ShellNews.net: Forbidden Words of a Shell Whistleblower Dr John Huong – A Shell Geologist for almost 30 years: Friday 9 Sept 2005 10:00am EDT

 

Publisher's Introduction: This was a letter from Dr. John Huong which he supplied to me just before Eight companies from the Royal Dutch Shell Group obtained a High Court Injunction and Restraining Order that robbed him of his HUMAN RIGHTS and Freedom of Expression accorded under the Universal Declaration on Human Rights. These eight Shell companies belong to member countries of the United Nations.

 

I have taken the decision to publish his letter at this time because I am appalled at the double standards being applied. Dr Huong incurred the wrath of Shell management for SPEAKING THE TRUTH ABOUT SHELL’S RESERVES POSITION, AND IN REGARD TO SAFETY, HEALTH, SECURITY, ENVIRONMENTAL, PROFESSIONAL CONCERNS and ended up with no job, no compensation and with a defamation action hanging over the heads of himself and his family. Being a man of the highest integrity Dr Huong insisted on working within Shell’s Statement of General Business Principles (SGBP) requiring honesty, integrity and openness in all of Shell’s dealings. Contrast his reward for being a man of principle against the treatment given to Shell directors such as Sir Phillip Watts WHO LIED AND COVERED UP THE TRUTH ABOUT SHELL’S RESERVES, AND AS A RESULT, DESTROYED SHELL’S REPUTATION.

 

Watts has been rewarded with an USD 18 MILLION dollar pension pot including a massive settlement sum. Shell has so far paid over a quarter of a BILLION US dollars in fines and settlements for management misdeeds. Shell has just paid umpteen more millions to settle a  US class action law suit being brought against Watts and his dishonest/incompetent fellow directors, some of whom amazingly remain at the helm of Shell. So on the one hand a loyal, honest, hard-working employee is crucified for telling the truth while on the other, corporate crooks are showered with money and insulated from any penalty or court room justice by shareholder funds, used like confetti, on their behalf. This is one of the most disgusting examples of the corrupt corporate world that I have encountered.

 

- Alfred Donovan

 

 

THE LETTER FROM DR HUONG

 

My name is Dr John Huong. Until May 2003 I was a Shell geologist for almost 30 years - a management level employee of Shell Malaysia. I specialised in many areas of earth sciences including Micropalaeontology, Petrology, Sedimentology, Field Geology, Bio-Sequence Stratigraphy, Operation Geology, Exploration Geology, Reservoir Geology and Production Geology.  I am also conversant with Petrophysics, Petroleum Engineering (i.e. Well Engineering, Reservoir Engineering) and Petroleum Economics.  In the company, I belonged to the Malaysian Senior Staff Council (MSSC) and was once its Vice President.

 

My work involved being a contributor/producer for Shell Field Development Plans and scouting for Shell block biddings. I was for example in the early 1990's involved in a Shell study of oil and gas basins at the Ural-Volga, Caspian and Siberia in the former Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) at the invitation of the Russian Oil & Gas Ministry and the Eisenhower Foundation of USA. I have studied Business Administration, specialising in Human Resource Management. I am also a graduate from the Chartered Institute of Marketing, UK. After work, I do community work for the needy.

 

I started out my career with Shell being immensely proud of the company I worked for and represented. I was very impressed by the famous advertising slogans: "You can be sure of Shell"; "We Care, We Share" and more recently, "Triple Bottom Line" and "Profits AND Principles". My pride in being a Shell geologist was reinforced by Shell management’s stated commitment to core principles of integrity, transparency, honesty and professionalism, as expressed in Shell’s Statement of General Business Principles (SGBP). I felt that I was part of an outstanding multinational company of the very highest reputation which is in consonant with my own personal belief and value system.

 

My respect for Shell regretfully evaporated away over more recent years because of events that I have witnessed. I eventually came to the sad realisation that the companies’ actions were totally at variance with its carefully contrived public image. It is in fact a ruthless unprincipled multinational, as demonstrated by countless examples, most vividly by its record of oppressive exploitative policies in Nigeria. Shell, in collaboration with the military government, allegedly put men of good repute to torture, hanging; where women, children were raped and their homes razed to the ground.  Shell must answer all these questions clearly to resolve that part of a horrible history.

 

If only Shell senior management had abided by and enforced the values and strictures enshrined in the SGBP I would still be a loyal dedicated Shell geologist today. Furthermore Shell’s reputation would not have been destroyed by the disgraceful conduct of its most senior management, some of whom at the time of writing this letter are still at the pinnacle of the Royal Dutch Shell Group. How can lies, dishonesty and cover-up be reconciled with the above core principles of the SGBP? Has there ever been a better example of blatant hypocrisy?

 

It is proper before going any further to declare my personal grievances against Shell senior management. I was dismissed after almost 30 years of loyal dedicated service. The allegations against me were "absent from work without leave, permission or reasonable excuse" and "failure to attend weekly meetings without permission, leave or reasonable excuses". The charges against me were made out of malice and were unfounded, unproven and invented without any formal investigation. The whole process was undermined by improper actions in breach of natural justice.

 

As Shell senior executives are aware, normal disciplinary procedures were not followed by a management accredited with an ISO certification for excellence in Human Resource (HR) Management. I received no reprimands, nor written or oral warnings. Even worse, threats were made by HR personnel against my assistant, whom I had appointed as permitted by the Domestic Inquiry (DI) Process which preceded my unwarranted dismissal. The truth is that Shell senior management was bent on getting rid of me because I had expressed reservations about Shell misdeeds and wrongdoings. I have a conscience and felt compelled to speak out for the benefits of a civilized society. I have no doubt that a fairly conducted independent investigation would clear my name once and for all.

 

Obviously the issue of my dismissal is not of world shaking significance but it is of great importance to me because it reflects on my personal integrity which I value very highly.  I have been shamed and humiliated. If I had been genuinely guilty of the allegations that would be bad enough; it makes my situation almost unbearable knowing that my dismissal was based on unfounded allegations combined with falsified evidence and the deliberate intimidation of my assistant for the domestic inquiry.

 

I did write recently to Malcolm Brinded who is a Group MD of the Royal Dutch Shell Group and Chief Executive Officer of Shell Exploration and Production seeking his intervention. Suffice it to say that although I had worked for Shell for almost 30 years in a senior position, Mr Brinded did not even have the courtesy to acknowledge my communication. That alone speaks volumes about him.

 

I therefore feel a deep sense of betrayal and injustice caused by the treatment I have received from Shell management. I am a victim of what others have accurately described as a corporate culture of cover-up at Shell. If I had not brought sensitive matters to the attention of Shell senior management, I would almost certainly still be a Shell geologist.

 

For example, in 1997, I was assigned to the multi-billion dollar Kinabalu offshore platform project as the only Production Geologist. A faulty design rendered the Production Platform unsafe and potentially subject to sinking. I was threatened by the Kinabalu Project Manager because I raised these important work issues during a Project Team Meeting which was minuted. Shell did not want such sensitive information placed on the record. Information about this vitally important life threatening issue was not passed on to PETRONAS at the time. PETRONAS is Malaysia's national petroleum corporation. Wholly-owned by the Malaysian Government, the corporation is vested with the stewardship for the entire oil and gas resources in Malaysia and is entrusted with the responsibility for safety and other matters relating to Kinabalu Field development and other such projects. Shell deliberately withheld the information from PETRONAS.  In time to come I will present other misdeeds of Shell for withholding information from PETRONAS or the Malaysian Government and its people who live in a lovely country where my family and I are also proud to reside.

 

Because my stand on this matter in consonant with Shell Group Business Principles, its governance and with Malaysian national interests in mind, I made my concerns known internally at Shell. Shell made me feel that I had sinned for having a moral compass and a conscience. I was transferred out of the Kinabalu Project without any proper reasons being given and made redundant in exile to work on a paper platform that was left in mothballed state for many years, known as the Ketam Field - "Ketam" in local language mean "Crab"!

 

I raised my grievances at being transferred out of the project against my will to the Ketam Field and the matter reached Managing Director/Chairman level. An Internal Investigation was subsequently conducted and blame apportioned to many individuals, including the General Manager. However I was not restored to my geology job. Shell management was apparently intent at all costs on covering up the flaws I had exposed in the Kinabalu Project and wanted to keep me out of the picture and further involvement. On reflection I believe that the most important concerns to Shell management was stopping important information from being disclosed to its Malaysian partner, PETRONAS (information PETRONAS was entitled to receive) and hiding the truth about hydrocarbon reserves from Shell shareholders.

 

What happened naturally caused me a great deal of personal stress but I was concerned that a catastrophe might take place and I did not want to have any deaths on my conscience, nor put my country Malaysia at risk due any potential oil/gas spills since the coastline of Brunei was very near to the Kinabalu field. No job is worth that risk.

 

From 1997 until 2003, I was not only stressed out but also unfairly treated by my supervisors by moving me around the company. I believe this happened as a direct result of my raising the safety, reserves and other technical concerns and issues about the Kinabalu project. It seems totally wrong to me now as I had not blown the whistle on Shell with PETRONAS but only made my concerns known internally at Shell.

 

In mid 2002, I was working under Mr. Hee Len Hi, the General Manager for Shell Malaysia Technology Management/Technical Services. My assignment at that time was to track a Facility Verification Report pertaining to helicopter services. I was informed by Operation Installation Managers of certain unprofessional work which had taken place in relation to the serviceability and safety of the helicopter fleet. However I discovered to my horror that passengers were still told to board one such helicopter and thus ended up, without their knowledge, as being TEST CREWS together with the pilots. I brought this alarming situation to the attention of Mr Hee Len Hi. It was not something he wished to know because the logistic unit was also under his responsibilities. His made his displeasure at my internal whistleblower action obvious. Once again my conscience and wish to work within Shell’s stated ethical code had got me into serious trouble.

 

I have since wondered whether serious accidents which have occurred in Shell’s North Sea operations involving helicopters and oil platforms happened because someone remained silent about the same type of cover-up and wrongdoing which I had felt compelled to expose within Shell.

 

It was Mr Hee Len Hi who subsequently orchestrated the above mentioned trumped up Domestic Inquiry together with Mr. Rosli Lompoh involving flawed evidence and intimidation of my assistant whom I recruited for the domestic inquiry. Furthermore, I wish to know who gave Len Hee and Rosli the instructions to treat me badly and I believe that will be clearer after my pending Industrial High Court case against Shell for wrongful dismissal. I also have important information directly relating to the Shell oil and gas reserves scandal. It will be added to this document shortly.

 

Dr John Huong

May 2004 

 

BOX 1

 

SUBJECT: Train of Events leading to the Termination of Dr. John Huong Yiu Tuong

1. I was working for Sarawak Shell Berhad/ Sabah Shell Petroleum Company Limited from 1974 to 2003. From 1974-1997, I was working in various geological specialties and had built a promising career from rank and file in the field of Geology.

2. In 1997, I was assigned to the multi-billion dollar Kinabalu offshore platform project as the only Production Geologist. The faulty design rendered the Production Platform unsafe and subject to sinking. This was not informed to PETRONAS at the material time and I was punished because I highlighted it officially during our minuted official Project Team Meeting – the account of the meeting was supposed to be supplied to PETRONAS.

3. Because of my stand on this matter in consonant with Shell Group Business Principles and governance and with the national interests in mind, I was transferred out of the Kinabalu Project (to the Ketam platform that has no production) without any reasons being given.

4. I raised my grievances and it reached the Managing Director/ Chairman (MD/CH) level and an Internal Investigation was conducted. Resulting from this investigation, I was not restored to my geology job, apparently an effort, to cover up the flaws in the Kinabalu Project.

5. I was posted by MD/CH to join (~2 Years) Public Affairs, a discipline which was foreign lo my experience and training. It is certainly not in line with my career placement and progression.

6. From here on, my career in Shell lost its direction and this unsatisfactory situation became a de-motivating factor. As 1 was moved from one department to another, I was not given ample time to learn the job. In all cases 1 was posted to a job without any formal job description even though I had asked for it again and again.

7. From 1997 until 2003, I was not only stressed and taken ill but also mis-treated by my supervisors principally because of my problems with Kinabalu project.

8. In 2002, I was working under Mr. Hee Len Hi who was General Manager for Technology Management/Technical Services. Initially it was a good relationship and he promised to help/restore me in my career in Shell. I was very happy and I was expecting that my career would be redeveloped and well-ordered towards the realization of my ambition to become a Professional Geologist.

9. In mid 2002,1 was tracking a Facility Verification Report pertaining to helicopter services, a task given to me and was informed by Operation Installation Managers of the unprofessional work, thus " the passengers were told to board the "seemingly" good chopper & eventually ended up as "TEST CREWS" together with the pilots". I highlighted this to Len HI who did not take it very well and in fact quarrelled with me.

10. Len Hi was not very happy with me and moved me around in his department to a job for which I was ill-prepared because I did not have the experience and/or relevant qualification, nor was a job description given to me which he promised for months until a quarrel took place in his office. The job required a Bachelor in Engineering Degree.

11. In early 2003, he marked and ranked me as a poor performer in his department without giving me any indication throughout the year that I was performing unsatisfactorily. The annual letter informing all staff on their Bonus and Increment was not given to me even after I asked Max, my supervisor, and copied Len Hi.

12. Eventually, Len Hi put up a Domestic Inquiry together with HR for me with charges that are incomplete and without reasonable investigation into the allegations, nor was I given reprimands, oral and/or written warnings, etc prior to suspension. The Domestic Inquiry was not conducted professionally and one of the objections before the DI proper was threat of disciplinary action against my Assistant that "the Company would take disciplinary action against me for absent from duty if I were to be John's Assistant". This is a testimony I now got when I asked my Assistant who is now retired as to why he was not present in the DI which he promised. In addition, I was given a termination letter 20 days after the official closing of the Domestic Inquiry's proceedings.

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