Posts under ‘Shell Transport and Trading Co’

ACCESS TO MORE INFORMATION THAN ANYWHERE ELSE ON THE PLANET ABOUT THE ROYAL DUTCH SHELL RESERVES SCANDAL / FRAUD

By John Donovan

Royal Dutch Shell Group Chairman Sir Philip Watts, was forced to resign as a result of the fraudulent over-statement of claimed hydrocarbon reserves.

Sir Philip subsequently became a very rich vicar, after a payoff package from Shell worth nearly $20 million to buy his silence.

Link to a John Donovan file containing extensive news coverage.

RELATED COURT DOCS

FOR THE FIRST TIME MOST OF THE INFORMATION WE HAVE ON THIS SUBJECT IS PUBLISHED ON A SINGLE WEBPAGE read more

Nigeria Eni/Shell corruption case: Future of Eni’s CEO at stake

By Christophe Le Bec
Posted on Thursday, 24 September 2020 18:22

The highly publicised corruption trial which alleges that oil majors Eni and Shell took part in an unlawful acquisition – that of the OPL 245 oil licence in Nigeria – entered its final phase on Monday, 21 September in Milan, with the defence presenting its case.

Key business and political figures were set to go before the Italian court in relation to a Nigerian business deal dating back to the early 2000s. The corruption case is one of the largest in the oil industry’s history. read more

Royal Dutch Shell is expected to announce a record quarterly loss next week as the oil industry counts the cost of the toughest quarter in its history. read more

In 2018 the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) accused Shell of violating clean air laws for over a decade and reached a settlement with the corporate giant shortly after.

Extracts

The Shell Norco Manufacturing Complex has been operating by the banks of the Mississippi River in southern Louisiana for almost a century. A sprawling set of oil refineries and petrochemical plants that dominate the landscape and pollute the air about 20 miles outside the city of New Orleans.

In 2018 the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) accused Shell of violating clean air laws for over a decade and reached a settlement with the corporate giant shortly after.

Since 2001 the Norco Civic Association, a community group heavily backed by Shell, has run a Christmas parade that winds through the industrial complex, which sits on the site of old sugarcane fields in the heart of a region known as “Cancer Alley” due to its high levels of industrial pollution. read more

Esther Kiobel has been fighting for more than a decade to obtain justice for the murder of her husband Dr. Barinem Kiobel and crimes committed against her, for which she holds Shell responsible. Shell supported and financed the corrupt Abacha regime in Nigeria.

By John Donovan

Shell’s U.S. lawyers Cravath, Swaine & Moore, appealed against a decision by a U.S. federal judge that Cravath should hand over for use in Dutch litigation against Shell, more than 100,000 items of Shell internal discovery documents stored by Cravath in a secure warehouse located in the USA.

I have routinely published available appeal court documents that would otherwise be hidden behind a pay wall. The documents below were filed with the court in the days just before the appeal court hearing by various parties involved, including Washington DC lawyers Hogan Lovells representing Cravath, and EarthRights International acting for Esther Kiobel. read more

While Shell publicly stated that it was trying to persuade the regime to abandon the trial using quiet diplomacy, in reality it continued supporting the regime, while negotiating new projects. It also continued actively involving itself in the course of events during the trial.

By John Donovan

The numbered paragraphs below are extracted from the 138 page Esther Kiobel Writ served on multiple Royal Dutch Shell companies on 28 June 2017. More information about the litigation, this time in the Dutch Courts, is provided after the extracts. As can be seen in the footnotes, the allegations are supported by voluminous evidence.

OGONI 9 TRIAL

Extracts begin

8.7 Shell, knowing how the trial would end, allowed its commercial interests to prevail over the fate of the Ogoni 9

315. Through its close involvement with the case and with the regime Shell knew at an early stage that the suspects would not have a fair trial. In July 1995, more than three months before the tribunal was to pass judgment, Anderson reported on a conversation he had had with President Abacha: read more

The extent of Shell’s infiltration of Nigerian politics later became clear from the messages from the American embassy in Nigeria published by WikiLeaks. In them Executive Vice President of Shell in Africa at the time, Ann Pickard, boasted to the American ambassador that the Nigerian government had forgotten that Shell had seconded people to every ministry in the Nigerian government and was therefore aware of everything happening there

By John Donovan

The numbered paragraphs below are extracted from the 138 page Esther Kiobel Writ served on multiple Royal Dutch Shell companies on 28 June 2017. More information about the latest litigation, this time in the Dutch Courts, is provided after the extracts. As can be seen in the footnotes, the allegations are supported by volumous evidence.

Shell and the Abacha regime operated in tandem

Extracts begin:

8.4.4 Shell and the regime operated a joint intelligence service

267. Together with the State Security Service (“SSS”, the national intelligence and security service) Shell maintained its own network of informants. According to George Ukpong, Shell had daily contact with the commissioner of police of Rivers State and the director of the SSS in this period.362 The SSS, according to Upkong, “is one of the security agencies rendering valuable assistance in support of SPDC security operations in the state”; the SSS “has provided assistance in meeting some of our staff training needs” and “has been of particular assistance to [Shell] in the area of crime intelligence acquisition”. read more

Shell itself took action to provide the police force with arms. In the period in which the setting up of OPAPCO and the expansion of Shell’s police force were under discussion SPDC’s security adviser Victor Oteri asked the regime for consent to import more than half a million dollars of arms. The order included: – 130 SMG Beretta 9 mm Calibre; – 200,000 Rounds of 9 mm bullets/ammunitions; – 40 Berretta Pistols (to replace unserviceable ones); – Pump Action Shotgun 12 GA, 6 shots including slings – 50,000 rounds cartridges for Pump Action Shot Guns – 20,000 rounds Shotgun rubber bullets; – 500 Smoke Hand Grenades

Shell and the Abacha regime operated in tandem

By John Donovan

The numbered paragraphs below are extracted from the 138 page Esther Kiobel Writ served on multiple Royal Dutch Shell companies on 28 June 2017. More information about the latest litigation, this time in the Dutch Courts, is provided after the extracts.

Extracts Begin

8.4.2 Shell provided vehicles and facilities

258. It was characteristic of the relationship between Shell and the regime that “for relationship rapport” Shell regularly honoured all kinds of requests from the police and the security service, ranging from the payment of boat repairs to the purchase of air conditioning and office furniture.343 Shell even offered logistical support of its own volition.344 It also regularly paid field allowances for MOPOL345 and – as previously discussed in section 8.2.3 – vehicles and buildings were made available. Shell not only arranged the transport for MOPOL, but it was also common to take care of transport in the situations in which Shell asked the regime for “assistance”, as in the examples referred to sections 8.2.3 and 8.2.4.346 The Nigerian police also remained present in Ogoniland, which by then was already a no-go area for Shell, after 1993, with the aim of protecting Shell property.347 Among other things Shell paid the salaries and the meals of these officers.348 On request Shell provided operational maps to the Nigerian army, displaying all Shell’s activities.349 read more

Shell paid and maintained part of the Nigerian police force; Shell was prepared to purchase arms for the regime; Shell had puppets in place up to the highest level of the Nigerian government as a result of its revolving door policy, under which former employees of Shell work for the regime and vice versa; Shell maintained a network of informants in Ogoniland in conjunction with the regime. Shell was itself… a direct and active part of (all ranks of) the government apparatus that had to maintain ‘order’ in Ogoniland and to this end violated human rights on a wide scale. Shell’s police force in 1994 numbered more than 1,200 officers… Shell also had 41 marines and 128 MOPOL members… … in total the Shell-operated joint venture employed around 2,470 security staff…

By John Donovan

The numbered paragraphs below are extracted from the 138 page Esther Kiobel Writ served on multiple Royal Dutch Shell companies on 28 June 2017. More information about the latest litigation, this time in the Dutch Courts, is provided after the extracts.

Extracts Begin

8.4 Shell and the regime operated in tandem

246. Not only did Shell stand at the cradle of the aforementioned excesses by requesting the intervention of MOPOL or the RSISTF again and again, it also factually enabled the regime to do this by providing it with arms, personnel and money. As such, Shell facilitated the excessive actions by the regime, but also fulfilled typical government tasks itself.247. The strong entanglement of Shell and the regime is evident inter alia from the following facts and circumstances, some of which have previously been discussed above: read more

Interviewed by The Sunday Times in Nigeria last week, Okuntimo initially admitted being paid by Shell while he was in charge of crushing Ogoni protests against the company. ‘Shell contributed to the logistics through financial support. To do this, we needed resources and Shell provided these,’ he said.

By John Donovan

The numbered paragraphs below are extracted from the 138 page Esther Kiobel Writ served on multiple Royal Dutch Shell companies on 28 June 2017. More information about the latest litigation, this time in the Dutch Courts, is provided after the extracts.

Extracts Begin

8.3.2 Okuntimo worked partly on behalf of Shell

236. Okuntimo repeatedly and publicly stated that he conducted the operation in part on behalf of Shell.312 In the American proceedings, Boniface Ejiogu, who at the time of the Ogoni crisis was Okuntimo’s assistant, furthermore stated that he had witnessed the handing over of money by Shell to Okuntimo three times, twice by George Ukpong (exhibits 24 and 25).313 Ejiogu also stated that Ukpong and Okuntimo met each other regularly, usually in Ukpong’s office in the Industrial Area, but also at Ukpong’s home.314 Shell also assisted the RSISTF in the form of rations, ammunition and transport.315 The payments to Okuntimo by Shell were confirmed by another witness, Raphael Kponee, who was a member of Shell’s police unit and who worked at Shell’s Industrial Area (exhibit 39).316 In the American proceedings, Shell employee Osazee Osunde also testified that he had seen Ukpong and Okuntimo together on Shell’s Industrial Area.317 read more

Owens Wiwa, brother of Ken Saro Wiwa, outside Shell headquarters in London

In 1994 the Nigerian regime of Sani Abacha began a large-scale military offensive in Ogoniland to break the population’s resistance to Shell’s activities and to clear the way to a resumption of oil production.

By John Donovan

The numbered paragraphs below are extracted from the 138 page Esther Kiobel Writ served on multiple Royal Dutch Shell companies on 28 June 2017. More information about the latest litigation, this time in the Dutch Courts, is provided after the extracts.

EXTRACTS FROM ESTHER KIOBEL JUNE 2017 WRIT

8.3 Shell facilitated Operation Restore Order in Ogoniland

218. In 1994 the Nigerian regime of Sani Abacha began a large-scale military offensive in Ogoniland to break the population’s resistance to Shell’s activities and to clear the way to a resumption of oil production. Not long after the offensive was announced, the leaders of MOSOP and any other prominent Ogoni were arrested, resulting in the death of the Ogoni 9 in 1995. read more

In the village of Korokoro the visit by Shell and the troops on 25 October 1993 led to a violent confrontation with the local population.

By John Donovan

The numbered paragraphs below are extracted from the 138 page Esther Kiobel Writ served on multiple Royal Dutch Shell companies on 28 June 2017. More information about the latest litigation, this time in the Dutch Courts, is provided after the extracts.

EXTRACTS FROM ESTHER KIOBEL JUNE 2017 WRIT 

8.2.6 Shell rewarded Okuntimo following excess of violence at Korokoro

209. At the beginning of October 1993 the Rivers State authorities started peace negotiations between the Ogoni and Andoni. Shell and MOSOP were also invited to them, even though Shell was not a party to the agreement.264 Others present were “OMPADEC, the Military, the S.S.S. (State Security Service), the warring parties and Police representatives”.265 To the surprise of Owens Wiwa, who was present on behalf of MOSOP, Paul Okuntimo also joined the talks: read more

Between July 1993 and April 1994 hundreds of Ogoni were killed and thousands became homeless as a result of apparent ethnic conflicts between the Andoni, the Okrika and Ndoki and the Ogoni population groups. The biggest attack took place on the Ogoni village of Kaa on 4 and 5 August 1993, when an estimated 35 to 124 villagers died; The regime later proved involved in the attacks itself, with Shell providing a helping hand.

By John Donovan

The numbered paragraphs below are extracted from the 138 page Esther Kiobel Writ served on multiple Royal Dutch Shell companies on 28 June 2017. More information about the latest litigation, this time in the Dutch Courts, is provided after the extracts.

EXTRACTS FROM ESTHER KIOBEL JUNE 2017 WRIT 

8.2.5  Shell supported the army in fake ‘ethnic conflicts’

203. Between July 1993 and April 1994 hundreds of Ogoni were killed and thousands became homeless as a result of apparent ethnic conflicts between the Andoni, the Okrika and Ndoki and the Ogoni population groups. The biggest attack took place on the Ogoni village of Kaa on 4 and 5 August 1993, when an estimated 35 to 124 villagers died; widespread looting also took place and possessions and homes were destroyed.250 Despite repeated requests to this effect from MOSOP to Rufus Ada George and President Abacha, the Nigerian regime did not intervene in this period.251 The regime later proved involved in the attacks itself, with Shell providing a helping hand. read more

By John Donovan

Printed below is the content of an OPPOSITION TO MOTION filed on 17 July 2017 by a bunch of very high priced lawyers acting for very high priced Shell lawyers Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP in the US Court of Appeal.

Shell is battling behind the scenes to avoid, at all costs, handing over 100,000 items of potentially incriminating Shell internal discovery assembled years ago for the original Kiobel action against Shell in the US, which Shell managed to eventually evade on a jurisdiction issue decided by the US Supreme Court. read more

Extract: Shell contributed to the ‘Umuechem massacre’: In 1990, Shell’s request to the authorities to terminate a peaceful demonstration in Umechem, a village just outside of Ogoniland, resulted in a two-day long punitive expedition by MOPOL. Dozens of people were killed, even more injured and many hundreds became homeless. Extract: MOPOL returned very early the next day to undertake a punitive expedition in Umuechem. During this expedition, 495 houses were set alight in their entirety. Many people got injured and internal Shell documents as well as a Human Rights Watch report speak of a death toll of 80.

By John Donovan

The numbered paragraphs below are extracted from the 138 page Esther Kiobel Writ served on multiple Royal Dutch Shell companies on 28 June 2017. More information about the latest litigation, this time in the Dutch Courts, is provided after the extracts. At the time of all of these horrific events in Nigeria, orchestrated to a large degree by Shell, the oil giant claimed that it was operating within its core business principles, including honesty, integrity, openness and respect for people.  read more

Shell was repeatedly behind excessively violent action by the regime against the Ogoni and other population groups that were protesting against Shell. During the trial Shell was also in direct contact with the Tribunal judges and Shell’s counsel assisted the regime in bribing witnesses.

By John Donovan

The numbered paragraphs below are extracted from the 138 page Esther Kiobel Writ served on multiple Royal Dutch Shell companies on 28 June 2017. More information about the latest litigation, this time in the Dutch Courts, is provided after the extracts.

8. SHELL IS COMPLICIT IN THE HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS AGAINST THE OGONI 9 AND THE CLAIMANTS

8.1 Introduction

160. As explained in the previous chapter, under Nigerian law encouraging or inciting human rights violations, promoting or contributing to them, sharing in making them possible or facilitating them leads to complicity. read more