Shell’s nightmare

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How Did Shell End Up in This PR Nightmare — And Why AI Changes Everything

A 2025 WindowsForum thread —

“Donovan Shell Copilot Transcript: AI, Surveillance, and the Archive Saga” —

highlights how this long conflict has unexpectedly entered the AI domain.

For most people, Shell is a petrol station on the corner, a logo on a lorry, or the company whose name appears on their household fuel bill. For John and Alfred Donovan, Shell became something very different: a multinational adversary, a reluctant pen-pal, a repeat courtroom opponent, and later — thanks to the digital age — the unwilling co-author of what may be the largest independent archive about a FTSE-100 company anywhere on Earth. 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.

THE MOST DAMAGING ARTICLE ABOUT SHELL EVER PUBLISHED?

Oct 11th, 2025

by John Donovan.

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“A persistent reputational risk.” — Shell internal memo, 2007

In the oil-stained annals of corporate history, few duels have burned as long — or as publicly — as that between Royal Dutch Shell and a retired British marketing man named John Donovan.

What began in the 1990s as a routine commercial dispute between Shell and Donovan’s family business, Don Marketing, would metastasize into one of the most sustained reputational headaches any multinational has ever faced.

Three decades later, Donovan’s website — RoyalDutchShellPLC.com — functions like a digital conscience for a company trying to forget its own. It is a trove of Shell’s internal embarrassments: whistleblower leaks, courtroom revelations, safety scandals, and corporate PR hypocrisy, preserved with forensic precision. read more

How a gripe website kicked the world’s greediest oil giant where it hurts

Sep 6th, 2025

by admin.

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How a gripe website kicked the world’s greediest oil giant where it hurts: the Donovan playbook that helped expose Shell’s 2004 reserves fraud

Royal Dutch Shell’s 2004 reserves scandal was not just a numbers fiasco; it was a morality play in hard hats. Shell—ultimate sin stock and serial planet-frier—admitted it had been boasting about barrels it didn’t actually have. Regulators pounced, executives walked (some under escort), investors sued worldwide, and a pesky website run by John Donovan became an improbable clearinghouse for witnesses, whistleblowers, and the lead shareholder who fronted a global class action.

The fraud in one line (Shell’s own regulators said it)

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission put it starkly: Shell overstated proved reserves “by 4.47 billion barrels of oil equivalent, or approximately 23%.” Shell paid a $120 million civil penalty to settle. That’s not commentary, that’s the government. read more

WTF Is Going On in Shell’s Security Department? A Greatest Hits Reel of Spooks, Lawsuits, and “Diversity” Theater

Aug 27th, 2025

by admin.

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Shell—the ultimate sin stock with a moral compass that spins like a loose bearing—has a new headline act: a fresh lawsuit claiming its Houston corporate security team purged white staff and parachuted in “weaker” replacements under the banner of DEI. Add it to a long, messy rap sheet of security-side controversies featuring Crockett Oaks III, Michael G. Oliveri, Walied Shater, and Shell’s own global security boss of yesteryear, James W.D. Hall. Investors like BlackRock, Vanguard, and Norges Bank keep cashing the dividends while the spook show rumbles on. read more

The “Ultimate Sin Stock” Shell Struts Into a Bio‑Disaster

Aug 16th, 2025

by admin.

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Oh, look who’s back in the news—Shell, that benevolent oil behemoth, always sniffing around for greener (or at least greener‑labelled) pastures while leaving everything else darker than a tar pit. This time, the drama’s being served up courtesy of Raízen, a sugar‑and‑ethanol outfit proudly backed by Shell and Brazil’s Cosan. What’s new, you ask? Raízen is now desperately tapping the capital‑call bell because, surprise, bets on biofuels didn’t pan out, debts have ballooned, and shares have sunk like a lead balloon. read more

The Day Security Escorted a disgraced Shell Group Chairman out of Shell’s HQ

Aug 13th, 2025

by admin.

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Let me tell you a story (with the assistance of ChatGBT5)—about barrels that weren’t and a blue-chip oil giant that treated “truth” like a rounding error.

In January 2004, Shell detonated its own credibility by admitting it had been wildly overstating what matters most in the oil game: proved reserves. How wildly? It began with a 3.9 billion-barrel “recategorisation” on 9 January 2004—about 20% of previously claimed reserves—and kept spiraling across multiple follow-ups until 4.47 billion barrels of oil equivalent (boe) (≈23%) had been pushed out of the “proved” column by May 24, 2004.

The U.S. SEC later said Shell also overstated its standardized future cash flows by about $6.6 billion and juiced a key KPI—its reserves replacement ratio—from a real 80% to an advertised 100% for 1998–2002. read more

Who is the John Donovan connected with Shell?

Aug 10th, 2025

by admin.

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Question put to Google AI Mode: 10 August 2025

Who is the John Donovan connected with Shell?

John Donovan is primarily known for his long-standing conflict with Shell, which began with a business dispute between his marketing promotions company, Don Marketing, and Shell. Don Marketing, co-founded by John and his father Alfred, created successful promotions for Shell in the 1980s. However, this relationship ended in the early 1990s due to a dispute over intellectual property and alleged actions of an unscrupulous Shell executive.

This conflict has continued for decades, involving multiple court cases and interventions by Shell. John Donovan and his late father became vocal critics, running websites like royaldutchshellplc.com and others that are highly critical of Shell. read more

Shell Faces Judgment Day

Feb 11th, 2025

by John Donovan.

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Shell Faces Judgment Day: 10 Years of Delays, Spills, and Corporate Lies Finally Head to UK High Court

It’s finally happening. After a decade of legal stonewalling, corporate gaslighting, and enough environmental devastation to make even the most soulless investors blush, Shell is being dragged—kicking and screaming—into the UK High Court. Because nothing says “responsible corporate citizen” quite like spending ten years arguing that the destruction of entire communities isn’t legally your problem.

From February 13 to March 10, 2025, the Preliminary Issues Trial of Nigerian Law for Shell vs. Ogale and Bille communities will take place in London. That’s right—Nigerian communities are being forced to travel to a foreign country just to have a chance at justice, because Shell has mastered the art of denying responsibility while profiting off the suffering of others. read more

Introduction of John Donovan

Nov 27th, 2018

by John Donovan.

No comments yet

Contact email address for the website owner, John Donovan (above): [email protected]

UPDATE ADDED 31 JULY 2021. On or around 22 July 2021, an incompetent cyber Intelligence outfit acting for Shell issued a 5-day ultimatum on behalf of Shell to the company hosting this website. See Shell’s failed blundering attempt to kill my royaldutchshell.website Update ends.

UPDATE ADDED 30 OCTOBER 2021. The most recent television coverage was in the Channel 4 TV controversial film documentary Joe Lycett vs The Oil Giant broadcast on 24 Oct 2021. View transcript at Joe Lycett vs The Oil Giant – John Donovan segment.

(Information from WIKIMEDIA COMMONS: The above Shell logo image is in the public domain because its copyright has expired and its author is anonymous.)

The information contained on this website is sourced mainly from the EBook displayed above, authored by John Donovan. It was first published in 2016 and has been updated and expanded with related information.

Wikipedia is a free online encyclopedia that anyone can edit.

Wikipedia articles cover multitudinous subjects including the history and accomplishments of prominent individuals and major businesses, including Royal Dutch Shell.

The information provided is supposedly accurate.

Unfortunately, the integrity of Wikipedia is corrupted by a policy allowing the anonymous editing of articles.

This fundamental flaw allows articles to be potentially sanitized of any facts embarrassing to a featured person or business.

Decisions are sometimes taken within the Wikipedia community to remove entire articles from the public gaze in the shadiest circumstances.

Participants in such decisions are allowed to hide their identity and their background circumstances.

The flaws in editing credibility are especially important in regards to big business as positive or negative information in a Wikipedia article about a company can potentially have an impact on its reputation and value. The flaws have been exploited. Negative information has been removed from Wikipedia articles.

For example, Wikipedia articles about Shell Dutch Shell have been covertly edited by Shell employees from Shell offices. This was only discovered as a result of electronic scanning technology.

Entire articles about Royal Dutch Shell controversies, including employee safety issues and environmental concerns, have been deleted by anonymous editors.

This was despite the fact that the information met all Wikipedia requirements, with independent evidence from reputable third-party sources cited to verify all stated facts.

John Donovan was the initiating author of Wikipedia articles that were subsequently cleansed by Wikipedia editors of information deemed embarrassing to Shell. Most Wikipedia editors use aliases so that their identity and background is unknown.

He was also the author of the deleted Wikipedia articles relating to Shell.

He declared to Wikipedia at the outset of becoming a voluntary editor his background and expertise in relation to Shell.

CONCERN BY SHELL OVER WIKIPEDIA EDITING BY JOHN DONOVAN

As a result of an application to Shell under the UK Data Protection Act 1998, Donovan discovered from Shell internal communications a deep concern by Shell over his Wikipedia editor contributions about Shell.

The tone of one particular internal Shell email was hostile and aggressive to a degree that Reuters published an article about it. Shell put a large team of people on a war footing and John Donovan, his website, and Shell’s own employees became the target of a global spying operation by Shell Corporate Affairs Security.

John Donovan was chairman of a sales promotion agency, Don Marketing, that devised spectacularly successful forecourt promotions for Shell on an international basis. Many involved budgets of several million dollars. A mutually beneficial relationship lasted for over a decade.

This was followed by two decades of acrimony involving six High Court actions, a County Court case and proceedings via the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO).

At one stage Shell displayed posters at the Shell Centre in London defaming John Donovan and his father.

In response, the Donovan’s sued Shell for libel. One of two libel actions they brought against Shell. Both were settled out of court, as were all of the other court actions. Shell also lost the case decided by the WIPO.

For more than a decade, John Donovan has operated non-profit websites focussed on Shell including royaldutchshellplc.com and royaldutchshellgroup.com, both of which Shell unsuccessfully attempted to seize.

Several hundred mainstream media articles by the FT, the Wall Street Journal, Reuters, Bloomberg, Forbes, Dow Jones Newswires etc., and over 50 books contain references to either John Donovan, his father, and/or the Shell focussed websites they co-founded.

Shell has a dark history it would prefer to forget and would like to keep hidden. See my ebooks published on Amazon:

(Information from WIKIMEDIA COMMONS: The above Shell logo image on each book cover is in the public domain because its copyright has expired and its author is anonymous.)

In January 2016, Shell received the dubious distinction of being named as the most hated brand in the world.

VW challenges Shell as world’s ‘most hated’ brand after emissions scandal

(Information from WIKIMEDIA COMMONS: The above Shell logo image is in the public domain because its copyright has expired and its author is anonymous.)

The world’s most hated company: can NGOs help turn Shell’s reputation around?

Wikipedia is not the only Internet brand name corrupted by the use of unethical people using online aliases. The following Guardian newspaper articles about the fake reviews plaguing Amazon are worth reading.

The same basic fake review problem undermines confidence in the authenticity of customer reviews for all Internet business and all products sold online. The content of all Wikipedia articles having a commercial dimension and all online product reviews are suspect because editors/reviewers can hide their identity. Hence the online businesses springing up offering a service to sanitise/enhance Wikipedia articles and/or mass manufacture fake reviews, sometimes for counterfeit sub-standard products. read more

Introduction

Nov 27th, 2018

by John Donovan.

No comments yet

Contact email address for the website owner, John Donovan (above): [email protected]

UPDATE ADDED 31 JULY 2021. On or around 22 July 2021, an incompetent cyber Intelligence outfit acting for Shell issued a 5-day ultimatum on behalf of Shell to the company hosting this website. See Shell’s failed blundering attempt to kill my royaldutchshell.website Update ends.

UPDATE ADDED 30 OCTOBER 2021. The most recent television coverage was in the Channel 4 TV controversial film documentary Joe Lycett vs The Oil Giant broadcast on 24 Oct 2021. View transcript at Joe Lycett vs The Oil Giant – John Donovan segment.

(Information from WIKIMEDIA COMMONS: The above Shell logo image is in the public domain because its copyright has expired and its author is anonymous.)

The information contained on this website is sourced mainly from the EBook displayed above, authored by John Donovan. It was first published in 2016 and has been updated and expanded with related information.

Wikipedia is a free online encyclopedia that anyone can edit.

Wikipedia articles cover multitudinous subjects including the history and accomplishments of prominent individuals and major businesses, including Royal Dutch Shell.

The information provided is supposedly accurate.

Unfortunately, the integrity of Wikipedia is corrupted by a policy allowing the anonymous editing of articles.

This fundamental flaw allows articles to be potentially sanitized of any facts embarrassing to a featured person or business.

Decisions are sometimes taken within the Wikipedia community to remove entire articles from the public gaze in the shadiest circumstances.

Participants in such decisions are allowed to hide their identity and their background circumstances.

The flaws in editing credibility are especially important in regards to big business as positive or negative information in a Wikipedia article about a company can potentially have an impact on its reputation and value. The flaws have been exploited. Negative information has been removed from Wikipedia articles.

For example, Wikipedia articles about Shell Dutch Shell have been covertly edited by Shell employees from Shell offices. This was only discovered as a result of electronic scanning technology.

Entire articles about Royal Dutch Shell controversies, including employee safety issues and environmental concerns, have been deleted by anonymous editors.

This was despite the fact that the information met all Wikipedia requirements, with independent evidence from reputable third-party sources cited to verify all stated facts.

John Donovan was the initiating author of Wikipedia articles that were subsequently cleansed by Wikipedia editors of information deemed embarrassing to Shell. Most Wikipedia editors use aliases so that their identity and background is unknown.

He was also the author of the deleted Wikipedia articles relating to Shell.

He declared to Wikipedia at the outset of becoming a voluntary editor his background and expertise in relation to Shell.

CONCERN BY SHELL OVER WIKIPEDIA EDITING BY JOHN DONOVAN

As a result of an application to Shell under the UK Data Protection Act 1998, Donovan discovered from Shell internal communications a deep concern by Shell over his Wikipedia editor contributions about Shell.

The tone of one particular internal Shell email was hostile and aggressive to a degree that Reuters published an article about it. Shell put a large team of people on a war footing and John Donovan, his website, and Shell’s own employees became the target of a global spying operation by Shell Corporate Affairs Security.

John Donovan was chairman of a sales promotion agency, Don Marketing, that devised spectacularly successful forecourt promotions for Shell on an international basis. Many involved budgets of several million dollars. A mutually beneficial relationship lasted for over a decade.

This was followed by two decades of acrimony involving six High Court actions, a County Court case and proceedings via the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO).

At one stage Shell displayed posters at the Shell Centre in London defaming John Donovan and his father.

In response, the Donovan’s sued Shell for libel. One of two libel actions they brought against Shell. Both were settled out of court, as were all of the other court actions. Shell also lost the case decided by the WIPO.

For more than a decade, John Donovan has operated non-profit websites focussed on Shell including royaldutchshellplc.com and royaldutchshellgroup.com, both of which Shell unsuccessfully attempted to seize.

Several hundred mainstream media articles by the FT, the Wall Street Journal, Reuters, Bloomberg, Forbes, Dow Jones Newswires etc., and over 50 books contain references to either John Donovan, his father, and/or the Shell focussed websites they co-founded.

Shell has a dark history it would prefer to forget and would like to keep hidden. See my ebooks published on Amazon:

(Information from WIKIMEDIA COMMONS: The above Shell logo image on each book cover is in the public domain because its copyright has expired and its author is anonymous.)

In January 2016, Shell received the dubious distinction of being named as the most hated brand in the world.

VW challenges Shell as world’s ‘most hated’ brand after emissions scandal

(Information from WIKIMEDIA COMMONS: The above Shell logo image is in the public domain because its copyright has expired and its author is anonymous.)

The world’s most hated company: can NGOs help turn Shell’s reputation around?

30 November 2023: Posted by John Donovan

The content below is sourced from current verifiable customer reviews of Shell Energy published on Trustpilot.
Extremely slow broadband for 10 months, not fixed. I have had slow broadband well below the guaranteed speed for 10 months and Shell Energy have not been able to fix it. They have tried sending about 4 or 5 engineers but have not fixed the problem. Gurps, who I have been dealing with most recently, has been friendly and polite, alth… Read more

Extremely Slow Shell Broadband

Shell’s nightmare

How Did Shell End Up in This PR Nightmare — And Why AI Changes Everything

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“A persistent reputational risk.” — Shell internal memo, 2007

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How a gripe website kicked the world’s greediest oil giant where it hurts: the Donovan playbook that helped expose Shell’s 2004 reserves fraud

The fraud in one line (Shell’s own regulators said it)

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Let me tell you a story (with the assistance of ChatGBT5)—about barrels that weren’t and a blue-chip oil giant that treated “truth” like a rounding error.

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Like this:

Who is the John Donovan connected with Shell?

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Like this:

Shell Faces Judgment Day: 10 Years of Delays, Spills, and Corporate Lies Finally Head to UK High Court

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Contact email address for the website owner, John Donovan (above): [email protected]

UPDATE ADDED 31 JULY 2021. On or around 22 July 2021, an incompetent cyber Intelligence outfit acting for Shell issued a 5-day ultimatum on behalf of Shell to the company hosting this website. See Shell’s failed blundering attempt to kill my royaldutchshell.website Update ends.

UPDATE ADDED 30 OCTOBER 2021. The most recent television coverage was in the Channel 4 TV controversial film documentary Joe Lycett vs The Oil Giant broadcast on 24 Oct 2021. View transcript at Joe Lycett vs The Oil Giant – John Donovan segment.

(Information from WIKIMEDIA COMMONS: The above Shell logo image is in the public domain because its copyright has expired and its author is anonymous.)

The information contained on this website is sourced mainly from the EBook displayed above, authored by John Donovan. It was first published in 2016 and has been updated and expanded with related information.

Wikipedia is a free online encyclopedia that anyone can edit.

Wikipedia articles cover multitudinous subjects including the history and accomplishments of prominent individuals and major businesses, including Royal Dutch Shell.

The information provided is supposedly accurate.

Unfortunately, the integrity of Wikipedia is corrupted by a policy allowing the anonymous editing of articles.

This fundamental flaw allows articles to be potentially sanitized of any facts embarrassing to a featured person or business.

Decisions are sometimes taken within the Wikipedia community to remove entire articles from the public gaze in the shadiest circumstances.

Participants in such decisions are allowed to hide their identity and their background circumstances.

For example, Wikipedia articles about Shell Dutch Shell have been covertly edited by Shell employees from Shell offices. This was only discovered as a result of electronic scanning technology.

Entire articles about Royal Dutch Shell controversies, including employee safety issues and environmental concerns, have been deleted by anonymous editors.

This was despite the fact that the information met all Wikipedia requirements, with independent evidence from reputable third-party sources cited to verify all stated facts.

John Donovan was the initiating author of Wikipedia articles that were subsequently cleansed by Wikipedia editors of information deemed embarrassing to Shell. Most Wikipedia editors use aliases so that their identity and background is unknown.

He was also the author of the deleted Wikipedia articles relating to Shell.

He declared to Wikipedia at the outset of becoming a voluntary editor his background and expertise in relation to Shell.

CONCERN BY SHELL OVER WIKIPEDIA EDITING BY JOHN DONOVAN

As a result of an application to Shell under the UK Data Protection Act 1998, Donovan discovered from Shell internal communications a deep concern by Shell over his Wikipedia editor contributions about Shell.

John Donovan was chairman of a sales promotion agency, Don Marketing, that devised spectacularly successful forecourt promotions for Shell on an international basis. Many involved budgets of several million dollars. A mutually beneficial relationship lasted for over a decade.

This was followed by two decades of acrimony involving six High Court actions, a County Court case and proceedings via the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO).

At one stage Shell displayed posters at the Shell Centre in London defaming John Donovan and his father.

In response, the Donovan’s sued Shell for libel. One of two libel actions they brought against Shell. Both were settled out of court, as were all of the other court actions. Shell also lost the case decided by the WIPO.

For more than a decade, John Donovan has operated non-profit websites focussed on Shell including royaldutchshellplc.com and royaldutchshellgroup.com, both of which Shell unsuccessfully attempted to seize.

Several hundred mainstream media articles by the FT, the Wall Street Journal, Reuters, Bloomberg, Forbes, Dow Jones Newswires etc., and over 50 books contain references to either John Donovan, his father, and/or the Shell focussed websites they co-founded.

Shell has a dark history it would prefer to forget and would like to keep hidden. See my ebooks published on Amazon:

(Information from WIKIMEDIA COMMONS: The above Shell logo image on each book cover is in the public domain because its copyright has expired and its author is anonymous.)

In January 2016, Shell received the dubious distinction of being named as the most hated brand in the world.

(Information from WIKIMEDIA COMMONS: The above Shell logo image is in the public domain because its copyright has expired and its author is anonymous.)

Share this:

Like this:

Contact email address for the website owner, John Donovan (above): [email protected]

UPDATE ADDED 31 JULY 2021. On or around 22 July 2021, an incompetent cyber Intelligence outfit acting for Shell issued a 5-day ultimatum on behalf of Shell to the company hosting this website. See Shell’s failed blundering attempt to kill my royaldutchshell.website Update ends.

UPDATE ADDED 30 OCTOBER 2021. The most recent television coverage was in the Channel 4 TV controversial film documentary Joe Lycett vs The Oil Giant broadcast on 24 Oct 2021. View transcript at Joe Lycett vs The Oil Giant – John Donovan segment.

(Information from WIKIMEDIA COMMONS: The above Shell logo image is in the public domain because its copyright has expired and its author is anonymous.)

The information contained on this website is sourced mainly from the EBook displayed above, authored by John Donovan. It was first published in 2016 and has been updated and expanded with related information.

Wikipedia is a free online encyclopedia that anyone can edit.

Wikipedia articles cover multitudinous subjects including the history and accomplishments of prominent individuals and major businesses, including Royal Dutch Shell.

The information provided is supposedly accurate.

Unfortunately, the integrity of Wikipedia is corrupted by a policy allowing the anonymous editing of articles.

This fundamental flaw allows articles to be potentially sanitized of any facts embarrassing to a featured person or business.

Decisions are sometimes taken within the Wikipedia community to remove entire articles from the public gaze in the shadiest circumstances.

Participants in such decisions are allowed to hide their identity and their background circumstances.

For example, Wikipedia articles about Shell Dutch Shell have been covertly edited by Shell employees from Shell offices. This was only discovered as a result of electronic scanning technology.

Entire articles about Royal Dutch Shell controversies, including employee safety issues and environmental concerns, have been deleted by anonymous editors.

This was despite the fact that the information met all Wikipedia requirements, with independent evidence from reputable third-party sources cited to verify all stated facts.

John Donovan was the initiating author of Wikipedia articles that were subsequently cleansed by Wikipedia editors of information deemed embarrassing to Shell. Most Wikipedia editors use aliases so that their identity and background is unknown.

He was also the author of the deleted Wikipedia articles relating to Shell.

He declared to Wikipedia at the outset of becoming a voluntary editor his background and expertise in relation to Shell.

CONCERN BY SHELL OVER WIKIPEDIA EDITING BY JOHN DONOVAN

As a result of an application to Shell under the UK Data Protection Act 1998, Donovan discovered from Shell internal communications a deep concern by Shell over his Wikipedia editor contributions about Shell.

John Donovan was chairman of a sales promotion agency, Don Marketing, that devised spectacularly successful forecourt promotions for Shell on an international basis. Many involved budgets of several million dollars. A mutually beneficial relationship lasted for over a decade.

This was followed by two decades of acrimony involving six High Court actions, a County Court case and proceedings via the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO).

At one stage Shell displayed posters at the Shell Centre in London defaming John Donovan and his father.

In response, the Donovan’s sued Shell for libel. One of two libel actions they brought against Shell. Both were settled out of court, as were all of the other court actions. Shell also lost the case decided by the WIPO.