For more than a hundred years, Shell was considered a world leader with greater influence than some European states. As the company slogan said: Shell can be trusted. That was until January 2004, when the company reported that its oil reserves had been overstated by 3.9 billion barrels! This book is unique because it is the first time such detailed and reliable material about Shell's oil business has been published. The authors offer a detailed description of the company's financial machinations, its plans to extract oil from Sakhalin, and its horrific environmental impact, from the devastation of land in Nigeria to the destruction of entire communities in the United States. You will learn how a former shell trader created the largest enterprise in the world, whose good name was tarnished by internal strife, lies and the desire to outdo the competition at any cost.