OCTOBER 31, 2017 / 3.40 PM

MILAN, Oct 31 (Reuters) – An Italian judge is expected to decide on December 20 whether to send oil majors Eni and Shell to trial over alleged corruption in Nigeria, two legal sources said on Tuesday.

Milan prosecutors have asked for the two companies and some past and present managers, including current Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi, to be indicted in a case revolving around the purchase of a Nigerian oilfield in 2011.

A judge must now rule whether to press charges or dismiss the case. read more

By John Donovan

I recently received an email asking how it is possible that the Energy Institute could have a crook as its president. A reference to Malcolm Brinded, alleged in the email to have a “history of quasi psychopathic behaviour towards hundreds of offshore workers put at risk for years to protect Brinded’s personal ambitions.”

Brinded was elected as President of the Energy Institute on 4 July 2017. Equally astonishing is the fact that Brinded also remains Chairman of the Shell Foundation. read more

By Owen Akenzua: 31 Oct 2017

Asaba — Oil spill victims under the aegis of Oil Spill Victims Vanguard (OSPIVV) have initiated a lawsuit in the United Kingdom against Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCO), a subsidiary of the Royal-Dutch Shell Plc., over alleged $3, 600,191, 206 compensation to 168,000 persons and 350 communities affected by the December 20, 2011 spill from its Bonga Oil Field in Delta State.

The group’s Executive Director, Harrison Jalla in a statement, said the move was to ensure accelerated hearing and justice. read more

FD Ochtendnieuws 

Non-professional translation (Google Translation plus) of an article published today 30 Oct 2017 by the Dutch equivalent of the Financial Times.

Will Shell be formally charged in a major corruption case concerning an oil field in Nigeria, or does the oil and gas multinational know how to duck the dance?

On Tuesday, the last of a series of hearings takes place in a Milan court where prosecutor Fabio de Pasquale argues that Shell and four former Shell executives should be prosecuted together with the Italian multinational Eni. “The decision [of the judge] will follow on the 31st or a few days later,” so De Pasquale informs the FD. He does not want to go further on the matter. read more

Stop crude focus on oil profits: The Guardian: Article by Sean Farrell: Sunday 29 October 2017

At the start of last year, Britain’s big oil companies, Shell and BP, appeared to be in crisis. A slump in the price of Brent crude – from more than $110 a barrel in 2014 to less than $30 in January 2016 – sent profits tumbling and appeared to threaten dividends. After painful cost cuts and a partial recovery in the oil price to near $60, the pressure has eased and both are expected to report solid first-half results this week.

BP goes first, on Tuesday, with Shell, the stronger of the two, on Thursday. The commotion over the oil slump diverted some attention from their commitments to low-carbon energy. To much fanfare, both companies’ boards supported resolutions at their 2015 annual meetings that required clearer reporting of emissions, business risks and efforts to develop green energy sources. read more

The Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) has described as frightening and condemnable, the Nigerian Government’s tacit endorsement of  abuses against the Ogoni people by Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria. Publicity Secretary of MOSOP Fegalo Nsuke, made this known while speaking to participants of the Ogoni Peace Match in Bori on Thursday October 26. Nsuke said it was shameful that the Nigerian state, with representation on the U.N. Human Rights Commission will be stinking with abuses and is failing to address the problem in over 2 decades since the Ogoni people rose to challenge these abuses perpetrated against the flock by Shell Petroleum.

Nsuke said the situation in Ogoniland is degenerating with lots of people being endangered without a voice to speak out to the world.

Citing the incident of Thursday where soldiers dispersed a crown of peaceful protestors in Tai, Nsuke said he was assaulted by one of the soldiers simply because he took photographs. He said a female reporter for The Nation newspaper was also assaulted by another soldier for recording a speech by the media aide to the MOSOP President, Bari-ala Kpalap.

The MOSOP spokesman however assured that the Ogoni people led by MOSOP will not give up on the struggle for a free Ogoniland neither will the battle to secure a future for the Ogoni people be lost. read more

Comment by Bill Campbell (retired HSE Group Auditor of Shell International) on the article “Corruption charge looms for outgoing BHP director Malcolm Brinded” 

It was good news for those who care for Shell and it’s reputation when Brinded and his guard dog Ruddock were shown the door in 2012. Brinded had contaminated the boardrooms of Shell UK and RDS for 15 years with his toxic behaviour. Corruption of external parties also in the shape of the North Sea safety reguluator using his special relationship with the then Secretary of State for Scotland. Still wary of the demise of reputation during the reserves debacle it seems the Chairman and his counsel with the support of the non executives called time on Brinded sensing Shell was heading yet again into the scandal zone. read more

Shell has said it was aware that some of the payments it made to Nigeria for rights to the oilfield would go to Malabu, a company associated with former Nigerian oil minister and convicted money launderer Dan Etete.

ABUJA, Oct 27 (Reuters) – Nigeria has recovered $85 million in funds from an oil licence deal that had been deposited in Britain, the West African country’s attorney general said.

President Muhammadu Buhari has, since taking office in 2015, sought help from several nations to recover money he said was taken from public coffers. 

It is not immediately clear who deposited the money in Britain. The money was frozen at the request of prosecutors as a result of an Italian investigation. There is no suggestion of wrongdoing by British authorities. read more

* Africa gas market tiny but growing fast

* Electricity generation is main growth driver 

* Unified pricing system tough in undeveloped markets

“It would be extremely difficult to find a unified pricing system in Africa at the source. If one day Africa is well-connected with pipelines and many different sources, then maybe an index,” said Mounir Bouaziz, Royal Dutch Shell’s vice president for new business development.

By Wendell Roelf and Ed Stoddard

CAPE TOWN, Oct 26 (Reuters) – Africa should develop a gas pricing index based on the cost of electricity set midway between existing global benchmarks to ensure fairer pricing in new export projects on the continent, two African ministers said. The idea is being floated when the world’s poorest continent, where 600 million people are without electricity, is turning to liquefied natural gas (LNG) as a cheaper way to power up amid plentiful global supply. FULL ARTICLE read more

• Ben Chapman
• @b_c_chapman
• Friday 27 October 2017

Oil giants Shell and BP are planning for global temperatures to rise as much as 5°C by the middle of the century. The level is more than double the upper limit committed to by most countries in the world under the Paris Climate Agreement, which both companies publicly support. The discrepancy demonstrates that the companies are keeping shareholders in the dark about the risks posed to their businesses by climate change, according to two new reports published by investment campaign group Share Action. Many climate scientists say that a temperature rise of 5°C would be catastrophic for the planet. read more

Written by Reporter – 27/10/2017

The deadline is closing in for applications to Shell’s Springboard competition for innovative low-carbon UK businesses.

Entrants will be competing for a green cash pot containing £350,000, with the national winner to receive £150,000. A further five regional winners will each get £40,000 of no-strings attached funding.

They will also be given access to academics and investors whose advice can help grow their enterprises. The cut-off date for applications falls on November 6.

Former winners include Edinburgh-based tidal energy technology developer Nova Innovation. Shell UK country chair Sinead Lynch said: “Since 2005, Shell Springboard has provided £4million of equity-free funding to almost 100 innovative low-carbon enterprises in the UK. FULL ARTICLE read more

Since 2011, Shell has worked closely with the Development Research Center of the State Council on the country’s energy development strategy. (We have) identified key challenges facing the country and suggested detailed, practical solutions.

Through collaboration, we have also examined the important role natural gas can play in helping China diversify its energy mix. At the same time, it will boost economic development, improve air quality and help reduce carbon emissions.

Shell continues to promote the role of natural gas. Compared with coal, it emits around half the CO2s and less than one-tenth of the air pollutants when used to produce electricity. read more

Published October 26, 2017 Features Dow Jones Newswires

Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSA RDSB) reported emissions from its Deer Park, Texas, refinery and chemical facility following a leak of benzene.

In a statement to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, Shell said the emissions event happened Wednesday over a four-hour period. The cause, it said, was rooted in an Oct. 10 incident in which “a flange leak occurred at the Phenol 2 unit.”

The refinery said the flange leak is ongoing, and the material released is benzene, which is a component of crude oil that has carcinogenic properties. read more

By Sarah Kent: Published October 26, 2017: Dow Jones Newswires

The world’s biggest oil companies have a suddenly popular measure for success: breaking even. Once obscure and little noted, the break-even number has become an obsession for investors in oil giants such as Exxon Mobil Corp., BP PLC and Chevron Corp. as crude prices stay mired between $50 and $60 a barrel. At its simplest, the metric represents the oil price that a company needs to generate enough cash so it can cover its capital spending and dividend payouts. read more

Written by Mark Lammey – 25/10/2017 

Shell is targeting first gas from the field, which lies 136miles east of Aberdeen, in the second quarter of 2020. The company intends to develop the gas and gas condensate field via a tie-back to the Shearwater platform 20 miles away. The submission of the plans comes about two months after Shell chief executive Ben van Beurden said the company was committed to the North Sea, despite agreeing to sell a package of assets in the basin to Chrysaor earlier this year. FULL ARTICLE read more

Performance targets of energy companies Royal Dutch Shell and BP remain too heavily biased towards hydrocarbon production, a report has warned. ShareAction — a U.K. charity that promotes environment, social, and governance-oriented investing — looked at BP and Shell’s greenhouse emissions management policies, asset portfolio resilience, corporate key performance indicators, executive incentive structures, and influences on public policy. The group concluded that the oil giants prioritize the production of fossil fuels, which could incentivize management behavior “misaligned” with shareholder interest, as defined by ShareAction. MORE read more