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January, 2010:

Shell’s Perdido oil field may start by Feb. -U.S.

REUTERS

* Perdido can produce up to 100,000 bpd crude oil

* MMS sees Shell’s Perdido project starting by February

* No immediate comment from Shell

By Robert Campbell

HOUSTON, Jan 27 (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s (RDSa.L) Perdido oil and gas project in the Gulf of Mexico will start up soon, perhaps as early as the end of January, the U.S. Minerals Management Service said on Wednesday.

The government agency, which oversees oil and gas production in U.S. federal waters, did not say how much it expected the project to produce initially. The Perdido platform is capable of producing 100,000 barrels per day of oil and 200 million cubic feet per day of natural gas. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Shell forced into oil sands U-turn

Share tips and investment analysis & advice

Created: 27 January 2010 Written by: Daniel O’Sullivan

Royal Dutch Shell chief executive Peter Voser cannily chose the safe ground of an exclusive interview with the Financial Times to finally admit the all-too-obvious – the Canadian oil sands development Shell has touted as a major growth driver is instead a costly distraction, on which time is now being called. Mr Voser said the massive expansion the company had previously planned for its Athabasca Oil Sands Project (AOSP) – envisioning growth from the current 155,000 barrels per day (bpd) capacity to an eventual 770,000bpd – was now ‘”clearly scaled down” and would be “very much slower”. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Shell, Chevron Certain To Renew Oil Leases in Nigeria-Official

CNNMoney.com

January 27, 2010: 08:08 AM ET

ABUJA, Nigeria -(Dow Jones)- Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSA) and Chevron Corp. ( CVX) will soon renew oil leases with the Nigerian government despite uncertainty caused by the absence of the country’s President, a senior government official said late Tuesday.

“Shell and Chevron have some outstanding issues they’re trying to resolve, but definitely the renewal is sure,” Emmanuel Egbogah, Special Adviser to the President on Petroleum Matters, said in an interview with Dow Jones Newswires. ” We’re quite confident that there’s not going to be a problem of non-renewal.” read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Arrow Energy Shares Rise After 50% Increase in Gas Reserves

Jan. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Arrow Energy Ltd., Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s coal-seam gas partner in Australia, rose the most in three weeks in Sydney trading after it announced a 50 percent increase in gas reserves.

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Case Study: Shell Hydrocarbon Reserves Scandal

Class action reformBook Title: The Reform of Class and Representative Actions in European Legal Systems: Book by Christopher Hodges, MA (Oxon), PhD (Lond), FSALS: June 2008: Front Cover, Chapter 3 Court Rules for Multiple Claims – Extracts from Pages 75 & 76, plus Back Cover.

ISBN 978-1-84113-902-9 (Hart Publishing Limited)

The Netherlands

Case Study: Shell Hydrocarbon Reserves

On 9 January 2004, following an internal review, Shell (Royal Dutch and Shell Transport, the two former parent companies of the ‘Shell Group’) announced that it would re-categorise approximately 3.9 billion barrels of oil equivalent (‘boe’) out of its reported proved reserves. The re- categorisations were based on a determination that the reserves did not strictly comply with the definition of ‘proved’ reserves established by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (‘the SEC’). On 24 August 2004, the UK Financial Services Authority and the SEC announced final settlements of their investigations with respect to Shell. As a result of the settlement, Shell, without admitting or denying the SEC’s findings or conclusions, entered into a consent agreement with the SEC and paid a civil penalty of $120 million. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Essar Oil Says Shell Refinery Deal to Take More Time

BLOOMBERG

By Rakteem Katakey and Francine Lacqua

Jan. 27 (Bloomberg) — Essar Oil Ltd., operator of India’s second-largest non-state refiner, said a deal to buy three refineries from Royal Dutch Shell Plc will take more time.

“It’s going to be a few more months before we have a clear decision on the transaction,” Prashant Ruia, chief executive officer of the Essar Group, said in an interview with Bloomberg TV at Davos in Switzerland today. “It’s a bit too early to talk about the value of the transaction.” read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Shell becomes biggest investor in Qatar – executive

REUTERS

Tue Jan 26, 2010 9:37am EST

* Shell Qatar investments at $21 bln, surpasses Exxon

* First output from Pearl GTL plant expected early 2011

* Shell to get free gas from Qatar for Pearl, so costs low

By Simon Webb

DOHA, Jan 26 (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L) $21 billion investment in energy projects in Qatar would make it the largest private investor in the country, surpassing rival ExxonMobil (XOM.N), a senior company executive said on Tuesday.

Shell expected to complete construction by the end of 2010 on the world’s largest energy project, a $19 billion plant to produce superclean fuels from gas, said Gerrit-Jan Smitskamp, the company’s regional vice-president for finance. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Oil sands costs driving Shell elsewhere

Calgary — Globe and Mail

By Nathan VanderKlippe: Company steering exploration dollars to other parts of the world, including the Gulf of Mexico and Kazakhstan

More than a year after it delayed a decision on a major new oil sands expansion, Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDS.A-N58.390.050.08%) is backing further away from Canada’s richest crude resource.

Shell will dramatically slow its future growth in the Fort McMurray area, according to chief executive officer Peter Voser, who said that high costs in the oil sands are the reason the company is steering exploration dollars to other parts of the world, including the Gulf of Mexico and Kazakhstan. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Shell pulls back from Canadian tar sands projects

London Evening Standard

Growth: Shell will rely on more conventional oil and gas reserves

The chief executive of Royal Dutch Shell today announced the firm would scale back growth in Canadian tar sands amid a growing backlash from shareholders and environmentalists.

Peter Voser said Shell plans to rely more on conventional oil and gas reserves for future growth.

“We have enough other growth opportunities,” he told the Financial Times.

Protestors have opposed oil sands projects over their impact on the environment, while shareholders are worried about the cost of climate change legislation. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Nigeria: Shell has had enough

Energy Report – 26 January 2010

Shell, the company most affected by the years of violence in the Niger delta and the other difficulties of working in Nigeria, has finally had enough

In December, it invited offers for a swathe of its onshore fields and last month underlined its new stance with a statement from Peter Voser, group chief executive, that “we no longer depend on [Nigeria] for our growth aspirations.”

In – for Shell – surprisingly forthright comments about the country in which it has been the dominant oil and gas producer for over 50 years, Voser cited “uncertainties about the future of the fiscal structure” and the government giving “priority to maintaining oil production over reducing gas flares”, in addition to the “sabotage and attacks on installations” as reasons for its decision. Not depending on Nigeria for growth “gives us more flexibility in deciding when and how to develop oil and gas resources” in the country, he said. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Shell Motiva to shut Convent refinery for five to six weeks

By Rebecca Mowbray, The Times-Picayune

January 26, 2010, 10:51AM

(Bloomberg) — Motiva Enterprises LLC will shut a crude unit and reformer at its Convent, Louisiana, refinery on Jan. 28 for five to six weeks of planned maintenance, people familiar with the plant’s operations said.

The crude unit has a capacity of 130,000 to 140,000 barrels a day and is the larger of the plant’s two crude units, said the people, who declined to be identified because they are not authorized to speak for the refinery.

“I can’t comment on operational issues,” Kevin Hardy, a spokesman for the Convent refinery, said in an e-mail. “We don’t comment on anything that could have an impact on business.” read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

In the Middle of the Baghdad Hotel Attacks

On Monday, my main assignments for the day were positively mundane: first, to get a plumber to fix the burst pipe at the office, and then head over to the oil ministry, where Exxon Mobil and Royal Dutch Shell were signing a 20-year deal to develop a supergiant Iraqi oil field. The agreement had been heralded as a cornerstone for the future of an Iraq safe enough for investors to unload tens of billions of dollars, perhaps one that would see Iraq surpass Saudi Arabia in oil production.

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Shell expects production from Pearl GTL in 2011

Reuters UK

Tue Jan 26, 2010 8:52am GMT

DOHA, Jan 26 (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L) expects first production from its gas-to-liquids (GTL) plant in Qatar in 2011, a senior company executive said on Tuesday.

The cost of the Pearl super-clean fuels plant in Qatar was pegged at $18 billion to $19 billion, the company’s regional vice-president for finance, Gerrit-Jan Smitskamp said during a MEED conference.

The GTL project will be the world’s largest and will have a capacity of 140,000 barrels per day (bpd). read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Shell & Big Oil’s Exploration Challenge

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

JANUARY 25, 2010, 9.32 A.M. ET

By MATTHEW CURTIN

These days, you have to corral an army of engineers in the desert to build an enormous factory to transform natural gas into a liquid to be used like oil. The capital cost of Royal Dutch Shell’s Pearl gas-to-liquids plant in Qatar is a cool $18 billion or more—10% of its market capitalization. Like Chevron’s Gorgon liquefied-natural-gas project offshore Australia, it shows what big integrated oil companies are capable of.

[shellherd0125] Associated PressShell has bumped up its exploration budget to $3 billion.

But have they neglected bread-and-butter exploration for lower-risk, lower-return engineering projects? Certainly, investors are unimpressed. A decade ago, the international oil companies, or IOCs, accounted for 79% of energy-sector market capitalization and nearly all its net income. Today the figures are 53% and 62%, according to Sanford C. Bernstein. Shell trades at a discount of 13% and 36% respectively to the 2010 forward price-to-earnings multiples at Petroleo Brasileiro and BG Group. But their estimated five-year average output growth is 5% and 9% compared with Shell’s 3%, around the IOC average. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Exxon’s Sakhalin Troubles: A Redux of Shell’s Sakhalin II?

ExxonMobil is (XOM) at loggerheads with the Russian government over the Sakhalin I project. The issue is the one that eventually spelled Shell’s (RDS.A) doom in Sakhalin II: Development costs under the production sharing agreement (PSA):

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Exxon, Shell Sign Final Deal For Iraq’s West Qurna 1 Oil Field

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

JANUARY 25, 2010

By Hassan Hafidh

Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

A consortium made up of Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) and Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSA) finalized a deal in Baghdad Monday to develop the West Qurna phase 1 oil field in southern Iraq, Iraqi oil officials said.

It represents the first time a U.S.-led group has been allowed into Iraq’s oil patch since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.

Exxon and Shell won the right to develop the field following the country’s first postwar licensing auction held last year. The license to develop the field wasn’t initially awarded in the auction in June, but a deal was reached following subsequent negotiations. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.
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