News and information on Royal Dutch Shell Plc
By John Donovan
In the recent article (below”) about the OPL 245 corruption scandal, published under the translated headline “Eni-Nigeria trial, Prosecutor requests 8 Years sentence for Descalzi,” reference is made to “an axis of spies that runs through this story.”
It mentions the involvement of Shell’s MI6 hires responsible for generating the incriminating emails found in the raid and search of Shell’s HQ that has done so much damage to Shell’s reputation.
Translation of an article published overnight by the Dutch media organisation nrc.nl
High prison sentences demanded against former Shell employees
Lawsuit In a criminal case for alleged corruption by Shell and Eni when purchasing a Nigerian oil field, the Public Prosecution Service demands high penalties.
Merijn Rengers and Carola Houtekamer: July 21, 2020 at 22:22
The Italian Public Prosecution Service demanded unprecedented high prison sentences in Milan on Tuesday against four former Shell directors and employees for large-scale corruption. The prosecution charges it to a former member of the board of directors, a director and two advisers who participated in bribery in Nigeria. The amount of the kickback, more than $ 1 billion, makes this one of the largest corruption affairs a Dutch company has ever been involved in.
Translation of an article published overnight by the Dutch news media organisation, nrc.nl
Of course, Shell knew about the corruption risk, the prosecutor said
Lawsuit over oil field In a dim Milanese bunker, Tuesday was worked towards the denouement in the corruption case against oil companies Shell and Eni. Prosecutor Fabio De Pasquale calls it “the perfect economic crime.”
Carola Houtekamer: July 21, 2020
The lawsuit revolves around the acquisition of rights to the oil field “OPL 245”, for which Shell and Eni paid $ 1.3 billion. Photo George Osodi / Getty
By John Donovan
I wonder if the American Ballet Theatre is aware of the sinister background of its new benefactor, Hakluyt & Co – the corporate intelligence agency sometimes described as the commercial offshoot of MI6.
Titled Shell directors, the late Sir Peter Holmes, and Sir William Purves, were also directors, major shareholders and spymasters of Hakluyt & Company, a UK corporate espionage firm founded by former senior MI6 officers. BP directors were also involved.
Shell used Hakluyt to engage in cloak and dagger operations against its perceived enemies, including Greenpeace, as exposed in a Sunday Times front-page lead article “MI6 ‘firm’ spied on green groups”. Continuing on to an inside page feature headlined “How agent Camus sunk Greenpeace oil protests”.
English translation of an article published by the Dutch news media giant nrc.nl
Former oil minister Dan Etete (r) was the owner of the oil field, but also infected after a conviction for money laundering. Photo Gindl Barbara / AFP
What’s the news?
The Italian prosecutor suspects that the former chief executive of Shell in Nigeria has benefited from the controversial purchase by Shell of the mega-oil field OPL 245 off the Nigerian coast. This is Sunmonu Mutiu, who led the Nigerian division of the Anglo-Dutch oil company.
Extracts from NIGERIA Africa Energy Intelligence article dated 07/01/2020As an Italian court continues its probe into the award of Nigeria’s most promising offshore block, all those involved in the deal at Shell are no longer with the major.
These include the head of upstream at the time Malcolm Brinded, former general counsel Keith Ruddock and legal advisor for Africa Guus Klusener.
Shell’s political advisor and ex-MI6 John Copleston, who met with Etete on several occasions to discuss the OPL 245 deal in 2010, has left…
Another former MI6 agent, Guy Colegate, who had advised Shell during the OPL 245 talks from Nigeria, left to work for Heritage Oil in 2013…
THE WEBSITE WHERE SHELL’S “INTERNAL LAUNDRY” HANGS OUT ONLINE
The above-embedded image is from a Shell CONFIDENTIAL internal email involving Shell lawyers and Shell Corporate Affairs Security (CAS). It was obtained in response to a John Donovan SAR application under the UK Data Protection Act 1998 and provides irrefutable evidence of Shell secretly spying on its own employees on a global basis. The names of those involved in the spying project were all redacted by Shell lawyers.
For more information, Google “Reuters report Shell critic says oil major targeting his website”
Hakluyt is known as a retirement home for ex-MI6 officers…
Hakluyt (now Holdingham Group Ltd) a private MI6 outfit, that met with …
Hakluyt, a UK-US corporate intelligence arm and offshoot to MI6
Created by former MI6 British Secret Service agents, Hakluyt is an ultra secretive firm whose client list reads like a who’s who of the business world…
The ensuing scandal catapulted Hakluyt to mainstream notoriety, and led several MPs to accuse MI6 of using the firm as a front for its own operations.
Article published by TEMPO newspaper, 2 Jan 1996 (Page 13)It made headline news in most of the British newspapers last week. “SHELL BRIBED NIGERIA’s MILITARY screamed the Independent of London newspaper.
SHELL AXES CORRUPT Nigerian staff read the Sunday Times of London report written by its INSIGHT team. At the centre of the story is how Shell, the exploiter of Nigeria’s crude oil paid handsome amounts of money running into several hundreds of millions of Naira to top military officers in Nigeria to wast vocal environmentalists like Ken Saro-Wiwa and to help establish stability in its oil business by employing ruthless military operations.
Extracts below relating to Shell and Hakluyt from a SPUTNIK article by Kit Klarenberg: 27 Sept 2019 (SPUTNIK IS A RUSSIAN OWNED PUBLISHER)
In 1995, private intelligence agency Hakluyt & Company was established. Its ranks were filled with former members of British foreign intelligence agency MI6 – including Fitzroy Maclean, upon which Ian Fleming modelled James Bond – and also oil industry executives. William Purves, CEO of Shell Transport, was chair 2000 – 2008, Peter Holmes, former Shell chair served as the agency’s president, and Peter Cazalet, former BP deputy chair, helped set up Hakluyt before he retired in 2000.
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By John Donovan
I have published several articles over the years naming many Shell senior security people. They include the MI6 hires referred to by Royal Dutch Shell CEO Ben van Beurden in a wiretapped telephone conversation relating to the OPL 245 corruption case.
Some of their names have come up in leaked emails that have recently appeared on the Internet. I have combined the various emails into a single document.
The email participants include a former senior British Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) officer, Ian Forbes McCredie who until December 2010, was VP Corporate Affairs Security, Shell International B.V. Mr McCredie is closely associated with the private spy firm Hakluyt sometimes described as the commercial offshoot of MI6. When I sent an email to Mr McCredie at Shell, I received an automated response giving me his Hakluyt email address.
Shell wanted exclusive access to the Chinese market and the Chinese wanted their own large oil and gas concessions in the Middle East. Shell had an exclusive 75 years old concession in the United Arab Emirates, which was about to expire on January 2014. What did the Emirati royalty want in order to facilitate this large oilfield concession changing hands? The answer is money, a massive bribe. This is where Oscar Wyatt’s company, Coastal Energy Resources came into the picture.By John Donovan
A whistleblower who held a senior finance position inside Royal Dutch Shell has made serious allegations relating to the 1MDB scandal, which he claims is the tip of the iceberg of something way bigger and even more sinister. He also claims to have received death threats on numerous occasions since he left Shell.
His decade long employment record with Shell appears to be 100% authentic.
What is the Malaysian 1MDB scandal?
The 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal or 1MDB scandal is an ongoing political scandal occurring in Malaysia. In 2015, Malaysia’s then-Prime Minister Najib Razak was accused of channelling over RM 2.67 billion (nearly USD 700 million) from 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), a government-run strategic development company, to his personal bank accounts. (Extract from related Wikipedia article.)
The screenshot Information about James W.D. Hall, Head of Royal Dutch Shell Global Corporate Security was downloaded on 11 June 2019 and assumed to be correct and current at that time. He is in charge of over 250 Shell security supervisory staff worldwide. Is he yet another Shell MI6 hire, as per his predecessor, Ian Forbes McCredie? The selection of authentic high-level Shell internal emails below provides some indication of the character and ethics of senior Shell executives and Shell’s hired spooks. More court exhibits will be added on a regular basis until further notice. 
U.S. Court Case 4:17-cv-01970Related article: Spectacular falling out of ‘Security Professionals’ at the top of Shell
Mr. Hall’s own e-mails and statements clearly prove that he violated Section 3.4 of Shell’s Code of Conduct, which states, in relevant part, that “[w]hen making employment decisions, including hiring, evaluation, promotion, training, development, discipline, compensation and termination, you must base them solely on objective factors, including merit, qualifications, performance and business considerations. . . . [Y]ou should understand the value of diversity and must not discriminate in any way based on race, colour, religion, age, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, disability, ethnic origin or nationality.”
Printed below is a translation of an article published this weekend by the Dutch broadcaster NRC. It is about the Shell internal communications and documents relating to the OPL 245 Nigerian oil deal corruption case seized during a raid carried out by the Dutch Fiscal Information and Investigation Service (FIOD) at Shell HQ in the Hague in 2016. In a controversial move, Shell lawyers are resorting to legal machinations to frustrate the progress of the Dutch proceedings. On this occasion by claiming legal privilege and secrecy over the seized evidence. Criminal proceedings relating to the same massively corrupt oil deal are moving forward quickly in Italy (but at a snail’s pace in the Netherlands, Shell’s home country). A related tapped telephone conversation involving Shell CEO Ben van Beurden when he ordered that no documents should be volunteered to the investigators carrying out the raid can be heard here. Undisputably, another Shell cover-up tactic. So much for Shell’s claimed business principles from a company that seems to employ more MI6 people than MI6. Listen to the taped call. 
Call for OM to simplify procedures related to non-disclosure law encounters astonishment among lawyers and scientists
By our editors Carola Houtekamer and Merijn Rengers: Amsterdam.
Shell and the Public Prosecution Service were honest about it on Thursday. Yes, they clash over the internal Shell documents that were seized by the FIOD investigation service at the head office in The Hague during the beginning of 2016. They deal with the corruption case involving OPL245, a mega-oil field off the coast of Nigeria.
It appears, according to court documents, at the request of ‘Royal Dutch Shell plc’ and four suspected former Shell employees who are mentioned by name and by name in the Italian summons. These are two former British secret agents, hired by Shell as oil men whose main task was to make the inscrutable Nigerian policy more transparent. And two senior Shell managers: former board member Malcolm Brinded and former Africa director Peter Robinson. The foursome is said to have been closely involved in preparing the bribes payments…: “He is a former head of the British secret service MI6, but really no more than a junior employee at Shell in Nigeria. By Merijn Rengers, Carola Wood Room, June 4, 2019
Room 7, where the largest corruption case in Dutch company history is fought, is bursting at the seams. It is warm and noisy and the available seats are already set aside early in the morning for at least 25 Italian lawyers, their crowd of assistants and prosecutors. The other listeners – Shell representatives, activists, interested parties – are forced to sit and sit in the back, or cage in two paying cells on either side of the courtroom where normally detained suspects await their verdict.
Foreign Skarsaune: JOURNALIST
Jon Ingemundsen: PHOTOGRAPH UPDATED: PUBLISHED: 11 MAY 2019 07:41
In the corner of the waiting room are two men. The chair between them is empty. It is quiet at the psychiatric outpatient clinic in Molde.
Bjørn Tore Røshol, left, and Runar Kjørsvik is sitting in the waiting room at the district psychiatric center in Molde. Photo: JON INGEMUNDSEN
They go here regularly. That they have hour at the same time this day is random. But that they are here, they think is not random. Both have been the main safety delegate at Shell’s gas facility at Nyhamna outside Molde. Both struggle with psychological after-effects. Their stories are quite similar:
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: USA USA USA. BG Group was an Internet Cafe and Cappuccino Lifestyle company that could not get its ducks lined up in a row for the simple reason that it didn't know what a duck is. In consequence, its goose was cooked.
: @Bonus Group... Is it dirty... air and water emissions? health and safety conditions? government permissions? facilitating commissions? facility decommissions? corruption suspicions? sycophant ambitions? accounting omissions? that is all i have to say with respect to this petition... (please read it to the beat of Lizzo for the full effect...)
: 'Hiding behind NOVs for the dirty projects in Brazil and others.' Quote USA USA USA. For 'dirty projects in Brazil' read 'dirty tricks in Brazil'. This was the worst managed asset in BG Group, lurching from one lie to another and led by sociopaths. On the subject of dirty projects and hiding behind NOVs, BG Group's Western Delta Deep Marine (WDDM) gas fields in the Nile Delta used to produce 22,000+ BBL/Day of contaminated water which was tankered into the desert and dumped. How are Shell now disposing of that water now? It should be of interest to Greenpeace and to shareholders.
: It is very clear to most who understand how Shell operates, that it will try to be all things to all locations. We see it clearly in the greenwashing in the EU. The race for Arctic drilling, this time in Russia. Clean natural gas, like Prelude and Crux - only no one comments on the CO2 content of these fields that is vented into the atmosphere. Hiding behind NOVs for the dirty projects in Brazil and others. Hiding behind "contractors" and "suppliers" to avoid reporting fatal accidents on the books (like Pakistan / China / Singapore Nigeria / etc.) . It just one big PR exercise. the culture is make money at any cost... The petition is just more deception, any response will be simple lip service and highlighting how well the company listens to stake holders, while it continues to focus on just make money...
: petition. What a load of hot air and psycho-babble! You must have raised global temperatures by at least a couple of degrees through your post alone, not to mention the amount of Carbon Dioxide you have exhaled over your lifetime. But then because you are most likely Dutch, you think that just because Shell is listed as Royal Dutch Shell plc it is a Dutch company. Well it is not, it is a British Company listed on the UK Stock Exchange! Are you aware that Shell is not the oil and gas producing company on the planet contributing to carbon emissions? See: https://www.oilandgasiq.com/strategy-management-and-information/articles/oil-and-gas-companies Your faith in Shell as the sole company to lead the way in the development of Renewables is remarkable. On the one hand you criticise them for polluting the atmosphere through Carbon Dioxide emissions, but on the other hand you think that they should lead the way through energy transition at the expense of their shareholders and investors. The degree of ingratitude and hypocrisy expressed towards hydrocarbon producing companies such as Shell by so called Climate Change Activists, wearing synthetic fabrics, taking trains, planes and automobiles while living in centrally heated accommodation, is appalling. You do realise that without those companies you might not have survived birth, because your parents would have been living in a damp cave rubbing two sticks together while wearing animal skins? Like it or not hydrocarbons have enabled society to develop to where it is today and are a fundamental part of society. Hydrocarbons are not going away until they run out and they will become a lot more expensive before then. Regardless of whether or not you believe in Climate Change and man's contribution towards it, we all should be both seeking, and developing alternative forms of energy before the oil and gas run out and we return to living in caves. We should also be seeking to control all emissions and pollution, not just Carbon Dioxide. Those are the important points, not Climate Change. The Geological fossil record is littered with examples of past climate change. What next? Do we stop Continental Drift and Polar Wandering? Absurd.
: That’s the trouble with these climate fanatics, they produce so much hot air they themselves heat up the planet. So many words when far less will suffice - people start falling asleep “petition” and don’t bother reading any key points. Shell and others are trying to respond to the issue and are key to the debate and the future targets. It’s not just left wing loonies that will solve this problem. By the way “petition” it’s been bloody cold here in the UK recently and this summer has not been a good one - a little bit more warmth is welcome as far as I’m concerned.
: TO: Shell
Take real steps to ending climate change, and commit not to send lobbyists to the UN climate talks in Paris this year.
https://actions.sumofus.org/a/shell-dont-go-to-cop-paris
In a surprising turn of events, Shell's board of executives has officially endorsed a SumOfUs-backed resolution committing the company to take action against climate change.
We can't let Shell's stated commitment to fight climate change be mere greenwashing. If Shell's executives are really serious about tackling climate change, then they have to stop meddling with the climate talks. And with Shell responding to our pressure for the first time, we're in a real position to force them to act.
The UN negotiations are no place for fossil fuel lobbyists -- they are where global leaders, scientists and activists meet annually and decide on real climate action. Last year's talks in Peru collapsed in part because big polluters like Shell lobbied the UN climate committee and blocked resolutions simply because they affected their profit margins.
If Shell's executives are real about climate change then it should stop meddling with UN climate negotiations.
This shareholder resolution was partly brought by SumOfUs members who also hold shares in Shell. It commits Shell to reduce emissions, invest in renewable energy and remove bonus systems that promote climate-harming activities. This is an opportunity to pressure Shell to stop blocking real climate solutions and help save the planet.
That's why this is an opportunity to pressure Shell to do more. If we keep working, we can stop Shell from blocking real climate solutions and get the company out of official UN climate negotiations.
We need real climate change solutions, and we need them now. 2014 was the hottest year on record, there is already serious water scarcity in the Global South and by the end of the century the earth is expected to warm by 4 or 5 degrees. Each degree is another death sentence for animals, ecosystems and our survival.
Tell Shell to get serious about its climate commitment and stay out of the Paris talks!
Shell's letter to shareholders supporting special resolution on climate change, January 25th 2015.
TO: Shell
Take real steps to ending climate change, and commit not to send lobbyists to the UN climate talks in Paris this year.
Yes! Tell me if this campaign wins, and how I can help other relevant campaigns.
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Fighting for people over profits
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: interesting but also for me very depressing. My sole concern re Prelude from the start was not that it technically would fail to adequately produce with an eventual return on huge capital invested, after all Shell has a well-deserved record of being technically ahead of the game re LNG process design, my concern was that in risk terms it was much more risky a project with regards to health and safety of employees than the overegged statements made during its early development by folks who were either incompetent to understand offshore installations residual risks or were purposefully misleading propagandists re the true risk levels. Anyway, perhaps your definition of the project as a White Elephant will bear out, It would be difficult to wager otherwise, but I still have a diminishing hope that it will live up to its potential, but when.............................?
: From an Operations view point this recent extended stoppage must represent a world record for the restart of a hydrocarbon producing facility of any type after a power failure. Details remain sparse as to the root cause of the total power outage. As this included the emergency power supplies from all sources begs the question were all these systems recovery interlocks "live tested". In my experience there is always a great deal of reluctance to initiate a live shut down test with all overrides or inhibits of certain sections being prohibited. This is the only way to ensure all the sequential safety systems function as design and will expose any flaws or unexpected issues to be highlighted.
: More on Prelude: https://www.boilingcold.com.au/inpex-slashes-value-of-prelude-lng-by-a-third/amp/
: Royal Dutch Shell plc Results Q2 2020: https://seekingalpha.com/amp/article/4362597-royal-dutch-shell-plc-2020-q2-results-earnings-call-presentation
: Shell reports $18bn loss: https://amp.theguardian.com/business/2020/jul/30/shell-reports-18bn-financial-loss-amid-covid-19-collapse-in-global-oil-and-gas-prices
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