Royal Dutch Shell Plc  .com Rotating Header Image

December, 2014:

Shell BP Mega Merger: Fact, or extremely well informed conjecture?

It was this article, followed by the oil price crash, which led to the growing speculation about a Shell BP Mega Merger.

Screen Shot 2014-10-28 at 12.29.57

By a confidential contributor.

Shell BP Mega Merger: Fact, or extremely well informed conjecture?

…its a typical dark, smoke-filled room where two teams of senior people – top echelon, Board level types, not the operational guys who run organizations these days – are discussing a thorny problem. The structure of the industry is changing: the mega-mergers of the 1990s, which brought BP to scale, saw ExxonMobil become the world’s biggest company and made Chevron and Texaco join hands are almost forgotten and a new world order has emerged. The state oil companies from the resurgent Russian and nascent Chinese super-powers now sit at the head of the negotiating table and the rules of the game are changing. Some of the world’s oldest and largest IOCs are no longer big enough to compete and its time, according to the bankers and consultants, for a ‘game changer’. Unless there a bold move is made, the under-funded pension pots and comfy Board appointments – not to mention more than one Royal family investment portfolio – are all at considerable risk. People are worried. 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.

Real chance BP and Shell will merge

Screen Shot 2014-10-28 at 12.29.57Extracts from an article by David Taylor published by The Motley Fool on New Years Eve 2014 under the headline:

“Is It Safe To Stick With BP plc And Royal Dutch Shell plc, Or Should I Get Out?”

Royal Dutch Shell has five undeveloped projects in total (Carmon Creek, Bosi, Gato Do Mato, Bonga, Yucatan and Athabasca). They all require an oil price of at least US$95 per barrel to break-even. So yes, it’s not looking good on that front. Morgan Stanley says the price of oil could fall to as low as US$43 per barrel; …if the price falls further, there’s a real chance BP and Shell will merge, creating a potentially exciting investment opportunity. 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.

Former Shell exec Mark Carne in firing line again

The Guardian newspaper has published an article about the rail travel fiasco in the UK at Christmas.

Network Rail bosses could face grilling over Christmas chaos

Extract

Senior executives at Network Rail are likely to be summoned to Westminster to explain the engineering overruns that caused chaos for Christmas travellers over the weekend.

Mark Carne (above right), the chief executive of Network Rail, is once again in the firing line. He has been on holiday over the Christmas period leaving the rail travelling public to suffer from his incompetence, for which he is to receive a bonus of up to £135,000. 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.

CEO Ben van Beurden finally endorses Shell Business Principles

Screen Shot 2014-12-05 at 14.22.12By John Donovan

After our long campaign for Ben van Beurden, the Chief Executive Officer of Royal Dutch Shell Plc, to sign Shell’s statement of General Business Principles, he has at last got round to doing so.

I do not know what the reluctance was about, or why it took a year of cajoling on our part, in a succession of articles, for him to finally sign on the dotted line endorsing the document.

The long delay raises questions about the priorities of RDS senior management and their commitment to upholding the claimed principles and values.  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.

The Fate of BP

Screen Shot 2014-10-28 at 12.29.57…if prices remain in the region of $60 per barrel, then the current scenario would be retained for a longer period of time, exposing it to takeover bids. Also, if Royal Dutch does indeed takeover BP, it could work out well for both companies.

Extracts from an article published by GuruFocus.com on 30 Dec 2014 under the headline:

British Petroleum Is A Buying Opportunity To Explore With “Sudden Dips” 

British Petroleum remains a buy, despite being a size lower than some of its competitors mentioned above. Its market capital of £74.6 billion ($116.5 billion) is dwarfed in terms of Royal Dutch Shells £208 billion ($323.85 billion), which might put it at risk considering the strategic issues at hand. With the uncertainly looming over the entire industry, experts feel that the company might be unsafe as a medium term investment, but there are clues to express otherwise.

According to sources like Forbes and IB-Times, Royal Dutch could be in the race to bid for some of the British oil major’s assets, which might sweep ion a new wave of optimism, putting in a position of a being a “buy” company. But since no confirmation has yet come through, there isn’t a credible source of attributing optimism for a price rise for BP shares on an immediate basis. 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 Plans To Boost Ethanol Production In Brazil

Screen Shot 2014-12-29 at 20.18.53

Screen Shot 2014-12-30 at 23.42.07

How Royal Dutch Shell Intends To Boost Ethanol Production In Brazil

Bidness Etc looks at the progress Shell is making in the joint-venture with with Cosan Limited to boost ethanol production in Brazil over the next ten years

By: MICHEAL KAUFMAN
Published: Dec 30, 2014 at 7:19 am EST

The joint-venture between Royal Dutch Shell plc (ADR) (NYSE:RDS.A) and Cosan Limited(USA) (NYSE:CZZ), called Raizen, plans to spend nearly $1 billion on building ethanol production facilities to increase its biofuel output by 50%, according to the Financial Times (FT).

Cosan Limited intends to build eight ethanol plants over the next ten years, for an estimated cost of $930 million (2.5 billion reais). The plants will produce cellulosic ethanol fuel using sugarcane waste as its primary raw material, the most efficient source of biofuel. The first of eight plants was completed last week, and has an annual capacity of 40 million liters. After the completion of all plants, the company expects biofuel output to increase 50%. 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.

Tie-Up Between BP and Royal Dutch Shell In 2015?

Screen Shot 2014-12-29 at 20.18.53

Screen Shot 2014-12-29 at 20.16.42

By: MICHEAL KAUFMAN
Published: Dec 29, 2014 at 2:17 pm EST

Ashley Armstrong, the Telegraph’s merger and acquisition columnist, hinted at the possibilityof a merger between London-based BP plc (NYSE:BP) and Netherlands-based Royal Dutch Shell plc (ADR) (NYSE:RDS.A) in a piece over the weekend.

M&A activity during 2014 reached the $3.5 trillion mark, the highest since the 2008 financial downturn. Ms. Armstrong expects more huge deals next year.

She thinks that the decline in commodity prices will act as a catalyst for M&A between mining and natural resources companies. Since this year’s peak in late June, crude oil prices have fallen 45% and are on track to record the biggest decline since the financial crisis. The slump in crude oil prices to $60 per barrel will negatively impact the profitability of some energy companies at the very least, and bring into question the business models of some businesses at worst. 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 Price Bust Foreseen: Is Jesse Colombo a bone fide time traveler?

Screen Shot 2014-12-29 at 14.53.02

“Time travel has captured the public imagination for much of the past century, but little has been done to actually search for time travelers. Here, three implementations of Internet searches for time travelers are described, all seeking a prescient mention of information not previously available.”

Perhaps Shell or BP may decide to hire Mr. Colombo and ask him about the timing of a mega merger, bearing in mind that he seems to know more about the oil industry than them? 

By John Donovan

A few days ago I published an article about Jesse Colombo, the economic analyst who correctly and uniquely, predicted the oil prices bust, which has an impact on every individual and country on the planet.

The collapse in oil prices might not be as highly ranked as the 9/11 terror attack in terms of an historic event, but it is of world-changing significance.

I found the Jesse Colombo article from June 2014 containing his prescient prediction published on the Forbes.com website.

This was in the course of carrying out some research into why the predictions of one of the worlds biggest oil companies, Royal Dutch Shell, has been so wildly inaccurate in regard to oil issues, such as when peak oil will occur. Shell has a “scenarios” team tasked with peering into the future with the objective of coming up with accurate forecasts. I wonder if they have foreseen their own future, which might be short as far as Shell is concerned? 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.

Senior Sources See Merit In Shell BP Mega Merger

Screen Shot 2014-10-28 at 12.29.57“…the tumbling commodities price has meant that takeover chatter has spread to even the fantasy realms of BP and Shell. Once considered unthinkable, senior sources are now saying that there is merit in doing the colossal deal…”; “Companies will not be able to continue with business as usual and must either cut back on expensive exploration plans or cut their dividends, or both…” 

Major article by Ashley Armstrong published on page 5 of The Sunday Telegraph Business Section on 28 December 2014 under the headline:

“PIECES ON THE BOARD”

Extracts

One huge driver of dealmaking next year is expected to be the slump in commodity prices and with mining and natural resources companies accounting for 20pc of all London-listed companies a wave of merger mania can be expected in the City.

Oil prices that have slumped by 40pc since June to around $60 a barrel mean that “some resource companies are now uneconomical at best and at worse have unfeasible business models,” one dealmaker said.

“Companies will not be able to continue with business as usual and must either cut back on expensive exploration plans or cut their dividends, or both,” said Neil Passmore, chief executive at Hannam & Partners. 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 executives predict wave of mergers: players to divide into predators and prey?

Screen Shot 2014-10-28 at 12.29.57

“Executives predict a wave of mergers not seen since 1998, the last time the oil price suffered a precipitous and sustained fall.”

Extracts from a Danny Fortson article published on the front page and page 6 of The Sunday Times Business Section on 28 December 2014 under the headline:

“Oil explorers left high and dry by crude crisis”

How times change. Three years on, Afren, like many of its rivals, is on the ropes thanks to the halving of the oil price from its July high of $114 a barrel to $61. The drop has unleashed chaos in the markets as once-swashbuckling explorers find themselves buckling under debts they took on when the market was booming and with investors, already nursing heavy losses, who are unwilling to bail them out.

Executives predict a wave of mergers not seen since 1998, the last time the oil price suffered a precipitous and sustained fall.  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.

Rail chaos at Finsbury Park: Trusting ex Shell executives to run a railway network?

Screen Shot 2014-12-28 at 13.14.22

(THE ABOVE SCREENSHOT IS FROM AN ARTICLE IN THE INDEPENDENT PUBLISHED SUNDAY 28 DEC 2014)

Screen Shot 2014-08-28 at 13.22.02ARTICLE BY BILL CAMPBELL, RETIRED HSE GROUP AUDITOR, SHELL INTERNATIONAL

Could you really trust ex Shell executives to run a railway network?

In the usual manner *TFA Malcolm the Tank Engine arranged for his apprentice Marc Carne to take over as CEO of Network Rail, but like his disciples Bjorn Berget, Chris Finlayson, Gregory P Hill, dear Marc is a follower, not a leader, how otherwise would TFA Brinded have recruited them as his obedient servants in the first place.

Outside the protected arena of Shell, and in the public domain, we sense their true worth. 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 majors’ finances strained by price slump

Screen Shot 2014-02-18 at 18.34.00Sunday Telegraph newspaper article by Ben Marlow: Oil majors’ finances strained by price slump

The sudden fall in the price of crude oil, from $120 to just $60 a barrel in six months, is the biggest economic shock of 2014 and the fall out is expected to be profound and long-lasting, especially for the oil majors. 

THE FINANCES of Britain’s three biggest oil majors are looking more stretched amid the sudden fall in the oil price, ratings agency Standard & Poor’s has warned.

S&P said the dramatic deterioration in the oil price outlook had prompted the agency to take a number of “rating actions” on European oil and gas majors including Shell, BP, and BG Group.

S&P outlined three key concerns around a group of the industry’s biggest European producers: Shell, Total, BP, Eni and BG Group. 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.

Jesse Colombo, the economic analyst who predicted the oil prices bust 

Screen Shot 2014-10-16 at 12.52.57

FULL CREDIT TO THE EXPERT WHO CORRECTLY PREDICTED THE OIL PRICE CRASH

Screen Shot 2014-12-22 at 21.08.35By John Donovan

In June of this year Forbes.com published an extensive prescient article by Jesse Colombo, an economic analyst, under the headline:

“9 Reasons Why Oil Prices May Be Headed For A Bust”

His prediction made 6 months ago:

“There are a growing number of reasons, however, why crude oil prices are likely to finally experience a bust in the not-too-distant future.”

Jesse Colombo correctly predicted an event of huge significance. Ask Putin or Shell’s Ben van Beurden.

Some further extracts from his brilliant article, which deserves reading in full.

While extreme aggregate trading positions can persist for quite a while, as is the case in the crude oil market for the past few years, they are still a reliable indication that a powerful market reversal is likely to occur when the proper catalyst eventually appears and sends speculators heading for the exits. So far, no bearish catalyst has presented itself in the crude oil market, but the other points that I’ve listed in this piece may combine to form a perfect storm that finally causes the oil market to crack. 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.

Merry Christmas from Royal Dutch Shell Plc .com

Screen Shot 2015-12-24 at 20.17.26

I would like to wish all of the contributors and visitors to this website a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

From John Donovan

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 and the National Gallery: welcome to a Moral Maze

Screen Shot 2014-12-24 at 17.00.06

Spotted this article on the website of the former Royal Dutch Shell executive, Paddy Briggs. 

By Paddy Briggs

I went to the superb exhibition “Rembrandt: The Late Works” at the National Gallery yesterday. The exhibition is sponsored by Shell – quite strongly as it happens. There are a couple of prominent Shell promotional displays and the Shell emblem is visible all over, though not within the actual gallery where the works are to be seen. This suggests that the Shell sponsorship was financially quite large, even that the event, in straightened times for the Arts, might not have gone ahead without it. 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’s future in the Arctic looks doubtful

Screen Shot 2014-11-17 at 15.01.44

Screen Shot 2014-12-23 at 18.39.08

By: MICHEAL KAUFMAN
Published: Dec 23, 2014 at 12:38 pm EST

There is a large question mark on whether Royal Dutch Shell (ADR) (NYSE:RDS.A) will continue a new round of drilling in the Chukchi Sea and the Beufort Sea in the Arctic or not. The company earlier filed a lawsuit against a group of environmentalists to avoid any legal challenges in the future. The lawsuit sparked criticism from authorities and posed several problems for the Dutch oil giant.

Shell acquired the leases in 2008, after receiving approval from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM). But a lawsuit was filed blaming BOEM for taking arbitrary estimates which were not reliable. BOEM as a result revised its assessment and issued a supplementary environmental statement, which revealed that around 4.4 billion barrels of crude oil could be pumped compared to the previous estimate of one billion barrels. 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.
Comment Rules

  • Please show respect to the opinions of others no matter how seemingly far-fetched.
  • Abusive, foul language, and/or divisive comments may be deleted without notice.
  • Each blog member is allowed limited comments, as displayed above the comment box.
  • Comments must be limited to the number of words displayed above the comment box.
  • Please limit one comment after any comment posted per post.