Despite his sleazy record, Malcolm Brinded (above) remains President of the Energy Institute
By John Donovan
The Shell cover-up surrounding the deaths of two workers on the Shell Brent Bravo North Sea platform is coming under active scrutiny again as a result of an initiative by retired Shell *safety guru Bill Campbell. Bill is acting on behalf of the family of one of the deceased platform workers, Keith Moncrieff.
For over a decade, the truly extraordinary story about what happened was withheld from the families of the deceased and from investigating authorities by Shell and those parties over whom Shell had influence.read more
The firm also faced widespread shareholder opposition over chief executive pay last year.
Mr van Beurden said: “I feel an attack on Shell as an attack on my personal integrity. It’s something I feel deeply, probably at least once a day. If I can reduce that to once every other day, I’ll know that we are making progress.
“Of our three strategic ambitions – to become a world-class investment case, to thrive through the transition to lower-carbon energy and to have a strong societal licence to operate – I’m confident that we can achieve the first two.
“But I can’t see a sure path towards strengthening our societal licence to operate just yet.
“We need to change people’s perceptions through better performance and behaviours. And we need to have a better dialogue with civil society in some parts of the world.”
Marissa Luck, Houston Chronicle: Monday, Jan 7, 2019
The Gulf Coast has become home of one the largest producers of a common plastic: Shell fired up its fourth alpha olefins unit at its chemical plant in Geismar, Louisiana, the company said Monday.
The multi-billion dollar expansion adds 425,000 metric tons per a year in capacity to the chemical manufacturing site, bringing its total alpha olefin production up at Geismar to more than 1.3 million metric tons per a year. That makes it the largest alpha olefins producing site in the world, the company said.read more
Malcolm Brinded, standing trial for Corruption in Italy over Nigerian OPL 245 oil deal, a key figure in many Shell scandals, including the tragic deaths on Brent Bravo.
EMAIL TO ALL MP’s: ON 1st OCT, ROYAL DUTCH SHELL CEO BEN VAN BEURDEN HAD ADVANCE SIGHT OF THE TOXIC FACTS SET OUT HEREIN. NO LEGAL ACTION HAS BEEN TAKEN TO STOP YOU SEEING THIS.
Although I am not one of your constituents, I hope you agree that the safety of UK offshore workers is a matter of importance to ALL MP’s. Some unfortunate Royal Dutch Shell workers have already lost their lives. More lives are at stake. Please at least glance through the information below, which includes my name and address.
SHELL NORTH SEA PLATFORM WORKER DEATHS DESERVING A FULLY INFORMED PUBLIC INQUIRY
Just how bad does has a company have to be before the Church of England withdraws investment on ethical grounds?
You may have seen the email I recently sent to over around 1,000 parliamentarians, including senior clergy and the former Scottish Energy Minister Baroness Liddell, who, as you will see, has a Shell connection. The email was about the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby and the Church of England’s significant investment in Royal Dutch Shell Plc.
Many thanks for all the responses received.
I would like to bring to your attention just one of the many scandals rattling around in Shell’s corporate cupboard.read more
Brinded’s reaction to the devastating findings and recommendations of the Campbell led review was to shoot the messenger, namely, Bill Campbell. Brinded chose to ignore the stunning findings by the audit team and the recommendations made by its leader Mr. Campbell in relation to the Asset Manager. Instead, Brinded supported the mentally unhinged “foaming at the mouth” Asset Manager who was able to return to his tyrannical TFA regime shortly thereafter, despite his instability. Compared with him, Captain Bligh was a sweetie. The inevitable fatal outcome accurately foretold in the review, resulted from the ruthless, unprincipled criminal decision by Brinded to put production before safety. Astonishing stuff bearing in mind that the Asset Manager repeatedly blamed “his master” Brinded, who he colourfully described as a “bastard”
SHELL HAD ADVANCE SIGHT OF THIS ARTICLE AND ATTACHMENT, AND THEREFORE THE OPPORTUNITY TO TAKE LEGAL ACTION TO PREVENT PUBLICATION. THE SAME APPLIES TO BARONESS HELEN LIDDELL
LINK: THE PLATFORM SAFETY MANAGEMENT “STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL” REVIEW NOTES IN WHICH ALL OF THE INFORMATION BELOW, AND MUCH MORE, CAN BE SEEN IN JAW-DROPPING CONTEXT
By John Donovan
In November last year the brother of Keith Moncrieff, one of two workers who in 2003 tragically died in an accident on the Shell Brent Bravo North Sea oil platform, sent a heart-rending letter to Royal Dutch Shell Plc Chairman Charles Holliday.
He pleaded for help in bringing “these evil men to justice” – a reference to the Shell executives and officials he now knows were responsible for what the Scottish courts determined were “avoidable deaths“. As far as I am aware, no reply was forthcoming. Not even the courtesy of an acknowledgment. (UPDATED 3 Oct 2018 PM: IN FACT MR HOLLIDAY DID REPLY AND DID OFFER HIS CONDOLENCES – SEE THE BOLD BLUE TEXT FURTHER DOWN)read more
In spite of everything hurled by the North Sea and global market conditions across half a century, and despite predictions to the contrary, Shell remains a big player on the UK Continental Shelf.
Energy Voice interviewed Shell UK upstream vice president Steve Phimister aboard the Shearwater platform.
A characteristic throughout has been a quest to lead.
Driving Shell forward is VP Upstream President Steve Phimister who, by coincidence, was born the same year as Shell’s UKCS odyssey began 50 years ago.
The super-major has lived through boom times followed by harsh periods when commodity prices were in the basement and, from the late 1990s, speculation grew as to whether such companies had a future in the North Sea.read more
I think also on 2010-2011 they had multiple explosions at their Caroline facility supposedly an employee during an explosion at the south compressor station had to be airlifted to hospital and was seriously injured.
The aer/ govt shut it down. it was closed for 6 months and half of the plant was decommissioned when it restarted.
That must have cost them millions of dollars.....there should be government records of this stuff....
The description of the fairleads causing the mooring ropes to chafe to such an extent is almost so ridiculous to render ex-seafarer speechless. The fitting of nylon liners inside the fairleads is something new for me but the idea behind it would may be to reduce the friction of the mooring lines when running through the fairlead thus reduce any temperature potential in a zone 2 area. Fixing one potential risk appears to have created another one of greater risk potential. I am not sure how the nylon liners in the fairleads would have such sharp edges to chafe the mooring lines on their own and perhaps there may have been something else to which the journalist has missed out. The reported leakage of LNG in the manifold area from a flange should not have happened but the liquid transfer areas are all bunded in low-temperature materials and provided with a constant supply of running water during cargo handling activities. Power outages during start-up operations and ongoing are nothing new and others can be expected, hopefully not very often as the restart of such a complicated process system takes a long time and much effort. The problem with firewater deluge over the LNG storage tanks reported is of considerable concern but the journalist does not mention if this was during the period when systems were being tested prior to the introduction of LNG or after. If before then this section of the report is just journalistic license and of no consequence whatsoever. The other issues as reported can be considered minor during the preparation phase before the introduction of hydrocarbons in any form but definitely of concern if these incidents were after the introduction of hydrocarbons. I wish the people who are experiencing the startup of such a complicated and complex plant every success. Take the time that is needed to be successful by being safe, good luck.
John Donovan: Irish Backstop Update
According to a Sunday Times article two days ago, "Ireland continues to dodge difficult questions about how it will protect the single market and also maintain an open border under a no-deal."
IRELAND has been warned it faces the difficult choice between implementing a hard border or being forced out of the EU’s single market in an unprecedented move to protect the bloc from a no-deal Brexit.
Dublin will be forced to make the tough choice if Britain quits the EU without a deal, according to a number of senior EU figures.
The European Commission sparked fury from Ireland after declaring Dublin would have to implement a hard border in the event of a no-deal Brexit. After significant protests from, which involved a heated debate between Leo Varadkar and Jean-Claude Juncker, Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief negotiator, suggested “operational solutions” would have to be found in order to prevent a hardening of the border.
But now high-ranking MEPs have hardened their position, insisting the single market must not be compromised even to maintain peace on the island of Ireland.
Elmar Brok, a German MEP with close ties to Angela Merkel, insisted that if Ireland failed to police its own borders the EU would have to take its own protectionist action.
“We would have to set up a customs border with Ireland,” the German said.
He also warned that if Brussels didn’t make the demands then "we will soon have American chlorine chicken in the EU".
BvB Anti-Brexit: BvB has been quoted in many articles following the outcome of the Brexit vote as expressing negativity about Brexit and the effect it could have on RDS. This can be confirmed by running a Google search on "Ben van Beurden Brexit". The articles today in the Scottish press and Upstreamonline are but the latest publishing his views on the subject. Despite all of the negativity, my own view is that a satisfactory Brexit deal without the backstop will be done. If not, the EU and Ireland will be an international laughing stock when they create a hard border soon after Brexit, the outcome they were supposedly trying to avoid. That development would provide a better example of the consequences of deranged Irish logic than any infantile Paddy joke I can recall. The stupidity of certain Irish politicians is poisoning previously improved relations between the UK and Ireland, which is a great pity.
Brexit: All of the ingredients will be there for a return to violence in the event of the UK being forced into a no deal by Ireland. The current impasse is down to Ireland which may well come to regret its hostility towards the UK. How many of the 17 million Brits who voted for Brexit will wish to holiday in Ireland now?
C16 Inmate: I find it fascinating how so many brainwashed Shell slaves are quick to criticise Mr Donovan for the work he is doing. It is surely his decision and prerogative to do whatever he wants with his own time? Just like you and I choose to work for a slimy, corrupt, evil, fascist, environment destroying company. The only difference is that I actually admit to being a whore that’s sold my soul for money!
As for your defence of Brinded, I find it laughable. That man was an abnoxious individual who was acting more like an SS officer than a senior executive.
Keep up the good work John. Warm wishes and my heartfelt thanks to for keeping us all informed of Shell’s true nature.
REPLY BY JOHN
While I am grateful for the kind words, I do not know of any grounds to support your comment that Shell is a fascist company. With regard to Mr Brinded, despite my many negative comments about him over the years, comparing him with an SS officer is wrong.
PURE POISON: Mr Donovan if it is your twisted objective to poison the Internet for the Shell brand you, unfortunately, seem to be succeeding. Searching for any subject connected with Shell inevitably seems to generate negative news reports, negative information and anti-Shell images, all apparently originated by you. Your allegations about Shell’s alleged Nazi history seem to be spreading across the Internet like a virus. Your Shell-branded counterfeit websites seem to be multiplying almost by the day. I am losing count of them all. This situation is bad for all stakeholders including employees, shareholders and pensioners. I also object to the personal attacks on Shell people, for example on Malcolm Brinded who has never been found guilty of any wrongdoing. Don’t you have any scruples? I am also concerned for your mental health and your bank balance. Is a third party also hostile to Shell funding your pervasive and malicious online activities? What’s the betting that my comments will not appear on your supposedly uncensored Shell Blog? I am also mystified why Shell has not taken action to protect its reputation?
REPLY BY JOHN DONOVAN
Shell has been complaining about my online activities since March 1995 and on occasion has taken legal action, including a three-week high court trial in 1999. There is no possible defamation if what is stated is true.
The most recent proceedings were in 2005 via the World Intellectual Property Organisation. Shell unsuccessfully attempted to seize some of our Shell related domain names including royaldutchshellplc.com and royaldutchshellgroup.com.
All of the litigation cost Shell tons of wasted money in legal fees and attracted negative publicity.
Shell lost every case.
We have sued Shell twice for defamation. Shell settled both cases.
A covert attempt by Shell to close down hosting for our websites failed.
More recently, RDS Company Secretary/Main board member Michel Brandjes threatened legal action over my book about Shell's Nazi history. His emailed threats turned out to be nothing but bluster. Shell will never take legal action on the topic as it would draw attention to the most toxic subject relating to any existing major multinational in the world.
I will continue to publish true facts about Shell and where appropriate corrupt senior management involved in scandals such as the Shell SMART rigged contract tender, the Brent Bravo deaths, the reserves fraud and OPL 245. Mr Brinded has involvement in all four scandals.
BRINDED: ON THE SUBJECT OF BRINDED:
He has such a strange brain, could outthink most people in Shell but rather than concentrate on doing good things for Shell and developing people he became the ultimate micromanager and surrounded himself with sycophants. Until the 2nd half of the eighties he was OK and the driving force of the highly successful SLIM technology. I believe this was what launched his big career. Thereafter he became moody and unpleasant for people who dared to question him or make good suggestions to him. Probably quite insecure and status conscious. Never understood this. He just took himself too seriously.
FAO Insider: Donovan has already said suggested he won't name the individual. He is more determined to go after Brinded with whom he has a personal issue. As Veritas suggests there is something deeper there which makes this whole issue inconsistent in his refusing to name the guilty individual.
Veritas: John Donovan, you are such a hypocrite. You claim you don’t want the convicted pedophile’s family to suffer, but you keep dragging Brinded’s family through mud. You should be consistent in your actions. The only thing consistent about you is how you continue to live off of some overblown ‘offense’ your father experienced decades ago. You claim to be an open wound to Shell. The only open wound I see is the one in your damaged psyche that you continue to nurse.
REPLY BY JOHN DONOVAN
Happy Christmas to you too.
P.S. It was actually my experience, with my late father kindly giving me his support. BTW, I don't think Mr Brinded will be pleased that you keep bringing his name up.
Double standards: So its OK to go after Brinded who hasn't been convicted and to name and shame him for alleged financial wrongdoings and there are pictures of him and his family on the web but you draw the line at naming a CONVICTED individual. Mmmmm
REPLY BY JOHN DONOVAN
I have been warning Shell about Malcolm Brindeds' lack of scruples for nearly two decades. He gave his full backing to the Shell exec who rigged the SMART loyalty scheme contract tender. He has been a key player in a number of other Shell scandals. The related SMART litigation that Shell settled. The Brent Bravo deaths. The reserves securities fraud. His dealings with the despot Muammar Gaddafi on behalf of Shell. And currently, his starring role in the OPL 245 corruption scandal. Mr Brinded is free to sue me for defamation if he disputes what I am saying about him. I have a huge amount of evidence to support what I say. I know a lot about him. I have been coincidentally reading documents about his misdeeds for several days that I will publish in the New Year. More revelations about just how ruthless he is.
This is not a Shell website. Click on Disclaimer link at top of page for more information.
OPL 245 CORRUPTION SCANDAL: LATEST NEWS
Dutch Prosecutors to Arraign Shell over $1.3 billion Acquisition of OPL 245 02 Mar 2019 10:19 Biz Watch Nigeria Dutch Prosecutors to Arraign Shell over $1.3 billion Acquisition of OPL 245
Dutch prosecutors are preparing criminal charges against Royal Dutch Shell over its $1.3 billion acquisition of Nigerian offshore oilfield OPL 245 in 2011.
Shell said in a …
$1.3bn Malabu Oil Scandal: Shell Faces Fresh Criminal Charges in Netherlands 02 Mar 2019 05:45 This Day OPEC February oil output drops further
By Chika Amanze-Nwachuku with agency report
Royal -Dutch Shell is to face criminal charges before Dutch prosecutors over its involvement in the controversial sale of the $1.3 billion Oil Prospecting License (OPL 245), …
Malabu Scam :Eni, Shell aware of corrupt payments, Judge rules – Vanguard 18 Dec 2018 14:33 Google An Italian judge, Giusy Barbara, found out on Monday that Eni and Royal Dutch Shell were fully aware that their 2011 purchase of Nigeria’s Oil Prospecting Lease (OPL 245) would result in corrupt payments to Nigerian politicians and officials.
Italy’s Eni …
Eni, Shell Aware OPL 245 Procurment Would Lead to Graft 18 Dec 2018 14:00 Biz Watch Nigeria Eni, Shell Aware OPL 245 Procurment Would Lead to Graft
An Italian judge, Giusy Barbara, found out on Monday that Eni and Royal Dutch Shell were fully aware that their 2011 purchase of Nigeria’s Oil Prospecting Lease (OPL 245) would result in corrupt …
OPL 245: Eni, Shell Knew of Corrupt Payments, Rules Italian Judge – THISDAYLIVE 18 Dec 2018 12:33 Nigeria Sun Peter Uzoho with agency reports
An Italian judge, Giusy Barbara, found yesterday that Eni and Royal Dutch Shell were fully aware that their 2011 purchase of Nigeria’s Oil Prospecting Lease (OPL 245) would result in corrupt payments to Nigerian politicians …
John Donovan’s ebooks
EBOOK TITLE: “SIR HENRI DETERDING AND THE NAZI HISTORY OF ROYAL DUTCH SHELL” – AVAILABLE ON AMAZON EBOOK TITLE: “JOHN DONOVAN, SHELL’S NIGHTMARE: MY EPIC FEUD WITH THE UNSCRUPULOUS OIL GIANT ROYAL DUTCH SHELL” – AVAILABLE ON AMAZON. EBOOK TITLE: “TOXIC FACTS ABOUT SHELL REMOVED FROM WIKIPEDIA: HOW SHELL BECAME THE MOST HATED BRAND IN THE WORLD” – AVAILABLE ON AMAZON.
The boss of oil giant Shell has admitted he is “still unhappy” with the firm’s safety performance, despite pledging a redoubling of efforts in 2018.
Brinded’s reaction to the devastating findings and recommendations of the Campbell led review was to shoot the messenger, namely, Bill Campbell. Brinded chose to ignore the stunning findings by the audit team and the recommendations made by its leader Mr. Campbell in relation to the Asset Manager. Instead, Brinded supported the mentally unhinged “foaming at the mouth” Asset Manager who was able to return to his tyrannical TFA regime shortly thereafter, despite his instability. Compared with him, Captain Bligh was a sweetie. The inevitable fatal outcome accurately foretold in the review, resulted from the ruthless, unprincipled criminal decision by Brinded to put production before safety. Astonishing stuff bearing in mind that the Asset Manager repeatedly blamed “his master” Brinded, who he colourfully described as a “bastard”
By John Donovan
Energy Voice interviewed Shell UK upstream vice president Steve Phimister aboard the Shearwater platform.
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EBOOK TITLE: “SIR HENRI DETERDING AND THE NAZI HISTORY OF ROYAL DUTCH SHELL” – AVAILABLE ON AMAZON
EBOOK TITLE: “JOHN DONOVAN, SHELL’S NIGHTMARE: MY EPIC FEUD WITH THE UNSCRUPULOUS OIL GIANT ROYAL DUTCH SHELL” – AVAILABLE ON AMAZON.
EBOOK TITLE: “TOXIC FACTS ABOUT SHELL REMOVED FROM WIKIPEDIA: HOW SHELL BECAME THE MOST HATED BRAND IN THE WORLD” – AVAILABLE ON AMAZON.