Update: May 18, 13.20 (BST).
Hands up, we were duped on this one. Shell say the release is a hoax.
From a company spokesman:
We have confirmed that this is a hoax. We aren’t commenting on the content of the hoax release but are investigating its publication.
More on this story when we have it.
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Shell has made it clear for some time that it intended to radically scale down its operations in the Niger Delta, but a press release issued by the company on Monday spins that exit for everything it’s worth.
Highlights (emphasis in the original):
Shell halts Nigerian offshore drilling in visionary new remediation plan
The Hague – In advance of the 18 May Shell Annual General Meeting (AGM), Royal Dutch Shell and its joint-venture Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) are announcing sweeping plans to clean up all areas of the Niger Delta where they operate, compensate local communities for past injuries, and institute a local stakeholders program that will contribute to lifting the region out of poverty.
The Comprehensive Shell Remediation Plan for the Niger Delta (CSR-ND) has been steadily developing behind closed doors since Shell CEO Peter Voser took the helm last year, but was fast-tracked in response to public pressure to include an immediate cessation of deep-water drilling in the Niger Delta.
“Shell is proud to be the first international petrochemical company to embark on a rehabilitation and compensation program of any significant scale,” said Shell spokesperson Bernadette Hopma. “The Gulf of Mexico gush has made CSR-ND especially timely.”
“By anticipating and proactively sidestepping the inevitable storm of company-unfriendly rule-changes that follow on major environmental and human calamities of a certain variety, we are building our company’s ongoing resilience well into the future,” said CEO Voser in yesterday’s lunchtime pre-AGM address to top management of Royal Dutch Shell.
…
“Recent events in the Gulf of Mexico demand change,” said Shell spokesperson Bernadette Hopma. “The expected hurricane of regulation and policy change across industry, resulting from the negligent practices by one pair of companies especially, means that all of us need to try to push harder in the interests of long-term survival.”
Where is Lucy Kellaway? We need her to opine on the following statement, which was presented apparently without irony:
“At long last the words ‘stakeholder’ and ‘sustainable’ will actually mean something,” said CEO Voser. “CSR-ND means planning not just for short-term profits, but for what actually matters, including the viability of the planet itself.”
Related links:
Shell to sell oil licenses in Nigeria – FT
Shell to miss Nigerian export commitments – FT
Shell attacks Nigerian handling of oil industry – FT
Nigeria hands big tax bill to Shell and Exxon – FT (2008)