About Shell - 100 years of history - centenary of Royal Dutch Shell

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100 years of history - centenary of Royal Dutch Shell

"On July 5, 1907, Royal Dutch Shell’s corporate forefathers went to the notary to sign the official declaration for what at the time was a rather unique event: the coming together of two companies in two different countries, Royal Dutch in the Netherlands and Shell Transport and Trading in Britain. Shell notes that looking back over 100 years of history, it’s been an amazing journey. Mankind has managed to adapt, time and time again, through a century of rapid change and periodic upheaval. So has Shell.

In 1907 the world swarmed with oil companies, all full of ambitions to grow. Over the next 100 years many of them saw those ambitions shattered as events galloped forward and they failed to keep up. Little wonder, really, given everything the planet has gone through in the past century: two world wars, the spread and then decline of communism, deep economic recessions, de-colonization, the rise of a cartel of oil-exporting countries, the use of oil as a political weapon, rocketing growth in energy consumption, mass mobility, accelerating globalization, and more".

Note EU-Digest: The Royal Dutch / Shell group comprises over 2,000 companies in more than 100 countries. It is the most profitable oil company in the world, and the second largest in the private sector. It is responsible for 5% of the world's oil and gas production (more than any other private company), and holds both the largest exploration area and the greatest proven reserves. Shell is the tenth largest corporation in the world, by turnover. Shell operates or has interests in 53 refineries in 34 countries, the most geographically diverse of any major oil company. Shell’s operations in the Niger Delta in south-east Nigeria are the best documented case of the negative environmental and human impact of oil exploitation. Nigeria is by no means unique; the abuses of the Delta repeat themselves wherever oil and gas are extracted around the world. Up to 76% of the gas from Nigerian oil wells is flared (burned off), as compared with 0.6% in the US and 4.3% in the UK. Flaring often occurs very close to communities, which causes severe respiratory and other health problems, as well as the disruption of all-night lighting and roaring flames (which also impacts on wildlife). It is a major cause of both acid rain and greenhouse emissions. In the period 1977 to the end of 1990, Shell was issued with 100 OSHA citations. In the following two and a half years, between 1991 and Mid 1993, Shell was issued with a further 153 citations by OSHA, of which 46 were "serious" and one was "wilful". To its credit, the company has over the last ten years significantly cut its air and water emissions, waste production and energy usage.