Shell is a multinational oil company of Dutch and British origins, created in February 1907 when the Royal Dutch Petroleum Company & the "Shell" Transport and Trading Company Ltd of the United Kingdom

merged their operations – a move largely driven by the need to compete globally with the then predominant American oil company,

John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil.

The company's main business is the exploration for and the production, processing, transportation and marketing of hydrocarbons (oil and gas). Shell also has an embryonic renewable energy sector developing wind,

hydrogen & solar power opportunities.

.Shell’s Executive committee consists of:

- Jeroen van der Veer, Chief Executive - Linda Cook, Executive Director Gas & Power;- Malcolm Brinded, Executive Director Exploration and Production - Peter Voser, Chief Financial Officer - Pete Barritt, Chief Environmental Advisor - Rob Routs, Exec. Director Downstream Oil Products & Chemicals

In March 2007 it was announced that Mr. van der Veer's contract as CEO would be extended to June 2009, some twenty months beyond his

normal Shell retirement date of October 2007. There has been speculation in the news media

about candidates to be Chief Executive of Royal Dutch Shell Plc when van der Veer retires, with the front runners seen as Brinded, Cook, and Voser.

Shell has 104000 employees in over 110 countries. The company states: “Our people are central to the delivery of our strategy and we involve them in the planning & direction of their work. We are committed to creating a workplace

that values differences and provides channels to report concerns. We are investing to prevent incidents such as spills, fires & accidents that place our

people, the environment and our facilities at risk.”

Shell is the world's second-largest private sector oil company by revenue and Europe's largest energy group, operating in over 140 countries. In the USA,

its Shell Oil Company subsidiary, headquartered in Houston, Texas, is one of Shell's largest businesses.

In the 1990s, tensions arose between the native Ogoni tribe of the Niger Delta and Shell. The concerns of the locals were that very little of the money earned from oil on their land

was getting to the people who live there, and the environmental damage caused by Shell's practices. In 1993 the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) organised

large protests against Shell and the government, often occupying the refineries. Shell withdrew its operations from the Ogoni areas and the Nigerian government raided their

villages and arrested some of the protest leaders. Some of these arrested protesters, Ken Saro-Wiwa being the most prominent, were later executed on trumped-up charges of inciting violence, against widespread international opposition from the Commonwealth of

Nations.

Shell Nigeria acknowledged that "we sometimes feed conflict by the way we award contracts, gain access to land, and deal with community representatives", and that it intends

to improve on its practices.

As we can deduce from the “receipt” seen earlier, Shell’s profits have increased significantly over the last 3 years. In our opinion they will continue to be one of the

largest oil traders in the world.

However, there is one thing which could bring them down. The energy crisis due to be brought about from a global oil shortage could significantly damage their business, and

even bankrupt the company. If this happens, they will have to rely on the renewable energy sources they have begun developing. It is very possible that they will do this

not effectively enough to remain one of the world’s largest energy providers, but effectively enough to retain a significant role in the provision of power to the public.