divest, but it can’t wash away its crimes.

1.

The Church, the Fax, and Hakluyt’s Grip

In 2004, a letter Shell critic Alfred Donovan faxed to Hakluyt & Companyco-founder Christopher James (a private intelligence firm founded by MI6 veterans) mysteriously turned up on the desk of a surprised lawyer at the Church of England’s Legal Office. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, shellnews.net, and shellwikipedia.com, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

South African Slap in the Face for Shell

Shell’s Investors: The Puppet-Masters of Pollution

Before we dive into the carnage, let’s talk ownership. Shell isn’t run by wild-haired cowboys—it’s chaired by mega institutional shareholders puffing on the dividends. BlackRock, in particular, wields its muscle—owning around 4% of the company according to Shell’s own disclosures  . Vanguard isn’t far behind with around 3%  . So while you’re outraged at Shell, don’t sleep on the financial vultures pulling the strings.

1. South African Slap in the Face: Courts Smack Down Shell & Total

Shell’s grand plans for environmental devastation off South Africa’s coast have hit a wall. The Western Cape High Court just set aside TotalEnergies’ offshore drilling permit—Shell was supposed to swoop in and take over operations—but nope. Judge Mangcu-Lockwood said, in effect, “You forgot to study the actual impacts. Try again”—spelling out flaws in risk assessments, community engagement, and disaster planning.  read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, shellnews.net, and shellwikipedia.com, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Shell: The Greedy, Polluting Sin Stock That Spies on Activists While Drowning the Planet in Profit

Let’s get this straight: Shell—the oil Goliath with a BlackRock thumbprint, a penchant for espionage, and an endless appetite for green devastation—is not just a fossil fuel baron, it’s a masterclass in corporate ethical bankruptcy.

1. Spying on the Good Guys: Hakluyt, MI6—and Yourself

Brace yourself. Shell quietly engaged Hakluyt & Company—a spy firm founded by ex-MI6 officers—to infiltrate and target Greenpeace campaigns. According to investigative journalists, “two oil companies hired a private espionage service… to infiltrate Greenpeace, Germany”  Hakluyt may deny ties now, but the firm “still schmoozes Shell, BP & the British Establishment”  . Translation? Shell didn’t just fuel climate denial—they employed espionage to squash activism. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, shellnews.net, and shellwikipedia.com, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Shell: Public Enemy Number 1 – A Love Letter to Greed, Lies, and Pollution

If evil needed a mascot, it would look suspiciously like a giant yellow shell. Forget SPECTRE and SMERSH—those were fiction. Shell’s record of villainy is all too real.

This is the story of an oil giant who funded Nazis, tested carcinogens on their own employees, and still have the gall to tell you they care about “net zero.”

From the Third Reich to Today: Same Script, Different Lies

Shell’s rap sheet starts early: during WWII, Shell effectively sacrificed its own Dutch employees to maintain ties with Nazi Germany, prioritising profits over human lives. Fast-forward a few decades and the playbook hasn’t changed—they’re still perfectly happy to gamble with lives, only now it’s under the glossy cover of corporate social responsibility. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, shellnews.net, and shellwikipedia.com, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

When Shell Met BP – A Love Story Fueled by Oil, Lies, and a $120 Million Fine

“And speaking of Shell’s finest: enter Simon Henry, Shell’s former CFO and now newly appointed BP board member. A man intimately connected to the hydrocarbon reserves scandal.”

Ah, Shell and BP. Britain’s answer to “Which fossil-fueled supervillain do you prefer?” Now there’s murmuring that Shell—the world’s leading oil-slicked PR machine and gold-medal winner in the Deadliest Workplace Olympics—might consider buying BP, its slightly less polished cousin. It’s like Dracula pondering whether to adopt Frankenstein.

But before we get too sentimental, let’s remember what Shell brings to the table:

  • A glorious history of employee care, like handing Dutch staff over to the Nazis during WWII, and later using workers as test subjects for carcinogenic chemicals. Experimental cruelty disguised as corporate efficiency.
  • A North Sea platform scandal so outrageous it could be a Monty Python sketch, were it not for the dead offshore workers. Lifeboats were reportedly unseaworthy, and Shell’s internal policy was colloquially dubbed “Touch Fuck All.” Charming.
  • The 2004 reserves scandal, where Shell admitted it had wildly exaggerated its hydrocarbon reserves. Shareholders were shocked. The SEC fined Shell $120 million, which the company could pay using just one of its greenwashing budgets.
  • Nigeria, where Shell’s legacy is so soaked in blood, corruption, and environmental devastation that it makes the Exxon Valdez spill look like a spilt milkshake.
  • Hakluyt, Shell’s in-house intelligence firm. If MI6 and Blackwater had a baby who hated Greenpeace, it’d be Hakluyt. This covert unit reportedly spied on activists, journalists, and anyone else who dared whisper the truth.
  • Let’s not forget Shell’s ties to the apartheid regime, its cameo in the Al-Yamamah BAE oil-for-arms scandal, and its incestuous intelligence links through Hakluyt.
  • And then there’s SPECTRE and SMERSH… oh wait, those are fictional. Shell isn’t. It’s worse.

Investors like BlackRock and Vanguard still happily line their pockets from Shell’s sludge-soaked profits. Because what’s a little ecological genocide when there are dividends to collect? read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, shellnews.net, and shellwikipedia.com, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.