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Why we're telling Shell's investors to tell Shell to stop Arctic drilling

Why we’re telling Shell’s investors to tell Shell to stop Arctic drilling

  A tricky, or should I even say embarrassing, moment in Shell’s history: on 31 October 2013 the company announced that they would be returning to drill in the Arctic in 2014, after all the mishaps and near-disasters of 2012. Three months later, they had to announce they wouldn’t be drilling in 2014 after all....
Frozen Future: Shell's ongoing gamble in the US Arctic

Frozen Future: Shell’s ongoing gamble in the US Arctic

Royal Dutch Shell stands at a strategic crossroads. Its response to the reserves scandal in 2004 has been a global reserves replacement hunt through a programme of relentless capital expenditure, including an investment in US Arctic Ocean leases in the mid-2000s that dwarfed other companies’ spending. Shell’s US offshore Arctic plans have been a failure...

Shell shareholders urged to force Arctic retreat

In the wake of plummeting profits, spiralling exploration costs and increasing scepticism among other oil majors about commercial prospects in the US Arctic, pension savers across the UK are urging Shell shareholders to call on the company to abandon plans for high-cost, high-risk drilling projects in the US Arctic Ocean. The project is a shareholder...
New law in Nigeria could hold polluters to account

New law in Nigeria could hold polluters to account

Last week, a letter coordinated by Platform and signed by 18 organisations was published in the Nigerian media. The letter focussed on a new piece of legislation designed to improve the response to oil spills. In 2012, Senator Dr. Bukola Saraki, the Chair of the Senate committee for the environment tabled a bill aimed at strengthening...
Drilling the pre-salt - is Brazil still a "land of opportunity" for BP and Shell?

Drilling the pre-salt – is Brazil still a “land of opportunity” for BP and Shell?

We are just days away from the fourth anniversary of BP’s announcement in 2010 that it was boldly going into the Brazilian offshore oil province, known in the industry as the ‘pre-salt’. Tony Hayward, BP CEO at the time proclaimed: “This strategic opportunity fits well with BP’s operating strengths and key interests around the world,...
Shell cancels 2014 Arctic drilling - Arctic Ocean & Inupiat rights reality check

Shell cancels 2014 Arctic drilling – Arctic Ocean & Inupiat rights reality check

Today Shell announced it was canceling its 2014 drilling in the Alaskan Arctic. This is a guest blog by Faith Gemmill, Executive Director of Resisting Environmental Destruction on Indigenous Lands (REDOIL), on the court decision that forced Shell’s hand, and the Indigenous rights context behind it. Last week the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit...
Shell no longer sponsoring Southbank Classic series - a timeline.

Shell no longer sponsoring Southbank Classic series – a timeline.

At the launch of the 2014/15 Southbank Centre Classic Season, Shell was conspicuously absent, after having sponsored the season for a number of years. The artistic director, Jude Kelly, announced the new classical music season on last night, with the ‘Shell Classic International’ concerts now replaced with an ‘International Orchestra Series’. The change comes after...
Court rules against Alaska Arctic drilling

Court rules against Alaska Arctic drilling

Yesterday a coalition of Alaska Native and environmental groups won against Arctic oil drilling in a Court of Appeals in the US. The Court ruled that the US government sold leases in the Chukchi Sea in 2008 illegally. Here’s a quick review of the history of the case and what the decision might mean. What...
As Shell issues profit warning, new CEO needs a change of Arctic direction

As Shell issues profit warning, new CEO needs a change of Arctic direction

At 07.00 this morning Shell issued a profit warning. Just twelve working days since taking up his post as new CEO of Shell, Ben van Beurden has had to say “Our 2013 performance was not what I expect from Shell”. The company made $27.2bn in 2012, it looks likely to make only $16.8bn in 2013 – this...
The Arctic in New York - shareholders scrutinise Shell’s next move

The Arctic in New York – shareholders scrutinise Shell’s next move

Mika Minio-Paluello, Anna Galkina and James Marriott travelled in North America as part of a tour over September and October to promote The Oil Road – Journeys from the Caspian to the City of London. The eighth of a series of blogs on the journey comes from New York… It was Maurice Bridgeman who really...
Ogoni protests escalate in Nigeria as Shell fails to implement UNEP report

Ogoni protests escalate in Nigeria as Shell fails to implement UNEP report

A few weeks ago we were crammed into a small radio station studio in Port Harcourt. We listened with bated breath to our friend Celestine AkpoBari from the Ogoni Solidarity Forum being interviewed.  “There is no going back on the 90 day deadline ultimatum delivered to the Nigerian Government and oil companies to implement the...
A Cheque Written in Blood: the Niger Delta remembers Ken Saro-Wiwa

A Cheque Written in Blood: the Niger Delta remembers Ken Saro-Wiwa

It’s the middle of the night but I can’t sleep. It’s quiet apart from the dull hum of the aeroplane engine and the erratic, staccato snoring of the man next to me. There’s no need to put on one of the films. It’s the pictures in my mind that are keeping me awake. I see...