Case Name :      Shell E&P Ireland Limited (SEPIL) and the Corrib Gas Controversy

Authors :           James Kennelly, Trevor Mengel

Source :             North American Case Research Association (NACRA)

Case ID :            NA0198

Discipline :        Business Ethics

Case Length :    26 pages

Solution sample availability : YES

Plagiarism : NO (100% Original work)

This case narrates a complex, long-running, and emotional controversy between Shell Exploration & Production Ireland (SEPIL) and opponents of its planned natural gas pipeline and gas processing facility in County Mayo, Ireland. The Corrib Gas Project is years behind schedule and over budget. SEPIL must not only complete the project, but must do so in a manner consistent with its own principles of corporate social responsibility. This case provides an opportunity to explore the challenges implicit in utilizing stakeholder management approaches. Students must evaluate various options available to SEPIL such as: Should the gas be processed at sea, as the more strident protestors demand? Should the processing facility be relocated to an area of no habitation, as other protestors wish, which would mean writing off a significant investment? For that matter, is this project worth completing at any cost? Finally, despite having all the required statutory approvals, final implementation would probably require utilizing the Garda Siochána (the Irish national police force) and other resources of the Irish State, as well as Shell’s own contract security force, to keep protestors at bay. But what are the possible effects of such action on Shell’s corporate reputation, and what if something, anything, goes wrong? It is not only which course of action SEPIL chooses to undertake, but how the action is implemented, that matters. This case is most appropriate for use in MBA and upper-level undergraduate courses in Business Ethics, Business and Society, International Business, and Business and the Natural Environment.