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John Donovan

BP MUST BE DESPERATE

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The story so far:

Both BP and Shell are in the process of divesting their Defined Benefit Pension Schemes.

BP to Aviva
Shell to Legal and General
Shell US has already divested its Defined Benefit Pension Scheme to Prudential

BP is downsizing i.e. divesting Renewables Assets under pressure from activist Elliot. Thereby, retaining  core assets at an attractive price.

Wael Sawan Shell CEO using carefully chosen words vehemently denying that Shell is in the process of taking over BP. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, shellnews.net, and shellwikipedia.com, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

When Shell Met BP – A Love Story Fueled by Oil, Lies, and a $120 Million Fine

“And speaking of Shell’s finest: enter Simon Henry, Shell’s former CFO and now newly appointed BP board member. A man intimately connected to the hydrocarbon reserves scandal.”

Ah, Shell and BP. Britain’s answer to “Which fossil-fueled supervillain do you prefer?” Now there’s murmuring that Shell—the world’s leading oil-slicked PR machine and gold-medal winner in the Deadliest Workplace Olympics—might consider buying BP, its slightly less polished cousin. It’s like Dracula pondering whether to adopt Frankenstein.

But before we get too sentimental, let’s remember what Shell brings to the table:

  • A glorious history of employee care, like handing Dutch staff over to the Nazis during WWII, and later using workers as test subjects for carcinogenic chemicals. Experimental cruelty disguised as corporate efficiency.
  • A North Sea platform scandal so outrageous it could be a Monty Python sketch, were it not for the dead offshore workers. Lifeboats were reportedly unseaworthy, and Shell’s internal policy was colloquially dubbed “Touch Fuck All.” Charming.
  • The 2004 reserves scandal, where Shell admitted it had wildly exaggerated its hydrocarbon reserves. Shareholders were shocked. The SEC fined Shell $120 million, which the company could pay using just one of its greenwashing budgets.
  • Nigeria, where Shell’s legacy is so soaked in blood, corruption, and environmental devastation that it makes the Exxon Valdez spill look like a spilt milkshake.
  • Hakluyt, Shell’s in-house intelligence firm. If MI6 and Blackwater had a baby who hated Greenpeace, it’d be Hakluyt. This covert unit reportedly spied on activists, journalists, and anyone else who dared whisper the truth.
  • Let’s not forget Shell’s ties to the apartheid regime, its cameo in the Al-Yamamah BAE oil-for-arms scandal, and its incestuous intelligence links through Hakluyt.
  • And then there’s SPECTRE and SMERSH… oh wait, those are fictional. Shell isn’t. It’s worse.

Investors like BlackRock and Vanguard still happily line their pockets from Shell’s sludge-soaked profits. Because what’s a little ecological genocide when there are dividends to collect? read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, shellnews.net, and shellwikipedia.com, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

The BP Target: Bloated, Battered, and Begging for a Buyer

Shell, that noble torchbearer of fossil-fuelled “progress,” is once again in the headlines—not for saving the planet (don’t be silly), but for the hotly whispered prospect of gobbling up BP, its longtime frenemy in pollution, profit, and public-relations gymnastics.

Because when you’ve already left a wake of ecological destruction, human rights abuses, and accounting scandals, what’s one more body on the pile?

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Shell: The Serial Offender That Keeps on Drilling

Let’s start with the obvious: Shell isn’t just an oil company. It’s a cautionary tale in human and corporate depravity. This is the firm that: read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, shellnews.net, and shellwikipedia.com, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Shell’s $66 Million Audit Fiasco, a Flaming Gas Rig, and That Time They Lied About Oil Reserves: Business as Usual

Let’s give a warm, fiery round of applause to Shell plc—the undisputed heavyweight champion of corporate facepalms. This week’s episode in the long-running series What the Actual Fuck, Shell? features the oil Goliath filing amended financial reports in the US, after its beloved auditor EY—yes, the Ernst & Young you know and regret—forgot the actual rules of auditing.

Apparently, the lead audit partner overstayed their welcome on Shell’s books, breaking SEC rotation rules two years in a row. But don’t worry! No financials were changed. Which is great, because if there’s one thing more reliable than Shell’s gas leaks, it’s their ability to break the rules without breaking a sweat. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, shellnews.net, and shellwikipedia.com, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Shell & BP: The Dynamic Duo of Climate Chaos

Shell even reassured us it won’t be buying BP—for at least six months. How noble.

Once upon a time in the Kingdom of Oil, two fossil-fuelled juggernauts stood shoulder to shoulder atop a scorched planet. Their names? Shell and —the Bonnie and Clyde of carbon capitalism, the Gordon Gekkos of global warming. If the Earth had lungs, these two would’ve been chain-smoking them for decades.

And now, just when you thought it couldn’t get more grotesque, we have merger whispers. Shell flirted with the idea of swallowing BP whole, because nothing says “energy transition” quite like an all-British megamerger to keep the fossil flame alive. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, shellnews.net, and shellwikipedia.com, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Shell, Spies & Sin Stocks: The Fossil-Fuelled Farce That Never Ends

It’s almost poetic how Shell manages to be simultaneously everywhere and innocent—like a billionaire arsonist blaming the match. The latest flare-up in the company’s scorched-earth public relations portfolio? An espionage scandal in Italy so shady it makes James Bond look like a data privacy officer.

Let’s dig in, shall we?

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Shell’s New Hobby: Spying for Fun and (Mostly) Profit

Turns out that Shell, that shining beacon of climate leadership (pause for laughter), has allegedly been a customer of a rogue Italian outfit called Equalize. Now, Equalize isn’t your average reputation-laundering consultancy. No, this one comes with options: hacking tax authorities, infiltrating law enforcement systems, bribing witnesses, spying on employees—and allegedly serving a side of mafia, Mossad, and Vatican connections. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, shellnews.net, and shellwikipedia.com, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Shell & BP Sin Syndicate: Pollution, Profits, and Privilege – The Real Energy Transition

What do you get when you cross two oil giants with a fondness for dictatorship-era espionage, apartheid-era diplomacy, and fireballs of carcinogens? You get Shell and BP: the dynamic duo of destruction, the real masters of global transition—transitioning the planet from livable to cooked, one explosive scandal at a time.

Let’s begin with , Britain’s teetering national oil champion, desperately trying to cling to its “independence” like a CEO clings to a bonus while oil rigs burn. With shares down 22% over the last year, BP is now more of a discount bin than a blue-chip. The vultures are circling—US oil giants and even Shell (because nothing says “rescue” like handing the keys to another moral sinkhole). read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, shellnews.net, and shellwikipedia.com, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Shell-Shocked: How a Dutch Court Greenlit More Earthquakes for Gas Profits

In yet another dazzling display of fossil-fuel fanaticism, the Dutch Council of State has officially handed Shell and ExxonMobil’s joint venture—NAM (Nederlandse Aardolie Maatschappij)—a shiny new license to keep shaking the earth for gas in Groningen, because clearly, what’s a few collapsed homes when energy giants need to make their quarterly billions?

Let’s call this what it is: Earthquakes for profit. The most recent 2.1-magnitude quake in Warffum wasn’t enough to raise eyebrows in The Hague, where the judges decided that “the interests of NAM and the Minister of Climate and Green Growth… weigh heavier” than the basic human right not to have your house fall on your head. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, shellnews.net, and shellwikipedia.com, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Shell-BP Megamerger: When Greed Meets Greenwash in a Match Made in Hydrocarbon Hell

When Shell CEO Wael Sawan responded to speculation about a mega-merger with BP, he said the bar for acquisitions was “very high.” Clearly, it’s not nearly as high as Shell’s tolerance for greenhouse gas emissions, human rights controversies, or sheer corporate arrogance.

Now, as rumours swirl about Shell swallowing up its once-proud British cousin, BP, we are once again reminded that in Big Oil, consolidation is just a polite word for “expanding your emissions footprint while doubling your marketing budget.” read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, shellnews.net, and shellwikipedia.com, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Shell’s Prelude to Disaster: Floating Time Bomb Gets Regulatory Shrug While Transparency Sinks

If you’ve ever wondered what happens when a multibillion-dollar floating gas bomb loses power and the regulators simply nod along—look no further than Shell’s Prelude FLNG, the world’s largest offshore floating liquefied natural gas facility, and possibly the most expensive game of Russian roulette ever parked in Australian waters.

In December 2021, Shell’s bloated $17 billion Prelude vessel suffered a catastrophic blackout, knocking out critical safety systems, including emergency power, communications, and fire suppression. You know, just the stuff that keeps explosions from happening. Workers were left stranded, helicopters grounded, and any notion of “safe operations” went out the nearest gas vent. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, shellnews.net, and shellwikipedia.com, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Shell Buys a Bigger Piece of Nigeria’s Misery – With Extra Crude on Top

In a move that can only be described as heroically tone-deaf, Royal Dutch Shell — the planet’s favourite petrochemical pariah — has decided it simply doesn’t own enough of Nigeria’s oil-drenched legacy. So, with the grace of a vulture buying a bigger piece of a rotting carcass, Shell is snapping up TotalEnergies’ 12.5% stake in Nigeria’s Bonga deep-water oil field for a smooth $510 million.

Because why settle for 55% when you can control 67.5% of an operation steeped in environmental degradation, political manipulation, and the lingering scent of gas flares and grief? read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, shellnews.net, and shellwikipedia.com, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Shell’s Billion-Dollar Bailout: Greenwashing, Grift, and the Usual Grease

In the latest episode of Who Wants to Be a Corporate Vampire?, Shell — the ever-thirsty fossil fuel behemoth — is trying to tiptoe out of South Africa’s downstream market, shedding 600 fuel stations and a century of oily fingerprints in a $1 billion fire sale. But instead of bowing out quietly, Shell has found itself embroiled in what can only be described as a sordid little soap opera of corporate backstabbing, political puppetry, and good old-fashioned greed.

Because when Shell exits, it doesn’t just exit. It leaves behind scorched earth, scorched ethics, and probably a few scorched aquifers. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, shellnews.net, and shellwikipedia.com, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Shell Hits the Offshore Jackpot-While the Planet Picks Up the Tab

By John Donovan: royaldutchshellplc.com

BREAKING: Shell has fired up yet another climate cannon.

The oil giant, forever young in its fossil fuel addiction, has begun pumping from the Mero-4 platform off the coast of Brazil. That’s right—just when you thought the world might try to slow down on emissions, Shell straps on its rig boots and cranks open the taps in one of Earth’s most carbon-loaded treasure chests.

Operating in Brazil’s pre-salt Santos Basin—because if you’re going to torch the future, you might as well do it offshore and under two kilometres of ocean—the FPSO “Alexandre de Gusmão” now joins the ever-swelling Mero family of floating oil factories. It’s named after a 17th-century diplomat, because nothing says “legacy” like an oil slick. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, shellnews.net, and shellwikipedia.com, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

HELLFIRE MERGER: When Shell Meets BP, the Planet Burns

By John Donovan: royaldutchshellplc.com

Is it a match made in heaven or a merger forged in the flaming pits of fossil-fuel hell?

Shell and BP—Britain’s beloved petro-behemoths—are flirting with a union so unholy it could make even Beelzebub blink. Bloomberg’s whispers and spreadsheets are in overdrive, but let’s cut the polite analyst drivel: this isn’t about synergy—it’s about greed, greenwashing, and grabbing the last oily dollars before the planet croaks.

“Greenwashing Since 1907,” reads the headline in our accompanying cartoon (see above), and we mean it. Shell and BP have been gaslighting the public longer than most countries have had electricity. And now, they’re pondering a mega-merger that could hand them even more power to pollute, profiteer, and pretend they’re helping the planet. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, shellnews.net, and shellwikipedia.com, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Life Story of the Founder of Royal Dutch/Shell, Sir Henri Deterding

REVIEW BY JOHN DONOVAN OF THE BOOK:

Power and Powerlessness: The Life Story of the Founder of Royal Dutch/Shell, Sir Henri Deterding

Author: Jochen Thies

Please note: While preserving the integrity of the meaning, we have abbreviated longer extracts translated from the original German edition of the book.

Jochen Thies, a respected German historian, opens this biography by posing a provocative question: “How close was Deterding to Hitler? Did he help the Nazis rise to power?” Thies promises that his book provides an answer. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, shellnews.net, and shellwikipedia.com, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Shell’s Oil-Soaked Toxic Legacy in Nigeria

“It’s Hell in the Niger Delta.” That’s not a protest slogan. It’s a summary of Shell’s business model.

While Shell executives clink glasses and rake in obscene profits behind the comfort of a Heathrow hotel AGM—conveniently sealed off from the unwashed masses by court injunction—just outside, campaigners from Amnesty International UK, Fossil Free London, and the Justice 4 Nigeria coalition were busy staging a protest as sticky and damning as Shell’s conscience ought to be.

The scene? Protesters in flaming Shell-logo suits theatrically spilling “oil” across a giant map of Nigeria’s Niger Delta, while seated activists bore shirts that read like an indictment: “Decades of Oil Spills”, “Polluted Waters”, “Devastated Communities.” A massive red location pin screamed, “It’s Hell in the Niger Delta.” But make no mistake—this wasn’t street theatre. This was truth. Vivid, unignorable, and slick with symbolism. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, shellnews.net, and shellwikipedia.com, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.