The Ultimate Shell Game
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Story # 2307


Hope for a successful future and hope for the environment are a tantalizing promise for engineering students from all over the world. And competition was the theme last week, when Fontana CA hosted the prestigious Shell Eco-Marathon America’s challenge in which our own CalState L.A. team competed. In a long view of Shell flags, Shell signs, volunteers equipped head to toe in Shell gear … even the school banners contained the Shell logo. With complete dedication, hard work and little sleep, excitement was pulsing.

Who wasn’t there cheering and sharing the fun, though, was the family and supporters of Nobel Prize nominee, play write and human rights activist Ken Saro-Wiwa, whose lifeless body hung after what was described to be a “sham trial” on November 10, 1995 in Nigeria.

A growing concern amongst faculty and staff at CSULA, some believe that universities may be catering to corporations and becoming a captive audience for their agendas. They question Shell’s intentions about sponsoring the Eco-Marathon. Many feel that this is merely a marketing tool for self promotion and the improvement of Shell’s public image. Amongst other things, the only rules posted on the official competition web site are:

“The vehicles may use one of the following fuel or energy types:
• Shell Unleaded 95 (EU) / Shell Plus 89 (US) Petrol/Gasoline
• Shell Diesel
• Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG)
• Shell Gas To Liquid (100% GTL)
• Fatty Acid Methyl Ester (100% FAME)
• Ethanol E100 (100% Ethanol)
• Hydrogen
• Solar”



Except for the last four, conveniently on the bottom, they all contain a form of Shell brand petroleum variation. It is reasonable to question motives at this, especially taking timing in consideration.

On May 26th of 2009, oil multinational Shell will be standing trial in a Federal Court of New York’s Southern District for complicity in human rights abuses in Nigeria, including the summary execution of writer and activist Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight of his colleagues. The other charges against Shell include complicity in crimes against humanity, torture, arbitrary arrest and detainment. This is simply the last development in a controversial struggle which now extends over the better part of five decades.

Royal Dutch Shell has been in Nigeria since 1956. They were there when the Biafra region seceded and civil war erupted in the 60s. Those were the times of back-corridor deals, local and ethnic skirmishes that escalated into massacres, coups, etc. The sobering reality is, not much has changed. In present times, this is still the government where, the first order of business for a young new oil executive is to show up at some commissioner’s office with a brief-case full of US cash.

This executive describes the meeting as walking in the door of an office where some Nigerian official in a shiny suit was eating without missing a breath. Upon the official seeing him, he nodded with his head for him to come in, then, hands full of grease from the food, another nod of the head commanded an under-link to open the case. At the sight of the undisclosed and inane pile of cash, unimpressed yet satisfied, he boorishly hand gestured for the executive to leave. He never spoke a word. This is the only world this “government” knows.

It is almost possible to build an understanding in regards to these oil giants in such an environment, just trying to play by their alien land rules and getting out of there in one piece. To question whether this long line of corruption and pay-offs was the only way for them to survive in such regimes. Except for the fact that Shell, in particular, has been very hands on involved in the demise of the Ogoni tribe.



Necro-Marathon




The Ogoni tribe (which is roughly 500,000 people) have found their home in the Niger Delta for the past 500 years. Once a jungle Eden of fertility and wild life, the stock and tradition of the Ogoni people is mostly fishing. This way of life began to truly disintegrate in the 80s after Shell built a pipeline through the delta that commenced to extinguish life in that region, and when the consequences of their negligence since the mid 50s started to show.

The first victims were the fish which, for these peaceful people was their livelihood. But as with any other natural order, when certain elements where exterminated, the entire eco-system slowly began to collapse. Nature is deceitful, for the foliage mirrors a thriving pyramid of life. But imagine a rooky oil executive in a business suit with briefcase in a raggedy native canoe, drifting through the Delta where, in the middle of the jungle, not even a bird could be heard. In this setting, the silence was eerie.

Of course, for environmental purposes, it doesn’t help matters that Shell in Nigeria has been disposing of the natural gas excess by simply lighting these “flares” on fire since the 60s to this day, which is an offensively large air pollutant. Naturally, Nigeria being, not only one of the most corrupt governments in the world, but also a third world country, it is so much easier to get away with environmental transgressions that no company ever could get away with in any western, or even “semi-western” community. This degree of pollution is only matched by their in land rigs. Which is why a rooky oil executive in Nigeria vocally solidifies that, “Putting green in the same sentence as Shell is insulting”.



The blame game



For quite some time, activists and concerned citizens have been urging participant governments and or their own (which at times has been both) to intercede in these violations against the environment and human rights.

This movement was given a breath of life by the deceased Ken Saro-Wiwa, born Kenule Beeson Sara-Wiwa and a native of Ogoniland. A true humanist, Saro-Wiwa was an author, an environmentalist (was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize) and became a human rights activist by accidental duty when oil corporations, specifically Shell, began to trample on the livelihood of his home and his people.

When his voice was heard and he began to gain true support and momentum, he was bitterly silenced by dubious charges of treason and a very questionable “trial”, resulting in him and eight of his Ogoni brothers being hung by the government.

Considering the amount of sabotage to Shell operations by the Ogoni people, it is very much in question whether or not Shell simply paid the Nigerian government to put an end to the nuisance. Devoted groups deeply believe in the conspiracy idea involving Shell: it’s all too easy for them to make a cash-brief-case private arrangement and later claim, “We don’t support the government’s extreme methods”. Though they found no predicament in helping to disseminate slander, to the point of terrorism accusations, about one of the great pacifists of our time.

Though truthfully, Shell and the other oil giants are not the only ones with blood on their hands. The British government, for one, threatened to throw Nigeria out of the common wealth if they took the unlikely position.

Moreso after Wiwa’s death, President Clinton was urged to impose sanctions against the Nigerian government for human rights violations. A failure to respond, forcefully gave Nigeria the message that the US would forget this crime of many.

The Nigerian government had no comment to our publication on the up coming trial other than their official position on the fact that, “Any comment in their part runs the risk of becoming prejudicial to the court, jury and outcome of the legal matter.”




Light at the end of the pipe-line?



However, there certainly are those who still believe in the acceptable intentions of oil
companies, such as senior reporter for Fortune magazine, Jon Birgen. He brings attention to the fact that Shell, above any other oil giant, has a history of commitment to science and research.

Birgen has had extensive experience covering the financial trade, including the energy field. He brings objective and compelling light into the fact that, in Nigeria, the government is currently enjoying roughly 95 % of the profits from, not only Shell, but all the other oil corporations. And for this dismal profit margin that the Shell giant walks away with, he wonders why they even bother, why they don’t just cut their losses and get out in one piece.

Though shortly after, he explains how in the oil world, the value (and of course, therefore the STOCK value) of an oil company is measured, not by such profit margins, but by how much crude reserves they have under their “control”. This is what investors care about. And that is a whole parallel avenue of money and revenue.

So the race continues. As CSULA works around the clock in this Eco-Marathon to watch their “baby” roar around the track, so does Shell. Though with a fundamental difference: CSULA’s Mechanical Engineering Team is fueled by hope and ideology, to innovate technology, to make the world a better place. Shell is fueled by an unspoken word that elucidates, “You have it, I want it. We have it, I have to have more. I have it, I want even more”.

Though in order to have more, Shell needs to sell more. Not simply sell more of their product, these times are far more complex than that. In a society dealing with such economic turmoil, they have to sell the very idea of what they are, even if by tricking the public into believing a slight of hand version of who they are.

Which is why it is the public’s responsibility to take the time to come out of our perpetual state of complacent and look beyond the surface. Even our Shell Eco-Marathon … maybe it really is simply part of Shell’s effort to put on a better face for the public.



Just put on a little lipstick



Given the questionable “rules” and the self-promotion, it’s not difficult to question the motives of Shell in this so-called Eco-Marathon. But then given all of their controversy over the last 50 something years, and with the impending trial in their defense against environmental and civil rights groups from all over the world, a trial in which they are, in a degree, accused of murder, they surface with distractions such as this competition.

To top it off, they appoint Ann Pickard executive VP in Africa for Royal Dutch Shell. Although surprisingly, there is hardly anything to be found on Pickard with a traditional on-line search, she is quite the woman to talk about.

“The bravest woman in oil” writes Fortune reporter Jon Birgen in his titled article.

Ms. Pickard has quite the bio. She used to be a volunteer in coordinating battered women’s shelters in the 80s before joining corporate America. Born and raised in Wyoming and married to a former Naval officer, after coming into the energy business, Ms. Pickard spent her career in the field all over the world, including a long strech in Latin America. According to Mr. Birgen’s reports, she was slated to transition into the expected Head Quarters job in Houston, but decided instead that she’d rather continue in the field so she took a job with Shell, placing her as their “commanding officer” in Nigeria.

The 53 year old mother of two seemed to speak in a very cavalier manner about her knowledge and acceptance of the dangers of a destination such as this where, western, or more accurately oil company compounds are heavily guarded wall to wall by private military companies such as Blackwater; where, when leaving these compounds, there are also heavily armed security details, to get to the next safe haven point. She comments that the moment she feels her family is in danger, she would not remain in country. P.R. perfect Ms. Pickard also has a few other perfect answers to go with her interesting, empowering, perfect persona.

After her new job announcement, Ms. Pickard proceeded to give a long series of interviews in New York, amongst which, Mr. Birgen was approached by Shell to write this article.

Being a senior reporter for Fortune, in his expert opinion, the idea of a “PR stunt” or a “cleaning the media image” is basic marketing. “Every company is marketing and image, no matter who they are. A company is an image, and image represents a product. This is why they have teams of talented people dedicated to it”, Birgen says. “Shell sponsors this Eco Marathon like the local bank might sponsor a little league”.

And he believes it to be part of what business is. But it is possible to believe that part of the reason why this experienced financial journalist takes such pragmatic position is the fact that he has seen so much that he empathetically talks about these oil companies being “so much easier to deal with than banker, Wall Street types”. It is his opinion that these oil giants are under the belief (though rather the delusion) that the public will understand their purpose and their motive for the better of the American people, whereas Wall Street bankers operate under the idea that, “if the world would understand what it is they’re doing, they would be lynched”.

Though when asked about the high controversy of Shell in Nigeria, Birgen honestly replies, “I wasn’t there”.



He who controls the Spice controls the Universe



The truth is, these people, these “Masters of the Universe”, truly are. Forget Wall Street.
The oil heads of industry travel with their own US secret service. At State dinners in Washington DC, they have the best seats at the best tables. No one ever reads about them in Fortune or Forbes, because if there is ever an article regarding their companies, someone who is a low-level employee compared to them, is trained to take the spot light (such as Pickard).

They become some elusive name at best that, “maybe I heard about him …”, but they hire the very best to make sure it never goes pass that. Which brings about the old, wise saying, “Money talks … wealth whispers”. And in the mean time, no one gets the Presidency in the US without their secret final concede.

Whether major change is amidst and eminent, today in late April, oil still runs the world. And these people have been holding their casual luncheon meetings for some few decades now, where they have discussed the next war (or rather “conflict”) that the US will be involved with, five, ten years down the line, before even the military gets wind of it.

It is very doubtful that they would have a controversial presence in Nigeria if there was no substantial benefit to reap. Who gets there first is unknown, though in these times, who perils first is unknown. But the engines are running, and the words “ready, set go” are alive.

11/03/2009

Author's Note: Copyright courtesy of the University Times. Completely unedited, for better AND worse. Better, cleaner version will replace it - but cowardly p**** a** 1 1/2 page was published ... OH!! And I wrote this 2 and 1/2 weeks before it hit the news - in the world of journalism .. it's kind of a big deal ...

Posted on 11/03/2009
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