Largest
oil company in the world (as of 2010; in 2009, it was #2). Sales in 2009 were $285 billion. Worldwide proved reserves of 14.1 billion barrels of
oil equivalent. Most of the
oil giant'
s crude is produced in Nigeria, Oman, the UK, and the USA. Shell is also investing heavily in the Athabasca
Oil Sands Project, which converts
oil sands in Alberta to synthetic crude oil. The company operates 44,000 gas stations (the world's largest retail fuel network) in more than 80 countries.
Shell is implicated in exploitation and support for dictatorships in Nigeria, Angola, and elsewhere. It operates a huge, stunningly
toxic facility in the Niger River Delta, but provides almost no compensation to the Ogoni
people. In 1994, Ogoni activist Ken Saro-Wiwa was arrested for allegedly inciting violence against Shell staff and executed, along with 8 other Ogoni.
Royal Dutch Shell is, like
BP, p.l.c. and Exxon Mobil, very large, very old, and very
evil. It is based in the Hague--ironically enough, near the International Court of
Justice.