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July, 2016:

Getting Ready for Another Round of Commodity Market Downturn

Jul 18th, 2016
by John Donovan.
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By Staff Writer on Jul 18, 2016 at 7:30 am EST

Crude oil prices have dropped below the $50 per barrel mark yet again after hitting their highest level in 2016 last month. US crude benchmark, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) is trading at $45.97 per barrel while Brent is trading at $47.69 per barrel in European Markets today. The global crude oil benchmark reached as high as $52.51 per barrel earlier in June.

Although oil prices have recovered some momentum after touching 12-year lows of $27 per barrel earlier in 2016, it still has a lot of ground to gain before reaching summer-2014 levels. Oil market showed some positive gains in June when oil prices crossed the psychological barrier of $50 per barrel. However, it was short-lived as it is currently trading below $48 per barrel. 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 with a full tank of debt

Jul 18th, 2016
by John Donovan.
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By JACK HOUGH: JULY 16, 2016

A dash of desperation is working wonders for module article chiclet Royal Dutch Shell. The price of Brent crude oil has fallen by half in two years, pulling Shell’s cash flow from operations well below what it typically needs to pay its dividend and fund exploration. Meanwhile, the purchase of United Kingdom gas specialist BG Group, completed in February, left Shell with a full tank of debt.

Something had to give. Investors braced for a dividend cut, which is why the American depositary receipts (ticker: RDS.B) started the year priced low enough to yield 8%. But rather than reduce its payout, Shell slashed spending on projects and sold low-return businesses. Last month, it announced a capital plan through 2020 that calls for more asset sales and a limit on capital spending. 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.

Royal Dutch Shell Vs BP plc: Who’s Better Equipped to Tackle the Downturn?

Jul 15th, 2016
by John Donovan.
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By Muhammad Ali Khawar on Jul 15, 2016 at 10:04 am EST

Royal Dutch Shell plc. (ADR) (NYSE:RDS.A) finally closed its $52 billion merger with BG group in February. The deal is considered as one of the largest mergers in the oil and gas sector and is expected to help Shell diversify its operations and benefit from cost synergies.

The Shell-BG merger comes at a time when oil prices have plummeted significantly. Oil prices that once traded over $110 per barrel have now tumbled to as low as $50 per barrel. Last year, when Shell approached BG for the first time, many criticized the deal especially because of the 50% premium Shell was willing to pay in a depressed crude environment. 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.

Uncertainty in the oil price war

Jul 15th, 2016
by John Donovan.
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By Ed Crooks: JULY 15. 2016

“War is the realm of uncertainty,” wrote the great Prussian military theorist Carl von Clausewitz. “Three quarters of the factors on which action in war is based are wrapped in a fog of greater or lesser uncertainty.”

That applies to price wars every much as it does to the real kind. Almost from the moment crude began falling in 2014, news outlets started running confident-sounding claims that one side or another was winning the battle often depicted as a struggle between Saudi Arabia on one side and US shale producers on the other. 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.

BP’s big bill for the world’s largest oil spill reaches $61.6 billion

Jul 15th, 2016
by John Donovan.
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Screen Shot 2016-07-15 at 15.57.32By Steven Mufson July 14 at 7:15 PM

What’s bigger than the value of Ford, Honda or General Motors? As big as the biggest U.S. electric utility? Eight times the size of Staples and Office Depot combined — if a judge hadn’t blocked their merger?

The answer: the $61.6 billion cost to BP of the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

On Thursday, BP issued its final estimate of the cost of the spill, the largest in U.S. history. The company said that it would take a pre-tax charge of $5.2 billion in the second quarter of this year and added that would be enough to cover anything that hasn’t been resolved. 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 Is Facing The Perfect Storm

Jul 15th, 2016
by John Donovan.
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By Cassandra Legacy – Jul 14, 2016, 3:27 PM CDT

Since at least the end of 2014 there has been increasing uncertainty over oil prices, from whether so-called “Peak Oil” has already happened, to matters of EROI (or EROEI) values for current energy sources and for alternatives, to climate change and the phantasmatic 2oC warming limit, and the feasibility of shifting rapidly to renewables or sustainable sources of energy supply. Overall, it matters a great deal whether a reasonable time horizon to act is say 50 years, i.e. in the main the troubles that we are contemplating are taking place way past 2050, or if we are already in deep trouble and the timeframe to try and extricate ourselves is some 10 years. Answering this kind of question requires close attention to system boundary definitions and scrutinizing carefully any assumptions. 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 chair Andrew Smith vows to rein in costs as downturn bites

Jul 14th, 2016
by John Donovan.
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ANDREW BURRELL: July 15, 2016

Shell Australia chairman Andrew Smith says the downturn in the oil and gas industry has strengthened his resolve to rein in costs as he seeks to integrate the company — the nation’s biggest foreign investor — with the Queensland assets of BG Group.

“You have to treat every dollar like it’s your own,” Smith tells The Deal, published in The Australian today, as he reflects on his 30-year career and the massive changes that have hit Shell and the petroleum industry. His mantra even extends, Smith’s colleagues reveal, to their boss’s insistence a few years ago that newspaper subscriptions be pared back in the company’s Melbourne office. 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.

Group braced for North Sea strike action

Jul 14th, 2016
by John Donovan.
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Trade unions have accused the Anglo-Dutch oil major of recruiting ‘scab labour’ after advertisements appeared on job agency websites offering maintenance work on week-by-week contracts.

by Mary Morley: Thursday, 14 Jul 2016, 09:09 BST

Royal Dutch Shell (LON:RDSA) is bracing for a strike on seven of its North Sea platforms after almost half of the workers voted in favour of industrial action. The dispute comes with energy companies struggling to keep the region competitive in the face of falling output and weak oil prices.

Shell’s share price has surged in London this morning, having jumped 1.27 percent to 2,114.50p as of 08:40 BST, outperforming the benchmark FTSE 100 index which currently stands 0.65 percent higher at 6,713.49 points. The group’s shares have gained just under 15 percent over the past year, and are up some 38 percent in the year-to-date. 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 UK VP says oil major “disappointed” over North Sea strike action

Jul 13th, 2016
by John Donovan.
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Written by Niamh Burns – 13/07/2016 3:54 pm

The vice president of Shell’s UK and Ireland Upstream operations has said the oil major is “disappointed” after both Unite and RMT unions voted in support of strike action.

The move could mark the first industrial action of its kind in a generation.

It comes after more than 200 workers were balloted on whether they would support either strike action or action short of a strike.

Wood Group has also said it is “disappointed” by the decision of its staff. 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, NNPC/NPDC And Niger Delta Cleanup: Who Owns OML 11 In Ogoniland?

Jul 13th, 2016
by John Donovan.
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Shell, NNPC/NPDC And Niger Delta Cleanup: Who Owns OML 11 In Ogoniland?

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BY IFEANYI IZEZE: JUL 13, 2016

What is wrong with our government people that each time they act, you only see a bunch of tactless or outrightly naive actions? How do you reconcile that with the United Nation Environmental Programme (UNEP) – sponsored Ogoni clean-up exercise still neither here nor there despite the ceremonial flag-off by President Mohammadu Buhari, a government-owned oil company Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC), a subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), could be moving ahead to re-enter the crisis area for oil production? Is the government feigning ignorance of the fact that re-commencement of oil exploitation activities or even the talk of it at this time in Ogoniland would undoubtedly incite protest against whoever is scheming to come in to mine oil? 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.

Wood maintenance workers back strike on Shell UK platforms

Jul 13th, 2016
by John Donovan.
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Markets | Wed Jul 13, 2016 11:53am EDT

* Support for strike over pay and working conditions

* Shell platforms concerned include Brent, Shearwater

As many as seven of Royal Dutch Shell’s North Sea platforms could be hit by the first strike action in the basin in 10 years after Wood Group employees working on the facilities voted on Wednesday in favour of industrial action.

Wood Group workers are employed on Shell platforms to carry out maintenance work. A person familiar with the operations said this meant production from the platforms was unlikely to be affected by potential strikes in the short term. 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.

S&P trims rating on oil major

Jul 13th, 2016
by John Donovan.
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by Tsveta Zikolova: Wednesday, 13 Jul 2016, 14:09 BST

Standard & Poor’s has trimmed its rating on Royal Dutch Shell (LON:RDSA), the Financial Times has reported. The move has been prompted by the group’s £35-billion takeover of former smaller London-listed peer BG Group completed earlier this year.

Shell’s share price has been little changed in today’s session, having lost 0.07 percent to stand at 2,106.00p as of 13:25 BST. The shares are marginally underperforming the broader London market, with the benchmark FTSE 100 index having inched 0.12 percent higher to 6,688.62 points. Shell’s shares have gained nearly 16 percent over the past year, and are up just under 38 percent in the year-to-date. 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 North Sea strike: What we know so far

Jul 13th, 2016
by John Donovan.
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Written by Niamh Burns – 13/07/2016 7:43 am

Oil workers could strike today for the first time in a generation after talks broke down between unions and Wood Group.

The move comes after oil major Shell found itself at the centre of the workforce dispute which has paved the way for industrial action.

BREAKING: RMT workers vote in support of strike action.

Unions decided to ballot their workers in May after initial talks regarding 30% pay cuts to eight of Shell’s North Sea platforms, including the Brent field, failed to provide a solution. It’s the third pay cut since 2014. 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.

Offshore workers vote backs strike action

Jul 13th, 2016
by John Donovan.
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13 July 2016

Members of two unions at oil and gas company Wood Group have voted in favour of going on strike.

Unite and the RMT have been in dispute with the firm over what the trade unions have described as a “swingeing” proposed pay cut.

Unite’s ballot had a turnout of 86.6% and 99.1% voted for strike action, while 98.5% of the RMT’s turnout of 67% also backed taking the same action.

Wood Group said it was “extremely disappointed” by the results.

It said it has addressed every significant concern and a resolution to the dispute would safeguard jobs. 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.

Corrib flaring before court

Jul 13th, 2016
by John Donovan.
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LIKE THE SUN A still image taken from a recording shows the glow from the flaring at the Corrib Gas terminal on New Year’s Eve.

EPA confirms issuing of summons

Áine Ryan: 12 JULY 2016

SHELL E&P Ireland will appear before Dublin Metropolitan District Court on September 5 next over an intense flaring incident at the controversial Corrib refinery on December 31 last, The Mayo News can confirm. The EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) has confirmed it issued a summons to Shell last week after a six-month investigation into what locals described as a ‘frightening’ event.  They said it lasted 30 to 40 minutes, lit up the sky and was seen from as far away as Achill and Foxford. The fire from the giant chimney stack was accompanied by a ‘low, loud rumble like a supersonic boom’, according to local witnesses 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.

S&P cuts Shell rating on BG takeover

Jul 12th, 2016
by John Donovan.
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12 July 2016

Shell’s credit rating has been cut by S&P because of its £35bn takeover of rival BG Group.

The rating agency said on Tuesday evening it would cut the international oil company from A+ to A.

S&P said in a statement:

The downgrade reflects our view that, despite management’s commitment to reduce debt after the $54 billion acquisition of BG Group, Shell’s credit metrics and discretionary cash flow will remain materially below levels commensurate with the previous ‘A+’ rating in 2016 and 2017, as we expect continuing low oil and gas prices.

Earlier this year, Fitch reduced its credit rating for Shell from AA to AA-. 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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