Kaikias, an economically resilient, subsea development in the US Gulf of Mexico

HOUSTON, May 31, 2018 /PRNewswire/ — Shell Offshore, Inc. (Shell), a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell plc, announces today the early start of production – around one-year ahead of schedule – at the first phase of Kaikias, an economically resilient, subsea development in the US Gulf of Mexico with estimated peak production of 40,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d). Shell has reduced costs by around 30% at this deep-water project since taking the investment decision in early 2017, lowering the forward-looking, break-even price to less than $30 per barrel of oil. FULL ARTICLE read more

By Elffie Chew and Natalie Obiko Pearson: 31 May 2018

(Bloomberg) — Malaysia’s Petroliam Nasional Bhd. agreed to take a 25 percent equity stake in a proposed liquefied natural gas project in Canada led by Royal Dutch Shell Plc. The Canadian unit of Shell will hold a 40 percent stake, while subsidiaries of PetroChina Co. and Mitsubishi Corp. will have a 15 percent share each, according to a statement from Thursday from Petronas. A unit of Korea Gas Corp. will hold 5 percent. The announcement confirmed an earlier Bloomberg News report that a deal was imminent. FULL ARTICLE read more

Shell will continue to be the biggest owner in LNG Canada, holding a 40 percent stake.

Reuters Staff: MAY 31, 2018

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Malaysia’s state-owned oil and gas company Petroliam Nasional Bhd [PETR.UL] said on Thursday it is buying a 25 percent stake in a Canadian liquefied natural gas (LNG) export project, nearly a year after cancelling its own planned terminal. The company, known as Petronas, will buy an equity stake in LNG Canada, an export project led by Royal Dutch Shell located in Kitimat, British Columbia, said Petronas in a statement. The purchase is expected to close in the next few months, the company said. FULL ARTICLE read more

Message addressed to “A Mole” concerning your posted anonymous comments on 29 May about former MI6 officer/Shell executive, Guy Colegate:

I am intrigued by your comments.

Can you kindly provide more information?

For example, who is TB?

You can either continue to post anonymously on our Shell Blog, ideally using the same ISP address, so I know it is you, or contact me – John Donovan – by email via john@shellnews.net

THE COMMENTS

The same Guy Colegate who was/is employed by Heritage Oil (through ‘Marlin’) to assist in the purchase of the Nigerian asset OPL 30, acquired under the same kind of circumstances. Purchased using the ‘Shoreline’ vehicle, with those at the top being kept out of sight, and employed indirectly to attempt to hide the Heritage/Sandline International connection. TB is the man to ask read more

Reuters Staff: Tuesday 29 May 2018

LONDON (Reuters) – Friends of the Earth plans to file a lawsuit against Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L), accusing the oil company of failing to act on climate change, the environmental activist group said on Tuesday.

Shell has set out “ambitions” to halve carbon emissions by 2050 and expand in renewables, but the Anglo-Dutch company has come under pressure from investors and activists to reduce its carbon footprint and comply with the 2015 international Paris climate agreement. read more

 Sir Mark Moody-Stuart, former chair of Shell. Photograph: Frank Baron for the Guardian

EXTRACT FROM A WITNESS STATEMENT BY MIKE MCMAHON:

Mr Donovan has brought to my attention Shell’s Statement of General Business Principles and a speech by Shell Chairman Mr Mark Moody-Stuart delivered on 8th October 1997. The following are extracts from the relevant speech:

“Commercial activity not only can be, but should be, undertaken with positive underlying values – ethical and moral. The Statement of General Business Principles constitutes a set of basic core values – honesty, integrity and respect for people … We do not bend these Principles. They are non-contestable and non-negotiable. If an employee fails to uphold these values he or she no longer belongs with us”.

Despite this statement Shell has not sacked Mr AJL or his accomplices. I assume that like my company, the other companies involved in the long drawn out tender process abided strictly by the normal  ethical rules. Mr AJL, with the support of tis colleagues, Mr Hannagan and Mr Watson, self evidently did not do so. I suffered significant losses as a consequence of being deceived by Mr AJL to participate in a tender process that was corrupted by his indefensible conduct. 

(The initials AJL have been substituted for the name of the relevant former Shell executive. Despite his inspiring comments above, Moody-Stuart supported the throughly dishonest conduct of AJL)

Extracts from the ebook “John Donovan, Shell’s Nightmare” (now available on Amazon websites globally)

Extracted from pages 145 and 146

The Shell executive to whom we disclosed our promotional concepts in strictest confidence did not just poach ideas from us. We were not alone. We found out from discovery documents that other parties complained of the same problem involving the same unethical Shell executive. He was nonetheless able to genuinely claim the support of senior Shell executives for his reprehensible activities that were totally at odds with Shell’s claimed Business Principles. Honesty, integrity, etc. read more

Shell CEO Ben van Beurden and Gazprom Chairman Alexey Miller

A working meeting between Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee, and Ben van Beurden, Chief Executive Officer of Royal Dutch Shell, took place at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum 2018.

According to Gazprom, the parties discussed topical issues of strategic cooperation paying particular attention to interaction in the area of liquefied natural gas, including a joint feasibility study on the Baltic LNG project.

In the course of the meeting, the Agreement on the Baltic LNG project was signed in furtherance of the Heads of the Joint Venture Agreement. read more

John Donovan (above) forced name change of worlds largest ship hired by Shell in 2013

Shell critic John Donovan 2013

John Donovan in 1984

John Donovan in 1999

From the left, John Chambers, John Donovan and Roger Sotherton, all executive directors of promotional games company, Don Marketing. Photo taken in 1984. Published as part of a magazine article in 1998/9 about Donovan/Shell litigation.

Don Marketing Founder John Donovan, 1984 read more

May 25, 2018 12:58 PM ET|By: Carl Surran, SA News Editor

A confidential study that Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A, RDS.B) has been accused of trying to shield from public view showed worsening “catastrophic” pollution around oil spill sites in Nigeria, WSJ reports.

At least one of the study’s authors has urged the findings to be widely distributed because they pointed to significant health risks to the local Bodo community in Nigeria but said that Shell had denied him permission to publish the study’s results in a scientific journal, according to the WSJ report. read more

A federal judge yesterday said he needed more information before deciding whether to dismiss lawsuits by the cities of San Francisco and Oakland alleging that Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM), Chevron (NYSE:CVX), Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A, RDS.B), BP and ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) should pay to protect residents from the impacts of climate change.

The judge also wants the companies to produce additional material backing up claims that they should not be a part of the case because the court lacked jurisdiction over them. read more

Tanzanian MP Wants Shell-BG U.S.$500 Million Transaction Investigated

By Alawi Masare; 25 May 2018

Dodoma — Momba MP Mr David Silinde (Chadema) has asked the Parliament to form a special committee to investigate the transaction between Shell and BG over Tanzania’s gas blocks alleging that Shell did not pay capital gain tax.

Debating the budget of the Ministry of Energy on Friday, Mr Silinde said the company should pay the tax estimated at $500 million.

“There is a possibility that the transaction involved corruption. Hence, denies the country the revenue which could address different challenges in the energy sector,” said Mr Silinde.  read more

REUTERS STAFF: MAY 24, 2018

By Estelle Shirbon

LONDON, May 24 (Reuters) – A British judge ruled on Thursday that Nigeria’s Bodo community, which has been involved in a protracted legal battle with Shell over the clean-up of two 2008 oil spills, should retain the option of litigation for another year.

Lawyers for Bodo had accused Shell of trying to kill off the legal case by seeking a court order that would have meant the community had to meet onerous conditions before it could revive its litigation, which is currently on hold. read more

Map showing the location of Shell’s Dover discovery and its proximity to Shell’s new Appomattox host in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico 

HOUSTON, May 24, 2018 /PRNewswire/ — Shell Offshore, Inc. (“Shell”) today announced a large, deep-water, exploration discovery in the Norphlet geologic play in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico with its Dover well (100% Shell). The Dover discovery is Shell’s sixth in the Norphlet and encountered more than 800 net feet of pay (244 meters). The discovery is located approximately 13 miles from the Appomattox host and is considered an attractive potential tieback. Shell’s Appomattox host has now arrived on location in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico and is expected to start production before the end of 2019. read more

By Hugo Miller , Kelly Gilblom , and Sergio Di Pasquale: 24 May 2018, 08:40 BST Updated on 24 May 2018, 10:23 BST

A briefcase seized from a Geneva apartment two years ago could be the key to an Italian bribery case against Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Eni SpA — if it makes it to Milan in time.

The bag held SIM cards, Nigerian passports, a laptop and a hard drive containing more than 40,000 documents, and belonged to Emeka Obi, according to a spokesman for the Geneva Prosecutor’s Office. Swiss prosecutors found it during a raid for an unrelated investigation and are trying to get it to their Italian colleagues, who are prosecuting Obi as an alleged middle man in a $1.1 billion kickback scheme involving the energy companies vying for a Nigerian oil license.

Obi’s lawyers persuaded a Geneva judge to put the contents of his briefcase under seal, citing his rights to privacy. Now a decision by Geneva’s Measures of Constraint Court on whether to lift that seal is expected as soon as this month.

While officials in Milan have moved forward with charges against the oil companies without the briefcase, the evidence could strengthen the graft case. The trial, which centers around events in 2011, begins on June 20. Milanese Prosecutor Fabio De Pasquale said he has “sent more reminders” to the Swiss saying he wants the briefcase, underscoring its importance. read more

By Jeremy Hodges, Lauren Leatherby and Kartikay Mehrotra
May 24, 2018

In the global fight against climate change, one tool is proving increasingly popular: litigation. From California to the Philippines, activists, governments and concerned citizens are suing the biggest polluters and national governments over the effects of climate change at a break-neck pace. “The courts are our last, best hope at this moment of irreversible harm to our planet and life on it,” said Julia Olson, an attorney for Our Children’s Trust, a legal challenge center in the U.S. that is involved in climate change litigation across 13 countries, including the U.S., Pakistan and Uganda. Cases by San Francisco and Oakland face a motion to dismiss the lawsuit today in a California federal court, where Chevron Corp., BP Plc, Exxon Mobil Corp., ConocoPhilips and Royal Dutch Shell Plc will argue that remedies and penalties for climate change are a matter for lawmakers, not a single judge. read more

Vera Eckert

FRANKFURT (Reuters) – German solar battery maker sonnen has secured 60 million euros ($71 million) in funds from Shell Ventures and existing shareholders to expand at home and abroad. Shell Ventures, a unit of the Anglo-Dutch oil major that has been boosting its investments in solar and other renewables, was a lead investor in the latest funding round, sonnen Chief executive Christoph Ostermann told Reuters. “With this money, we can get started on important investment plans, especially in the United States and Australia,” he said, adding that existing shareholders also contributed extra cash. FULL ARTICLE read more