Royal Dutch Shell

20 Stories

Landmark Climate Ruling Hits Shell With Major Directive

In case brought by activists, Hague District Court mandates 45% CO2 emissions reduction by 2030

(Newser) - A Dutch court has ordered Royal Dutch Shell to cut its carbon emissions by net 45% by 2030 compared to 2019 levels, in a landmark case brought by climate activist groups. The ruling Wednesday by the Hague District Court could set a precedent for similar cases against polluting multinationals around...

Shell to Union Workers: Show Up for Trump or Else

Pennsylvania workers had to show up to get paid

(Newser) - Union workers at a Pennsylvania petrochemical plant had two choices: Show up for President Trump's speech and get paid or skip the day and lose the pay, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports. Royal Dutch Shell explained it to union leaders in a memo, saying attendance was "not mandatory" at...

Shell Buying BG Group in $69.7B Takeover

Oil companies look to consolidate as oil prices slump

(Newser) - Royal Dutch Shell has agreed to buy British gas producer BG Group for $69.7 billion in cash and stock, the companies announced today. The move gives oil giant Shell a greater stake in natural gas markets in the wake of tumbling oil prices. A joint statement said the boards...

Protesters Climb Western Europe's Tallest Building

London Shard demonstration is Greenpeace effort against Shell

(Newser) - Greenpeace is taking its case against Arctic oil drilling to the skies. Demonstrators are climbing the tallest building in western Europe, London's 87-story Shard, to make their point. Safety personnel and police are watching after the team of six women began ascending the building via the roof of a...

Europe Raids Big Oil Firms, Looking for Price Rigging

BP, Shell, and Statoil involved

(Newser) - European authorities raided the offices of BP, Shell, Statoil, and other companies involved in the oil business yesterday, as part of an investigation into what they suspect is a more than decade-old conspiracy to rig oil prices. The European Commission said it had launched "unannounced inspections" of oil company...

Shell Drilling Ship Runs Aground off Alaska

Ship is carrying 150K gallons of diesel

(Newser) - Royal Dutch Shell's foray into Arctic offshore drilling has suffered a serious setback after one of its two Alaskan drilling rigs ran aground off a small island while trying to escape a fierce storm. The Kulluk drilling ship grounded last night on rocks off the southeast side of Sitkalidak,...

Shell Sues Greens Over Arctic Drilling

Preemptive lawsuit seeks to avoid challenges to cleanup plan

(Newser) - Lawyers for Shell filed suit against more than a dozen environmental groups yesterday over Arctic drilling. The suit, an unusual preemptive legal strike, seeks to head off future lawsuits by having a federal court declare that Shell's Arctic oil spill response plan for upcoming drilling complies with the law,...

Robert Redford Thinks Barack Obama's Administration Is Turning Its Back on the Environment

 Obama Turning 
 His Back on 
 Environment 
Robert Redford

Obama Turning His Back on Environment

Robert Redford is furious about recent ozone decision

(Newser) - President Obama has always claimed to care about the environment. “But what good is it to say the right thing unless you act on it?” asks actor Robert Redford in the Huffington Post . After some of his administration’s recent decisions—like backing off updated ozone standards and giving...

Oil Giants (Minus BP) Create Spill Response System

Exxon, Chevron, others learn from BP's mistakes

(Newser) - Four oil giants are teaming up to create an early-response system to contain disasters like the Deepwater Horizon spill. Exxon, Chevron, Royal Dutch Shell, and ConocoPhillips are committing an initial $1 billion to create the nonprofit Marine Well Containment Co., though maintaining the "strike force" will cost more over...

Bush Cabinet Member in Criminal Inquiry

Interior secretary gave Shell big contracts, then took job with firm

(Newser) - The Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation into whether Gale Norton illegally used her power as secretary of the Interior to obtain three oil contracts for Royal Dutch Shell—which only months later hired her as a legal counsel. The 2006 decision to award Shell leases on oil-rich federal...

Shell Settles Nigeria Case for $15.5M

Saro-Wiwa settlement is milestone for international law

(Newser) - Royal Dutch Shell agreed to settle a lawsuit over the 1995 deaths of Ken Saro-Wiwa and other Nigerians for $15.5 million, reports the Financial Times. Saro-Wiwa and eight other activists against petroleum exploitation were executed by the Nigerian military government, allegedly at the behest of the oil giant. In...

US Gets Tough on Foreign Bribery
US Gets Tough on Foreign Bribery

US Gets Tough on Foreign Bribery

Royal Dutch Shell, Sun Micro among 120 being investigated

(Newser) - US corporations are looking over their shoulders, thanks to a Justice Department crackdown on foreign bribery, the Wall Street Journal reports. At least 120 companies are being investigated under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, or FCPA—a nearly-forgotten Nixon-era law dusted off in the wake of a rash of corporate...

Shell Accused of Crimes Against Humanity

Family of Saro-Wiwa sues oil company in American court

(Newser) - Next week Royal Dutch Shell will finally appear in court to answer charges that it was complicit in the death of Ken Saro-Wiwa, the author and oil company critic executed by Nigeria's former military regime in 1995. Saro-Wiwa's family accuses the oil company of "a systemic campaign of human...

Fat Cat Exxon Primed to Deal
 Fat Cat Exxon Primed to Deal 

Fat Cat Exxon Primed to Deal

Behemoth stood still when oil hit record highs, now has $40B for buying spree

(Newser) - Flush with cash after resisting costly acquisitions while oil prices hit record highs, Exxon Mobil could be ready for a shopping spree that could alter the face of the world’s energy supply, reports the Wall Street Journal. The company has nearly $37 billion in reserves and could target another...

PR Blitz Aside, Big Oil Drilled Consumers for Stockholders

As demand drops, companies shelve plans to explore—among moves that benefit shareholders, not consumers

(Newser) - Despite public-relations campaigns designed to make consumers think otherwise, big oil companies remain firmly tied to doing what’s best for their stockholders and bottom line, the Los Angeles Times reports. Though demand has outstripped production, companies spend more on stock buybacks than supply-boosting exploration. But, one analyst notes, “...

Gustav Kills 11, Weakens
 Gustav Kills 11, Weakens

Gustav Kills 11, Weakens

Could strike US as Category 3

(Newser) - Thousands fled their homes as Hurricane Gustav triggered flooding and landslides that killed at least 11 people in the Dominican Republic and Haiti before weakening to a tropical storm, but forecasters said today that he still represents a major threat to the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico. They suggested...

Supplies Drop as Big Oil's Power Shrivels

State-owned firms don't churn it out like Shell

(Newser) - A rapidly changing world order has left the giant oil companies all monied up with nowhere to drill, the New York Times reports. The Western oil giants' share of production has plummeted from over half in the 1970s to just 13% today. Production is falling as oil supplies remain in...

Big Oil Deals Absent as Iraq Opens for Bids

No announcement of criticized contracts for Western companies

(Newser) - The Iraqi government opened six oil fields to bidding today, without mention of expected no-bid contracts with big Western oil companies, the AP notes; it had been reported that several big companies were close to signing short-term deals with Iraq's government. "There is no preferential treatment for anyone, no...

Shell Profits Spike to a Record $27.6B

Critics say the oil giant's earnings are 'obscene' and want a windfall tax

(Newser) - Soaring crude prices and new oil and gas projects drove Royal Dutch Shell to 2007 profits of $27.6 billion—a new record for a British corporation—despite declining production. While critics branded the results “obscene” and called for a windfall tax, Shell’s CEO called them “satisfactory”...

$100 a Barrel Oil Triggers Crisis

New energy shock caused by runaway demand

(Newser) - The planet is headed for the third major energy crisis in a generation, but this one may be more serious and last longer than the others, the New York Times reports. Energy crises in the '70s and '80s were triggered by interruptions in supply from the Middle East....

20 Stories