By Emma Rowley

Separately, US rival ExxonMobil said quarterly earnings rose 41pc to $10.3bn as the high oil price offset falling production.

Published in the Business Section of the Telegraph on Friday 28 October 2011

MARK WILLIAMSON

28 Oct 2011

ROYAL Dutch Shell said it would curb investment in Europe where it expects the economy to stagnate, but made clear it would still spend in the North Sea.

Announcing bumper profits driven by high oil prices, the oil and gas giant said it will shift a growing share of its investment to places like Qatar, where the launch of huge projects will underpin growth for years.

Noting that Shell only devotes 15% of its investment to Europe, chief financial officer Simon Henry said the continent’s share will shrink amid concerns about the fallout from the debt crisis.

The day after European ministers finally agreed a plan to try to stabilise the eurozone, Mr Henry indicated Shell executives have been unimpressed by the response to the problems.

He told reporters: “Europe’s macroeconomic position can only recover and the sovereign debt crisis can only be addressed through underlying economic growth. We do not see the EU creating the conditions for that – in fact quite the opposite.

“Most moves by the [European] Commission one way or another tend to almost directly or indirectly reduce the competitiveness of European industry.”

Mr Henry said Shell had identified plenty of global opportunities to put its money to good use, including developing 20 major projects in countries such as Canada and Australia that will underpin growth for years. However, Shell still sees scope to invest in the North Sea.

Mr Henry noted Shell recently confirmed it will invest in the £4.5 billion BP-led Clair Ridge project west of Shetland, among the 20 growth projects he cited.

Earlier this year Shell approved plans for the £3bn redevelopment of the Schiehallion and Loyal fields, also west of Shetland.

In May, Shell’s chief executive Peter Voser told The Herald that it could remain in the North Sea for decades.

However, the firm told the Government that tax hikes in the Budget could jeopardise investment in smaller projects.

Shell said it will continue to dispose of non-core assets, although at a slower pace than in the past two years. Shell has already raised $6.2bn (£3.9bn) against a target of $5bn.

Richard Griffith, an oil and gas analyst at Evolution Securities, said Shell’s third quarter results showed the company is in a “sweet spot”.

Stripping out the effect of changes in inventories, the company doubled third quarter profits to $7.2bn, from $3.5bn in the same period last year.

Shell benefited from a 48% rise in oil prices – partly caused by unrest in the Middle East and Africa. Production increased by 2% annually, excluding asset sales, to 3.01 million barrels oil equivalent daily.

Upstream earnings increased 58% annually, to $5.4bn. Profits in the downstream business, which includes forecourt sales increased by 25% to $1.8bn.

Asked what respite Shell would provide to hard-pressed motorists, Mr Henry said: “We do a good job in getting the lowest cost fuel to customers. The Government is probably the first people you should call.”

Mr Henry said the Government takes two-thirds of the price of a litre, adding: “It is a volume business on which we make a very small margin.”

Mr Henry said Shell could not use the profits from its upstream business to subsidise the downstream.

The company announced an unchanged third quarter dividend of $0.42 per ordinary share.

Shares in Royal Dutch Shell closed up 27p at £22.80.

SOURCE ARTICLE

Royal Dutch Shell is once again funding a fanatical regime intent on the extermination of the Jewish people. Iran is bent on developing nuclear weapons to destroy Israel, finishing the job that Shell’s former Nazi partners embarked upon, killing millions of Jews in the Holocaust.

By John Donovan

According to a Reuters article published on Thursday: “Companies are still finding ways to buy Iranian oil. Royal Dutch Shell and some Italian and Spanish refiners buy Iranian barrels with finance coming from Chinese and Italian banks…”

As a result of previous signals from Shell, it seemed that the company had ceased trading with the fanatical Iranian regime supplying road side bombs, which have maimed and killed many US and British soldiers.

Even the Donovan’s, well versed in the duplicity, deceit and trickery of Shell, thought the company had ended its trading with Iran. We should have known better.

On 28 October 2010, Shell CFO Simon Henry (above right) came clean after press reports on the subject and admitted that Shell has continued to trade with Iran:

“Simon Henry, Shell’s top financial official, said his company was still taking delivery of Iranian crude oil under the terms of its existing contracts with the Islamic republic.” (extract from UPI article)

Articles reported that Shell had stopped selling gasoline to Iran. No mention was made at the time that Shell was surreptitiously continuing to buy oil from the Iranians. Shell used subterfuge to disguise shipping movements. Basically Royal Dutch Shell has has continued to fund the military ambitions of an evil rogue regime, just as it did in funding the Nazis. We all know the dreadful consequences. Shell conspired directly with Hitler, was anti-Semitic and sold out its own Jewish employees to the Nazis.

Royal Dutch Shell Nazi Secrets

Royal Dutch Shell is once again funding a fanatical regime intent on the extermination of the Jewish people. Iran is bent on developing nuclear weapons to destroy Israel, finishing the job that Shell’s former Nazi partners embarked upon, killing millions of Jews in the Holocaust.

Royal Dutch Shell supported, encouraged and funded the Nazis, thereby being partly responsible for World War II. Its reckless greed is now in danger of bringing about A THIRD WORLD WAR, with even more catastrophic consequences.

We have printed below extracts from the “United Against Nuclear Iran” website, which contains links to related correspondence with Michiel Brandjes, Company Secretary & General Counsel, Royal Dutch Shell Plc., and extracts from some revealing articles.

“United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) is a non-partisan, non-profit advocacy organization that seeks “to prevent Iran from fulfilling its ambition to become a regional super-power possessing nuclear weapons.” (Wikipedia Description)

“Total SA (TOT) and Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSB.LN) discreetly contacted Iranian authorities last week, seeking to reassure the Islamic Republic after telling the U.S. they have no plans for further investments for now, people familiar with the matter said in recent days. Total and Shell contacted Iran as the U.S. announced commitments by the companies “to terminate their investments and avoid any new activity in Iran’s energy sector.” The disclosure was made by the State Department in a Sept. 30 press release, which also said Statoil ASA (STO) and Eni SpA (E) had made similar commitments. Though the two companies are not breaching any sanctions in communicating with Iran, the contacts suggest they have not renounced their long-term ambitions in Iran, which hosts the world’s second-largest natural gas resources and stands as the fourth-largest global oil exporter….Total and Shell still do some direct business with Iran, regularly buying crude oil from the Middle Eastern country. But the Anglo-Dutch oil company has come under pressure for the trades, which are not prohibited under European sanctions.” (Wall Street Journal, “Total, Shell Keep Line Open With Tehran Despite US Claim,” 10/8/2010)

–

“Open sources reported that Royal Dutch Shell sold gasoline to Iran in 2009, but subsequently stopped in 2009.” (U.S. Government Accountability Office, Report: “Firms Reported in Open Sources to Have Sold Iran Refined Petroleum Products between January 1, 2009 and June,” September 3, 2010)

–

On September 30th, Shell made a “pledge to stop investing in Iran’s energy sector” as a result of pressure from American sanctions (AP, “US hits Iranian energy firm with sanctions,” 9/30/2010).

–

“Shell, the Anglo-Dutch oil giant, paid the state-owned Iranian oil company at least $1.5bn (£0.94bn) for crude oil this summer, increasing its business with Tehran as the international community implemented some of the toughest sanctions yet aimed at constricting the Islamic republic’s economy and its lifeline oil business.” (The Guardian, “Shell increases oil trade with Iran — despite sanctions,” 9/27/2010)

–

“Royal Dutch Shell resumed its gasoline shipments to Iran, International Oil Daily reported this morning.  The company got back into business with the Iranian regime after a six-month hiatus. The move is a slap at the U.S. Congress, which has been working to develop energy sanctions that could curtail the regime’s nuclear weapons program, human rights abuses, and support for terrorism.

Shell delivered three 30,000-ton shipments of gasoline last month to Iran’s Bandar Abbas port. The company’s last known shipment to Iran was recorded in October 2009.

Shell now appears to be exploiting Congress’ delay [in imposing sanctions], and is perhaps betting that the United Nations, the Europeans, or indeed the Obama administration will never pull the trigger on meaningful sanctions.

The Dutch firm’s calculus appears to be based purely on profits. Shell is trying to squeeze as many petrodollars it can from the Iranian regime before sanctions take hold. According to The New York Times, the company is still profiting from a 1999 deal signed to develop two oil fields in Iran that became fully operational in 2005.

Shell should come under intense scrutiny by the Obama administration and Congress once sanctions are passed.  In 2009 alone, Shell received $2.4 billion in contracts from the Federal government.”

(Forbes.com, “Inside Shell’s Iran Game,” 6/3/2010).

–

“An oil tanker named Front Page, chartered by Royal Dutch Shell PLC, left this port on March 17 and reported it was going to another U.A.E. port, then on to Saudi Arabia, ship-tracking data show.

But the tracking information reveals that Front Page also made an unreported stop—to the coast of Iran. There it loaded Iranian oil, according to records obtained by oil traders and shipping sources.

The incident, some oil-industry experts say, is an example of how some companies these days are hiding their business dealings with Iran, even when they are perfectly legal because they aren’t subject to any sanctions…

Still, given all the controversy over Iran’s nuclear program, many companies decline to discuss their Iranian oil purchases. Companies like Shell and BP have said they have stopped selling gasoline to Iran.

But they rarely mention that they continue to buy crude or other Iranian oil products, which generally is a much larger and more lucrative business than gasoline deliveries.” (The Wall Street Journal. “Oil Trade with Iran Thrives, Discreetly,” 5/20/10)

–

“Royal Dutch Shell signed an $800 million deal in 1999 to develop two huge oil fields expected to produce 190,000 barrels a day, and while that project was completed in 2005, it continues to receive payments as a result of its work. Shell has a second Iranian natural gas development projects in the works, but officials said they are awaiting the results of a feasability study before determining whether they will go forward with it. In the meantime, the company continues to supply oil lubricant to Iran, and until recently, had been a large supplier of gasoline to Iran. Shell is also a huge supplier of gasoline to the American military, won drilling rights in the Gulf of Mexico and in the Western United States, and shares with a company in China a $200,000 Export-Import Bank loan to build a petrochemical plant in that country. A Shell spokesman, David R. Williams, said that while the company would comply with any new international sanctions, Shell’s activities are not prohibited by European countries, adding that when the rules of different countries conflict “it makes compliance difficult.”  From 2000-2009, the company was the recipient of $11.2 billion US federal funds.  Their investments in Iran are currently active.  They have been listed as a potential violator of the Iran Sanctions Act.  (The New York Times, “Profiting from Iran, and the US,” 3/6/2010)

–

“Royal Dutch Shell PLC said Wednesday it is no longer selling gasoline to Iran, the latest oil company to make such a move during threats of tougher sanctions against the Islamic republic.

‘Shell is not currently selling gasoline to Iran,’ a company spokesman said. He declined to comment on whether it was related to sanctions against Iran.

Shell’s move comes as a number of Western oil companies have decided to stop trading with Iran as international pressure bites deeper into its oil and gas industry. Traders Vitol Holding BV and Glencore International AG, historically key fuel-oil suppliers to Iran, recently decided to halt sales of gasoline to the country.” (The Wall Street Journal, “Shell Stops Gas Sales to Iran,” 3/10/10)

–

“Royal Dutch Shell signed an $800 million deal in 1999 to develop two huge oil fields expected to produce 190,000 barrels a day, and while that project was completed in 2005, it continues to receive payments as a result of its work. Shell has a second Iranian natural gas development projects in the works, but officials said they are awaiting the results of a feasability study before determining whether they will go forward with it. In the meantime, the company continues to supply oil lubricant to Iran, and until recently, had been a large supplier of gasoline to Iran. Shell is also a huge supplier of gasoline to the American military, won drilling rights in the Gulf of Mexico and in the Western United States, and shares with a company in China a $200,000 Export-Import Bank loan to build a petrochemical plant in that country. A Shell spokesman, David R. Williams, said that while the company would comply with any new international sanctions, Shell’s activities are not prohibited by European countries, adding that when the rules of different countries conflict ‘it makes compliance difficult.’”

From 2000 through March 2010, Royal Dutch Shell has been the recipient of $11.2 billion in U.S. federal funds, despite being a “possible violator of the Iran Sanctions Act.” (The New York Times, “Profiting from Iran, and the U.S.“, 3/6/10)

–

“New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli also announced Tuesday the $110 billion fund would freeze an additional $300 million in seven other companies…The decision comes after two years of reviewing these companies, the potential risk of the investments and, in some cases, humanitarian efforts in these countries. ‘We don’t expect our investments to benefit regimes that support genocide and terrorism,’ said DiNapoli…The fund also plans to monitor and prohibit further investment in ENI (E), Repsol YPF (REP), Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSA), Total SA (TOT), ABB Ltd. (ABB), Alstom (ALO.FR) and Snam Rete Gas (SNMRY). Additionally, it plans to focus on other industries including telecommunications.” (The Wall Street Journal, “NY Comptroller To Divest $86.2M In State Pension Fund Investments,” 6/30/09)

–

“Another step the Obama administration should take is to sustain American pressure on foreign banks and oil companies to halt their dealings with Iran’s energy sector. This effort has led such major firms as Germanys Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank, Englands HSBC, Credit Suisse and Royal Dutch Shell to halt or limit their business with Iran.” (The Baltimore Sun, “Facing the Iranian Threat,” 12/9/08)

–

“U.S. outreach to foreign banks and to oil companies considering investing in Iran’s energy sector has reportedly convinced more than 80 banks and several major potential oil-field investors to cease all or some of their business with Iran. Among them: Germanys two largest banks (Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank), London-based HSBC, Credit Suisse, Norwegian energy company StatoilHydro, and Royal Dutch Shell.” (The Wall Street Journal, “How To Put The Squeeze On Iran,” 11/13/08)

–

“William Burns, U.S. Under Secretary of State for political affairs, pointed out that several big energy companies, including Total, Shell, ENI and Repsol, have scaled back their business in Iran over the past few years.” (Reuters, “US to review if Statoil violates Iran sanctions law,” 7/9/08)

–

“Total, Shell and Repsol of Spain are hanging back from signing contracts, which the Iranians are desperate for them to sign, said Simon Henderson, an oil expert at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.” (Associated Press, “Iran looks to tap key oil field with homegrown crews,” 5/11/08)

–

“In January [2007], Shell and Spains Repsol signed a preliminary deal with Teheran jointly to develop two phases of South Pars. At the time, Shell said it might be a year away from knowing whether to proceed, a timescale that Shell chief executive Jeroen van de Veer repeated six months later.” (The Daily Telegraph, “Shell delays decision on Iran project again,” 12/29/07)

–

“The Teacher Retirement System of Texas investment portfolio includes 19 companies that do business with Iran. The most familiar company names: Royal Dutch Shell, Mitsubishi Heavy Industry and Samsung Engineering.” (San Antonio Express-News, “TRS, ERS miss 30-day deadline to formulate Iran-divestment plan,” 11/18/07)

–

Listed by U.S. Government as doing business in Iran. (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, “List of Companies Doing Business With State Sponsors Of Terror,” Removed from the Internet in July 2007)

–

“While U.S. companies have long been barred from operating in Iran, more than 200 multinationals have investments there, from British-Dutch oil giant Royal Dutch Shell PLC and French telecommunications-equipment company Alcatel SA to Swedens electronics company Telefon AB L.M. Ericsson.” (The Wall Street Journal, “Should states sell stocks to protest links to Iran,” 6/14/07)

–

“GIANTS WITH A FOOT IN TEHRAN: Total, Shell, Statoil, BNP Paribas, Commerzbank, MTN, UPS, Linde, Technip, Nokia, Ericsson, Peugeot, Renault, OMV, Societe Generale, ENI, Mitsubishi, Sumitomo, Siemens, LG, Samsung, Bosch, Valeo, Nestle, Unilever, BAT, Japan Tobacco.” (The London Times, “American pressure threatens UK firms,” 5/27/06)

Response:

• UANI Letter to Royal Dutch Shell on February 12, 2010
• Royal Dutch Shell Letter to UANI on January 14, 2010
• SEC Letter to UANI on December 29, 2009
• UANI Letter to Royal Dutch Shell on December 17, 2009
• Press Release on September 28, 2010
• Press Release on March 10, 2010
• Press Release on January 12, 2010

Canadian oil sands field starts production and projects are planned in the Gulf of Mexico – where BP’s Deepwater disaster has so far cost Shell $115m

Tim Webb: Friday 29 October 2010

Trucks carry loads of oil-laden sand in Alberta, Canada, where Shell has 13 projects scheduled to come on stream. Photograph: Jeff Mcintosh/AP

Shell nearly doubled earnings in the last three months thanks to higher oil prices and production as new ventures came on stream. Excluding write-offs made for accounting purposes, its earnings were $4.9bn (£3.1bn) for the three months to September, compared with $2.6bn the previous year.

During the quarter the company began production at its oil sands mine in Jackpine, northern Alberta, part of its programme to add another 100,000 barrels a day from these operations. Jackpine is the fifth start-up of 13 projects that have been approved and are scheduled to come on stream this year and next. Shell hopes they will allow it to achieve its target of increasing its 2009 production by 11% by 2012. The company has spent $190bn in its operations since 2004 – almost double the capital investment over the preceding five years – which it hopes will reverse several years of falling production.

It said that it had also approved two new major projects, including Mars B, a deepwater project in the Gulf of Mexico which will eventually add another 100,000 barrels a day production.

The company plans to sell $7bn- $8bn of assets this year and next as it switches out of older producing fields and invests in new ways of producing gas, such as shale gas and coal seam gas, as well as investing in oil sands and in new regions such as Iraq.

Oil and gas production increased by 5% compared with last year to just over 3m barrels a day; sales of liquefied natural gas rose by 22% while the volume of refined oil products it sold was also up. Production was also higher in Nigeria, due to new projects there coming on stream and improved security.

Shell finance director Simon Henry said that it would be unlikely that the Nigerian government would provide its share of the investment needed to develop these fields, so it made sense to sell them to someone who would. Shell has so far sold three of its 30 onshore licences in Nigeria and there have been reports that bidders are circling a further $4bn of its assets up for sale there.

Henry also outlined the cost from BP’s Deepwater Horizon disaster. The moratorium on deepwater drilling in the US was lifted last month, but Henry said that it had cost the company $115m in total so far, $59m of which was accounted for in the third quarter and that more charges would be booked in the next quarter. Shell had to idle five rigs and four platforms during the moratorium.

He did not comment on whether Shell would be pursuing BP and any other companies involved for damages. He said that this year Shell’s production was 10,000 barrels a day lower than it would otherwise have been without the moratorium. Next year, production would be at least 40,000 barrels lower, and operations could continue to be affected into 2012.

The moratorium meant Shell had to suspend its drilling programme, which is now behind schedule. Its giant Perdido platform in the Gulf, for example, is still only producing around 10,000 barrels a day, despite having a capacity to produce 10 times that figure. The company also had to delay its controversial Alaska drilling programme; Shell announced this month that after the moratorium was lifted it resubmitted its application to drill off the Alaskan coast in the Beaufort Sea next year, but was holding off from a similar application for the Chuchi Sea. Henry said yesterday that it was likely that the new US offshore regulator, which has replaced the discredited MMS in the wake of the disaster, would initially take longer than the customary 30 days to review applications, which would further add to the delay in proceeding with new projects.

In the US, Exxon Mobil posted its biggest increase in third-quarter profits for six years. Net income was $7.35bn, up from $4.73bn in the same three months a year ago, due to higher oil prices, fatter refining margins and a 21% increase in production.

SOURCE

Royal Dutch Shell is assigning higher priority to its Carmon Creek in situ project near Peace River and its ongoing expansion at the Athabasca Oil Sands Project near Fort McMurray, said chief financial officer Simon Henry. Photograph by: BEN STANSALL, AFP/Getty Images

Shell studies oil trade impact of EU Iran sanctions

(Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSa.L) said it would assess any impact of European sanctions on its oil trade with Iran and had stopped some activities there following tougher U.S. measures earlier this year.

The European Union sanctions over Iran’s nuclear work, launched in July and which became law this week, seek to block oil and gas investment in the Islamic Republic, the world’s fifth largest oil exporter.

“Our trading business with Iran is carried out under longer-term contracts,” Shell’s chief financial officer, Simon Henry, said on Thursday. “We continue to lift (buy Iranian crude) under those contracts, but we do need to assess any implications of the European legislation.”

“It’s fair to say that the European legislation, some of which was only clarified this week, we still need to understand. There are clearly some implications around payment transactions.”

Oil industry sources have said that following the measures financial transactions with Iran have become more difficult, making it harder to pay for Iranian exports in currencies such as the euro and the dollar.

As a result, the sources say that some European oil companies have scaled back their purchases of Iranian oil this year and are reviewing whether to buy Iranian oil in 2011.

Henry said Shell always worked within sanctions and legal requirements and was stopping some business in Iran due to U.S. sanctions passed earlier this year. The U.S. measures did not apply to crude oil trading.

“The amount of activities is relatively low in materiality terms. We don’t have big investments there,” he said.

“We are withdrawing from some small downstream activities and we have been providing technical advice to some of the upstream. But that will all now stop.”

“We stopped supplying refined products last year and we’re not supplying aviation fuel outside Iran.”

Henry was speaking on a conference call after the company reported its third-quarter earnings.

(Reporting by Alex Lawler; Editing by Anthony Barker)

Royal Dutch Shell Chief Financial Officer Simon Henry (said the Hague-based oil producer is looking at jointly expanding its gas acreage in mainland China with PetroChina Co. Photographer: Jock Fistick/Bloomberg

By Bloomberg News - Sep 14, 2010 12:07 PM GMT+0100

Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Europe’s biggest oil company, may invest $1 billion a year in China should two wells in Sichuan province show potential for commercial gas production, its chief financial officer said.

“With successful exploration, we could easily invest $1 billion a year in the following five to seven years,” Simon Henry said in an interview today in Tianjin, China. “The geology could be as attractive as the U.S.”

Shell expects the share of gas in China’s total energy use to rise to 10 percent in a decade’s time from 4 percent now, according to Henry on April 28. The Hague-based oil producer is looking at jointly expanding its gas acreage in mainland China with PetroChina Co., he said today.

“We should start drilling in the next couple of months in both areas,” Henry said, referring to the Sichuan test wells.

PetroChina and Shell had signed a joint shale-gas assessment agreement for the Fushun-Yongchuan block in Sichuan, Adam Newton, a Shell spokesman, said on Nov. 27. That was Shell’s second gas exploration venture in mainland China following a project in Changbei gas field in Shaanxi province.

–Chua Baizhen. Editors: Ryan Woo, John Chacko.

To contact the Bloomberg Staff on this story: Baizhen Chua in Tianjin atbchua14@bloomberg.net

SOURCE ARTICLE

Shell Stanlow Refiney

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

APRIL 28, 2010

LONDON (Dow Jones)–Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSB.LN) is still in talks with Essar Oil Ltd. (500134.BY) over the sale of three of its European refineries, but the company has also initiated talks with other parties, Chief Financial Officer Simon Henry said Wednesday.

Other potential buyers include private equity groups and state-controlled oil companies from outside Europe, he said.

Shell entered exclusive talks with Essar over the sale of the three refineries–Stanlow in the U.K. and the Heide and Harburg refineries in Germany–late last year, but talks between the companies have failed to reach a conclusion.

Essar Oil is planning an initial public offering in London that has delayed negotiations, Henry said.

“There are other interested buyers, no question,” he said. “It’s just a question of price. We are not looking for a fire sale…if we are not able to reach agreement on an acceptable price we will consider closure or conversion to a [storage] terminal,” he said.

Several companies are looking to sell refineries in Europe, many of which have been loss making in the last six months due to weak demand for the products they make.

However, refining margins appear to have bottomed out in the fourth quarter of 2009.

Shell’s own refining and marketing division showed a surprisingly strong swing back to a $778 million adjusted profit in its first quarter results announced Wednesday, from an adjusted loss of $427 million in the fourth quarter last year.

Company Web site: www.shell.com

-By James Herron, Dow Jones Newswires; +44 (0)20 7842 9317; james.herron@dowjones.com

WSJ JOURNAL