From next week Wednesday, Shell will offer customers in the Netherlands the option to pay one cent extra per liter of fuel. The Dutch oil and gas giant will then use that extra money to compensate for CO2 emissions. “This offers customers in the Netherlands an interim solution as long as electric driving is not yet affordable for everyone”, Marjan van Loon, director of Shell Nederland, said to NOS.
According to Shell, that one extra cent per liter is enough to drive in a “CO2 neutral” way. The voluntary contribution from customers will be invested in CO2 compensation projects, such as planting trees in Peru and Indonesia. The company invests abroad in such projects because the Netherlands does not yet have a certified CO2 compensation system, Shell said.read more
As you may have noticed from the New York Times article (“The Sultan of Brunei: Opulence, Power and Hard-Line Islam“) Shell is the main financial supporter of the Brunei despot and has been for many years. They are as close as thieves. Shell gave him a $500,000 wedding present (bribe).
EXTRACT FROM THE NYT ARTICLE:
Powered by the oil company Brunei Shell Petroleum — Brunei was nicknamed the “Shellfare state” for its entitlement programs — the country of about 430,000 people remained relatively secluded compared with its neighbors.read more
The Sultan of Brunei: Opulence, Power and Hard-Line Islam
EXTRACT:
Powered by the oil company Brunei Shell Petroleum — Brunei was nicknamed the “Shellfare state” for its entitlement programs — the country of about 430,000 people remained relatively secluded compared with its neighbors.
When Brunei put harsh new laws in place this week that made adultery and gay sex punishable by stoning, it focused international attention on the country’s sovereign, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, 72, whose vast wealth and family spending have landed his name in the tabloids for decades.
The sultan, as the main enforcer of religion in the Southeast Asian country, has in recent decades advocated a hard-line vision of Islam that is at odds with the royal family’s opulent lifestyle. Here is a look at his powers, his background and the international condemnation of Brunei’s new laws.read more
Ayoade told the court: “The award process for OPL245 to Shell and ENI did not follow the procedure established in the Petroleum Act, Petroleum (Drilling and Production) Regulation and DPR Guidance Notes for Prospective Bidders. Failure to follow the relevant laws, policies and regulations is fatal to the legality of the OPL 245 award (Zebra Energy Ltd V FGN (2002)). It is my considered view that the licence award on the basis of a FGN Resolution Agreement is anomalous and unprecedented in the Nigerian Oil and Gas Sector.”
BY SAHARAREPORTERS, NEW YORK: APR 05, 2019
The Federal Government appears to have made progress in the prosecution of the flaws associated with the controversial award of OPL 245 to oil giants, Shell and Eni.
On Wednesday, a consultant hired by Italian prosecutors, Dr Dayo Ayoade, said in Italy that the contract award of OPL 245 to Shell and ENI, did not follow Nigerian legal provisions. He spoke in Milan, where he made lead presentations to prosecutors.
Ayoade, of the Department of Law, University of Lagos, was hired by Milan prosecutors to ascertain whether the two oil giants met corporate and legal obligations. The celebrated case is being contested by high-profile legal experts from Nigeria and across the world, including a retired Nigerian Supreme Court Judge, Justice Emmanuel Ayoola JSC (Rtd), who stood in for Shell; a Queens Counsel (QC), Prof. Frank Odita, representing ENI, with Mrs. Felicia Femi Olusegun.read more
A consultant who stood as witness before an Italian court in Milan on Thursday faulted the valuation of the controversial Oil Prospecting License 245 by oil giants Eni and Shell.
Stephen Rogers appeared before an Italian court Thursday morning as expert witness for Nigeria and presented testimony on the economic cost of the 2011 deal for OPL 245.
Mr Rogers is a partner at the oil consultancy group Arthur D Little with over 30 years experience at Hess, BP and TXU/EON.read more
Environmental activists take Shell to court on Friday to try to stop the Anglo-Dutch oil giant drilling for gas and oil, and to ensure it meets climate change targets.
Some 17,000 people and six organisations have signed up to Milieudefensie’s call for co-defendants in the case, which the green group hopes will lead to a judge ‘forcing Shell to stop being a major cause of climate change.’
The 2015 Paris agreement on climate change included a commitment to leave oil, gas and coal in the grounds as much as possible, the lobby group says. ‘These three fuels are major causes of global warning and this is why we have to stop our dependence on them as soon as possible. ‘read more
THE contract award of Oil Prospecting License (OPL) 245 to Shell and ENI, did not follow Nigerian legal provisions, Dayo Ayoade, a Nigerian legal practitioner told a court in Milan, Italy on Wednesday.
Ayoade said this during his lead presentations to prosecutors in the ongoing case of the Malabu oil deal which had to do with the controversial and illegal selling of one of Nigeria’s most promising oil well, OPL 245, to two giant international oil companies (IOCs), Shell and ENI.read more
On Friday, April 5, we will file the summons with which we will sue Shell for causing climate change. Normally you send a bailiff to hand over the package of paper. But we want to go to Shell headquarters with as many co-claimants as possible to hand over the summons in person. With a march and speeches and music and hundreds of people. So come to The Hague, bring your children, friends and family. And put an end to Shell’s climate destruction together with us.
Extracts from a translated email involving Dutch climate change campaigners.
TRANSLATION STARTS
Come to the Shell headquarters on 5 April!
Date: Fri 29 Mar 2019
Subject: FW: Come to the Shell headquarters on 5 April!
Dear xxxxx
Did you hear it? We sue Shell for causing disastrous climate change. On Friday, April 5, we file the summons at the Shell headquarters in The Hague to officially start the lawsuit. Not only do we send a bailiff to hand over the papers, but we go to Shell headquarters with as many co-claimants as possible to personally hand over the summons.read more
English translation of an article published by Dutch newspaper ncr.nl on 26 March 2019. The extensive parts of the article relating to Ben van Burden and Shell are in bold print.
Are top managers being bugged?
White collar, dirty hands? You don’t have to be a suspect of cocaine smuggling in the Netherlands to be overheard by the judiciary. In recent years, the telephones of at least two board chairmen have been tapped. Maybe even more. They never put such information in an annual report.
The first was Theo Bruijninckx, chairman of the board of the then already financially weakened construction company Ballast Nedam. In the spring of 2012, he was intercepted on various telephones (home, mobile, at the office). He was not a suspect, but justice was looking for information about an older bribery case. Ballast Nedam was taken over by the Turkish conglomerate Rönesans after a series of losses in 2015.read more
Shell internal email communications obtained from Shell under the UK Data Protection Act 1998 provide proof of Shell’s intent to “kill” news coverage of John Donovan and his website, royaldutchshellplc.com.
Please read this Shell internal email about a half page news article written by then Sunday Times journalist Steven Swinford. It clearly indicates Shell’s intent to “kill” the article.
The article was about my intervention in the Sakhalin 2 project, which cost Shell its majority stake in the venture. Although the entire article was read to me over the phone by Steven Swinford hours before it was due to be published, it never appeared.read more
On Sunday Royal Dutch Shell, one of the world’s largest oil and gas companies, announced that its First Utility retail power business would be rebranded as Shell Energy, with 700,000 households switched to renewable power. Customers will be offered not only cleaner electricity but discounts on fast-charging for their electric vehicles as well as broadband and smart-home technologies.
In 2017, BBC News published an article reporting that Shell had carried out experiments on animals including rabbits, rodents, birds and fish.
Figures previously published on Shell’s own website confirmed that the firm was involved with laboratory experiments on more than 100,000 animals in one year, 2015.
The Scottish Daily Mail says it was more than 400,000 animals in a five-year period – see above right.
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
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.
This is not a Shell website. Click on Disclaimer link at top of page for more information.
OPL 245 CORRUPTION SCANDAL: LATEST NEWS
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 …
$1.3bn Malabu Oil Scandal: Shell Faces Fresh Criminal Charges in Netherlands 02 Mar 2019 05:45 This Day OPEC February oil output drops further
By Chika Amanze-Nwachuku with agency report
Royal -Dutch Shell is to face criminal charges before Dutch prosecutors over its involvement in the controversial sale of the $1.3 billion Oil Prospecting License (OPL 245), …
Malabu Scam :Eni, Shell aware of corrupt payments, Judge rules – Vanguard 18 Dec 2018 14:33 Google An Italian judge, Giusy Barbara, found out on Monday that Eni and Royal Dutch Shell were fully aware that their 2011 purchase of Nigeria’s Oil Prospecting Lease (OPL 245) would result in corrupt payments to Nigerian politicians and officials.
Italy’s Eni …
Eni, Shell Aware OPL 245 Procurment Would Lead to Graft 18 Dec 2018 14:00 Biz Watch Nigeria Eni, Shell Aware OPL 245 Procurment Would Lead to Graft
An Italian judge, Giusy Barbara, found out on Monday that Eni and Royal Dutch Shell were fully aware that their 2011 purchase of Nigeria’s Oil Prospecting Lease (OPL 245) would result in corrupt …
OPL 245: Eni, Shell Knew of Corrupt Payments, Rules Italian Judge – THISDAYLIVE 18 Dec 2018 12:33 Nigeria Sun Peter Uzoho with agency reports
An Italian judge, Giusy Barbara, found yesterday that Eni and Royal Dutch Shell were fully aware that their 2011 purchase of Nigeria’s Oil Prospecting Lease (OPL 245) would result in corrupt payments to Nigerian politicians …
John Donovan’s ebooks
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.
Dear Mr Clooney
FROM NEW YORK TIMES ARTICLE BELOW HEADLINED:
Ayoade told the court: “The award process for OPL245 to Shell and ENI did not follow the procedure established in the Petroleum Act, Petroleum (Drilling and Production) Regulation and DPR Guidance Notes for Prospective Bidders. Failure to follow the relevant laws, policies and regulations is fatal to the legality of the OPL 245 award (Zebra Energy Ltd V FGN (2002)). It is my considered view that the licence award on the basis of a FGN Resolution Agreement is anomalous and unprecedented in the Nigerian Oil and Gas Sector.”
April 5, 2019
English translation of an article published by Dutch newspaper ncr.nl on 26 March 2019. The extensive parts of the article relating to Ben van Burden and Shell are in bold print. 
Oil Resumption Plot is Part of Nigeria and Shell’s Genocide Against Ogoni People
By John Donovan
By John Donovan
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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.