A witness hearing examining Shell’s role in the execution of nine men in Nigeria in the 1990s is a key opportunity to hold the oil giant to account over its alleged complicity in human rights abuses, Amnesty International said.

The Kiobel v Shell case resumes at The Hague on 8 October and will for the first time hear accounts from individuals who accuse Shell of offering them bribes to give fake testimonies that led to the ‘Ogoni Nine’ – who included Esther Kiobel’s husband – being sentenced to death and executed. read more

Nigeria/Netherlands: witnesses heard in landmark case scutinising Shell’s role in execution of Ogoni Nine

Shell accused of complicity in execution of nine men in Nigeria in the 1990s

Witness hearing a key chance to hold Shell to account

A witness hearing examining Shell’s role in the execution of nine men in Nigeria in the 1990s is a key opportunity to hold the oil giant to account over its alleged complicity in human rights abuses, Amnesty International said.

The Kiobel v Shell case resumes at The Hague today (8 October) and will for the first time hear accounts from individuals who accuse Shell of offering them bribes to give fake testimonies that led to the ‘Ogoni Nine’ – who included Esther Kiobel’s husband – being sentenced to death and executed.

Esther Kiobel and three other women – Victoria Bera, Blessing Eawo and Charity Levula – accuse Shell of being complicit in the unlawful arrest, detention and execution of their husbands. The men were hanged in 1995 along with renowned activist Ken Saro-Wiwa and four other men after they were convicted in a blatantly unfair trial. read more

OPL 235 related extracts from an article published by THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH on 6 Oct 2019: “The West puts the brakes on dictators’ ill-gotten gains”

By Adrian Blomfield AFRICA CORRESPONDENT: 6 Oct 2019

One case more than any other has galvanised Western action against African corruption. Deepwater OPL245, a 617-square-mile-stretch of territory that contains within it a potential £500 billion fortune, is known as the Eldorado of Africa: an estimated nine billion barrels of recoverable oil buried under the sea off Nigeria’s coastline.

For a country with the highest rates of extreme poverty in the world, it should have been a huge windfall. read more

Extracts from an article published by BEYOND PESTICIDES: 7 Oct 2019

Banana Workers Made Sterile from Pesticide Sue Dow in France

In a pattern of corporate irresponsibility, if not actual malfeasance, now commonly recognized — think Big Tobacco, Big Fossil Fuels, Big Pharma, Big Chem — Shell (Royal Dutch Shell) and Dow Chemical were aware as early as 1958 of toxicological data from experiments on male rats demonstrating that exposure to DBCP caused reproductive anomalies, including reduced testes size at airborne exposures of 5ppm (parts per million), and at 20ppm, sterility in all subjects. (Dow Chemical merged for a time with DuPont to become DowDuPont; in spring of 2019, that company disaggregated into Dow, DuPont, and Corteva, the last of which handles the agricultural seed, trait, and chemicals strands of the business.) read more

Big investors fail to pressure companies over fossil-fuel lobbying

Little support for disclosure resolutions that call on groups to divulge payments

Siobhan Riding read more

By HARRIET DENNYS FOR THE MAIL ON SUNDAY

PUBLISHED: 22:14, 5 October 2019 | UPDATED: 22:14, 5 October 2019

Energy giant Royal Dutch Shell is reversing its attempt to break into the taxi market despite investing millions in an app aimed at boosting drivers’ fares while trying to tackle climate change.

The company launched its FarePilot app last year and has jointly invested $8.8million (£7.1million) with the venture arm of Boston Consulting Group.

The app was designed to help private hire and taxi drivers make more money while cutting emissions by guiding them away from congested areas and towards customer hotspots. read more

Oct 4, 2019

MEXICO CITY — U.S.-based Chevron Corp said on Friday it signed an agreement with a unit of Royal Dutch Shell to buy a 40% stake in three deepwater blocks in the Mexican Gulf that the Anglo-Dutch firm won in auctions under the nation’s energy reform.

The deal was approved earlier this week by Mexico’s oil regulator, the National Hydrocarbon Commission.

“This agreement further strengthens the company’s upstream Mexico portfolio and advances its growth strategy in deepwater exploration,” Chevron’s spokesman, Ray Fohr, said in a statement. read more

The National Theatre is to end funding from oil giant Shell after declaring a climate emergency.

4 Oct 2019

Shell was one of 19 companies holding a corporate gold membership, meaning it contributed between £15,000-£30,000 per year to the London theatre.

“The scale of the change required means we are already scrutinising every part of the way we operate,” the venue said.

The move comes days after the Royal Shakespeare Company ended its partnership with BP.

Shell’s current contribution to the National is on a smaller scale than the BP deal, which subsidised £5 tickets for young people to visit the RSC. read more

The move comes just days after the Royal Shakespeare Company ended its ties with multinational oil giant BP.

The National Theatre has ended its relationship with oil company Shell after declaring a “climate emergency”.

The move by the London-based performance venue comes just days after the Royal Shakespeare Company ended its ties with multinational BP.

In a statement, the National Theatre said: “Shell have been valued and long-standing supporters of the National Theatre, most recently as corporate members – this membership will come to an end in June 2020.”

In declaring a climate emergency, the theatre said evidence of “catastrophic environmental collapse is growing ever clearer, from extreme weather events to widespread extinction of species”. read more

Oct 4, 2019

Shell has opted to shake up its leadership ranks in Australia as it beds down the recent acquisition of ERM Power and faces key investment decisions on multibillion-dollar gas projects.

The shake-up will see Shell Australia chairman Zoe Yujnovich move to company headquarters at The Hague.

Ms Yujnovich said on Friday that Australia was central to Shell’s LNG business and for its plans to move into providing cleaner energy.

Her role in Australia will be filled by Tony Nunan, who currently heads up the oil and gas giant’s operations in eastern Australia. read more

U.S. DOJ says Eni probe not closed for lack of evidence, could re-open

OCTOBER 2, 2019 / 7:53 PM

MILAN (Reuters) – The U.S. Department of Justice has described as “misleading” any implication that it had closed a probe into alleged corruption by Italian energy major Eni for lack of evidence and said the investigation could be re- opened if circumstances changed.

Eni, the biggest foreign oil and gas producer in Africa, is currently on trial in Milan on graft allegations surrounding the 2011 acquisition of a giant Nigerian oilfield.

It has also been involved in a long-running corruption case involving its previously 43%- owned unit Saipem over alleged bribes paid to win contracts in Algeria. A Milan court acquitted it last year but the decision is subject to appeal. read more

By Julianne Geiger – Oct 02, 2019, 10:00 PM CDT

Royal Dutch Shell and Eni are in the clear as far as the US Department of Justice is concerned, after the DOJ on Wednesday notified the two separately that it was closing its investigation into the OPL 245 oilfield case—also known as the Malabu oil deal–in Nigeria that dates back to 2011.

“The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) has notified us that it has closed its inquiry into Shell in relation to OPL 245. We understand that this is based on the facts available to the DoJ, including ongoing legal proceedings in Europe,” Shell said in a statement on Wednesday, as carried by Reuters. read more

Shell has been forced to burn off “significant” volumes of ethane it cannot sell to a firm temporarily shut down over flaring issues in Fife.

Residents living near the Mossmorran site thought flaring would be reduced after Exxonmobil was closed in August.

However, ground flares have continued to burn because Shell’s only ethane customer is Exxonmobil, which shares the site.

Shell said it was “actively exploring alternative ethane outlets”.

Shell’s Fife Natural Gas Liquids plant separates natural gas liquids into ethane, propane, butane and natural gasoline for storage and onward distribution. read more

LONDON (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell said on Wednesday that it had been informed by the U.S. Department of Justice that it had closed its inquiry into Shell over the 2011 $1.3 billion acquisition of a Nigerian offshore oilfield.

Shell and Italy’s Eni are both currently on trial in Milan on graft allegations revolving around the acquisition of the OPL 245 oilfield.

“The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) has notified us that it has closed its inquiry into Shell in relation to OPL 245. We understand that this is based on the facts available to the DoJ, including ongoing legal proceedings in Europe,” Shell said in a statement. read more

Brad Thompson Reporter: Oct 2, 2019

Shell has warned Western Australia’s environmental watchdog that billions of dollars of investment are at risk if it contributes to mixed messages on tackling greenhouse gas emissions.

The oil and gas giant urged the Environmental Protection Authority to hold fire on handing down new emissions guidelines for approving large-scale projects in the resources rich state.

Shell also rejected the notion that it was possible to introduce a policy requiring net zero offsets in the oil and gas industry. read more

Q & A with Esther Kiobel, currently the lead plaintiff in the above Dutch lawsuit against Shell

Q: Who are the Ogoni People?

The Ogoni people are mainly fishermen and farmers who live on the coastal plains in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. With a population now over a million, going by recent estimates, Ogoni people are mainly lovers of peace, lovers of their guests, especially the guests that bring development. However, in recent past, the peaceful disposition of the Ogoni has been abused and pockets of violence deliberately orchestrated by Shell has further rendered the people worse than poor.

Ogonis produce the richest harvest that feeds not just Rivers State, but also parts of Nigeria. This explains why the Ogoni economic mainstay remains farming (agriculture) and fishing. Only a handful of Ogonis are government employees such as academics and other forms of civil service. Others are traders. read more