Norway’s proposal to sell off $35 billion in oil and natural gas stocks brings sudden and unparalleled heft to a once-grassroots movement to enlist investors in the fight against climate change.
November, 2017:
Norway Idea to Exit Oil Stocks Is ‘Shot Heard Around the World’
Big Oil is under pressure, unloved and on sale
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Norway wants to dump its stakes in oil and gas companies
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Proposal adds to doubts over industry’s long-term outlook
Big Oil is under pressure, unloved and on sale.
Energy giants from Exxon Mobil Corp. to Royal Dutch Shell Plc are struggling back to their feet after a three-year oil slump, while also fighting to prove they can survive for decades to come amid an accelerating shift to clean energy. So getting dumped by the world’s biggest investment fund wouldn’t be welcome news.
Norway’s $1 trillion sovereign wealth fund said on Thursday that it wants to sell about $35 billion of shares in oil and gas companies to make the nation “less vulnerable” to a drop in crude prices. Global energy giants favored by long-term investors including Italy’s Eni SpA, PetroChina Ltd. and Russia’s Gazprom PJSC account for more than $20 billion of that total.
Ohio officials visit Beaver County to learn about Shell cracker plant
By Officials in Belmont County, Ohio, are eagerly awaiting a final investment decision on a cracker plant that could be built there but, in the meantime, they are learning everything they can from local officials who’ve already been through the process. Officials in Belmont County, Ohio, are eagerly awaiting a final investment decision on a cracker plant that could be built there, but in the meantime, they are learning everything they can from local officials who’ve already been through the process.
World’s Biggest Wealth Fund Wants Out of Oil and Gas
The $1 trillion fund that Norway has amassed pumping oil and gas over the past two decades wants out of petroleum stocks.
Norway, which relies on oil and gas for about a fifth of economic output, would be less vulnerable to declining crude prices without its fund investing in the industry, the central bank said Thursday. The divestment would mark the second major step in scrubbing the world’s biggest wealth fund of climate risk, after it sold most of its coal stocks. The plan would entail the fund, which controls about 1.5 percent of global stocks, dumping as much as $40 billion of shares in international giants such as Exxon Mobil Corp. and Royal Dutch Shell Plc. The Finance Ministry said it will study the proposal and decide what to do in “fall of 2018” at the earliest. FULL ARTICLE
Norway shakes oil world by dumping investments
Norway is western Europe’s biggest oil producer and its giant sovereign wealth fund wants to reduce its exposure to oil which hit shares in BP and Royal Dutch Shell. Oil platforms in the Cromarty Firth, ScotlandANDREW MILLIGAN/PA
Norway’s giant sovereign wealth fund has unveiled plans to dump its entire holding in oil and gas companies in a $37 billion sell-off that was welcomed by campaign groups but put downward pressure on share prices. The $1 trillion fund, which manages the assets of the oil-rich nation, signalled its intent to prune its exposure to companies including BP and Royal Dutch Shell in a move aimed at making it less vulnerable to a permanent drop in the price of crude. SOURCE
Activist warns of cracker plant consequences
Mark Dixon discussed the hazards of having an ethane cracker plant close to Pittsburgh during a talk in the William Pitt Union Assembly Room Wednesday evening. (Photo by Issi Glatts | Staff Photographer)
Remy Samuels: Staff Writer: November 16, 2017
When Mark Dixon found out Shell Oil Company planned to build a petrochemical plant in nearby Beaver County, he immediately thought of the pollution and environmental devastation that would soon take place there. “It really pissed me off,” Dixon said. FULL ARTICLE
Shell to pay for cost of acquiring buffer property near cracker site
Shell Chemicals is in the process of paying for the acquisition of a piece of property that would serve as a buffer between the $6 billion ethane cracker plant in Potter Township and nearby industrial properties. Jim Palmer, president of the Beaver County Corporation for Economic Development, said CED is acquiring about 54 acres that sit between the Shell site and the BASF and NOVA Chemicals properties. The sale of the land, currently owned by the Lyondell Environmental Custodial Trust, is expected to close later this month. Palmer on Tuesday declined to disclose the sale price. FULL ARTICLE
One person injured after heavy oil leak at Shell Scotford northeast of Fort Saskatchewan
CATHERINE GRIWKOWSKY: 15 November 2017
One person was injured and the Shell Scotford site was evacuated for several hours after a heavy oil mixture leak on Wednesday afternoon. The “hydrocarbon release” happened around 12:30 p.m. inside a processing unit at the Scotford Facility near Fort Saskatchewan, according to a statement sent by Tara Lemay on behalf of Shell. The all-clear was sounded at 6:30 p.m. One person reported a minor injury and all non-essential personnel were moved off-site as a precaution, the statement said. All personnel were accounted for. FULL ARTICLE
Employees relocated after ‘hydrocarbon release’ at Scotford upgrader outside Edmonton
Emergency crews were called to respond to a hydrocarbon release at a Shell Canada’s Scotford upgrader facility northeast of Fort Saskatchewan on Wednesday afternoon. Craig Ryan/ Global News
Emergency crews were called to respond to a hydrocarbon release at a Shell Canada facility northeast of Fort Saskatchewan on Wednesday afternoon. The company said the incident unfolded at its Scotford upgrader facility which processes crude bitumen. Late Wednesday afternoon, Shell confirmed an alarm was sounded and personnel were “relocated away from the incident as a safety precaution.” FULL ARTICLE
About 75,000 bpd of Gulf oil output still shut after Shell fire
Bryan Sims: NOVEMBER 15, 2015
HOUSTON (Reuters) – A combined 75,206 barrels per day (bpd) of oil and 215,122 million cubic feet per day of natural gas production are shut-in at four platforms in the wake of a Nov. 8 fire at Royal Dutch Shell’s (RDSa.L) Enchilada platform, according to U.S. government data. FULL ARTICLE
Shell’s Appomattox production platform
The big picture: The giant of the Gulf
NOVEMBER 15, 2017 | BUSINESSHALFWAY AROUND THE WORLD
In October, Ingleside, Texas, welcomed the hull of Shell’s Appomattox production platform, floating aboard a massive heavy-transport vessel, after its journey from halfway around the world. Construction of the host facility for Shell’s pioneering development will be completed in Ingleside after fabrication of the hull in South Korea. Shown here is the departure from South Korea.
BEHEMOTH ON THE SEA
A deepwater oil and gas development that will become Shell’s largest floating platform in the Gulf of Mexico, the sizeable host will tower 20 stories above the sea, float in 7,400 feet-deep waters (that’s five Empire State Buildings), span approximately three football fields across, and weigh more than the world’s largest naval aircraft carrier (125,000 metric tons). FULL ARTICLE
Dutch PM to defend tax cut seen benefiting Shell, Unilever, British investors
Toby Sterlng, Bart H. Meijer: NOVEMBER 15, 2017
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte was in parliament on Wednesday for a second time to defend a tax cut that benefits Anglo-Dutch multinationals Royal Dutch Shell and Unilever, as well as British equity investors in general. Shell, which lobbied for the cut, has said it is likely to scrap its dual share structure as a result. [L8N1NF6M6] FULL ARTICLE
UPDATE 2-Dutch court rejects government’s Groningen gas production plan
Wednesday’s decision was met with jubilation from Groningen citizens, many of whom have seen their houses damaged by the thousands of small earthquakes triggered by the gas extraction.
By Bart H. Meijer: NOVEMBER 15, 2017
THE HAGUE, Nov 15 (Reuters) – The highest Dutch administrative court has rejected the government’s plan to cap production at a major gas field that has caused damaging earthquakes, saying it might be possible to cut output further without endangering supplies.
The decision adds another chapter to the long fight over gas production in the northern Dutch province of Groningen, where citizens accuse the government of endangering their lives while protecting gas revenues.
Shell Says Yes To Free Cash Flow, No To Debt
Callum Turcan: Nov 15, 2017
Summary
- Royal Dutch Shell generates free cash flow in Q3.
- Outlook for Q4, even in light of impending capex increase, looks bright due to Brent rallying.
- Over $10 billion in net debt reduction since the end of Q3 2016.
- Overview of Q3 results and what to expect going forward.
Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE:RDS.A) (NYSE:RDS.B) has come a long way since it bottomed out in early-2016. Its latest earnings reportreinforced the notion that when Brent is trading in the $50s, Shell’s cash flow position becomes balanced. Cash flow neutrality is the key breakeven point for the industry in the current environment, as oil & gas giants need to show that they can cover capital expenditures and large dividends through organic means at realistic prices. Let’s check out how Royal Dutch Shell did in a low $50s Brent world, with an eye on organic cash inflows and outflows. FULL ARTICLE WITH CHARTS
Public Health Researcher Issues Dire Warning Over Proposed Ethane Cracker Plant
By SARAH BODEN: 14November 2017
A public health researcher delivered a dire warning on Monday during a panel on the implications of the planned Royal Dutch Shell ethane cracker plant in Beaver County. “When we allow industry to get way out in front of public health and environmental oversight, we end up counting bodies,” said Dr. Brian Schwartz of the Geisinger Center for Health Research in Montour County. FULL ARTICLE
Four Gulf of Mexico oil platforms shut after Enchilada fire: Shell
Reuters Staff: NOVEMBER 14, 2017
LONDON (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell said on Tuesday that production at four oil platforms in the Gulf of Mexico has been shut in the wake of a Nov. 8 fire at its Enchilada platform. “Production is shut in at the Shell-operated Enchilada and Salsa platforms, as well as the associated Hess-operated Conger field,” in which Shell has a 37.5 percent share, it said in a statement. “In addition, Shell safely shut in all production operations at its Auger platform due to downstream constraints caused by this incident.” FULL ARTICLE
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