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.