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April, 2016:

Shell shuts down three offices and asks the 1,600 staff involved to move or consider voluntary redundancy

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Oil giant warned last year that merger with BG would hit workers hard 

Staff in Reading and Manchester have option move to London head office 

Plans to put all London and South East operations into central London 

Screen Shot 2016-04-25 at 15.56.32By MARK SHAPLAND FOR THIS IS MONEY25 April 2016

Oil giant Shell is pushing ahead with plans to cut jobs and close three offices following its billion dollar takeover of rival BG Group earlier this year.

The cost-cutting drive will trigger the closure of the former BG Group headquarters in Reading and company offices in Aberdeen and Manchester.

The 1,600 staff employed at the sites who do not want to relocate will be offered voluntary redundancy.  

The firm warned last year that the impact of its mega-merger with BG Group would hit workers hard.  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 to close three UK offices housing 1,600 staff

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Nick FletcherMonday 25 April 2016 13.56 BST

Royal Dutch Shell is closing three UK offices, affecting 1,600 employees, including BG’s headquarters in Reading, after its £35bn takeover of the oil and gas company earlier this year.

It has also begun a voluntary redundancy programme as part of a plan to cut 10,300 jobs across the merged group, comprising 7,500 from the original Shell business, as it attempts to cope with the recent plunge in oil prices, and another 2,800 following the merger with BG.

FULL ARTICLE 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 Outlines BG Consolidation Plans

Screen Shot 2016-04-25 at 16.18.07By SARAH KENT

April 25, 2016 7:24 a.m. ET

LONDON— Royal Dutch Shell PLC will offer a new voluntary severance program for employees and plans to close a number of U.K. offices in the wake of its roughly $50 billion acquisition of BG Group PLC, the company said Monday.

The Anglo-Dutch oil giant has proposed plans to consolidate its London operations in central London and close its Thames Valley Park campus by the end of the year. The company also intends to close BG’s offices in Aberdeen by the end of 2016 and Shell’s Manchester offices by the end of 2017. 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 announces major office changes after BG takeover

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The company is cutting more than 10,000 jobs across the world, with 2,800 of those connected with the BG deal.

Shell plans to close the Thames Valley Park campus by the end of the year.

All Aberdeen-based onshore operations will move to Tullos, with BG’s offices at Albyn Place closing, as will Shell’s Brabazon House office in Manchester.

Shell said the decisions were subject to the outcome of staff consultation.

The company is also planning to open a voluntary redundancy arrangement at Thames Valley Park. 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 to close BG office in Aberdeen this year with job cuts expected

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Shell to close BG office in Aberdeen this year with job cuts expected

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ROYAL Dutch Shell has announced plans to close the BG North Sea head office in Aberdeen where around 300 people work in a move which is expected to lead to further job cuts in the city.

The Anglo Dutch oil giant will run the enlarged North Sea Business formed by the £35bn takeover of BG from its office in the Tullos area of Aberdeen.

Led by chief executive Ben van Beurden, Shell said all 300 BG staff will relocate to Tullos initially. They will be able to apply for redundancy under a voluntary severance programme which is expected to result in an undisclosed number of jobs being cut. 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 to close BG head quarters near London by year end

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As part of the 10,300 job cuts it has already announced, 2,800 will come from the integration of BG and 7,500 from its existing staff and direct contractor base.

Business | Mon Apr 25, 2016 

Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L) will close the head office of BG Group, the gas producer it agreed to acquire for $50 billion in February, by the end of the year, it said on Monday, as part of a plan to save costs and cut 10,300 jobs worldwide.

The oil major will also offer voluntary redundancy packages to staff at the BG headquarters in Reading, near London, and to Shell staff in the UK.

This follows a similar announcement made to Dutch staff earlier this month.

The oil company is under intense pressure to rein in costs as a slump in oil prices has hit its profits. 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 ACCUSED OF BLACKMAILING GRONINGEN ON EARTHQUAKE SAFETY, REPAIRS

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by Janene Pieters: 25 April 2016Screen Shot 2016-04-19 at 20.31.49

A lobbying document Shell caused some serious irritation among Dutch parliamentarians. The oil and gas giant writes that the reduction in gas extraction in Groningen threatens the “economic base” of the plan to strengthen homes in the earthquake zone. Unacceptable blackmail, according to SP province director Eelco Eikenaar.

Shell lobbyists visited a number of parliamentarians over the past weeks, according to the Financieele Dagblad. The company is trying to convince parliament not to further reduce gas extraction in Groningen, otherwise there will be no money for reinforcing buildings in the province. Gas extraction in the earthquake prone province is currently capped at 27 billion cubic meters a year, but there are parties who want to reduce it further. 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 expected to confirm today where North Sea HQ will be post BG takeover

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Shell expected to confirm today where North Sea HQ will be post BG takeover

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Written by Erikka Askeland – 25/04/2016 7:37 am

Oil giant Shell is expected to tell staff in Aberdeen today that its North Sea headquarters will be based at Tullos in the wake of its takeover of rival BG Group.

The firm, which completed its multi-billion pound mega-merger with BG in April, will move around 200 former BG staff to its existing premises in the south of the city from their base on Albyn Terrace.

The decision is set to see BG’s former offices – a trio of linked granite-built townhouses at the heart of Aberdeen’s west end – go up for grabs in a market where demand for offices is falling as a result of the oil price crash. 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.

Investors look beyond Big Oil’s worst quarter yet

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LONDON | BY KAROLIN SCHAPS AND RON BOUSSO: Sun Apr 24, 2016

The world’s top oil companies are set to report their worst quarterly results yet in the current downturn but a recent recovery in crude prices is raising hopes the market has bottomed out.

An ever intensifying oil supply glut took global prices to a near 13-year low of $27.10 a barrel on Jan. 20, exacerbating pressure on oil producers already grappling with a more than 70 percent slide in prices since mid-2014.

“The 1Q16 reporting period looks set to be even worse than what we thought was already an especially ugly 4Q15,” said Jason Gammel, equity analyst at Jefferies. 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 prices drop faster than companies can cut costs

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Bloomberg News: SATURDAY, APRIL 23, 2016

The world’s biggest oil companies, set to report their worst quarterly earnings in more than a decade, are finding that their cost-cutting efforts haven’t matched the decline in crude prices over the past two years.

While producers have been deferring projects, eliminating jobs and freezing salaries, the process will take three years to complete, according to Barclays oil sector analyst Lydia Rainforth. In the meantime, profits are being hammered.

“A lot of work still needs to be done on costs,” she said. “It’s a reflection of how much costs had piled up and how long a process this is.”

For producers from Royal Dutch Shell to Chevron, reeling under the threat of credit-rating downgrades, slashing costs is the surest way of protecting balance sheets. Still, reversing course is proving painful after $100 oil persuaded companies to pump money into expensive areas in search of new deposits, hire more people and rent rigs and services at record rates. Productivity suffered. 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.

Is this the city car of the future? Shell reveals bizarre bug eyed vehicle with a flip up front

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Screen Shot 2016-04-23 at 07.27.30Shell’s city concept car uses a third less energy compared to the average car, as it gets 107 miles per gallon and is only 1.5m high, 2.5m long and 1.3m wide – making parking in the city a breeze. One unique feature to this futuristic car is that there are now doors that open out, in order for riders to get inside they have to pull the top up and climb in

By STACY LIBERATORE FOR DAILYMAIL.COM: 23 April 2016

In about 50 years, three-quarters of the world is expected to live in cities, while the number of cars on the road will double.

While most manufacturers are developing electric solutions, unsurprisingly Shell has designed a vehicle that they say ‘is intended to inspire thinking about maximizing personal mobility, while minimizing energy use’.

Shell’s city concept car uses a third less energy compared to the average, as it gets 107 miles per gallon and is only 1.5m high, 2.5m long and 1.3m wide – making parking in the city a breeze. 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 new oil order

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Apr 23rd 2016

FOR generations, oil and stability have gone hand in hand in Saudi Arabia. The puritanically conservative kingdom has used its oil wealth to buy loyalty at home and friends abroad. But since King Salman came to the throne last year, his 30-year-old son, Muhammad, has injected unpredictability into the Middle East.

Critics consider the deputy crown prince a hothead, whose dangerous obsession with Iran, Saudi Arabia’s rival, is feeding sectarianism and fraying relations with America. At home, though, the impetuousness of Muhammad bin Salman may be just what Saudi Arabia needs to start weaning itself off oil, the price of which has fallen sharply over the past 18 months. A big test comes on April 25th, when the prince is due to unveil the kingdom’s long-delayed “Vision” reform plan. 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.

Bulgaria anti-monopoly watchdog raids more oil firms in fuel inquiry

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Commodities | Fri Apr 22, 2016

Bulgaria’s anti-monopoly watchdog said it had raided the offices of Eco Petroleum, part of Hellenic Petroleum, and Shell Bulgaria, owned by Royal Dutch Shell, as part of an investigation into possible cartel agreements.

The inquiry follows complaints by Bulgarians over high fuel costs despite a plunge in global oil prices and a call by Prime Minister Boiko Borisov for the competition authority to hasten checks on the fuel sector.

“Employees of the Commission for Protection of Competition are carrying out surprise checks on site at the offices of Eco Bulgaria and Shell Bulgaria,” the commission said in a statement on Friday. 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 washout

Screen Shot 2016-04-22 at 21.42.31Ed Crooks: 22 April 2016

They wanted a freeze, but all they got was a wash-out. The 18 oil-producing countries that met in Doha on Sunday were supposed to finalise an agreement to hold production at January’s levels, but instead the meeting broke up in acrimony and recriminations. John Kemp at Reuters suggested Saudi Arabia was turning the “oil weapon” on its rival Iran.

The FT’s Roula Khalaf wrote that the failure of the talks highlighted the rise of Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s 30 year-old deputy crown prince. His growing influence and the waning authority of veteran oil minister Ali al-Naimi add a new element of unpredictability to Saudi policy.  Bloomberg Business Week had a long and fascinating interview with Prince Mohammed. As President Barack Obama visited Saudi Arabia, David Gardner wrote that the kingdom’s 70-year bargain with the US, promising security in return for a steady flow of oil, was becoming frayed. 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 sidesteps electric bandwagon with petrol-powered concept car

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BEIJING | BY JAKE SPRING: Fri Apr 22, 2016

Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSa.L) unveiled a high-efficiency petrol-burning concept car in China on Friday, to show the world’s biggest electric vehicle (EV) market that there is a lot of mileage left in conventional internal combustion engines.

Shell, one of the largest producers of automotive fuel, said it could take decades before EVs help arrest a rise in exhaust emissions, and that its concept car – which it has no intention of mass producing – demonstrates what can be done now. 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, Agip, Chevron tax evaders, Gov Dickson writes Buhari

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Okafor Ofiebor/Port Harcourt: 21 April 2016

The face-off between Bayelsa State government and multinational oil companies deepened on Thursday with Governor Henry Seriake Dickson, seeking the intervention of the Presidency over tax evasion, flagrant disregard of laws and non-compliance with the rules and regulations of the country.

A press statement from Bayelsa Govt House named the companies that evade tax as Shell Petroleum Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC); Nigerian Agip Oil Company Limited (NAOC); Chevron Nigeria Limited (CNL); Consolidated Oil (CL); Conoil Producing; Brass LNG and Aiteo Energy. 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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