Asbestos-laced products were used for decades at Shell Chemical.

Shell Chemical workers diagnosed with cancer secure cash benefits from multiple private trusts

Federal courts require asbestos manufacturers to compensate cancer victims

Plant workers employed before 1981 diagnosed with various cancers are entitled to special benefits. Lung cancer, esophageal cancer, laryngeal cancer, pharyngeal cancer, stomach cancer, colon cancer, rectal cancer, and mesothelioma are frequently caused by asbestos exposure. Asbestos-laced products were used for decades at Shell Chemical. Neither employees nor management were aware of the asbestos risk.

Asbestos is a mineral that in its natural state is harmless. It becomes harmful when it is pulled apart or ground up into flexible fibers. Then, when inhaled or swallowed, microscopic asbestos fibers may be permanently affixed to body tissue. Over many years, these fibers may cause genetic changes that can lead to cancer. According to the National Cancer Institute, “It can take from 10 to 40 years or more for asbestos-related cancers to appear.” read more

Investors include Royal Dutch Shell, which maintains a U.S. headquarters in Houston, and four other European energy firms.

Cruz legislation targeting Russian pipeline moves ahead

Greenpeace image relating to Shell/Russia Arctic Drilling Plans

By James Osborne: Wednesday, July 31, 2019

WASHINGTON – Legislation sanctioning construction companies that help complete a controversial Russian pipeline delivering natural gas to Europe cleared a critical legislative hurdle Wednesday.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved the bill, sponsored by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., who described the legislation as critical to limiting Russian influence in Europe at a time Moscow is working to interfere in elections there and in the United States. read more

Why energy companies are still investing gasoline in the age of the electric vehicle

Marissa Luck July 30, 2019

Why energy companies are still investing gasoline in the age of the electric vehicle

Tucked away off a Houston highway and behind a tightly-secured check point, Royal Dutch Shell’s tree-lined campus is packed with hundreds of researchers working on the next technological breakthroughs that could transform how the Anglo-Dutch oil major powers the world economy through the energy transition.

As Shell’s largest research and development center, the 200-acre Houston campus has 1,500 employees and hundreds of contractors. They’re working on everything from formulating new biodiesel to advancing liquefied natural gas into transportation fuels. Their research also extends into something more tangible in the near term: how to improve gasoline. read more

Shell wanted exclusive access to the Chinese market and the Chinese wanted their own large oil and gas concessions in the Middle East. Shell had an exclusive 75 years old concession in the United Arab Emirates, which was about to expire on January 2014. What did the Emirati royalty want in order to facilitate this large oilfield concession changing hands? The answer is money, a massive bribe. This is where Oscar Wyatt’s company, Coastal Energy Resources came into the picture.

By John Donovan

A whistleblower who held a senior finance position inside Royal Dutch Shell has made serious allegations relating to the 1MDB scandal, which he claims is the tip of the iceberg of something way bigger and even more sinister. He also claims to have received death threats on numerous occasions since he left Shell.

His decade long employment record with Shell appears to be 100% authentic.

What is the Malaysian 1MDB scandal?

The 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal or 1MDB scandal is an ongoing political scandal occurring in Malaysia. In 2015, Malaysia’s then-Prime Minister Najib Razak was accused of channelling over RM 2.67 billion (nearly USD 700 million) from 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), a government-run strategic development company, to his personal bank accounts. (Extract from related Wikipedia article.) read more

By John Donovan

For as long as I can remember stories have been circulating along the lines that an engineering genius devised a fuelless engine and made the mistake of disclosing his invention to a ruthless oil company oil, which promptly killed the idea. 

It is possible that there is some substance to this mythology.

Shell subsidiary Bataafsche Petroleum Maatschappij (Dutch for Batavian Oil Company), is the oil company allegedly involved, along with Sir Henri Deterding and a senior Shell  Director, Hendrik Colijn. He served as CEO for the Bataafse Petroleum Maatschappij and later became CEO of Royal Dutch Shell. read more

Screenshot dated 27 July 2019 from an “Image” search option for “Royal Dutch Shell” on one of the major search engines

By John Donovan

It was recently reported that Shell is the most valuable Dutch brand name and among the most valuable in the world, valued at €36.4bn.

The brand is on display at over 44,000 gasoline stations around the globe. 

A brand name is highly vulnerable to reputational damage if the company owning the brand has skeletons in its corporate cupboard. Royal Dutch Shell has more of them than any other multinational giant.  read more

By John Donovan

I am delighted at the news that Lloyds Banking Group has reached a settlement with the TV and Radio legend Noel Edmonds.

As part of the settlement, he received a payment of several million pounds and agreed to close down the gripe site he had set up targetting Lloyds Banking Group.

I was pleased to provide information to Mr Edmonds at his request and make recommendations, including his attendance at Lloyds Banking Group AGMs at which he made a spectacular impact, causing huge embarrassment to the assembled full board of directors. read more

July 25. 2019

Shell remains the most valuable brand in the Netherlands, followed by accountancy KPMG and banking group ING, according to the latest top 50 ranking by consultancy Brand Finance.

The ranking puts Shell’s brand value at €36.4bn, a rise of 9% on last year.

‘The boost in Shell’s brand value is largely attributable to the brand’s transformation from an oil and gas multinational towards its aim of becoming one of the largest electricity and energy brands globally,’ Brand Finance said. read more

Climate Suit Vs. Shell Allowed to Continue in Rhode Island

By Karen Savage

A lawsuit against Shell for failing to protect its Providence Terminal from the impacts of climate change will be allowed to continue with the addition of a new claim and two new defendants, a judge ruled on Tuesday.

In the ruling, U.S. District Court Judge William Edward Smith approved a motion by the Conservation Law Foundation (CLF), an environmental law and advocacy group, to amend its complaint to add another hazardous waste claim and to add two Shell subsidiaries, Triton Terminaling and Equilon, to the suit. Royal Dutch Shell, the parent company based in the Netherlands, was dismissed because is no longer listed on the facility’s permits, but could be brought back in at a later date. read more

The Times: Supreme Court to hear Nigerian villagers’ battle with Shell

July 25, 2019

Residents of the Bille and Ogale areas of the Niger Delta are to take their battle with Shell over alleged pollution to the UK’s top court. Lawyers representing the two Nigerian communities confirmed yesterday that they had been granted leave to take the challenge to the Supreme Court. They argue the case should be heard in the English court because the oil company is headquartered in London and is legally responsible for the environmental failures of its subsidiary, the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria. Daniel Leader, a partner at Leigh Day, the London law firm that represents the Nigerians, said: “The era of corporate impunity is drawing to a close. FULL ARTICLE (Paywall) read more

According to Shell’s records, the community has been impacted by at least 40 oil spills from Shell’s pipelines and equipment since 1989, including 23 spills in the past 4 years. Shell’s pipelines and infrastructure in Ogale are several decades old and in a poor state of repair making the area vulnerable to oil spills which have caused, and continue to cause, long-term contamination of the land, swamps, groundwater and waterways in the Community.

The Supreme Court hearing will appeal a judgment from February 2018, from the Court of Appeal in London, which upheld an earlier High Court judgment, that the English Court does not have jurisdiction over the claims.

Lawyers representing 40,000 Nigerian farmers and fisherman from two communities in the Niger Delta have been permitted to take their legal claim against the oil giant Shell to the UK Supreme Court.

The decision will allow the two communities from Bille and Ogale in the Niger Delta to appeal to the UK’s highest court, having suffered from decades of pollution from Shell’s pipelines.

They have taken their case to the English Courts on the basis that Royal Dutch Shell (RDS), which is headquartered in London, is legally responsible for the environmental failures of the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC), a subsidiary of RDS. read more

The decision to hear the appeal re-opens the possibility for British multinationals to be held liable at home for their subsidiaries’ actions abroad.

JULY 24, 2019

ABUJA, July 24 (Reuters) – The Supreme Court in London will hear an appeal by Nigerian farmers and fishermen to pursue claims in England against oil major Shell over oil spills in the Niger Delta, lawyers for the two affected communities said on Wednesday.

The decision to hear the appeal re-opens the possibility for British multinationals to be held liable at home for their subsidiaries’ actions abroad. It comes after a setback in February last year when a London court ruled that the claim could not be pursued in England. read more

Still in pristine condition, the contest form consisted of 10 simple questions that required either true or false answers with an additional bonus point allocated for the most creative name for an imaginary spaceship. In total, 325 prizes were up for grabs in the competition that closed on Merdeka Day Aug 31, 1969. With only four prize categories that offered cash prizes of between $100 and $10, the contest gives a good idea of the relatively higher purchasing power of the Malaysian ringgit about half a century ago. Extracted from this source article. read more

Sir Henri Deterding: Hitlers Paymaster

By John Donovan

EXTRACT FROM PAGE 07/483 from volume 1 of a four-volume work published in 2007 “A History of Royal Dutch Shell” – authored by eminent historians associated with Utrecht University. 

From 1937 Deterding, now influenced by a personal secretary with outspoken Fascist sympathies, helped to finance the paper of a Fascist splinter group in the Netherlands, just as the Group sponsored a Russian anti-Soviet press service in London. Finally, if Deterding or the Group indeed supported the Nazis during their wilderness years with any substantial sums, then one would have expected the Reichskanzlei to have acknowledged the fact in the minute considering whether or not to grant him an audience with Hitler in March 1933. However, the document mentions nothing of the kind; Deterding was turned down without further ado. read more

Joe Tenebruso, The Motley Fool: Motley Fool July 19, 2019

Shell Ventures, the corporate venture capital arm of international oil titan Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE: RDS-A), is investing in blockchain-focused energy company LO3. 

LO3 says it has developed a system that overcomes the challenge of integrating distributed energy resources into supply networks. The company says the system “promises to democratize the energy industry” by allowing people to both produce and consume electricity at their homes and businesses.

Shell’s investment will help LO3 scale its “blockchain-based energy networks around the world,” according to LO3 CEO Lawrence Orsini. “Energy is going through a revolution, with renewable distributed energy resources increasingly picking up market share — but to integrate them efficiently we need to reinvent our energy networks,” Orsini said. “These investments will help us accelerate the rollout of less carbon-intensive microgrids, which help all stakeholders benefit through distributed, decentralized, and decarbonized local energy transactions and demand response energy management on a building-by-building level.” read more

Russian President Vladimir Putin met the head of the Royal Dutch Shell, Ben Van Buerden, this week to discuss liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects, the Kremlin’s press service said.

As reported by bne IntelliNews, earlier this year Shell pulled out of the Baltic LNG project with Russian natural gas giant Gazprom.

“Shell is one of the largest foreign investors in [the] Russian economy, with over $15bn [in] investment. The company [has been] working in Russia since 1892, when it first sold gasoline in [the] Russian empire. We have a lot to talk about,” Putin’s press secretary Dmitri Peskov told Interfax. “To be serious, we have many projects related to LNG,” he added. read more