Shell employee list leaked to environmental groups

(AP) — Royal Dutch Shell PLC says a database containing business contact details for many of its employees and contractors has been leaked to several environmental groups.

Shell spokesman Wendel Broere confirms the database with 176,000 entries sent to Greenpeace and others is authentic, though the information it contains is not particularly sensitive.

The database was sent from anonymous e-mail addresses with a note claiming authorship by employees who want the company to right alleged wrongs in Nigeria, where Shell is the largest foreign oil producer.

Broere said Friday Shell is investigating the leak.

Shell has laid off around 5 percent of its roughly 102,000 staff in the past year, and announced another 1,000 job cuts earlier this month.