Royal Dutch Shell From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Royal Dutch Shell plc Type Public limited company Traded as LSE: RDSA, RDSB Euronext: RDSA, RDSB NYSE: RDS.A, RDS.B Industry Oil and gas Founded 1907 Headquarters The Hague, Netherlands (Headquarters) Shell Centre, London, United Kingdom (Registered office) Area served Worldwide Key people Peter Voser (CEO) Jorma Ollila (Chairman) Products Petroleum, natural gas, and other petrochemicals Revenue US$ 467.153 billion (2012)[1] Operating income US$ 46.447 billion (2012)[1] Profit US$ 26.592 billion (2012)[1] Total assets US$ 360.325 billion (2012)[1] Total equity US$ 188.494 billion (2012)[1] Employees 87,000 (2012) Subsidiaries List[show] Website Shell Royal Dutch Shell plc (LSE: RDSA, RDSB), commonly known as Shell, is an Anglo–Dutch multinational oil and gas company incorporated in the United Kingdom and headquartered in the Netherlands.[2] Created by the merger of Royal Dutch Petroleum and UK-based Shell Transport & Trading, it is the largest company in the world—ahead of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.—in terms of revenue,[1] and one of the six oil and gas supermajors. Shell is also one of the worlds most valuable companies.[3] As of January, 2013 the largest shareholder is Capital Research Global Investors with 9.85% ahead of BlackRock in second with 6.89%.[4] Shell topped the 2013 Fortune Global 500 list of the worlds largest companies.[5] Royal Dutch Shell revenue was equal to 84% of the Netherlandss $555.8 billion GDP at the time.[6] Shell is vertically integrated and is active in every area of the oil and gas industry, including exploration and production, refining, distribution and marketing, petrochemicals, power generation and trading. It has minor renewable energy activities in the form of biofuels.[7] It has operations in over 90 countries, produces around 3.1 million barrels of oil equivalent per day and has 44,000 service stations worldwide.[8] Shell Oil Company, its subsidiary in the United States, is one of its largest businesses.[9] Shell has a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. As of 6 July 2012, it was the largest company on the FTSE, with a market capitalisation of £140.9 billion.[10] It has secondary listings on Euronext Amsterdam and the New York Stock Exchange. Contents [hide] 1 History 1.1 20th century 1.2 21st century 2 Corporate affairs 2.1 Management 2.2 Name and logo 3 Operations 3.1 Business groupings 3.2 Oil and gas related activities 3.3 Other activities 4 Controversies 4.1 2004 overstatement of oil reserves 4.2 Corporate communications 4.3 Environmental pollution 4.4 Health and safety 4.5 Human rights 4.6 Sakhalin-II project 4.7 Tom Corbett campaign donations 4.8 Whistleblowers 4.9 Arctic drilling 5 See also 6 References 7 Bibliography 8 External links History[edit] 20th century[edit] Royal Dutch Petroleum dock in the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) The Royal Dutch Shell Group was created in February 1907 through the merger of two rival companies - Royal Dutch Petroleum Company (Dutch legal name : N.V. Koninklijke Nederlandsche Petroleum Maatschappij) and the Shell Transport and Trading Company Ltd of the United Kingdom, founded by Marcus Samuel, 1st Viscount Bearsted.[11] It was a move largely driven by the need to compete globally with the then dominant American petroleum company, John D. Rockefellers Standard Oil, and as a strategy to face the challenges brought by the crisis of 1907. The terms of the merger gave 60% ownership of the new Group to the Dutch arm and 40% to the British. Royal Dutch Petroleum Company was a Dutch company founded in 1890 by Jean Baptiste August Kessler,[11] along with Henri Deterding, when a Royal charter was granted by King William III of the Netherlands to a small oil exploration and production company known as Royal Dutch Company for the Working of Petroleum Wells in the Dutch East Indies.[12] The Shell Transport and Trading Company (the quotation marks were part of the legal name) was a British company, founded in 1897 by Marcus Samuel and his brother Samuel Samuel.[11] Their father had owned a company, importing and selling sea-shells, after which the company Shell took its name.[13] It was not long before the company left its naturalist roots far behind. Initially the Company commissioned eight oil tankers for the purposes of transporting oil. In 1919, Shell took control of the Mexican Eagle Petroleum Company and in 1921 formed Shell-Mex Limited which marketed products under the Shell and Eagle brands in the United Kingdom. In 1932, partly in response to the difficult economic conditions of the times, Shell-Mex merged its UK marketing operations with those of British Petroleum to create Shell-Mex and BP Ltd,[14] a company that traded until the brands separated in 1975. Royal Dutch Company ranked 79th among United States corporations in the value of World War II military production contracts.[15] Around 1952, Shell was the first company to purchase and use an electronic computer in the Netherlands.[16] The computer, a Ferranti Mark 1*, was assembled and used at the Shell laboratory in Amsterdam. In 1970 Shell acquired the mining company Billiton, which it subsequently sold in 1994 and now forms part of BHP Billiton.[17] 21st century[edit] Headquarters in The Hague, Netherlands In November 2004, following a period of turmoil caused by the revelation that Shell had been overstating its oil reserves, it was announced that the Shell Group would move to a single capital structure, creating a new parent company to be named Royal Dutch Shell plc, with its primary listing on the London Stock Exchange, a secondary listing on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange, its headquarters and tax residency in The Hague, Netherlands and its registered office in London. The unification was completed on 20 July 2005 and the original owners delisted their companies from the respective exchanges. On 20 July 2005, the Shell Transport & Trading Company plc was delisted from the LSE,[18] where as, Royal Dutch Petroleum Company from NYSE on 18 November 2005.[19] The shares of the company were issued at a 60/40 advantage for the shareholders of Royal Dutch in line with the original ownership of the Shell Group.[20] During the 2009 Iraqi oil services contracts tender, a consortium led by Shell (45%) and which included Petronas (30%) was awarded a production contract for the Majnoon field in the south of Iraq, which contains an estimated 12.6 billion barrels (2.00×109 m3) of oil.[21][22] The West Qurna 1 field production contract was awarded to a consortium led by ExxonMobil (60%) and included Shell (15%).[23] In February 2010 Shell and Cosan formed a 50:50 joint-venture, Raízen, comprising all of Cosans Brazilian ethanol, energy generation, fuel distribution and sugar activities, and all of Shells Brazilian retail fuel and aviation distribution businesses.[24] In March 2010, Shell announced the sale of some of its assets, including its liquid petroleum gas (LPG) business, to meet the cost of a planned $28bn capital spending programme. Shell invited buyers to submit indicative bids, due by 22 March, with a plan to raise $2–3bn from the sale.[25] In June 2010, Royal Dutch Shell agreed to acquire all of the business of East Resources for a cash consideration of $4.7 billion. The transaction included East Resources tight gas fields.[26] Corporate affairs[edit] Management[edit] On 4 August 2005, the board of directors announced the appointment of Jorma Ollila, chairman and CEO of Nokia at the time, to succeed Aad Jacobs as the company’s non-executive chairman on 1 June 2006. Ollila is the first Shell chairman to be neither Dutch nor British. Other non-executive directors include Maarten van den Bergh, Wim Kok, Nina Henderson, Lord Kerr, Adelbert van Roxe, and Christine Morin-Postel. As of 1 July 2009, Peter Voser is CEO of Shell.[27] Voser, who is Swiss, is the first non-Dutch, non-British CEO of the company. On 10 July 2013, Shell announced that Ben van Beurden, the current director of its refining and marketing operations, will become its chief executive on Jan. 1, succeeding retiring CEO Peter Voser. Name and logo[edit] The name Shell is linked to The Shell Transport and Trading Company.[28] In 1833, the founders father, also Marcus Samuel, founded an import business to sell seashells to London collectors. When collecting seashell specimens in the Caspian Sea area in 1892, the younger Samuel realised there was potential in exporting lamp oil from the region and commissioned the worlds first purpose-built oil tanker, the Murex (Latin for a type of snail shell), to enter this market; by 1907 the company had a fleet. Although for several decades the company had a refinery at Shell Haven on the Thames, there is no evidence of this having provided the name. The Shell logo is one of the most familiar commercial symbols in the world. This logo is known as the pecten after the sea shell Pecten maximus (the giant scallop), on which its design is based. The yellow and red colours used are thought[29] to relate to the colours of the flag of Spain, as Shell built early service stations in California, previously a Spanish colony. The current revision of the logo was designed by Raymond Loewy in 1971.[30] The slash was removed from the name Royal Dutch/Shell in 2005, concurrent with moves to merge the two legally separate companies (Royal Dutch and Shell) to the single legal entity which exists today.[31] Shell Formula 1 Sponsorship[edit] A Shell-sponsored Ferrari F60 Formula One motor racing car As this company profile focus mainly on fuels, especially it is a merge to fight with cheaper then USA oil(e.g. Rockefeller well-known barrel closing), Shell established technical agreement and cooperation(in fact sponsorship) with the Scuderia Ferrari, in 2013 with 60 years anniversary. Part of the campaign, especially targeted to sell V-Power Nitro+ brand of the fuels(higher priced than usual and similar to blend used on the track) is organizing the Formula One events in cities without a track. For example, on the streets of Warsaw, Poland, where Scuderia Ferrari Felipe Massa drove the race car used in 2013 Formula One(in time gap before a Monaco race). [32] Operations[edit] Business groupings[edit] Upstream activities currently generate around two-thirds of Shells revenues Shell is currently organised into four major business groupings: Upstream International – manages the Upstream business outside the Americas. It searches for and recovers crude oil and natural gas, liquefies and transports gas, and operates the upstream and midstream infrastructure necessary to deliver oil and gas to the market. Its activities are organised primarily within geographic units, although there are some activities that are managed across the business or provided through support units. Upstream Americas – manages the Upstream business in North and South America. It searches for and recovers crude oil and natural gas, transports gas and operates the upstream and midstream infrastructure necessary to deliver oil and gas to market. Upstream Americas also extracts bitumen from oil sands that is converted into synthetic crude oil. It comprises operations organised into business-wide managed activities and supporting activities. Downstream – manages Shells manufacturing, distribution and marketing activities for oil products and chemicals. Manufacturing and supply includes refinery, supply and shipping of crude oil. Projects & technology – manages the delivery of Shells major projects and drives the research and innovation to create technology solutions. It provides technical services and technology capability covering both Upstream and Downstream activities. It is also responsible for providing functional leadership across Shell in the areas of health, safety and environment, and contracting and procurement. Oil and gas related activities[edit] Shell oil depot in Kowloon, Hong Kong Shells primary business is the management of a vertically integrated oil company. The development of technical and commercial expertise in all stages of this vertical integration, from the initial search for oil (exploration) through its harvesting (production), transportation, refining and finally trading and marketing established the core competencies on which the company was founded. Similar competencies were required for natural gas, which has become one of the most important businesses in which Shell is involved, and which contributes a significant proportion of the companys profits. While the vertically integrated business model provided significant economies of scale and barriers to entry, each business now seeks to be a self-supporting unit without subsidies from other parts of the company. Traditionally, Shell was a heavily decentralised business worldwide (especially in the downstream) with companies in over 100 countries, each of which operated with a high degree of independence. The upstream tended to be far more centralised with much of the technical and financial direction coming from the central offices in The Hague. Nevertheless, there were very large exploration and production companies in a small number of major oil and gas production centres such as the United Kingdom (Shell Expro, a Joint Venture with Exxon), Nigeria, Brunei, and Oman. Downstream operations, which now also includes the chemicals business, generates a third of Shells profits worldwide and is known for its global network of more than 40,000 petrol stations and its 47 oil refineries. The downstream business, which in some countries also included oil refining, generally included a retail petrol station network, lubricants manufacture and marketing, industrial fuel and lubricants sales and a host of other product/market sectors such as LPG and bitumen. The practice in Shell was that these businesses were essentially local and that they were best managed by local operating companies – often with middle and senior management reinforced by expatriates. In the 1990s, this paradigm began to change, and the independence of operating companies around the world was gradually reduced. Today, virtually all of Shell’s operations in various businesses are much more directly managed from London and The Hague. The autonomy of “operating companies” has been largely removed, as more global businesses have been created. Africa[edit] Shell began drilling for oil in Africa during the 1950s. Shell began production in Nigeria in 1958.[33] Shell operates in the upstream oil sector in Algeria, Cameroon, Egypt, Gabon where is the giant Rabi-Kounga oil field, Ghana, Libya, Morocco, Nigeria, South Africa and Tunisia; and in the downstream sector in 16 other countries.[34] In Nigeria, Shell told US diplomats that it had placed staff in all the main ministries of the government.[35] In April 2010, Shell announced its intention to divest from downstream business of all African countries except South Africa and Egypt to Vitol and Helios.[36] In several countries such as Tunisia, protests and strikes broke out. Shell denied rumours of the sellout.[37] Shell continues however upstream activities/extracting crude oil in the oil-rich Niger Delta as well as downstream/commercial activities in South Africa. Asia[edit] Malaysia[edit] Shell first entered Malaysia, Miri in 1910[38] in an oil well drilling project. Malaysias first oil well was discovered by Shell on Canada Hill in Miri, Sarawak in 1910. Shells Miri No. 1 was spudded on 10 August that year, and began producing 83 barrels per day in December. Today, the oil well, fondly known as the Grand Old Lady, is a state monument. After the discovery of oil in Miri, Shell built Malaysias first oil refinery in 1914. In the same year, Shell laid a submarine pipeline in Miri, a breakthrough in the technology of transporting crude to tankers at that time. In Malaysia, 2012, Shell refining capacity is 109,000 b/d. In Port Diskson refinery, Shell invested MYR 800 million to upgrade the diesel processing plant. In 2012, Shell have 900 retail outlets and planning to open 30 more in the future. Singapore[edit] Shell has a strong presence in Singapore, indeed Singapore is the main centre for Shell’s petrochemical operations in Asia Pacific region.Shell Eastern Petroleum limited (SEPL) have their refinery located in Singapores Pulau Bukom island. They also operate as Shell Chemicals Seraya in Jurong Island. Philippines[edit] Shell oil depot (Poro Point, San Fernando, La Union). Royal Dutch Shell operates in the Philippines under its subsidiary, Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corporation. Its headquarters is in Makati City and it has facilities in the Pandacan oil depot and other key locations.[39] On January 2010, the Bureau of Customs claimed 7.34 billion pesos worth of unpaid excise taxes against Pilipinas Shell for importing Catalytic cracked gasoline (CCG) and light catalytic cracked gasoline (LCCG) stating that those imports are bound for tariff charges.[40] Pilipinas Shell denied the claim stating that those imports are raw materials for making their products. The company later emphasised that they are considering to close their local oil refinery if the case continues. Pilipinas Shell informed the public that they will exhaust all necessary steps to meet the demand for fuel. Europe[edit] Ireland[edit] Shell first started trading in Ireland in 1902.[41] Shell E&P Ireland (SEPIL) (previously Enterprise Energy Ireland) is an Irish exploration and production subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell. Its headquarters are on Leeson Street in Dublin. It was acquired in May 2002.[42] Its main project is the Corrib gas project, a large gas field off the northwest coast, for which Shell has encountered controversy and protests in relation to the onshore pipeline and licence terms. In 2005 Shell disposed of its entire retail and commercial fuels business in Ireland to Topaz Energy Group. This included depots, company-owned petrol stations and supply agreements stations throughout the island of Ireland.[43] The retail outlets were re-branded as Topaz in 2008/9.[44] Scandinavia[edit] On 27 August 2007, Royal Dutch Shell and Reitan Group, the owner of the 7-Eleven brand in Scandinavia, announced an agreement to re-brand some 269 service stations across Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark, subject to obtaining regulatory approvals under the different competition laws in each country.[45] On April 2010 Shell announced that the corporation is in process of trying to find a potential buyer for all of its operations in Finland and is doing similar market research concerning Swedish operations.[46][47] On October 2010 Shells gas stations and the heavy vehicle fuel supply networks in Finland and Sweden, along with a refinery located in Gothenburg, Sweden were sold to St1, a Finnish energy company, more precisely to its major shareholding parent company Keele Oy.[48] Shell branded gas stations will be rebranded within maximum of five years from the acquisition and the number of gas stations is likely to be reduced. Until then the stations will operate under Shell brand licence. North America[edit] Main articles: Shell Oil Company and Shell Canada Service station near Lost Hills, California Through most of Shells history, its business in the United States, Shell Oil Company was substantially independent with its stock (Shell Oil) being traded on the NYSE and with little direct involvement from the group’s central offices in the running of the American business. Such practice also changed in the 1990s when Shell first bought out the shares in Shell Oil that it did not own and then took a more hands-on approach. In Canada, also previously very independent, Shell has completed its purchase of the shares in Shell Canada that it did not own, to apply the new global business model. Oceania[edit] Australia[edit] Shell petrol station in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales Main article: Shell Australia In Australia, retailer Coles Group (now part of Wesfarmers) purchased the rights to the retail business from the existing Shell Australia multi-site franchisees in 2003 for an amount less than A$100 million. The purchase was made in response to a popular discount fuel offer by rival Woolworths Limited launched some years earlier. Coles Express only affiliation with Shell is that Shell is the exclusive supplier of fuel and lubricant products, leases the service station property to Coles, and maintains the presence of the pecten and other Shell branding on the price board and other signage. Coles Express sets fuel and shop prices and runs the business, provides convenience and grocery merchandise through its supply chain and distribution network, and directly employs the service station staff. Shell has also moved to the outback with a huge complex in Coober Pedy, South Australia. The Opal Capital of The World. Royal Dutch Shell is currently developing the first floating liquefied natural gas facility, which will be situated 200 km off the coast of Western Australia and is due for completion in around 2017.[49] When it is finished, it will measure around 488m long and 74m wide, and when fully ballasted will weigh 600,000 tonnes.[50] Following the decision by the Royal Dutch Shell fuel corporation to close its Geelong, Australia refinery in April 2013, a third consecutive annual loss was recorded for Shells Australian refining and fuel marketing assets. Revealed in June 2013, the writedown is worth A$203 million, and was preceded by a A$638m writedown in 2012 and a A$407m writedown in 2011 after the closure of the Clyde refinery in Sydney, Australia.[51] New Zealand[edit] Shell has had a long-time presence in New Zealand, and partly owns the Maui and Kapuni natural gas fields. In 2011 it completed the sale of its petrol retail division to Infratil and the New Zealand Superannuation Fund, which rebranded the stations as Z Energy. Shell still operates in New Zealand via gas and condensate exploration and infrastructure. Current major projects[edit] 2010–2011 AOSP Expansion 1, Gbaran-Ubie phase 1, Gjoa, North American tight gas, Pearl GTL, Perdido, Pluto LNG T1 (Woodside), Qarn Alam, Qatargas 4 LNG, Schoonebeek, 2011–2012 Amal Steam, 1.8 Bab Thg & Hb2, BC-10 phase 2, Corrib, Gumusut-Kakap, Harweel, Kashagan phase 1, Majnoon FCP/West Qurna IPT, North Rankin 2, Port Arthur Refinery Expansion, SAS 2014+ Bonga North West, Gorgon LNG T1-3, Mars B, W. Boreas & S. Deimos, Other activities[edit] Over the years Shell has occasionally sought to diversify away from its core oil, gas and chemicals businesses. These diversifications have included nuclear power (a short-lived and costly joint venture with Gulf Oil in the USA); coal (Shell Coal was for a time a significant player in mining and marketing); metals (Shell acquired the Dutch metals-mining company Billiton in 1970) and electricity generation (a joint venture with Bechtel called Intergen). None of these ventures was seen as successful and all have now been divested.[citation needed] In the early 2000s Shell moved into alternative energy and there is now an embryonic Renewables business that has made investments in solar power, wind power, hydrogen, and forestry. The forestry business went the way of nuclear, coal, metals and electricity generation, and was disposed of in 2003. In 2006 Shell paid SolarWorld to take over its entire solar business[52] and in 2008, the company withdrew from the London Array which is expected to become the worlds largest offshore wind farm.[53] Shell also is involved in large-scale hydrogen projects. HydrogenForecast describes Shells approach thus far as consisting of baby steps, but with an underlying message of extreme optimism.[54] Shell holds 50% of Raízen, a joint venture with Brazilian sugarcane producer Cosan which is the third-largest Brazil-based energy company by revenues and a major producer of ethanol.[55] Controversies[edit] Former Shell Research and Technology Centre, Amsterdam Shell has been criticised for its businesses in Africa, notably in relation to protests of the Ogoni in 1995.[56] In the 1990s, protesters criticised the companys environmental record, particularly the possible pollution caused by the proposed disposal of the Brent Spar platform into the North Sea. Despite support from the UK government, Shell reversed the decision under public pressure but maintained that sinking the platform would have been environmentally better.[57] Shell subsequently published an unequivocal commitment to sustainable development, supported by executive speeches reinforcing this commitment.[58] 2004 overstatement of oil reserves[edit] In 2004 Shell overstated its oil reserves, resulting in loss of confidence in the group, a £17 million fine by the Financial Services Authority and the departure of the chairman Philip Watts. A lawsuit resulted in the payment of $450 million to non-American shareholders in 2007.[59][60][61] Corporate communications[edit] Shell Centre building in London, UK Shells advertising regarding its renewable energy business has been described as a greenwash by some environmental lobbies,[62] though its renewable energy activities have been praised by other commentators.[63] In August 2008, the British Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) ruled that Shell had misled the public in an advertisement when it claimed that a $10 billion oil sands project in Alberta, Canada was a sustainable energy source.[64] Environmental pollution[edit] The presence of companies like Shell in the Niger-Delta has led to extreme environmental issues in the Niger Delta. Many pipelines in the Niger-Delta owned by Shell are old and corroded. This has resulted in many oil spills in this area that have degraded the environment, killing off vegetation and fish. Shell has acknowledged its responsibility for keeping the pipelines new but has also denied responsibility for environmental causes.[65] This has led to mass protests from the Niger-Delta inhabitants and Amnesty International against Shell and Friends of the Earth Netherlands. It has also led to action plans to boycott Shell by environmental groups, and human rights groups.[66] In January 2013, a Dutch court rejected four out of five allegations brought against the firm over oil pollution in the Niger Delta but found a subsidiary guilty of one case of pollution, ordering compensation to be paid to a Nigerian farmer.[67] In Magdelena, Argentina: Shell was responsible for the largest oil spill that has ever occurred in freshwater in the world. On 15 January 1999, a Shell tank ship in Magdalena, Argentina collided with another tanker, emptying its contents into the lake, polluting the environment, drinkable water, plants and animals.[68] Health and safety[edit] A number of incidents over the years led to criticism of Shells health and safety record, including repeated warnings by the UK Health and Safety Executive about the poor state of the companys North Sea platforms.[69] Human rights[edit] Vigil at the Shell Centre, London, on the 17th Anniversary of Ken Saro-Wiwa and the Ogoni 9. In the beginning of 1996, several human rights groups brought cases to hold Shell accountable for alleged human rights violations in Nigeria, including summary execution, crimes against humanity, torture, inhumane treatment and arbitrary arrest and detention. In particular, Shell stood accused of collaborating in the execution of Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other leaders of the Ogoni tribe of southern Nigeria, who were hanged in 1995 by Nigerias then military rulers.[70] The lawsuits were brought against Royal Dutch Shell and Brian Anderson, the head of its Nigerian operation.[71] In 2009, Shell agreed to pay $15.5m in a legal settlement.[70] Shell has not accepted any liability over the allegations against it.[72] In 2009, Shell was the subject of an Amnesty International report into the deterioration of human rights as a consequence of Shells activities in the Niger Delta. In particular, Amnesty criticised the continuation of gas flaring and Shells slow response to oil spills.[73] In 2010, a leaked cable revealed that Shell claims to have inserted staff into all the main ministries of the Nigerian government and know everything that was being done in those ministries, according to Shells top executive in Nigeria. The same executive also boasted that the Nigerian government had forgotten about the extent of Shells infiltration.[74] Documents released in 2009 (but not used in the court case) reveal that Shell regularly made payments to the Nigerian military in order to prevent protests.[75] In 2012 Amnesty International and Friends of the Earth Netherlands intensified the campaign against Shell. They are particularly concerned about the human rights violations and the environmental pollution. Public awareness of the situation has risen severely and which pressures Shell to take its responsibility and clean the spilled oil in the Nigerian Delta.[76] Sakhalin-II project[edit] Problems have also occurred with the Sakhalin-II project in Russia. Tom Corbett campaign donations[edit] From 2009–2010, Shell, acting under East Resources, donated more than $300,000[77] to current governor of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, which some[who?] believe was a payoff in exchange for no severance tax and the repeal of environmental policies created to protect the environment from natural gas drilling.[78] Whistleblowers[edit] Shell has set up a global internet-based facility for whistleblowers to report alleged violations of the law or the Shell general business principles, a voluntary code of ethics pledging transparency, integrity and honesty in all of Shells business dealings.[79] The introduction at the global helpline website says Reporting and addressing suspected violations of the law or the Shell General Business Principles (SGBP) is of critical importance in protecting our reputation and the value of the Shell brand. Whistleblowers are asked to provide identity details but anonymous reports are also accepted. The Global Helpline operated by Global Compliance, Inc. is available to customers, suppliers, partners, advisers and employees of Shell.[80] Arctic drilling[edit] Shell announced its $4.5 billion Arctic drilling program in 2006 by using drilling rigs Kulluk and Noble Discoverer.[81][82] However, due to the refurbishment of rigs and permit delays from the relevant authorities, the drilling started in 2012.[83][84] The plans to drill in the Arctic have caused protests of the environmental groups, particularly Greenpeace. In 2010 Greenpeace activists painted No Arctic Drilling with spilled BP oil on the side of a ship in the Gulf that was en route to explore for Arctic oil for Shell. At the protest, Phil Radford of Greenpeace called for President Obama [to] ban all offshore oil drilling and call for an end to the use of oil in our cars by 2030.[85] On 16 March 2012, 52 Greenpeace activists from five different countries boarded Fennica and Nordica, multipurpose icebreakers chartered to support Shells drilling rigs near Alaska.[86] In July 2012, Greenpeace activists shut down 53 Shell petrol stations in Edinburgh and London in a protest against the companys plans to drill for oil in the Arctic. Greenpeaces Save the Arctic campaign aims to prevent oil drilling and industrial fishing in the Arctic by declaring the uninhabited area around the North Pole a global sanctuary.[87] Concerns have increased after the grounding incident of the Kulluk at the end of 2012.[88] The company admits the dangers of pack ice and notes that no one has yet fully determined how to clean up an oil spill in pack ice or broken ice.[89] Royal Dutch Shell states that it will pause its closely watched project to drill for oil off the Alaskan coast in 2013, and will instead prepare for future exploration.[90]
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