Several big fund managers believe that oil companies should shut themselves down because soon they will become impossible to invest in as the world switches to renewable energy.
A survey of 39 fund managers with $10.2 trillion under management found that 24 per cent wanted the oil industry “to wind down their businesses and return cash to shareholders”. All but two of the funds said that oil stocks would not be attractive investments within ten years if they failed to respond to climate risks.read more
The world’s five largest publicly traded oil companies are increasing their investments in oil and gas, putting a combined $110 billion in new fossil-fuel production.
Meanwhile, those firms are projected to spend just $3.6 billion on low-carbon investments, such as biofuels and renewables, according to a new analysis that Influence Map, a British nonprofit that analyzes corporate influence on climate policy, derived from industry data and numbers buried in company disclosures.
The reckless disparity comes just months after the United Nations warned that the world must rapidly phase out fossil fuel use over the next decade or face catastrophic global warming of at least 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit.read more
Last year the number of accidents per hour worked increased at the oil company. Supervisors warn that Shell needs to do more about safety.
In December 2017, during regular maintenance work, a lifeboat suddenly came loose on the Shell platform Brent Alpha in the North Sea. The lifeboat fell into the sea and was recovered a day later. Although no one is injured, it was not the first time. In 2008, it was discovered that two lifeboats on another nearby Shell platform, Brent Bravo, were technically in such poor condition that they had to be replaced. And in 2007 a rescue boat on another Shell platform broke loose and collapsed into the sea.read more
Shell’s investment could surpass $650M if exploration continues, according to the president of Colombia’s National Hydrocarbons Agency.
The government recently modified contractual terms for offshore exploration and launched a new process that allows companies to apply to explore in areas of interest, offering 20 blocks as part of a strategy to boost the oil sector.read more
EXCLUSIVE: TV chef who previously campaigned for green causes is facing a major backlash
The TV chef has launched Jamie Oliver deli by Shell (Image: PA)
Shell, whose profits hit £4.3billion last year, is in the top 10 global carbon dioxide emitters. It is also involved in a corruption trial over dealings in Nigeria.
Jamie Oliver has sparked fresh fury after trying to defend his £5million food-to-go deal with Shell.
The TV chef, 43, yesterday launched his range for the oil giant, despite campaigning for action on climate change.
He said he had “thought a lot” before agreeing to it, adding: “There are pitfalls working for any client, they all have their own baggage.”
But campaigners hit out at his reasoning, which comes after Jamie told of a cash crisis at his company.
Shell, whose profits hit £4.3billion last year, is in the top 10 global carbon dioxide emitters. It is also involved in a corruption trial over dealings in Nigeria.read more
Giants amass cash for share buybacks and dividends
Rachel Millard: October 28 2018
The two biggest London-listed oil majors are expected to report higher profits and cash levels this week, driven by rising oil and gas prices as the industry’s recovery continues.
The price of a barrel of Brent crude averaged $75.80 during the third quarter of the year, 45% higher than the same period in 2017, while UK gas prices are up 54% year-on-year.
The rally following the crash that sent prices below $30 a barrel in 2016 is helping companies to repay debt and start rewarding shareholders, even as it pushes up costs for households and motorists. Analysts’ profit forecasts for BP, which reports on Tuesday, averaged $2.8bn (£2.2bn) compared with $1.9bn during the same quarter last year.read more
LONDON, Sept 23 (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell pioneered Nigeria’s oil and gas industry and remains a major investor in the West African country. But over the decades it has come under fire over spills in the Delta region and struggles with oil theft, corruption and oil-fueled violence.
Following are some of the highlights of Shell’s history in Nigeria:
1936 – The Royal Dutch Shell Group establishes a Nigerian venture with the precursor company of BP Plc. The first shipment of oil from Nigeria takes place in 1958.read more
From: John Donovan <johndonovan Subject: Justin Welby Date: 20 September 2018 at 11:50:12 BST To: [email protected]
Email sent to Prominent Members of the House of Lords
SUBJECT: Justin Welby, Archbishop of Cant, with a touch of Frank Spencer
Justin Welby is in hot water again. He has criticised another controversial company, last time Wonga and this time the tax-shy Amazon. Both later embarrassingly revealed to be businesses in which the Church of England is an investor. He is currently the main target of Rod Liddle in his outspoken Sunday Times column, described as the Archbishop of Cant, with a touch of Frank Spencer.
BBC Newsnight aired a related package on Friday 14 Sept drawing attention to the subject and the Church of England’s numerous questionable investments. In particular, its holdings in BP and Shell, both described as being “toxic”. Bearing in mind the history set out below, particularly the Nazi aspect and the antisemitism, how could the Church of England invest in such a toxic business, as Shell?
Shell has targeted perceived enemies, such as Greenpeace and The Body Shop, with undercover activity using Hakluyt & Co, the commercial offshoot of MI6 set up partly by Shell and BP. read more
Royal Dutch Shell has invested significantly in LNG with its takeover of British Gas in 2016. The acquisition of BG for more than $50 billion provided the Dutch company with a head start during a period when prices were low. Shell’s capacity in the LNG industry is nearly double compared to its nearest competitor. The company’s value currently is $53 billion less than Exxon’s, the largest oil and gas company in the world. Before the deal, the difference was more than $150 billion. FULL ARTICLEread more
Two of the major Dutch museums have just ended their collaboration with Shell, at a time of mounting protests over sponsorship by fossil fuel companies. Amsterdam’s Van Gogh Museum and the Mauritshuis in The Hague both terminated arrangements with the country’s largest oil and gas firm this summer. FULL ARTICLE
LONDON (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell’s (RDSa.L) oil traders in the Caribbean island of Barbados are getting ready for a tough gig – they’re being moved to the Bahamas next month. The relocation of the oil and gas company’s trading hub for Latin America will make travel to customers in the key region easier for its employees, a company spokeswoman said. FULL ARTICLE
By Elizabeth Burden and Thomas Biesheuvel 15 August 2018, 08:54 BST
*Methodist fund developing system analyzing company ethics *Top mining and oil companies will be graded by end of 2018
Divestment may be too blunt an instrument to encourage the world’s biggest oil and mining companies to behave ethically: the Methodist Church is prepared to back those committed to mending their ways. FULL ARTICLEread more
LONDON (Reuters) – Oil giant BP’s Eastern Trough Area Project off the coast of Scotland wasn’t supposed to be viable beyond 2018. But government and industry working together have given ETAP a new lease of life that is being closely watched by countries and companies eyeing other ageing projects around the world. When ETAP was launched 20 years ago today, some experts predicted the UK sector of the North Sea would cease most production by 2030. FULL ARTICLEread more
Oil investors may regret urging companies to cough up cash now instead of investing in growth for later as the dearth of exploration is setting the stage for an unprecedented crude price spike, according to Sanford C. Bernstein.
Companies have been compelled to focus on boosting returns and shareholder distributions at the expense of capital expenditures aimed at finding new supplies, analysts including Neil Beveridge wrote in a note on Friday.read more
Bogus Group: I concur with Bonus Group recollection of the tin pot, lacklustre, parvenu outfit. There was no place in BG Group for experienced professionals if they didn’t possess the sycophant tendencies required to stoke the egos of those deluded by corporate grandeur.
Large remuneration packages were not uncommon then too, the chief executive received circa £13mm (published) in bonuses throughout his 12 year tenure. During that period there were 26 fatalities, roughly £500k for each. That was more than distasteful.
Bonus Group: Today is the anniversary date of the agreement on terms of the takeover of BG Group (a tin pot, lacklustre, parvenu outfit) by Royal Dutch Shell plc in 2015. In consequence of BG Group's consistent failures to meet targets and the engineered predatory takeover by Royal Dutch Shell plc the careers and professional lives of many experienced Geoscientists and Engineers were brutally butchered, terminated, and cast aside like so much offal, so it is rather distasteful to see the size of Ben van Beurden's remuneration package being flaunted in the press by Royal Dutch Shell plc.
CEP Problems: It seems to be impossible right now to get any chance of landing a job inside Shell these days. Everytime people apply for jobs unless they have high potential or a diversity point they get rejections. I got told recently that the hiring manager was looking for someone with high potential. Don't these people realise that they also need QUALIFIED people to actually do the work. Ridiculous but it almost getting to age discrimination these days. Rant over.
Shell Canada Insider: SHELL CANADA
...they are wanting to sell their Alberta operations..... because there is no money left in it...they have syphoned it all off.....
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.
FG names Shell, Eni executives in $1bn bribery case – The Punch 08 May 2019 11:43 Google ’Femi Asu with agency report
Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Eni SpA face additional corruption allegations over a Nigerian oil deal, after the Federal Government said in a London lawsuit that it believed a handful of executives, including Chief Executive …
FG files fresh charges against Shell executives, JPMorgan over Malabu Oil scandal 08 May 2019 10:01 Herald Sequel to the lawsuit filed last year against Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Eni and JP Morgan for being involved in a $1bn oil block bribery case, the Federal Government has submitted new case documents that indict their top executives.
FG said in the court files …
FG names Shell, Eni executives in $1bn bribery case 08 May 2019 08:09 Punch Newspapers ’Femi Asu with agency report
Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Eni SpA face additional corruption allegations over a Nigerian oil deal, after the Federal Government said in a London lawsuit that it believed a handful of executives, including Chief Executive …
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 …
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.
Climate change could wipe up to $4 trillion off the value of fossil fuel assets, the governor of the Bank of England has said: ALAMY
In brief
Printed below is an English translation of an article published today by the Dutch Financial Times, 
Beeld: Getty Images/ bewerking: FD Studio
Shell, whose profits hit £4.3billion last year, is in the top 10 global carbon dioxide emitters. It is also involved in a corruption trial over dealings in Nigeria.
LONDON, Sept 23 (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell pioneered Nigeria’s oil and gas industry and remains a major investor in the West African country. But over the decades it has come under fire over spills in the Delta region and struggles with oil theft, corruption and oil-fueled violence.
From: John Donovan <johndonovan
MARTIN BAILEY:
Shell oil traders trade one Caribbean paradise for another
By Elizabeth Burden and Thomas Biesheuvel
Ron Bousso
By Ben Sharples: Bloomberg News: 7 July 2018
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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.