Article by Paddy Briggs in response to a recent story in “The Times” – “Wind farms are back on Shell’s horizon.” Taken with his permission from Paddy’s Blog.
My 40 years in Shell taught me one thing – it is a Corporation that’s very good at oil and gas, but hopeless at anything else! In my time here’s a partial list of things we tried but couldn’t make work:
Nuclear
Metals
Coal
Forestry
Solar
Wind
Agrochemicals
Electricity Generation
Convenience Stores
Biofuels
Fast food
Home insulation
Natural Gas retailing…
The way to the top in Shell is based on the skills of finding and extracting of hydrocarbons occasionally augmented by those who can refine, market or trade and transport them. If in doubt the top management always retreats to its oily comfort zones. We dipped a toe in many waters but diversification was not really what we did.read more
Shell House before the bombing. At the time of the bombing, it was painted in camouflage colours
Operation Carthage, on 21 March 1945, was a British air raid on Copenhagen, Denmark during the Second World War which caused significant collateral damage. The target of the raid was the Shellhus, used as Gestapo headquarters in the city centre. It was used for the storage of dossiers and the torture of Danish citizens during interrogations. The Danish Resistance had long asked the British to conduct a raid against the site. The building was destroyed, 18 prisoners were freed and anti-resistance Nazi activities were disrupted.read more
Singapore — Shell will load the first condensate cargo from Australia’s Prelude FLNG project at end January, according to shipping reports and sources Thursday.
The condensate will be loaded in a 80,000 mt clip over January 31 to February 2, shipping reports showed.
A vessel has not been fixed for the cargo, and shipbrokers said Shell began looking for an Aframax tanker to load the cargo Thursday.
Shell did not immediately respond to an email query seeking comment.
The destination of the cargo is unclear, though trade sources have said that the oil major will likely use the cargo within its own network of splitters and refineries.read more
Shell’s wind development division considers Britain, including the North Sea, to be a key offshore market: ARTERRA/UIG/GETTY IMAGES
Royal Dutch Shell is considering bidding for rights to develop offshore wind farms in British waters as the Anglo-Dutch oil major seeks to re-enter the UK sector after a ten-year absence.
Dorine Bosman, Shell’s vice-president of wind development, said that the company was interested in seabed leases that are due to be awarded this year by the Crown Estate.read more
The cause of the fire has not been announced publicly but is being investigated in detail.
Essar has a history of safety incidents during their operation of the Stanlow refinery (anecdotally the safety performance is gradually getting worse the longer Essar own the refinery):
Nsuke had been a known and outstanding critic of Shell and advocate of self-determination for Ogoni. He served as publicity secretary in the last executive.
MOSOP President Fegalo Nsuke
In what turned out to be an emotional speech, the new president of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) Fegalo Nsuke has rekindled hope for a free Ogoni in Nigeria. Nsuke in an address this morning to the Ogoni people said freedom for the Ogoni people in Nigeria must be pursued vigorously. The speech followed his assumption
of office as the new MOSOP president at the expiration of the tenure of the previous executives yesterday December 31, 2018.
In a new year message to the Ogoni people this morning, Nsuke said:read more
In 2018 it would all be well for the earthquake victims in Groningen. But again they became victims, this time from a bureaucratic swamp.
The underlying idea was clear: if gas extraction decreases, there are fewer quakes and fewer homes need to be strengthened.
The goal is that Groningen residents in the earthquake area can live safely as quickly as possible
A complete earthquake industry has emerged in Groningen…
The decision by Minister Wiebes to stop gas extraction means that he has left € 70 billion of gas in the ground.
A grocery mentality at the NAM, which was going to do difficult about the smallest amounts, a government that took it too long, an earthquake industry that was rigged and got the characteristics of a maze; in the end, that has all led to billions being left in the ground.
Printed below is an English translation of an article published today by the Dutch Financial Times, Financieele Dagblad. NAM is the Shell/Exxon Joint Venture company responsible for the earthquake blighted Groningen Gas Field and consequential potential bill for untold billions to deal with damaged residences.
In 2018 it would all be well for the earthquake victims in Groningen. But again they became victims, this time from a bureaucratic swamp.
The most defining moment in the past year for Groningen was not the earthquake in Zeerijp on Monday 8 January. Not even Thursday, March 29, when Minister Eric Wiebes of Economic Affairs and Climate said: we are moving away from the gas. The actual turning point came in a meaningless Hague press room at Nieuwspoort, on Monday 2 July.
Prime Minister Rutte was visiting US President Trump that day, German Chancellor Merkel swore a government crisis, and later that evening Belgium would qualify for the quarter-final of the World Cup. Co Verdaas came into the modest room at the end of that sunny Monday morning.read more
The £456m sale includes Shell’s interest in the Maui, Pohokura, and Tank Farm assets, and operatorship of the Great South Basin venture, which was subject to a separate agreement.
Shell said the deal was part of the firm’s effort to simplify its portfolio.
The company also confirmed that employees of Shell Taranaki and Shell NZ 2011 are now part of OMV New Zealand.
Zoe Yujnovich, Shell’s vice president in Australia and New Zealand, said: “We are proud of having worked in New Zealand for more than 100 years and completion of the sale to OMV marks an important milestone in the company’s history.read more
When an activist shareholder group last year launched a campaign to force Royal Dutch Shell to set hard targets for cutting carbon emissions, just 6 per cent of those eligible to vote backed the plan. Yet within months Shell had announced an “ambition” to halve its carbon footprint by 2050… This December it pledged to set firm short-term emissions targets from 2020 that will be tied to executive pay. “If we don’t meet them there will be consequences to my salary and others,” said Ben van Beurden, Shell’s chief executive. FULL FT ARTICLEread more
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
Royal Dutch Shell and Eni were aware that their $1.3 billion deal for a Nigerian oilfield would result in corrupt payments to politicians and officials, an Italian judge has said.
The two oil majors and former executives are on trial in Milan over alleged corruption in their 2011 deal to secure control of the prized OPL 245 block off the country’s coast. Prosecutors allege that most of the proceeds of the deal went to a company linked with a convicted money launderer and ended up being paid in bribes and kickbacks. Shell and Eni have denied wrongdoing.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…
* 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
By Kelly Gilblom: 13 December 2018, 11:16 GMT: Updated on 13 Dec 2018, 14:04 GMT
Nigeria seeks to recoup money in oil deal it calls corrupt
Companies facing criminal charges over same block in Milan
The government of Nigeria is suing Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Eni SpA and other companies for more than $1 billion over a 2011 oil deal it says was tainted by corruption.
The suit, filed Wednesday in London, alleges that money the companies paid to acquire an oil exploration license in the Gulf of Guinea was diverted to bribes and kickbacks, the Nigerian government said in a press release. The transaction is already the subject of a separate, ongoing criminal trial in Milan.read more
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 …
OPL 245: Eni, Shell Knew of Corrupt Payments, Rules Italian Judge – THISDAY Newspapers 18 Dec 2018 08:37 Google 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 …
OPL 245: Eni, Shell Knew of Corrupt Payments, Rules Italian Judge 18 Dec 2018 05:17 This Day 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 …
FG files $1.1bn suit against Shell, Eni in London 14 Dec 2018 04:09 New Telegraph The Federal Gove r nment yesterday commencement of prosecution of the Royal Dutch Shell and Eni in London Court over shady oil deals that cost the country over $6 billion. In a legal fireworks expected to unravel the mysterious Malabu oil deals, lawyers …
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SHELL EXECUTIVES AT THE CENTER OF A SCHEME TO STEAL $1.3 BILLION FROM NIGERIA’S PEOPLE
SHELL ADMITS DEALING WITH NIGERIAN MONEY LAUNDERER – BBC NEWS
SHELL, ENI AND NIGERIAN OFFICIALS IN OPL 245 CORRUPTION SCANDAL
INVESTIGATION OF OPL 245 NIGERIAN OIL CORRUPTION SCANDAL
SHELL KILLS FOR OIL IN NIGERIA
ESTHER KIOBEL SUES SHELL FOR COMPLICITY IN HUSBANDS MURDER
ESTHER KIOBEL: EVIL OIL GIANT SHELL COLLUDED IN THE EXECUTION OF MY INNOCENT HUSBAND
SHELL LIED ABOUT CLEANING UP OIL IN NIGER DELTA
SHELL SPIES INFILTRATED NIGERIAN GOVERNMENT
DUTCH EARTHQUAKES CAUSED BY SHELL/EXXON
LEGO DROPS SHELL OVER GREENPEACE OIL SPILL VIDEO
SHELL ARCTIC DRILLING ACCIDENTS
SHELL KNEW ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE DECADES AGO
JOHN DONOVAN TV DOCUMENTARY INTERVIEW
ABANDONED BY SHELL: KEITH MACDONALD & FAMILY, VICTIMS OF RADIOACTIVE CONTAMINATION AT WORK
ROYAL DUTCH SHELL FOUNDER SIR HENRI DETERDING, NAZI FINANCIER
JOHN DONOVAN PROMOTIONAL GAMES FOR SHELL AND OTHER CLIENTS
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.
So why redacted?: "The name of the relevant individual in a Shell leadership role has been verified from court records and social media)"
REPLY BY JOHN DONOVAN
Because having seen the Shell leader in question in a photograph with his family, I have reservations about naming him some 14 years after the offences took place. Why should his family suffer?
Bogus Group: I concur with Bonus's comment's. Unfortunately these "turkeys' can't comprehend their deficiencies and actualy believe they are something special. A throwback of the rampant deviant executive culture at the time, which fostered them.
Bonus Group: Christmas is coming,
The goose is getting fat,
Please, put a penny in the ex BG employee's hat!
Rumour has it that the turkeys in the Brasil Asset, having contributed little to nothing to the asset over the past year, are now rubbing their hands with glee in anticipation of their annual bonuses. Hopefully, there will be another round of cost cutting in the New Year and they will be out on the street!
Insider: I am not sure I want to know which one of our leaders is a child sex offender. I would like to know if management hired the guy aware of his past history?
TABOO: Is this another sensitive subject where we can we expect a memo from Donny Ching warning us not to discuss it with colleagues?
Equal Opportunities Employer: Guess his hiring and promotion prove Shell is an equal opportunities employer.
"Equal opportunity means that all people will be treated equally or similarly and not disadvantaged by prejudices or bias. This means that the best person for a job or a promotion is the person who earns that position based on qualifications, experience and knowledge. Workplace diversity values everyone's differences."
Apparently, with Shell HR this applies even if convicted of aggravated child sex offences on multiple counts with an appearance on the Sex Offenders Register.
It does make the workplace uncomfortable for everyone who has contact with him. On the other hand, he has to work somewhere or otherwise conviction would amount to a life sentence for repellent acts carried out 14 years ago.
Is it a praiseworthy policy or an act of folly to hire and promote such individuals? Or an act of negligence if HR pleads ignorance of his past criminal history? The latter seems unlikely bearing in mind that his past is common knowledge among colleagues and apparently, even suppliers.
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.
My 40 years in Shell taught me one thing – it is a Corporation that’s very good at oil and gas, but hopeless at anything else! In my time here’s a partial list of things we tried but couldn’t make work:
Royal Dutch Shell is considering bidding for rights to develop offshore wind farms in British waters as the Anglo-Dutch oil major seeks to re-enter the UK sector after a ten-year absence.
Nsuke had been a known and outstanding critic of Shell and advocate of self-determination for Ogoni. He served as publicity secretary in the last executive.
In 2018 it would all be well for the earthquake victims in Groningen. But again they became victims, this time from a bureaucratic swamp.
Printed below is an English translation of an article published today by the Dutch Financial Times, 
Oil giant Shell today announced that it had finished offloading shares in its New Zealand business to Austrian oil company OMV.
Spreadsheet-analysing investors in control of trillion-dollar funds are forcing polluters to change
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.
Emilio Parodi
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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.