If a tobacco company gave the World Health Organisation a $10 million grant to examine the health effects of smoking, health campaigners would be outraged. They would also treat the results with great suspicion. And the fact that Shell gave UNEP $10 million dollars to examine the cause of oil spills in Ogoni means that … Read More
Firstly pollution in Brazil: At the end of last week a Brazilian court fined the local units of Shell and BASF a total of BRL1.1 billion ($654 million) in compensation and medical costs to workers who were harmed by contamination at a chemicals plant in Paulinia, Sao Paulo. The Paulinia unit was built by Shell … Read More
They are two moments in history, intricately linked, although poles apart. Today Peter Voser, the chief executive of Shell, outlines the company’s financial and production strategy for the coming year. Once again Nigeria was mentioned as a key country where the company had added strategic reserves. “These are exciting times for Shell”, said Voser. “We … Read More
The showdown between Argentina and Britain over the Falklands is not the only row brewing on the international oil scene. A bitter battle is brewing between oil giants such as Shell and Chevron and the Nigerian government over proposed reforms of the oil and gas sector. The oil companies are threatening that up to $50 … Read More
Yesterday it was internal criticism of Shell’s Nigerian operations. Today it is external criticism. A new report by the Ecumenical Council for Corporate Responsibility (ECCR) argues that Shell can improve its negative social and environmental impacts in the Niger Delta. Based on case studies researched and written by five civil society organisations working in the … Read More
Having written about Shell in Nigeria for over fifteen years, we have known that there was huge internal disquiet about the company’s operations in the country. In the aftermath of the murder of Nigerian writer Ken Saro-Wiwa in 1995, Shell was pilloried in the international press for being complicit in his death and for being … Read More
Things are hotting up in the Niger Delta again and once again Shell finds itself at the centre of the vortex of violence and conflict. On Saturday the company had to shut three oil flow stations in the Delta region after a pipeline was sabotaged by armed gun-men. It was the same day as Nigeria’s … Read More
Shell is facing the humiliation of having to reduce its workforce by 5000 as part of a radical cost-cutting drive due to the falling oil price. As the oil giant’s profits had plummeted an amazing 73 per cent, Peter Voser, the chief executive, said “the outlook remains very uncertain, and we are not expecting a … Read More
Yesterday, the Financial Times rocked the oil world with a story about how the Chinese state-owned oil company, CNOC, was in talks with the Nigerian Government to buy large stakes in some of the country’s key oil blocks. The story was so compelling, because if it is accurate, it puts the Chinese in direct competition … Read More
When Peter Voser takes control at Shell next week from his predecessor Jeroen van der Veer, he will have a bursting in-tray that includes one persistent problem for Shell: Nigeria. Here the oil giant faces a myriad of problems including continuing community unrest, militant attacks and what to do about gas flaring.
