Latest news roundup for Royal Dutch Shell Plc. News reports from the Wall Street Journal, Reuters and other news media organisations.

Shell CEO Considers New Natural-Gas Bet

Dow, Shell Accused Of Polluting Drinking Water With TCP

In Nigeria, Shell’s onshore roots still run deep

Oil and gas output at Russia’s Pacific Sakhalin island seen down in 2019

Shell Is in Talks to Sell $1.3 Billion in Gulf Coast Assets

Exclusive – Shell wins LNG deal to supply Chinese firm’s power plant in Panama

Shell and Exxon’s secret 1980s climate change warnings read more

In Ogoniland, Shell has polluted the land, turning it into a wasteland, destroying the people’s livelihoods and insisting on not compensating the people for the losses.

By Fegalo Nsuke

It’s barely two months to the twenty third memorial of nine Ogonis killed for Shell by the Nigerian authorities on November 10, 1995. This evil Enterprise we call Shell has stopped at nothing to push forward it’s brutally against the Ogoni people.

A few weeks ago, we – the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) called for investigations into the cases of harassment against Ogoni women in Gokana by soldiers attached to Shell workers currently laying pipelines in Ogoniland. And more recently, the cases of Doodealo and Dr Nwosu, both researchers who were brutally manhandled by the same soldiers while they attempted to take samples for soil tests in Ogoniland. At this moment, the Nigerian authorities have not acted in any way to protect our women from further abuses nor have they commissioned any probe into these cases. In their response to the harassment of women, Shell claimed that the soldiers do not take instructions from them. But the fact remains that Shell invited the soldiers in their desperation to return to oil production in Ogoniland without any broad-based discussions with the people and therefore cannot deny responsibility for the crimes. Shell in Nigeria is inhuman and a Shame. Its conduct in Nigeria is despicable and an ugly representation of today’s business community. With her overwhelming influence on the Nigerian government, Shell has taken advantage of our country to inflict monumental pain on our people, abusing citizen’s rights and has also devised a way of evading justice for the people. In Ogoniland, Shell has polluted the land, turning it into a wasteland, destroying the people’s livelihoods and insisting on not compensating the people for the losses. Fully aware of the discriminatory laws under which Nigeria operates, the very laws that threaten the existence of resource-based communities like the Ogoni, Shell has completely abandoned their social responsibilities and has instead divided the people against each other just to maintain it’s dominance and deprive the people of every voice that can announce their oppression to the knowledge of the world. Shell has prosecuted the war on Ogoni with every resource available to it, exploiting the people’s weaknesses especially the discriminatory laws that has deprived the Ogoni people their rightful place in our country. Rather than helping to build a progressive and prosperous host Community, Shell is comfortable with the current system that allows the company do what it dares not to do in Europe. After taking over 100 billion dollars worth of oil from Ogoni, a company like Shell which doesn’t use her conscience continues to act indifferently even as it’s Pollutions in Ogoni sadly and currently kills over 200 Ogonis every week. Shell does not feel bothered that people’s livelihoods have been destroyed and they deserve to be compensated. Shell cannot claim to be ignorant about the fact that their cannot be remediation without compensation for damages. But Shell must pay for her crimes in Ogoniland. It does not matter the strength of the Nigerian armies, Ogoni will not surrender to murderers like Shell nor shall we surrender to the discriminatory laws of Nigeria which threaten our survival. We demand justice for the Ogoni people of Nigeria. We demand political rights to self determination, we demand the rights to a respectable and dignified living. These rights are currently enjoyed by other groups in Nigeria who take away Ogoni resources and share among themselves leaving Ogoni with nothing but the pain and sad consequences of revenue generation; we demand the review of the death sentences passed on nine innocent Ogonis during the regime of General Sani Abacha in 1995; we demand the payment of compensation by Shell for the destruction of livelihoods by oil spills from the company’s reckless oil mining business in Ogoniland since 1958, and an adequate funding for the cleanup and restoration of Ogoniland. These demands are justifiable, legitimate and do conform with the ideals of the founding fathers of our country. We state categorically that as a people, we shall not compromise on our rights nor shall we relent on our demands for fairness and justice as contained in the Ogoni Bill of Rights. This post is written by Fegalo Nsuke, publicly secretary of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP). He wrote from Bori, Ogoniland.

Disclaimer

The views, information, allegations or opinions expressed above are those of the author/originator of the article. They have not been substantiated by the publisher of this website and may not represent the publishers views. read more

Thursday, September 20, 2018   19.36PM / By Global Witness 

Conviction in middlemen’s fast-tracked OPL 245 trial a poor omen for Shell and Eni’s defence just days before major bribery trial hears first prosecution witnesses.

Today two middlemen have been found guilty of corruption offences relating to Shell and Eni’s 2011 deal for one of Nigeria’s most promising oil licenses. The judgement was first reported by Reuters who cited a legal source.

The two middlemen Emeka Obi and Gianluca Di Nardo have been sentenced to four years jail time and confiscations of over €100 million. The pair had opted for a fast tracked trial for their role in the deal. The fast track process in Italian law offers a possible reduction in any sentence. A larger trial including Shell, Eni and 13 other defendants is ongoing. The prosecution will start presenting their evidence next Wednesday. read more

…this judgment will send shivers down the corporate spines of the oil industry – and will surely alarm Shell and Eni employees and shareholders who have been repeatedly told that there was nothing amiss with the OPL 245 deal.”

September 20, 2018: Samuel Ogundipe

A Nigerian man and his accomplice in Italy were on Thursday sentenced to four years each for their roles in the controversial Malabu oil deal, marking the first victory for Italian prosecutors in the complex corruption case.

The deal, struck in 2011 under President Goodluck Jonathan, saw the Nigerian government stand as a negotiator in the controversial sale of OPL 245 oil block in offshore Nigerian waters.

Two international oil and gas giants, Royal Dutch Shell and Italian Agip-Eni, paid out about $1.1 billion to Dan Etete, a former Nigerian petroleum minister who had previously been convicted of money laundering in France. 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

September 20, 2018, 08:07:00 AM EDT By Reuters

MILAN, Sept 20 (Reuters) – A Milan court sentenced two defendants in a Nigeria corruption case to jail on Thursday in what is a first ruling on one of the oil industry’s biggest graft scandals.

Nigeria’s Emeka Obi and Italian Gianluca Di Nardo were both found guilty of international corruption and each given four-year jail sentences, two sources with knowledge of the ruling said.

Lawyers for Obi and Nardo were not available for immediate comment. read more

19 SEPTEMBER 2018: By Prince Okafor With Agency Report

An Italian court has concluded plans to deliver its first verdict on the trial of top Shell and Eni executives, over alleged corruption in the controversial Malabu scandal tomorrow in Milan, Italy.

The Italian prosecutors alleged that $1.1 billion from the deal didn’t come into Nigeria where the oil field OPL 245 is located, but to accounts belonging to former Minister of Petroleum, Mr. Dan Etete.

The Italian judge, it was learnt will decide, for the first time, whether $1.1 billion of the sum paid was siphoned in bribes to win the license to the field. read more

MILAN, Sept 18 (Reuters) – Oil majors Shell and Eni will be carefully monitoring a first ruling this week by a Milan judge in one of the energy industry’s biggest corruption scandals for clues to what might be round the corner for them.

The two companies are embroiled in a long-running graft case revolving around the purchase in 2011 of one of Africa’s biggest oilfields – Nigeria’s OPL 245 – for about $1.3 billion.

The case, which involves Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi and four former Shell managers including one-time Shell Foundation Chairman Malcolm Brinded, has spawned legal cases spanning several countries and is expected to drag on for months. read more

The trial starts this week, with defendants that include former Shell Vice President for sub-Saharan Africa Peter Robinson, and former company board member Malcolm Brinded.

BY JOHN SMITHIES, EPOCH TIMES September 17, 2018 Updated: September 17, 2018

LONDON—Senior executives from oil giants Royal Dutch Shell and Eni are facing corruption charges in Milan over a $1.3 billion deal for a huge African oil field.

Italian prosecutors allege that $1.1 billion from the deal didn’t go to Nigeria, where the oil field OPL 245 is located, but to accounts belonging to former oil lawmaker Dan Etete. Etete is accused of subsequently distributing hundreds of millions of dollars to others as bribes, including to former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan. read more

Time running out for prosecutors to obtain potentially crucial documents seized in Geneva apartment raid

Ben Chapman: @b_c_chapman

Giant oil companies, offshore accounts, ex-MI6 agents, champagne lunches, a former Nigerian president and allegations of one of the biggest bribes ever paid – the corruption case against Shell and Italy’s Eni filed by prosecutors in Milan over a shady $1.3bn deal for a vast African oil field has could have been lifted from the pages of an espionage thriller.

The latest developments thicken the plot further with a cache of documents seized in a raid on a Swiss financier’s apartment that could be crucial to the case, leaving prosecutors in a race against time to get them to Milan as trial hearings get underway this week.

The Geneva raid uncovered a briefcase belonging to Emeka Obi, a middleman who received millions of dollars from the deal and is in the dock along with several senior Shell and Eni executives.

Inside the briefcase, Swiss prosecutors found a laptop, two Nigerian passports, five sim cards and a hard drive containing 41,000 documents that prosecutors believe could be crucial to the trial playing out on the other side of the Alps. read more

Article published by The New York Times 16 Sept 2018

OIL INDUSTRY

Corruption trial of major oil companies resumes.

On Tuesday, the trial of two large oil companies, Royal Dutch Shell and Italy’s Eni, is expected to resume at a court in Milan after a summer break. The first session would most likely be devoted to procedural issues, but prosecutors are expected to lay out their case in the weeks ahead. Prosecutors are charging the companies with corruption over a deal for an offshore oil exploration tract off Nigeria. Both companies have denied wrongdoing. read more

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 Canadian Press: Hina Alam: September 13, 2018: 4:23 PM EDT: Last Updated September 13, 2018. 7:32 PM EDTVANCOUVER — Shell Canada Ltd. has given up its offshore exploration rights, clearing the way for the creation of Canada’s first protected marine area under the Canada Wildlife Act. The company voluntarily released permits for about 50,000 square kilometres in an area off British Columbia’s coast to allow for the creation of the Scott Islands marine National Wildlife Area. FULL ARTICLE read more

Sir Henri Deterding was Director General of the Royal Dutch Shell Group when his initial massive donation of food to Nazi Germany was announced in a Reuter’s Wireless report dated 20 December 1936. 

The donated food on that occasion filled 7,000 railway wagons.

Despite criticism in the news media, specifically linking the money saved on food to Nazi rearmament, Deterding continued to donate Dutch food for Nazi Germany, where he now lived after marrying his secretary, a young German woman. Like him, an ardent Nazi.  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