EMAIL BEING SENT THIS WEEKEND TO EVERY UK MP. 

Justin Welby, Archbishop of Hypocrisy

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. 

BBC Newsnight aired a 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. 

I can speak with some authority in relation to the toxicity of Shell. read more

The NAM, for example, had the reputation of being an exemplary company that neatly arranged its affairs for its citizens. That picture is different now. Allegations that the risks of gas extraction from small fields are not so, are no longer believed.

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.

Gas is now a dirty word outside of Groningen

Bas Knoop

The earthquake trauma of the Groningers now also causes unrest among citizens living near smaller gas fields. From Steenwijkerland to Waalwijk: more and more places are brewing resistance. Together with local authorities, citizens make gas extraction the subject of a political and legal battle with The Hague. read more

Printed below is an English translation of an article published today by the Dutch Financial Times, Financieele Dagblad. 

Maarten Wetselaar: ‘There has been a period of thirty years in which the industry and we also only talked about the largest oil platforms that were built and the deepest wells that were drilled.’ Photo: Michel de Groot

‘The energy transition gives power back to the customer’

Bert van Dijk: Energy: 12 Sept 2018

ShellRDSA € 27.85 + 1.05% is still an oil and gas multinational, but is sorting for a future in which it will become one of the largest electricity companies. ‘We are faced with a revolution’, says Maarten Wetselaar, member of the Executive Board of Shell in an interview with the FD. He is responsible, among other things, for the New Energies division that was established two years ago. read more

In 2008, the then Shell CEO Jeroen van der Veer (above) forecast that “Demand for oil and gas would outstrip demand within 7 years

By John Donovan

According to an article published by the Houston Chronicle – Is peak oil demand coming soon – Royal Dutch Shell now forecasts that crude oil demand will crest in the late 2020s.

It is salient to note that in 2008, the then Shell CEO Jeroen van der Veer forecast that “Demand for oil and gas will outstrip demand within 7 years… see below. read more

Printed below is an English translation of an article published today by the Dutch Financial Times, Financieele Dagblad. 

Shell is investing $ 200 million in The Hague campus

The headquarters of Shell in The Hague. Photo: Peter Hilz / HH

Bert van Dijk: 10 Sept 2018

Oil and gas multinational Shell RDSA € 27.20-0.44% will invest more than $ 200 million in a new Shell campus in The Hague in the coming years. It concerns the renovation and expansion of the current monumental headquarters of the company on the Carel van Bylandtlaan. The company also expects to create hundreds of new jobs in the New Energies division in the coming years, the global headquarters of which will be on the new campus. Shell announced this today.

The New Energies branch focuses, among other things, on forms of energy that emit less CO2, such as solar and wind energy and biofuels. The division investigates new commercial models that the company can apply in the global energy transition. read more

Ben Marlow, executive business editor: 9 SEPTEMBER 2018 • 8:39PM

Like a pair of mysterious soothsayers, Maarten Wetselaar and John Abbott are peering into the future. The world they see is almost unrecognisable from the one we inhabit today, and yet it is only just around the corner. In the west, the petrol car has become obsolete. Lorries are powered by liquid natural gas. Freight liners criss-cross the oceans fuelled by hydrogen. Solar and wind provide the energy to our homes. And the petrol station has been reimagined as an unlikely retail hotspot where people routinely gather to do their food shopping, pick up parcels, and sip artisan coffee. A convoy of vehicles are being rebooted at one of many charging points on the forecourt. FULL ARTICLE read more

A British criminal lawyer, Michael Birnbaum QC, who observed the trial, concluded that it was deeply unfair. “The judgement of the Tribunal is not merely wrong, illogical or perverse. It is downright dishonest. The Tribunal consistently advanced arguments which no experienced lawyer could possibly believe to be logical or just. I believe that the Tribunal first decided on its verdict and then sought for arguments to justify them. No barrel was too deep to be scraped.”

Extracts from pages 33 & 34 of an Amnesty International document entitled: “A CRIMINAL ENTERPRISE? SHELL’S INVOLVEMENT IN HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS IN NIGERIA IN THE 1990s”

OGONI 9: UNFAIR TRIAL AND EXECUTION

On 6 February 1995, Ken Saro-Wiwa, Dr Barinem Kiobel and the other prisoners were allowed to see their lawyers for the first time since their arrest in May the previous year.136 They were put on trial by a specially constituted tribunal – The Civil Disturbances Tribunal. Ken Saro-Wiwa, Barinem Kiobel, John Kpuinen, and Saro-Wiwa’s deputy in MOSOP, Ledum Mitee, were accused of inciting the murders. The other men were accused of carrying them out. They all faced the death penalty and were denied the chance to appeal. read more

‘A museum dedicated to science education should not be helping promote any company that is actively exacerbating this planetary emergency until they show a serious proactive drive to switch to renewables’

• Josh Gabbatiss Science Correspondent
• @josh_gabbatiss

Tens of thousands of people have urged the Manchester Museum of Science and Industry to drop Shell as a sponsor from an upcoming event. The announcement that the museum’s new exhibition, “Electricity: the spark of life”, would be supported by the oil giant sparked controversy among local groups. FULL ARTICLE

Shell plans opening 1,200 retail stations in India in 10 years

BENGALURU: Shell Companies in India Chairman Nitin Prasad said Monday the company plans to open 1,200 retail stations across India in the next ten years. Terming it as one of the “most largest expansions” ever planned by Shell, he said “each one of those stations can easily accommodate about 100 workers. Simply put, one lakh jobs will get created…” These retail stations, in turn, will trigger several other jobs in terms of infrastructureNSE -2.22 % building to supply those stations with fuel and retail products, he said. FULL ARTICLE read more

…clearly, they cannot absolve themselves of responsibility because they (Shell) brought in the soldiers to Ogoniland…In the last seven days, at least 50 persons excluding children died in Gokana alone… It appears a strategy for Shell to use the fear of death to compel our people to give up on the oil… The company (Shell) has in their racist conduct of business in Ogoniland carted away over $100 billion worth of oil, completely destroyed the environment and now unwilling to cleanup the mess from its operations. read more

By John Donovan

Just over a month ago, in the context of informed speculation by retired Shell experts from snippets of information that have leaked out, I asked the question:

“Is all well with the Shell Prelude FLNG Project? 

A number of things have happened since publication, including todays announcement of Tom Summers exit from his VP role at Shell Energy Australia, linked to continuing delays in the Prelude project.

Add in the appointment of Rob Jager as VP Prelude, Shell Australia, and the secondment to Prelude of outside technicians from LNG production company Atlantic, it seems that the project may indeed be in a state of flux. read more

MARTIN BAILEY: 29th August 2018 09:59 GMT

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

..reacting to the allegation of intimidation, Mr Bamidele Odugbesan, Media Relations Manager of Shell, denied use of force to compel the company’s host communities to sign the JIV report.

27 August 2018

The Joint Task Force (JTF) in the Niger Delta and oil major, Shell on Monday denied allegations of coercing the leadership of Aghoro 1 community in Bayelsa to sign a disputed report on oil spillage. FULL ARTICLE

Russia’s Gazprom PJSC owns the project, with Royal Dutch Shell Plc and four other investors including Germany’s Uniper SE and Wintershall AG providing half of the 9.5 billion-euro ($11 billion) in cost.

By Elena Mazneva and Anna Shiryaevskaya | Bloomberg
August 27 at 12:00 AM

A planned new natural-gas pipeline into Europe from Russia is shaking up geopolitics. Nord Stream 2, as it’s called, worries leaders in Eastern Europe, has stirred the ire of U.S. President Donald Trump and has put German Chancellor Angela Merkel on the hot seat. FULL ARTICLE read more

By RestCo Principal Christopher Ives

Shell Nigeria recovers 95% spilled oil (Aug 20, 2018)

My colleague Darry MacMahon wrote – Pardon my skepticism, but how would they know? I’m making some assumptions here, based on typical oil industry and pipeline operation practice.

If you come up with a ratio number, like 95%, you need two underlying numbers: the amount recovered and the amount actually spilled.

The people doing the clean-up might have a reasonable number on how much they picked up. That number will likely be a little inflated, as they will also likely have picked up some water and small debris as part of the clean-up. Big vacuum units are not good at discriminating between oil and other things in and around the oil. So, the numerator is likely overstated. read more

Aristofanis Papadatos: 25 August 2018

Summary

By Zheng Xin | China Daily | Updated: 2018-08-23 09:12

Global energy giant Royal Dutch Shell Plc has announced plans to triple the number of gas stations it has in China to 3,500 by 2025, in response to the recent lifting of restrictions on foreign investment in the sector. FULL ARTICLE

REUTERS STAFF: AUGUST 22, 2018

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell’s (RDSa.AS) Brazil chief said on Wednesday that the company is evaluating the assets of Centrais Eletricas Brasileiras SA’s (ELET6.SA) that are being put up for sale as part of the state-owned utility’s debt reduction and privatization plans. Andre Araujo also told reporters that the company was considering participating in an upcoming Brazilian government auction for projects in the wind energy sector. FULL ARTICLE read more

Shell says it recovers 95% spilled oil in Bayelsa, Delta communities

Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC)… acknowledged the spills and expressed regret over the incidents.

August 20, 2018: Agency Report

Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC) says it has recovered more than 95 per cent of spilled oil from the recent incidents in Bayelsa and Delta states.

SPDC Media Relations Manager, Bamidele Odugbesan, made this known in a statement he issued on Sunday in Port Harcourt.

Mr Odugbesan said that recoveries were made on sections of the Trans Ramos Pipeline (TRP) in Aghoro community, Bayelsa and Odimodi community, Delta.

He said that the pipeline, which remained shut-in since the incidents, supplied crude to the SPDC Joint Venture-owned Forcados Oil Terminal in western Niger Delta for export. read more