Terry Macalister

A judge in the Netherlands has opened the door to a potential avalanche of legal cases against Shell.

Jeroen van der Veer (60), the head of Shell, earned £2,9million last year, the average for FTSE-100 firms and almost a quarter of what was paid to his former business rival, Lord Browne at BP. The relatively modest salary suits the slightly downbeat Dutchman, who is a mile away in style from the garrulous and glitzy Browne.

Employment equity, skills development and management control are vital indicators of broad-based empowerment, but they are also areas of low BEE progress. Equity transfer is still king, though this must change if BEE is going to be broad-based. This has emerged from the two baseline studies into BEE.

Motorists can be expected to pay more for fuel soon as crude prices soared again to nearly $77 a barrel. Turmoil in the international oil markets — due to strong demand, geopolitical instability and a shortage of refining capacity — will put further upward pressure on forecourt prices.

A potential £8-billion bid by a trio of private equity houses for British supermarket group J Sainsbury demonstrates just how bold and brave the fast-growing industry has become. If the deal succeeds the supermarket chain would follow United Biscuits, Birds Eye and Pizza Express parent Gondola into private hands.

Shell was at the centre of buyout moves and speculation on Monday after it unveiled plans to spend C$7,7-billion (£3,7-billion) simplifying its North American business. This was seen by some as a step towards a £230-billion mega-merger with BP. The Anglo-Dutch oil group has also had its name linked with Premier Oil.