Jeroen van der Veer
Shell Deeply Ashamed
A word in your Shell-like
FROM OUR FEBRUARY 2005 SHELL NEWS ARCHIVE: “…we learned last year that the company leadership had been systematically lying to itself, its shareholders and wider stakeholders about the size of its oil reserves.”: “for years Shell lied about its sustainability as a business while preaching principles that it was betraying.”: “Shell had knowingly overstated its reserves by a third, a monumental betrayal of trust that is Europe’s version of Enron.”
By John Donovan
We have printed below a brilliant Will Hutton article published by The Observer on Sunday 6 February 2005. As he correctly says, this was a company that was lying to itself. No wonder Sir Philip Watts is seeking redemption.
The Observer: A word in your Shell-like
By Will Hutton: Sunday February 6, 2005
There’s nothing wrong with making profits. But we deserve a more sophisticated debate about sharing them
There is nothing like the news of one of Britain’s biggest companies making record profits to bring out all our ambiguities about capitalism in general and profit in particular. The left’s traditional mistrust of corporate money-making still casts a long shadow and even capitalists are uncertain how to respond when their profits are booming.
Unsure of Shell
FROM OUR FEBRUARY 2005 SHELL NEWS ARCHIVE: A person close to the company said: “Without exception, every Shell person I have met recently has asked me if I am able to help them find something else. Others are leaving without even waiting to find another job.”
By John Donovan
Printed below is an article by Robert Peston in his then capacity and Sunday City Editor of The Sunday Telegraph. He is not the first to have been deceived by the Shell CEO Jeroen van der Veer. Ask Bill Campbell, the former HSE Group Auditor of Shell International.
Sunday Telegraph City Comment, Edited by Robert Peston, Sunday City Editor: (Filed: 06/02/2005)
Jeroen van der Veer is not what you expect from the chief executive of the UK’s most profitable company – which is what Shell became last week, with its disclosure that in 2004 it generated net income of almost £10bn.
Desperation led to Shell’s plotting to exploit 9/11 attacks
Serious consideration was given by senior Shell EP execs to exploiting the tragic events of 9/11 for desperate commercial purposes – to cover-up investor deception about Shell’s claimed oil and gas reserves. Concern was expressed about the possibility of getting caught out telling Investor Relation “stories” regarding production growth and reserves replacement and what the likely punishment might be.
By John Donovan, first published 1st Feb 2013 (re-edited on 4 April 2019)
I stumbled across some shocking Shell internal email correspondence while searching the US Court files for class action litigation relating to the Shell oil and gas reserves scandal.
It involved senior Shell EP executives all reporting to Walter van de Vijver, Chief Executive of Shell Exploration and Production and a Group MD of the Royal Dutch Shell Group.
Serious consideration was given by senior Shell EP execs to exploiting the tragic events of 9/11 for desperate commercial purposes – to cover-up investor deception about Shell’s claimed oil and gas reserves. Concern was expressed about the possibility of getting caught out telling Investor Relation “stories” regarding production growth and reserves replacement and what the likely punishment might be.
Short list of praiseworthy senior Royal Dutch Shell executives
Now we have his equally scandal tainted successor, Peter Voser, Chairman of the UBS Audit Committee at the time when UBS was engaged in all kinds of criminal activity.
Posting on Shell Blog by LondonLad on Jan 17th, 2013 at 19:56
In all honesty can the Donovan’s kindly list some of the past and present senior executives of Royal Dutch Shell that they would support for their good work, honesty, ability to abide by country HSE requirements, etc. etc. More and more it seems that if you work for RDS at a (very) senior level they’ll get shafted via real AND tabloid reporting on this website, Greenpeace (dick-heads), and other tree hugging websites. We (the countries around the world) need to advance, risks need to be taken as a result….
Reputational damage to Peter Voser
By John Donovan
The mainstream news media is reporting that the reputational damage to Peter Voser and the Shell board arising from the Arctic meltdown is huge. The fact that Shell’s leadership is hopelessly incompetent comes as no surprise to us. No competent board with an ounce of commercial commonsense would allow this website to continue in existence, bearing in mind the damage it has done to Shell over the years by providing an outlet for Shell insider leaks. A Shell official has admitted our success in humiliating the company. Watts was a disaster, Jeroen van der Veer meekly surrendered Shell’s controlling stake in the Sakhalin II project and Voser has now been exposed as a hypocritical fat cat who poured scorn on BP, instead of minding his own ship. Why did Shell rehire Voser in the first place? Surely it would have been better to find someone not tainted by financial scandal to lead Shell after the reserves fraud?
Editorial Integrity of “A History of Royal Dutch Shell”
“In fact all three Shell members of the editorial committee, Watts, Van der Veer and Munsiff, had form in the culture of corporate cover-up and were therefore ideal from the standpoint of Shell to have editorial influence over inclusion (or non-inclusion) of the dark side of Shell’s history and how that information was treated (spun?)“
By John Donovan
The official history of Royal Dutch Shell published in three volumes in 2007 was commissioned by the company and authored by historians associated with Utrecht University who were given unrestricted access to Royal Dutch Shell archives.
The relevant historians, who describe themselves as the researchers and authors of the work, say that none of them are Shell employees and claim that the work is “the fruit of our independent research” with their progress “monitored by an editorial committee, with an equal number of economic historians and company representatives.”
How Shell’s Move To Revamp Culture Ended in Scandal
FROM OUR NOVEMBER 2004 SHELL NEWS ARCHIVE
How Shell’s Move To Revamp Culture Ended in Scandal: “The root of the problem, however, goes significantly further back than Sir Philip’s reign, which began in 2001”: “These deeper roots are significant because the company has yet to make a full break with its past. Mr. van der Veer is a longtime Shell executive who sat on the committee that received — and dallied over — warnings about the accounting problems.”: “In addition to its ambitious plans to discover new oil and gas cheaply, Shell under Sir Mark was redefining how it counted existing reserves.”: “Sir Mark Moody-Stuart, chairman from 1998 to 2001, remains on the board of Shell’s English parent… He declined to comment about reserves issues. And Shell still can’t seem to get a handle on its reserves.”
As New-Age Style Came In,
Geology Skills Lost Out;
Imitating Jerry Springer
Oilmen at a Rainy Playground
By CHIP CUMMINS and ALMAR LATOUR Staff Reporters of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
November 2, 2004; Page A1
In late 2000, the head of the Dutch exploration unit at Royal Dutch/Shell Group asked his planners to deliver five-minute skits pitching ideas for discovering oil and gas.
In one skit, a naked employee ran on stage to catch the boss’s attention, say two people who attended. Another featured a mock episode of the Jerry Springer show, the incendiary daytime TV talk program. A third, after a bit of fun and games, promised to extract large quantities of natural gas cheaply from seemingly declining Dutch fields.
How Shell’s Move To Revamp Culture Ended in Scandal
FROM OUR NOVEMBER 2004 SHELL NEWS ARCHIVE
How Shell’s Move To Revamp Culture Ended in Scandal
Paddy Briggs, a retired Shell communications executive, recalls one event where he and about 40 executives were issued shovels and pick-axes and dispatched to a Dutch village to help it restore an old playground. The oilmen gave up around lunchtime amid heavy rain. Such gimmicks became the butt of jokes, “but nobody said, ‘Hey, have we lost our minds here?’ “says Mr. Briggs.
As New-Age Style Came In,
Geology Skills Lost Out;
Imitating Jerry Springer
Oilmen at a Rainy Playground
By CHIP CUMMINS and ALMAR LATOUR
Staff Reporters of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
November 2, 2004; Page A1
In late 2000, the head of the Dutch exploration unit at Royal Dutch/Shell Group asked his planners to deliver five-minute skits pitching ideas for discovering oil and gas.
In one skit, a naked employee ran on stage to catch the boss’s attention, say two people who attended. Another featured a mock episode of the Jerry Springer show, the incendiary daytime TV talk program. A third, after a bit of fun and games, promised to extract large quantities of natural gas cheaply from seemingly declining Dutch fields.
All the worst Shell traits – secrecy, haughtiness, inertia
From our Shell News Archive Sunday 31 October, 2004
The fallout from the Shell reserves fraud continues…
The Independent On Sunday (UK): Business View: Shell’s real location problem is finding more black stuff: “The misreporting of reserves scandal showed all the worst Shell traits – secrecy, haughtiness, inertia.”: “So what’s the hurry? Was it because Shell had to admit that it had uncovered another 900 million barrels of doubtful crude in its reserves and was likely to uncover 600 million more?”
Sunday Express (UK): Shell boardroom changes backfire on reserves news: “ONE OF the world’s most influential financial firms has given the thumbs down to an announcement from Shell it is to end its 97-year-old dual board structure.”: “…financial ratings agency Standard & Poor’s said it had adjusted Shell’s investment rating downwards to “creditwatch negative”, a status which implies there may be more bad news to come from the company.”
Mail on Sunday (UK): Shell bosses in a charm offensive: “The Board, headed by Jeroen van der Veer, will see thousands of staff to explain the proposed changes and shore up the mood of the employees damaged by scandals over Shell’s inflated oil reserves.”: “Last week, Shell was forced to downgrade its estimates of proven oil reserves for the fifth time this year. Reserves are now a third lower than originally thought”
A DREADFUL DAY FOR SHELL SHAREHOLDERS, ESPECIALLY UK SHELL SHAREHOLDERS
FROM OUR OCTOBER 2004 SHELL NEWS ARCHIVE
Friday 29 October, 2004 – A DREADFUL DAY FOR SHAREHOLDERS IN SHELL TRANSPORT AND TRADING COMPANY PLC
The Times (UK): The Hague for head office: “ALTHOUGH it maintains otherwise, Shell is effectively going Dutch…”: “From May, the big decisions will be taken by a new board in The Hague, which has seven Dutch members and only four Britons.”: “…from 2006 it will hold AGMs only in The Hague.”
The Times (UK): Fear of new Shell reserves downgrade: “ROYAL Dutch/Shell yesterday raised fears that it may have to write down its reserves by more than 1.5 billion barrels…”: “With less than 60 per cent of its reservoir audit completed, Shell was unable yesterday to put a ceiling on the potential downgrade of its reserves…”
Daily Telegraph (UK): Dutch chiefs take helm of merged Shell: “The radical move, which needs to be approved by shareholders, is likely to be seen as a Dutch takeover of the energy giant…”: “The news was overshadowed by yet more revelations about the company’s “proven” reserves…”
‘Clever rascals’: blast for Shell on project near whale grounds
FROM OUR SEPT 2005 SHELL NEWS ARCHIVE
THE INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY: ‘Clever rascals’: blast for Shell on project near whale grounds
“In his resignation letter to the chief executive of Shell, Jeroen van der Veer, Professor Richard Steiner of the University of Alaska marine advisory programme urged other members of the scientific panel to “opt out of this project”, describing Shell as “clever, stubborn rascals”.
Sunday 11 September 2005
By Jonathan Brown in Siberia
The chairman of an eminent scientific panel appointed to oversee Shell’s controversial gas development in the far-eastern Russian island of Sakhalin has resigned, accusing the oil giant of being “clever, stubborn rascals”.
The embattled company will return to court in Sakhalin tomorrow as environmental campaigners mount a last-ditch effort to stop the Anglo-Dutch giant from completing the world’s most expensive oil and gas project.
Shell’s woes mount as it admits cost overruns and delays
FROM OUR JULY 2005 SHELL NEWS ARCHIVES…
THE TIMES: Shell’s woes mount as it admits cost overruns and delays
“FURTHER delays and soaring expenditure in big energy projects emerged at Royal Dutch Shell yesterday when the company admitted that the start-up of Bonga, a giant offshore Nigerian oilfield, had been pushed back until late this year.“: “Bonga’s budget has already swelled from a $2.7 billion estimate in 2001 to about $4 billion (£2.3 billion).”: “In a reference to the Sakhalin cost overruns, admitted by Shell a fortnight ago, Mr van der Veer said: “It is clear we must improve project management.”
Friday 29 July 2005
By Carl Mortished, International Business Editor
FURTHER delays and soaring expenditure in big energy projects emerged at Royal Dutch Shell yesterday when the company admitted that the start-up of Bonga, a giant offshore Nigerian oilfield, had been pushed back until late this year.
The billion barrel oilfield was expected to start producing in the summer but Peter Voser, Shell’s finance director, said that production would not get going until the fourth quarter. Bonga’s budget has already swelled from a $2.7 billion estimate in 2001 to about $4 billion (£2.3 billion).
Bloomberg: Shell Pays $150 Million to End Probe; Output May Fall
FROM OUR JULY 2004 SHELL NEWS ARCHIVE
Bloomberg: Shell Pays $150 Million to End Probe; Output May Fall
“Shell Chairman Jeroen van der Veer, 56, in a conference call from London said the settlement is a hopeful step in ending the reserves debacle that led to the ouster of three senior executives, the loss of a top-tier investment rating and more than a dozen shareholder lawsuits”
July 29, 2004
July 29 (Bloomberg) — Royal Dutch/Shell Group agreed to pay $150 million to settle U.S. and U.K. regulatory probes into the overstatement of its reserves and said the billions spent on drilling may not boost production in the next two years.
Oil and gas output at Shell, Europe’s second-largest oil company, may drop to 3.5 million barrels a day in 2006, down 2.2 percent from now. Second-quarter net income rose 16 percent to $3.77 billion from $3.26 billion a year ago, using accounting that excludes inventory-related gains.
London Evening Standard: Shell ‘has lied for 10 years’
FROM OUR 2004 SHELL NEWS ARCHIVE…
London Evening Standard: Shell ‘has lied for 10 years’
James Rossiter,
25 June 2004
EMBATTLED oil giant Shell has been dealt another blow with the filing of a new multi-billion dollar US class action against dozens of directors.
The action accuses the company of falsifying its reserves for almost 10 years and demands that ‘insiders’ who benefited must be brought to book.
Today’s filing is also the first lawsuit in the Shell saga to accuse auditors KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers of negligence and malpractice.
The firm has admitted four times since January that it overstated the amount of oil and gas on its books, That has resulted in it reducing its proven reserves by 4.5bn barrels, or 22% of the total.
How Shell changed its culture and lost its way
FROM OUR ARCHIVES…
Financial Times: How Shell changed its culture and lost its way
By Ian Bickerton
Published: June 17 2004 21:36
Posted 18 June 2004
It is rare to find Royal Dutch/Shell in openly confessional mood. Yet as Jeroen van der Veer, its managing chairman, stood with the applause of the oil group’s 400 senior executives ringing in his ears at a conference in Houston, Texas, last month, he will have known that the response was an expression of relief that the century-old Dutch-British company had finally come clean.
“Did the mid-90s transformation bring the desirable behaviours?” asked Mr van der Veer. “Or did it erode professionalism, corporate cohesion, ‘enterprise first’ thinking and loyalty?”
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