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To compete against the giant American oil company, Standard Oil, in 1907 Royal Dutch merged with The "Shell" Transport and Trading Company, p.l.c. of the UK. Its ADRs are traded on the New York Stock Exchange under RD (Royal Dutch) and SC (Shell).
The origin of the name Shell is linked to the origins of The "Shell Transport and Trading Company". The company was founded by Marcus Samuel in 1833 to sell seashells to collectors in London. When collecting seashell specimens in the Caspian Sea area in 1892 Samuel’s son realised there was potential in exporting lamp oil from the region and commissioned the world's first purpose built oil tanker to enter this market. By 1907 the company had a fleet of oil tankers.
One of the original Seven Sisters, Royal Dutch/Shell is the world’s second largest oil company and a major player in the petrochemical industry and the solar energy business. Shell has five core businesses: Exploration and Production, Oil Products, Downstream Gas and Power, Chemicals and Renewables, and operates in more than 140 countries across the world.
These companies are headed by the Royal Dutch Petroleum Company of the NetherlandsDutch redirects here. For other uses, see Dutch (disambiguation). The Netherlands ( Dutch: Nederland is the European part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, a constitutional monarchy. It is located in northwestern Europe and borders the North Sea, Belgium and The "Shell" Transport and Trading Company, p.l.c. of the United Kingdom. These two companies hold all other subsidiary companies. The Shell interest in subsidiaries is always divided 60/40 in favor of Royal Dutch. In many cases, subsidiary companies are held in partnership with others, be these governments or others.
Although to meet company law in all countries there are nominated directors, the Shell Group of Companies is in fact run by an executive body called the "Committee of Managing Directors", whose members are chosen from the overall group.
An original investor, the largest single shareholder of Royal Dutch/Shell is the holding company for the Dutch Royal Family, set up by Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands.
Over the years Shell has been criticized by environmental and human rights groups for a number of their operations, especially in South AfricaSouth Africa is a republic at the southern tip of Africa. It is bordered to the north by Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe, to the north-east by Mozambique and Swaziland. Lesotho is contained entirely inside the borders of South Africa. South Africa is one o and NigeriaThe Federal Republic of Nigeria is a country in West Africa. It borders on Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, Niger in the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the south. Major cities include the capital Abuja, the former capital Lagos, Abeokuta. Their involvement in NigeriaThe Federal Republic of Nigeria is a country in West Africa. It borders on Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, Niger in the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the south. Major cities include the capital Abuja, the former capital Lagos, Abeokuta came to the forefront after the execution of dissident Ken Saro-WiwaKenule Beeson Saro-Wiwa ( October 10, 1941 November 10, 1995) was a Nigerian author, television producer and environmental activist. Ken Saro-Wiwa was a member of the Ogoni, an ethnic minority whose homelands in the Niger Delta have been targeted for oil and eight others. Shell was also attacked by GreenpeaceGreenpeace is an international environmental organization founded in Canada in 1971. Greenpeace has acquired a reputation for the dramatic use of nonviolent direct action in campaigns to stop atmospheric nuclear testing and to bring an end to high-seas wh for plans to sink the Brent Spar, an old oil transport and hub station located in the North Sea, into the North Atlantic. They eventually agreed to disassemble it onshore in Norway, although Shell has always maintained (supported by third party advice) that its original plan to sink the platform was safer and better for the environment.
In the United States, Shell has recently run a major advertising campaign to promote claims of higher mileage by using their gasolines.
In Canada, Shell Canada settled a lawsuit in which an additive in their gasolines created problems on fuel gauges, especially in autmobiles produced by the American Big Three.
On June 17th of 2004, Shell chairman Ron Oxburgh made a statement to The Guardian that in the face of the threat of global warming he was "really very worried for the planet”. As a remedy he proposed the practice of carbon sequestration, which involves removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and burying it underground. "Sequestration is difficult, but if we don't have sequestration then I see very little hope for the world," he said.