Displaying items by tag: Shell

The former Archbishop of York, Lord Sentamu, hit out at 'arrogant' Shell after he was prevented from delivering a Christian climate letter to the headquarters of the oil giant on behalf of Christian charities. When Sentamu, now chair of Christian Aid, knocked on the building entrance in central London, he was refused entry. The letter, addressed to Shell’s chief executive, was signed by Green Christian, Christian Climate Action, Tearfund, A Rocha UK, Christian Aid, Cafod, and Operation Noah. It calls on Shell to stop all new fossil fuel exploration and extraction and asks for a meeting to discuss the issue. Lord Sentamu said, ‘Climate change is the greatest insidious, brutal and indiscriminate force of our time. Those suffering the most have done the least to cause it. Continuing to search for new sources of fossil fuels, despite explicit warnings from the International Energy Agency, is an offence against humanity.’

Sanctioned Russian oligarchs from Putin's inner circle have exploited a UK secrecy loophole left open by the Government. They use a type of company which does not need to identify its real owners known as an English Limited Partnerships (ELP). ELPs are also linked to fraud, terrorism and money laundering. Since 2017 over 4,500 have been set up to dodge anti-money laundering laws which require the real owners to be disclosed. Pray for the UK Economic Crime Programme, police and government to make ELPs illegal. Meanwhile Shell Plc has given employees a ‘Special Recognition Award’, equivalent to 8% of their annual salary, after recording profits for a second consecutive quarter thanks to soaring oil and gas prices and legally strong refining margins. The one-time payment will be made to most of Shell’s 82,000 employees. Shell said the award was not a response to the rising cost of living. See

Five days after Shell announced it is ending all joint ventures with the Russian energy company Gazprom, on 6 March it admitted having bought Russian crude oil at a discounted price. It said there was no alternative crude supplies which would reach Europe in time. On March 8th Shell said, ‘We are acutely aware that our decision last week to purchase a cargo of Russian crude oil to be refined into products like petrol and diesel - despite being made with security of supplies at the forefront of our thinking - was not the right one and we are sorry.’ The business says it will immediately stop all spot purchases of Russian crude oil and will shut its service stations, aviation fuel and lubricants operations in Russia. It says its withdrawal from other associations with Russia will be done ‘in a phased manner, aligned with new government guidance’. They said Russian oil profits will be used to help Ukrainians. See

Last week you prayed for ‘wise costing and balancing by energy firms, oil giants and the government so that the cost of living remains stable’, after oil giant Shell announced profits four times higher than last year. This week BP reported its highest profit for eight years. The very same energy prices that have spelt crippling bills for consumers have prompted BP's boss to describe his operation right now as a ‘cash machine’. A combination of resurgent demand and geopolitical tensions means that wholesale gas prices are five times higher than before the pandemic - while oil prices have almost doubled. BP and Shell could make £40bn in profits this year, enough to cover the energy bills of the majority of UK households, renewing calls for a windfall tax. But the Chancellor fears it could damage investment in lower-carbon forms of energy, because energy giants' profits, tied as they are to global prices, are very volatile.