Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSa.L: Quote) said on Thursday that it would delay its investment decision on a second expansion of its Athabasca oil sands project, the latest deferral sparked by falling energy prices and a global financial crisis.
October 30th, 2008:
Shell delays Athabasca expansion decision
Exxon Posts $14.83 Billion Profit
Exxon Mobil Corp. reported a 58% increase in third-quarter net income, smashing its own record for quarterly profits, amid a $1.62 billion gain and high oil prices.
Green Ink: Peak Oil and Hunting Elephants
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
October 30, 2008, 8:00 am
Posted by Keith Johnson
Crude oil futures rose above $70 on the back of interest rate cuts in the U.S. and China as well as a weaker dollar, Bloomberg reports. Shell posted a 22% gain in third-quarter profit and said itsCFO will take the top job next year, both in the WSJ (sub reqd.). But tough economic conditions also forced Shell to delay expansion of its Canadian tar sands project, Bloomberg reports. Peak oil will come sooner than expected and is a bigger threat to the U.K. than terrorism, an industry group concludes, in The Guardian. Big Oil is certainly having trouble tapping big new fields. Chevron has spent seven years and $3 billion on a Brazilian field that will supply three days worth of global oil consumption, the WSJ reports (sub reqd.). But thats about all Western majors can get these days: If youre only going after elephants, youll never hunt, says a top Chevron executive. As gasoline prices fall, are American drivers returning to their old habits? Gasoline demand is still down from a year agobut not as much in recent weeks, reports the NYT. Volatile energy prices are a headache forsavvy companies burned by hedging, so what are poor consumers supposed to do this winter? in the WaPo. Sen. Barack Obamas half-hour informercial reiterated that energy would be a top priority in his administration, in the WaPo. Make that energy independence, with a special emphasis on reducing demand, Grist notes. The credit crunch and big losses could force T. Boone Pickens to delay construction of the worlds biggest wind farm, in Earth2Tech. Chinas GreenGen project is now the worlds biggest clean coal demonstration facility, notes Scientific American, but the project faces a looming coal shortage in China and concerns about cost. Eastern Europe is jumping on the nuclear power bandwagon, both as a way to cut emissions and also to diversify energy supplies away from Russian natural gas, in the IHT. The U.K.s Royal Society is seriously looking at geo-engineering solutions to battle climate change, The Guardian reports. Finally, check your cowsmethane emissions are on the rise suddenly, and scientists dont know why, in Reuters. |
Shell results highlight challenges facing Voser
Royal Dutch Shell, which on Wednesday named Peter Voser, its finance director, to be its next chief executive, on Thursday showed some of the challenges that will face him as it reported third-quarter earnings that were less buoyant than those from rival BP earlier this week.
Shell Profit Rises 22%, Delays Oil Sands Decision (Update1)
Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Europe's biggest oil company, reported a 22 percent increase in third- quarter profit and said it will delay an investment decision on its Athabasca oil-sands project in Alberta because of costs.
Higher Oil Prices Lift Shell’s Net
Shell Class B shares closed at £16.70 ($27.70) Wednesday, a drop of almost a quarter from their peak in mid-May as concerns about the global economy have driven down the oil price.
Shell Names Voser Its CEO
LONDON -- Royal Dutch Shell PLC named Chief Financial Officer Peter Voser as its new boss, rewarding a man who helped restore the Anglo-Dutch company's battered reputation with investors after an accounting scandal in 2004.
Shell Q3 profits surge to $10.9 bln
LONDON, Oct 30 (Reuters) - Royal Dutch Shell Plc said on Thursday third-quarter current cost of supply (CCS) net profit jumped 71 percent to $10.9 billion, boosted by high oil prices and asset sales.
Global oil crunch
Even Royal Dutch Shell, commissioned to write a balancing view for the group's report, is forecasting a plateau of supply as production moves to more difficult sources such as ultra-deeplayers and tar sands.
Shell names successor to Van der Veer
The oil group, which will announce its third-quarter results today, said the appointment had been made after a "comprehensive assessment and review of internal and external candidates".
UK will face peak oil crisis within five years, report warns
Skrebowski predicts that global oil production will peak in the period 2011-2013 and then decline steadily, with non-conventional sources such as tar sands failing to fill the gap in time to avoid a serious energy crunch.
Shell chiefs early challenges
Malcolm Brinded, the head of exploration and production, is skilled at dealing with governments, but was tarnished by Shells repeated writedowns of its reserves in the aftermath of the misreporting scandal that emerged in 2004.
Voser surprise choice as Shell chief
Encouragement from inside and outside the company persuaded Mr Voser to abandon the idea of returning to Switzerland, which he had considered, and to put himself forward to replace Mr van der Veer.
Business big shot: Peter Voser
Peter Voser's appointment as chief executive of Shell suggests an effort has been made to draw a line under the murkiest episode in the company's recent history.
Finance officer Peter Voser takes command at Royal Dutch Shell
The Anglo-Dutch group said that the appointment of Mr Voser came after a review of both internal and external candidates. He saw off two other Shell candidates: Linda Cook, the American head of Shell's Gas and Power business, and Malcolm Brinded, the British head of exploration and production.
ANALYSIS: A break with tradition at Royal Dutch Shell
Like its peers, Shell has been spending with gay abandon but at $60 per barrel much of the industry's new frontier has fallen below the water line. A new round of cost-cutting must be in the offing and who better to impose financial discipline in a downturn?