Royal Dutch/Shell 'Oil Reserves' Controversy



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Background Note

The history of Shell dates back to 1833 when Marcus Samuel (Samuel) opened a small shop in London, selling sea shells to Victorian natural history enthusiasts. Within a few years, it became a thriving import-export business. On a visit to the Caspian Sea coast, Samuel's son realized that there was huge potential in the export of lamp-oil and cooking oil from the Caspian to countries in the far-east.

The company's first special oil tanker was commissioned in 1892 and 4,000 tonnes of Russian kerosene was delivered to Singapore and Bangkok. During the same period, the Royal Dutch Company had been formed in the Netherlands to explore oil fields in Asia. By 1896, Royal Dutch had developed its own tanker fleet in order to compete with British companies.

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Royal Dutch and Shell realized that they would be able to perform better if they work together. Hence in 1907, the Royal Dutch/Shell group of companies was created and all their worldwide operations were consolidated.The two companies merged their interests on a 60:40 basis while keeping their identities separate. In the early part of the twentieth century the group expanded with acquisitions across Europe, Africa and America. The mass production of cars had opened up a vast new market for the oil industry and this fueled the acquisition spree for the group......

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