Associated Press, 03.19.10, 08:03 AM EDT

AMSTERDAM — Royal Dutch Shell PLC says it has made a significant discovery of oil 25,000 feet below the surface in the Gulf of Mexico.

The company says the deposits were found at the Appotmattox prospect in the Mississippi Canyon of the gulf, an area where other rich deposits were discovered last year.

Shell said in a statement Friday it found oil at 25,077 feet (7,217 meters), then drilled an appraisal sidetrack and found more at 25,950 feet (7,910 meters).

Shell operates and holds an 80 percent working interest in the prospect, with the Canadian-based Nexen Inc. ( NXY – news – people ) holding the remaining 20 percent.

Copyright 2009 Associated Press.

SOURCE ARTICLE

FROM A SHELL INSIDER

May you please tell this story to the world, of how Shell continues to wreck lives, act unethical and bulldoze people. I have had this story a number of times but never believed it, cause I am part of this company but I have since seen the light.

It is common to hear that Shell doesnt need to be in South Africa because in fact we might pull out as we did in Ethiopia, Swaziland, Moz, Zim, … you get the picture. We are consolidating and looking more into our Upstream business as opposed to Downstream, hence the recent massive job cuts of downstream business.

Before we go further, I’d like to thank the Donovans for you are giving people a voice, may you put some focus on this one because it is a hot potato for the local Shell bosses.

In 2004 Shell initiated The Shell Retailer Development Programme, see attachment. 10 people were recruited into the Programme. Sowetan and Metro FM ran a story on this back in 2005 after their graduation.

What happened since then:
Two of the trainees you see on the picture have yet to own a Shell Service Station, 5 years after they graduated, one of them has been offered R100k to walk away, the other one is in the process of “obtaining” a service station, after 5 years.

Five have lost their businesses, all in one year (2009) Shell said these guys stole its money, it was appalling they way it was handled, Witness Mahlangu, the Project Manager went about the corridors telling colleagues how stupid and useless the BEE candidates were and he has a mandate from his leadership to terminate them. Shell has since made an out of court settlement with one (Durban High Court), the other 4 are in big s***, some of them went to the Department of Energy and to Luthili House but to no avail. Remember who owns Shell SA Marketing (it is an empowered company)
Only three are surviving, just surviving.

In 2006 Shell went on to recruit 10 more candidates (advertisements on the Sunday Times in) and this lot graduated in 2007.

What happened since then:

None of the TEN is running a Shell Service Station, in fact Shell is offering them R100k to walk away, after 3 years of waiting, lies, deception and corruption.

Mark Cookson, a senior manager at Shell said in August 2009 at Inanda Hotel at a Shell Conference ” BEE candidates will continue to receive support from Shell as long as they are cluster potential retailers” he further said ” The Shell Global approach is to exit any market where we are not No.1 or No.2, so we are reassessing our position in SA”

We as black employees in the company often wonder where Bonang Mohale is or the Department of Energy/ Department of Trade & Industry/ COSATU/ ANC/ Public Protector?

Apparently these candidates worked as pump attendants prior to joining the Programme, nor wonder the first group failed and they don’t want to go on about the second group.

Is it that these BEE candidates are sacrificial lambs in the race to be BEE compliant?

I would like the South African Media to investigate and tell the world about Shell in SA, in fact I challenge the ANC leadership of condemning and correcting this. What is R100k, for three years waiting and toiling, no I am not proud to be associated with this company.

I suggest that a pressure group gets formed before the World Cup so that Shell is shamed in front of the world, at some stage in our new democracy we need to stand up against bullies like Shell and this is it.

For more on the Shell DNA please go to royaldutchshellplc.com

Shell SA Employee

(IF ANYONE FROM SHELL SOUTH AFRICA WISHES TO COMMENT ON THE ABOVE ALLEGATIONS, IT WILL BE ADDED HERE ON AN UNEDITED BASIS)

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

By ROSS KELLY and CYNTHIA KOONS

FRIDAY MARCH 19, 2010, 2:00 A.M. ET

SYDNEY—Arrow Energy Ltd. has yet to strike an agreement with Royal Dutch Shell PLC and PetroChina Co. on a takeover offer, people familiar with the matter said Friday amid mounting speculation of a sweetened offer from the pair.

“There is no agreement at this point,” one person said.

It has been nearly two weeks since Royal Dutch Shell and PetroChina offered 3.3 billion Australian dollars (US$3.0 billion) for Arrow’s Australian operations. The continuation of talks may cool speculation that an Arrow-endorsed deal is imminent.

Another person said it is “unlikely” a deal will be struck by the end of the day, but that anything is possible. Negotiations at this point involve “all aspects of the initial proposal”, the person said, without dismissing the possibility that a higher bid for the Australian assets could emerge.

Arrow said in a statement Friday that its shares will be halted from trading until Tuesday, or until it makes its next announcement on the offer.

All three parties have been locked in discussions for almost two weeks and a person familiar with the matter said Wednesday they’re “working really hard to see if there’s a deal here.”

Previously, a person involved with the talks said the separation of the domestic and international operations was a sticking point in negotiations. The original proposal would leave Arrow’s international operations in the hands of its existing shareholders.

Nik Burns, an energy analyst at RBS, said he is “very confident” of an improved bid and raised his target price on Arrow’s shares to A$5.45 from A$5.00.

Arrow hasn’t yet publicly responded to a A$4.45-a-share cash equal joint bid from Shell and PetroChina for its Australian assets, although most analysts agree the bid undervalues the assets.

“Arrow has been in active discussions with Shell and PetroChina over the past few days, probably thrashing out a revised offer,” Mr. Burns said in a note to clients. “With too much to lose on both sides if this deal falls over, we are very confident of an improved bid.”

Mr. Burns said Arrow needs a deal because more than 80% of its acreage is currently unexplored and the A$2.2 billion Fisherman’s Landing liquefied-natural-gas project in Queensland state was looking like a big ask from a funding perspective. “With no other bidder expected, maximizing the sale price should be Arrow’s primary objective,” Mr. Burns said.

Shell needs Arrow because it doesn’t have enough assets to back its claims that Australia is a key growth region with huge potential and PetroChina needs to secure long-term energy supplies, Mr. Burns said.

A spokesman for Arrow wasn’t immediately available for comment and a spokesman for Shell said the parties are still in talks.

PetroChina spokesman Mao Zefeng declined to comment specifically on the joint bid, saying the company would issue an appropriate press release if needed.

Merrill Lynch analyst Mark Hume said on Thursday that expected aggressive growth in Chinese demand for gas makes a sweetened bid for Arrow more likely.

—Aries Poon in Hong Kong contributed to this article.

Write to Ross Kelly at ross.kelly@dowjones.com

WSJ ARTICLE

Thu Mar 18, 2010 5:55pm EDT

(Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L) and PetroChina (0857.HK) are close to an agreed deal with Australia’s Arrow Energy Ltd (AOE.AX) to lift their A$3.3 billion ($3.05 billion) takeover offer, an Australian newspaper said.

The Australian Financial Review said in an unsourced report on Friday that the companies could announced a deal as soon as Friday, which could be higher than their March 8 offer for A$4.45 in cash per share Arrow share plus a share in a new entity holding its international business.

An Arrow spokesman did not immediately return calls seeking comment.

Arrow on Tuesday said it was in active talks with Shell and PetroChina, leading analysts to expect a sweetened deal.

(Reporting by Victoria Thieberger; editing by Balazs Koranyi)

REUTERS ARTICLE

REUTERS

March 18 (Reuters) – Shell International Finance BV on Thursday sold $4.25 billion of senior unsecured notes in three parts, said IFR, a Thomson Reuters service. The notes are guaranteed by Royal Dutch Shell PLC.

Barclays Capital, Credit Suisse and the Royal Bank of Scotland were the joint bookrunning managers for the sale.

REUTERS ARTICLE

citywire

By Deborah Hyde | 07:47:24 | 18 March 2010

The Motley Fool

By David Lee Smith
March 18, 2010

In the hierarchy of Big Oil, I don’t have to work up a sweat to place ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM) overall in first place — both qualitatively and quantitatively — while for several years now, Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE: RDS-A) has brought up the rear.

BP leads the way
That’s not to say, however, that the companies can’t change positions, much like NASCAR participants, passing one another when things are going especially well, or falling behind when bad luck hinders them. Take BP (NYSE: BP) for instance. It wasn’t long ago that the company was simultaneously trying to fend off the ramifications of a lethal explosion at a Texas refinery that killed 15 and injured scores of others, all while dealing with leaks in its Alaska pipelines. At about the same time its Indiana refinery was shut down by a fire, and an abrupt top management change all seemed to leave the company even further behind the eight-ball.

But in just the past couple of years, CEO Tony Hayward and the team he’s assembled have BP roaring back. In fact, the company is as clear-cut a demonstration as I can conjure up of the real value of quality management to corporate success. And now it appears that Shell, which until recently couldn’t find oil in a Jiffy Lube, may be following in the footsteps of its European rival.

And here comes Shell
If, as this week’s version of the company’s annual strategy session appeared to indicate, Shell is shedding its ineptitude, still new CEO Peter Voser will have performed a miraculous feat. After all, this is the same company that in 2004 admitted to overstating its reserves by 20%, or about 3.9 billion barrels. The result for the company was a fine of more than $350 million, plus administrative costs and other charges, along with the termination of several top executives.

And then there’s been the company’s geologic incompetence. As you know, one of the keys to judging an oil and gas producer involves the percentage of its production it’s able to replace each year. For instance, Exxon replaced 133% of its production in 2009, departing the year with more reserves than it started off with. From Shell’s perspective, as recently as 2007, the company replaced a shameful 17% of its production. In 2008, it replaced just 98% of its output.

Like a new company
Then came 2009 and surprise stardom for Shell. Believe it or not the company’s reserve-replacement ratio reached a whopping 288%, the highest in the industry. And while that ratio hasn’t yet manifested itself in Shell’s financials, in my opinion, Mr. Voser and his team have set the stage for some solid results going forward. For instance, next year two huge projects in Qatar — the Pearl Gas-to-Liquids project and Qatargas 4, a massive liquefied natural gas project — will come on stream. Also an expansion of the Canadian oil sands project that it shares with Chevron (NYSE: CVX) and Marathon (NYSE: MRO) will likely start up in the next couple of years. As Mr. Voser told the assembled analysts, the result could be an impressive 11% increase in barrels of oil equivalent production by 2012.

And it wasn’t just the discovery of 2.4 billion barrels of oil equivalent, its top performance of the past decade, that made 2009 the company’s turnaround story so strong. In addition, cost cutting received plenty of attention. By laying off 5,000, or 5%, of its employees, along with taking other measures, Shell was able to save $2 billion in expenses during the year. Further, it appears that the company is far from through in the fat-trimming department. Indeed, Mr. Voser stated during the session that another 2,000 Shell hands will be laid off by the end of next year.

Wanna buy a refinery?
Beyond that, there obviously will be asset sales as well. A month ago, rumors were rampant that the company was looking to dispose of about $10 billion worth of its properties, potentially including oilfields in the North Sea, three refineries in Europe, onshore acreage in Nigeria, and retail outlets in Africa. Whether or not that target number is accurate, the company made it clear on Tuesday that there will be refineries and retail facilities on the block.

Clearly this is not the ideal time to be in the refinery business, and, with margins having withered in that sector, all the integrated companies, from ExxonMobil on down, are struggling with their downstream operations. In fact, companies like France’s Total (NYSE: TOT), along with several other members of the Big Oil fraternity appear intent on cutting refinery capacity, and ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) may sell some small units.

So all in all, it’s not solely because spring is arriving that I recommend that Fools do some “Shelling.” There could be some money to be made in this clear-cut turnaround situation.

SOURCE ARTICLE

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

By Dan Molinski Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES MARCH 18, 2010, 9:28 A.M. ET

CARACAS (Dow Jones)–Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSB) moved Thursday to clear up what it calls a “misunderstanding” regarding sharply critical remarks of Venezuela reportedly made by one of the oil company’s top officials.

Shell on Tuesday said international oil majors have mostly lost interest in investing in Venezuela, according to Reuters news agency, following leftist President Hugo Chavez’s nationalization of assets in recent years.

“They are desperately inviting people back in, but no one’s going there,” Shell Chief Financial Officer Simon Henry told reporters on the sidelines of a press conference in London, Reuters said.

But in a statement sent Thursday from Shell’s offices in Caracas, the company said that what the company meant to explain was the challenges for international oil companies with regards to access to global markets, and how decisions are made based on several factors.

Among those factors, it said, “is the availability of capital for mega projects.”

The statement didn’t deny the official made the comments that were reported.

“Shell maintains its confidence in Venezuela, its people, its natural resources,” the statement went on to say, adding that it has been in the South American nation for 98 years.

Venezuela last month awarded two promising oil blocks in the petroleum-rich Orinoco region to consortiums that include U.S.-based Chevron (CVX) and Spain’s Repsol YPF (REP). A third block up for bidding went unassigned, and analysts called the auction a moderate success for Venezuela.

-By Dan Molinski, Dow Jones Newswires; 58-414-120-5738; dan.molinski@dowjones.com

WSJ ARTICLE

Linda Cook: 29 years’ service with Shell. Photograph: Adrian Dennis/Rex Features

FINANCIAL NEWS

17 March 2010
Mark Cobley

Yesterday the Dutch shareholders’ group VEB, which represents small investors, blasted Royal Dutch Shell for paying out $13m to boost a departing director’s pension pot, coupled with a $7.6m “golden goodbye”.

Errol Keyner from VEB told the Guardian newspaper: “The people who came up with this must have been smoking something which is not allowed in law. It’s beyond belief.”

–write to mcobley@efinancialnews.com

SOURCE ARTICLE

RELATED ARTICLE

Ian Lyall, Daily Mail
16 March 2010, 9:52pm

He said he was ‘energised’ and up for the fight. But as he stood at the podium to deliver the company’s annual strategy review, Shell boss Peter Voser (right) looked anything but.

His audience of a hundred or so British and foreign journalists listened with an air of resignation rather than in rapt attention.

Voser isn’t a natural orator. His clipped Swiss accent and the dry delivery may work well around the boardroom table, but his style is hardly inspirational.

Which is a pity. Because his message was an uplifting one for Shell investors, and addressed the concerns of the critics who dismiss the Anglo-Dutch giant as low growth, bureaucratic and bloated.

Voser’s trick was to come up with a fairly punchy production target and spice it with a subtle change of direction and emphasis.

And it seemed to work, with the company’s London-listed A shares rising 27.5p to close the day at 2920p.

The briefing re- capped the impact Voser has made in his short tenure. Since becoming chief executive in the summer of last year, he has spearheaded an impressive $2bn cost cutting drive that has seen the loss off 5,000 jobs, mostly mid-ranking managerial posts.

An extension to that programme was unveiled yesterday. It will save another $1bn by cutting a further 1,000 roles, though the workforce still numbers more than 100,000.

But what grabbed the analysts’ attention was his plans to have Shell pumping around 3.5m barrels of oil a day by 2012.

This implies an annual growth rate of 3.5%, which is well ahead of the rather pedestrian performance of rival BP at around 1.5%.

Shell even seems to have raised its game in finding new oil and gas fields, with its reserve replacement rate running at a healthy 288%.

Voser showed he recognised the lingering misgivings of investors, though he was careful to couch the message in diplomatic terms that wouldn’t offend his colleagues and predecessor.

‘When I became chief executive in the middle of last year, I did think the organisation of the company was working against us,’ he told the meeting at a central London hotel.

‘Shell had become too complicated, and slower than I’d like, and working on too many areas and options.’

The simplification of Shell, which has many moving parts, is borne out of necessity.

With the oil price hovering at, or close to, $80 a barrel, more investment is going into exploration and production.

For recession-hit refining, in the middle of the worst slump in 20 years, the pendulum has swung the other way. Capacity is set to be cut by around 15%, with plants sold or even shut down.

And the marketing operation, which owns the company’s filling stations and also sells motor oil and jet fuel, is also undergoing a shake-up. It is focusing on fewer markets to improve profitability.

Only one of the laggards seems to have been spared the Voser treatment: Shell’s gas business.

It has been hit by the downturn but is deemed to be a fundamentally sound business.

Voser trumpeted a series of exploration success stories that tell a tale of a growing conservatism, so we heard about the company’s strikes in the Gulf of Mexico, Australia and North America.

Relatively expensive regions in which to work, they do have the upside of being politically stable and incredibly easy places to do business.

Air-brushed from the literature were the likes of Nigeria and Russia.

It was only when prodded that Voser commented on the war-torn African nation, where the oil reserves are plentiful, but the region is a mess of infighting and instability: ‘In the past, as I have said many times, Shell has depended a lot on the growth of Nigeria. In today’s situation, we still have the same growth potential in Nigeria. But we have seeded plenty of projects in other parts of the world where we also can achieve growth.’

Hardly a ringing endorsement of the country’s prospects.

Some analysts, such as Collins Stewart’s Gordon Grey, see Voser’s latest strategy pronouncement as ‘an important turning point operationally’ for Shell.

The respected and experienced Richard Griffith of Evolution has been following the company for far too long to be totally convinced: ‘It’s a positive statement, but there is still plenty to be delivered.’