United Kingdom: a lone fighter against Shell

Apr 21st, 2012

by John Donovan.

ARD TV in Germany – the German equivalent of BBC TV – on Saturday, 21 April, broadcast a feature about me and this website (royaldutchshellplc.com) as part of the EUROPA MAGAZINE programme.

By John Donovan

ARD TV in Germany – the German equivalent of BBC TV – on Saturday, 21 April, broadcast a feature about me and this website (royaldutchshellplc.com) as part of the EUROPA MAGAZINE programme.

LINK TO VIEW FILM SEGMENT

Click here to read a translation of the narration.

During the film, *Oleg Mitvol, the Russian Environmental Minister in 2006, confirmed what he has said before on the subject  of Sakhalin II i.e. that he got the evidence from me (Donovan) that cost Shell its majority stake in the project (and many billions of dollars).

"Yes, Mr. Donovan's documents really helped us," Russia's former deputy environmental minister confirms. "His evidence proved without a doubt that documents had been forged and that problems had deliberately been kept secret."

President Putin and retired Royal Dutch Shell Executive, Paddy Briggs, also appear in the film.

Mr Briggs said:

When you have that amount of power you need to be held accountable. My view is that the democratic system doesn't always hold multinationals like Shell to account as much as they should. So there's a gap… And into that gap people like John Donovan will come.

I understand that for some unknown reason, Shell management declined to make any comment about me or this website. They seem to be peeved about something?

*Oleg Mitvol is currently the leader of the Green Alliance Party in Russia said to be the country's first real green party.

Non-professional translation of  related ARD webpage.

EUROPA MAGAZINE

Broadcast of 21 April 2012, 16.30

United Kingdom: a lone fighter against Shell

Until 20 years ago, John Donovan was a business partner of the Shell Group.

The Briton ran an Advertising business with his father designing promotions for Shell customers.

The small company ceased trading after a trial alleging that a Shell employee stole ideas and Donovan then became one of the biggest critics of the Anglo-Dutch group.

For over 10 years the early retiree from Colchester has operated a website that reports on abuses and exposes contradictions between corporate pledges and corporate actions. He has published tens of thousands of articles  there, partly with the help of senior Shell insiders.

And his campaign against the multinational, especially violations against the environment, have had significant consequences.

For example, Shell had operating losses of several billion euros after he notified the Russian government about the lax safety precautions in the Sakhalin-2 consortium involving Shell and Gazprom. Shell lost its majority stake after intervention by a Russian court.

External Links:

Homepage of John Donovan

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SOURCE

RELATED

Kremlin attack dog vows to take on Shell in the battle … – The Guardian

4 Oct 2006 – On one side was Oleg Mitvol, 6ft 2in and dressed in a black coat, the Kremlin's attack dog leading the charge against the vast Sakhalin-2 oil …

Gorbachev Plans to Revive Social-Democratic Party: 21 March 2012

Extract: The former head of Russia's environmental regulator Rosprirodnadzor, Oleg Mitvol, known for high-profile campaigns against oil companies, announced on Wednesday his plans to establish a new party, tentatively dubbed "Alliance of Green – people party.

SOME FURTHER SCREENSHOTS

John Donovan of Royal Dutch Shell Plc .com

Posted in: Business Principles, Corporate Governance, Don Marketing, GoogleNews,John Donovan, Litigation, Outspoken Articles, Paddy Briggs, Royal Dutch Shell Plc,Sakhalin II, Shell.
Tagged: John Donovan · Oleg Mitvol · President Putin · Royal Dutch Shell Plc · Russia ·Sakhalin II

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What Is It Going to Take to Stop Shell's Arctic Drilling?

Apr 19th, 2012

by John Donovan.

Posted 04/20/2012

I've got one question for President Obama: What is it going to take for you to put a stop to Shell's plans for Arctic Ocean drilling this summer? The reasons not to drill just keep mounting — and the reasons to drill? Well, there seems to be just one, and I can't say it in politically correct company. I can give you a hint: Republican rhetoric and the 2012 presidential election.

Just yesterday, the National Oil Spill Commission that you appointed after the Deepwater Horizon disaster came out with areport card that noted that in the Arctic, there remain "many unanswered questions and much work to be done." Specifically, this group of esteemed experts raised concerns about the fact that there remains no proven method to clean up an oil spill in the Arctic's extreme conditions.

Specifically, the report card notes that Shell has yet to successfully test the techniques they propose to use for Arctic oilspill containment "in the extreme weather conditions that are often present in Arctic waters." What's more, these techniques have not been "evaluated in any significant way by government entities." The commission went on to point out that "the Coast Guard has made it clear in congressional testimony that they are not yet prepared to deal with a serious drilling incident in the Arctic."

These words alone should give you pause. However, there's much more.

Congress' investigative body, the General Accountability Office (GAO), came out with its own report at the end of last month on Shell's subsea containment capabilities. This report questions what Shell plans to do if there's a blowout in the Arctic — similar to the one in the Gulf of Mexico that killed 11 men and caused 205.8 million gallons of oil to spill and months to contain. Their findings, like the National Oil Spill Commission report card, were skeptical.

"Even with Shell's plans to have dedicated capping stack and well containment capabilities in the region to provide rapid response in the event of a blowout, these dedicated capabilities do not completely mitigate some of the environmental and logistical risks associated with the remoteness and environment of the region," the report reads.

On the heels of that report, analysts at one of the world's largestinsurance markets issued a stunning warning that offshore drillingin the Arctic would "constitute a unique and hard-to-manage risk" and urged companies to "think carefully about the consequences of action." The Lloyds of London report cautions that "environmental consequences of disasters in the Arctic have the potential to be worse than in other regions. The resilience of the Arctic's ecosystems in terms of withstanding risk events is weak, and political sensitivity to a disaster is high. As a result, companies operating in the Arctic face significant reputational risk."

Even if you put aside all the warnings and skepticism from people who make it their job to know about these things, there are still the voices of those who stand to lose the most. Their words are the ones that speak to your heart.

Caroline Cannon, an Inupiat tribal leader who has spent her life in recent years going back and forth between her home on the Arctic coast and Washington, D.C. to ensure that her people and her way of life are not forgotten, was recognized this week with the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize. Caroline and her community of 700 people in Point Hope, Alaska, have thrived for thousands of years off the bounty of the Arctic Ocean. When Caroline comes to Washington, she gives voice to her community, others on the Arctic coast, as well as the generations that came before and the generations still to come. For all of them, Shell's plans threaten who they are and who they will be.

I will never forget the day that the mother of nine and grandmother of 26 called me sobbing, asking me how our president could have made yet another decision to allow Shell to move forward with its plans. I didn't know how to answer her, except to say that we will keep fighting.

"Shell's proposed drilling would affect not simply our ability to feed ourselves and others in the community, or the cultural traditions around our subsistence activities, or just our enjoyment of those activities, but they would affect the very foundations of who we are as individuals and as a people," Caroline said. "We have a right to life, to physical integrity, to security, and the right to enjoy the benefits of our culture. For this, we will fight."

Surely, President Obama, you can't turn your back on the voices of these proud Inupiats and proud Americans.

We only have one Arctic. It not only gives life to myriad beloved species of wildlife — from polar bears and bowhead whales, to ice seals and walrus — but it also acts as our planet's air conditioner. I implore you not to play political roulette with a place that is such a vital piece of our planet's future. There is still time to stop this disaster before it happens. Tell Shell to turn its ships around.

SOURCE

Posted in: Alaska, Arctic, Business Principles, Environment, Green, Oil Spill, Royal Dutch Shell Plc, United States.
Tagged: Alaska · Arctic Ocean · Beaufort Sea · Chukchi Sea · HuffingtonPost.com ·President Obama · Royal Dutch Shell Plc

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Shell accused of deceit, trickery and fraud

Shell accused of deceit, 

trickery and fraud by 

a group of over 

100 former employees

Apr 17th, 2012

by John Donovan.

LETTER TO THE PRESIDENT OF NIGERIA FROM THE DELTA RIGHTS GROUP OF OVER 100 FORMER SHELL EMPLOYEES

By John Donovan
Printed below is a letter recently sent to the President of Nigeria by The Delta Rights Group, a group of over 100 former Shell employees who allege that they are the victims of deceit, trickery and fraud on the part of Shell.
All reminiscent of what happened to Shell employees in Ethiopia and Malaysia.
Angry Shell Ethiopia employees accuse Shell of discrimination and infringement of Human rights: 2 August 2008
Shell Employees in Africa Protest Against Being 'Sold' by Shell: 29 July 2008
Ethiopian employees accuse Shell of raiding retirement fund: 18 December 2007
Dear Mr John Donovan: Warm greetings from Shell employees in Ethiopia: 26 November 2007
The Delta Group has promised to supply us with evidence of alleged misdeeds by Shell management, which we will publish in due course, if deemed appropriate.

THE LETTER TO THE PRESIDENT OF NIGERIA

April 13, 2012
President Goodluck Jonathan
Office of the President of the
Federal Republic of Nigeria,
Aso Rock Villa,
Asokoro District,
Abuja.

Dear Sir,
IMPENDING DISASTER ARISING FROM THE SALES OF OML 42 (BATAN, JONES CREEK, EGWA 1, EGWA 2, ODIDI 1 AND ODIDI 2 FIELDS)
This mail is being sent to you to know of the dangers that will arise from the sale of OML42 by Shell. The current Joint Venture is made up of NECONDE and NPDC, with NPDC being the Operator of the Joint Venture.
Shell sold her stake in OML 42 to the NECONDE Consortium, and custody transfer was made on Dec 01, 2011. After which Batan Flowstation (a part of OML 42) was run by Shell staff who were transferred to NECONDE as part of the Divestment of OML 42. Oil production was sustained at circa 29,000 bbls/day.
Due to issues arising from Operatorship of the Joint Venture, NPDC took over the running of Batan F/S on February 01, 2012 and oil production has nosedived to 7,000bbls/day since they took over. NPDC does not have the competence to run such a Flowstation, and if they are allowed to continue running it, oil production will get to 0bbls/day very soon, thereby, threatening the income accruable to the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
In OML 42, there are other Flowstations that were shutdown during the Niger Delta crisis. Under the few weeks that NECONDE ran Batan Flowstation before it was taken over by NPDC, they had already drawn up plans on how to re-enter the other assets in OML 42. These are Jones Creek, Egwa 1, Egwa 2, Odidi 1 and Odidi 2 Fields. With NPDC running this JV, these assets won't be re-entered because they don't have the expertise to re-enter abandoned fields. And if this continues, NPDC will be economically sabotaging Nigeria's income due to their vested interests.
When Shell was divesting her stake in OML 42, 115 staff were also transferred to NECONDE to run these assets. With NPDC taking over, these ex-Shell staff are now jobless because NECONDE has laid them off due to the fact that NPDC is the operator. These are trained staff with all the technical know-how and expertise to run such assets.
The role of Government is governance and not to run businesses. These should be left to private companies with the expertise so that government can focus on governance and oversight functions. Compare Batan Flowstation was producing 29,000bbls/day before NPDC took over and currently, it is producing a mere 7,000bbls/day.






Other issues arising from OML 42 Divestment:

• 115 able-bodied men and women were transferred from Shell to NECONDE as part of the Divestment. With NPDC clinging to the operatorship, these people have been rendered jobless. Due to the mental, psychological and physical trauma, one of the personnel slumped and died (Mr. Daniel Anyanwu) and some others have been admitted as a result of hypertension and high-blood pressure-related illnesses.
• Mainly people from the Niger Delta were transferred from Shell to NECONDE. Now, they are jobless. The Niger-Delta has been relatively peaceful for sometime and we would want it to remain so. Lots of people are sympathetic to the plight of these jobless 114 people.
• With NPDC being operator, oil will be locked-in in OML 42 because they don't have the capacity to run such an asset and to bring in abandoned fields.
• Shell tricked the affected personnel into OML 42 and NECONDE knowing fully well that they transferred operatorship to NPDC. How can you transfer staff to NECONDE when you know that you are transferring Operatorship to NPDC? This smirks of fraud and utter deceit.
• In the final pay-off by Shell to the 115 staff transferred to NECONDE, the personnel were seriously short-changed and different formulae were used to calculate their terminal benefits. Any formula that suits an individual was the one that Shell applied, thereby, shortchanging the 115 people after forcefully pushing them away from their jobs.
• Shell is partaking in a lot of lies and is treating the personnel of NECONDE with double-standards. These are people who gave their active years serving Shell. They have peddled lots of lies. For example, they claimed to have been the ones that paid NECONDE staff salaries for Jan and Feb 2012 so as to push through another OML Divestment (See the attached note from Shell.)

From the Shell angle, since the present MD (Mutiu Sunmonu) took over, it has been one form of severance to another, and these exercises mainly affect people from the South-South and Niger-Delta, this is because he is from the South West. He protects the interest of the South West people, and the people of the South South are always chosen for such exercises. To buttress this statement, consider the following:

• More than 60% of the 115 people transferred from Shell to NECONDE are from the Niger Delta (Ijaw, Urhobo, Isoko, etc). These are young boys in their mid 20's to early 40's who were not due for pension in Shell before they were forced out.
• The few Yorubas affected are elderly people in their 50's who have already qualified for pension in Shell. And even transferring them to such OML is an added income stream for them. People who should be retired are dragging opportunities with the younger ones.
• There is nobody to protect the interest of the Niger Deltans. Mutiu protects the interests of the Yorubas, and there are other Managers in Shell protecting their people. For example, a certain Theophilus Odigie, aManager in Shell is a serious tribalist and protects the interests of theEdo people. The Niger Delta people are like headless chickens in their own land. The oppression is too much and you have to do something about it.
• Most employments are in favour of the South West people and our people are further impoverished in their land.

Also, during the Sendforth of ex-Shell staff transferred to NECONDE, the Shell MD said that the personnel are like daughters given to 2 men in marriage and that they should make the marriage work. Which sane man will give out the hands of his daughter to 2 men in marriage? From the onset, this whole OML 42 Divestment was riddled with lies, irregularities, etc.
And if these things continue, there will be serious poverty and idleness in the land. And there is a saying that "An idle mind is the Devil's Workshop"
Sir, for there to be peace, the operatorship should be reverted to NECONDE and the 114 staff who have been disengaged by NECONDE should be recalled to run these assets. Alternatively, Shell should recall the 114 staff that they transferred to OML 42 due to the Divestment since the Divestment is not working.
Yours sincerely,




Delta Rights Group.
UPDATE FROM DELTA RIGHTS GROUP
More info…
- Delta Rights is an Advocacy Group fighting for the aggrieved 115 personnel.
- You can refer to the ex-Shell staff as 'Group of 115 ex-Shell staff tricked out of their jobs by SHELL under the guise of OML 42 Divestment'.
- This is April 17, the personnel have not been paid their March salaries. The new Employer, NECONDE ENERGY LTD is blackmailing them to sign the letter of severance before they will be paid. The employees refused and they haven't been paid until now.
- If the employees sign the letter, they have given up their rights and will free SHELL and NECONDE of all liabilities.
We will be furnishing you with more information as it progresses.



Sincerely,
Delta Rights.

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Posted in: Africa, Business Principles, Corruption, GoogleNews, Human Rights, John Donovan, Nigeria, Oil, Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Shell Employee Safety, Shell Job Cuts.
Tagged: John Donovan · Niger Delta · Nigeria · Royal Dutch Shell Plc

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