(The opinions expressed in the following message are those of the Shell Petroleum Company, and in no way misrepresent the business interests of the corporate-owned media in which it originally appeared)


People have the right to the truth
Unvarnished. Even uncomfortable
But never subjugated to a cause, however noble or well-meaning
They have the right to clear thinking
Slogans, boycotts and protests don't offer answers…
It has been suggested that Shell should pull out of developing nations altogether
The oil would certainly continue flowing
The business would continue operating
The vast majority of the employees would remain in place
but the sound and ethical business practices synonymous with Shell,
the environmental investment
and the tens of millions of dollars spent on community programs would all be lost
Again, it's the people of developing nations that you would hurt.
It's easy enough to sit in your comfortable homes in the West
calling for sanctions and boycotts against a developing country
But you have to be sure that knee-jerk reactions won't do more harm than good
Some campaigning groups say that we should intervene in the political process in developing nations
But even if we could, we must never do so
Politics is the business of governments and politicians
The world where companies use their economic influence to prop up or bring down governments
Would be a frightening and bleak one indeed