English translation of an article published today by the FD.

“I don’t want to survive this pandemic with a company that is no longer capable of anything”

Bert van Dijk

The corona crisis is forcing Shell to restructure the company. At the same time, CEO Ben van Beurden must chart the course for a low-carbon future. What choices does he make and why can’t things go a bit faster? “We cannot organize ourselves anti-economically. We don’t have that mandate.”

Ceo Ben van Beurden leads Shell from home during the corona crisis. ‘The good thing about this period is that you can help with homework.’ Photo: David van Dam for FD

In brief

• Shell CEO Ben van Beurden has to guide the oil and gas multinational through various storms.
• In a long conversation with the FD, he explains why he couldn’t help but decrease the dividend.
• He also outlines the dilemma of developing new revenue models, while the old revenue model cannot be immediately discarded.

Last week, Shell CEO Ben van Beurden reduced the value of Shell’s assets by nearly $ 20 billion last week. The massive write-off is necessary because the corona pandemic has hit the global demand for oil and gas heavily and uncertainty about the future has increased. read more

London (CNN Business)Royal Dutch Shell is writing down the value of its assets by as much as $22 billion as lower oil prices push the Anglo-Dutch company to accelerate a shift away from fossil fuels.

Shell (RDSA) slashed its outlook for energy prices Tuesday, saying in a statement that it expects Brent crude to cost $40 per barrel in 2021 and $50 per barrel in 2022. Prices are forecast to rise to $60 per barrel in 2023.

The company said the changes to its price forecast reflect the economic trauma caused by the coronavirus pandemic, which has plunged countries around the world into recession and sharply reduced demand for energy. read more

LONDON — Royal Dutch Shell said on Tuesday it would write off assets worth up to $22 billion after the coronavirus crisis knocked oil and gas demand and weakened the energy price outlook.

The Anglo-Dutch company has already been preparing a major overhaul after CEO Ben van Beurden laid out plans in April to reduce Shell’s greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050.

Global travel restrictions to prevent the virus spreading affected more than 4 billion people at one point, taking cars off the roads and grounding planes, driving down fuel demand. read more

Coronavirus has dealt the fossil-fuel industry the biggest single blow in its history, and it is clear that 2020’s plummeting demand for oil and gas is no mere flesh wound. The global Covid-19 crisis may have already triggered a terminal decline for big oil.

BP’s decision last week to reset its oil price forecasts for the next three decades was the latest tremor in a seismic shift for the industry. Its forecasts of a $75-a-barrel oil price over the next 30 years were scrapped in favour of an average price of $55. The watershed decision wiped more than $17bn from the value of its business at a stroke… read more

18 JUNE 2020

Nearly 10 years after a clean-up was urged for areas polluted by Shell and other oil companies in the Niger Delta, work has begun on only 11% of planned sites while vast areas remain heavily contaminated, according to a new investigation by four NGOs.

In 2011 the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) released a report documenting the devastating impact of the oil industry in Ogoniland, and set out urgent recommendations for clean-up. But the new investigation highlights that “emergency measures” proposed by UNEP have not been properly implemented and that the billion-dollar clean-up project launched by the Nigerian government in 2016 has been ineffective. read more

POSTING SAT 13 JUNE 2020 ON OUR SHELL BLOG

Money in the pockets?:

“And 8% to 12% currently we don’t even make in our upstream business” BvB… That performance includes the huge over runs on Corrib, Penn Chem, Prelude, multiple other LNG projects, Alaska Fiasco, and many other (not to mention OPL 245).

It is such an embarrassing comparison to ExxonMobil in projects like Liza, which is highly likely to exceed returns Shell is chasing as a utility. Brasil (or Mexico) have the capacity to deliver similar returns to Liza, if there was leadership and strategy for a long term development. read more

By Akshat Rathi and Laura Hurst: 9 JUNE 2020

Royal Dutch Shell Plc had been turning out about 2.7 million barrels of oil each day until the novel coronavirus took hold of the world. Demand for oil, the company’s core product, dropped almost a third in April, and the price of West Texas Intermediate briefly dipped into negative numbers for the first time.

It’s not easy to run an oil major when people suddenly stop needing oil. Chief Executive Officer Ben van Beurden responded by slashing spending and cutting Shell’s dividend for the first time since World War II. And, as critics warned, the company remains saddled with debt from its $53 billion acquisition of BG Group in 2015. read more

‘Big win’ as Shell urged by more shareholder activists to meet climate targets

by David McPhee: 19/05/2020, 3:15 pm

A shareholder activist group has claimed a ‘big win’ after an increase in the number of investor votes urging Shell to meet its climate targets.

Follow This, which has led a campaign to encourage oil firms such BP, Shell, Chevron and Equinor to align their targets with the Paris Climate Agreement, saw 14.4% of investors vote for its resolution at Shell’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) – an increase from 5.5% in 2019. read more

Protesters chant ‘Shell must fall’ at oil major’s meeting

THE HAGUE (Reuters) – Dozens of demonstrators chanting “Shell must fall” gathered on Tuesday outside the oil giant’s headquarters in the Netherlands, where a virtual annual shareholders’ meeting was underway.

Roughly 30 activists from environmental groups Greenpeace, Extinction Rebellion and Code Red sang and danced in protest at the Hague offices of Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L).

Hundreds of activists had signed up to attend, but Dutch authorities allowed no more than 30 due to coronavirus distancing measures. read more

* European oil majors boost share of low-carbon investments

* European CEOs see faster energy transition after coronavirus

* GRAPHIC: European oil majors’ spending tilts green tmsnrt.rs/3dWh9VV

By Ron Bousso and Shadia Nasralla

LONDON, May 18 (Reuters) – Europe’s top oil and gas companies have diverted a larger share of their cash to green energy projects since the coronavirus outbreak in a bet the global health crisis will leave a long-term dent in fossil fuel demand, according to a Reuters review of company statements and interviews with executives. read more

Shell wants to be net-zero emissions business by 2050

12 May 2020

Shell aims to be a net-zero emissions energy business by 2050, or sooner if possible, as it focuses on its intention to “lead and thrive” through the transition to a low-carbon energy future.

In a recent Responsible Investment Annual Briefing, the company’s chief executive, Ben van Beurden, revealed an ambition to be net zero on all the emissions from the manufacture of all Shell products by 2050 at the latest. read more

Shell, Eni lead oil majors’ climate ambitions but still fall short -investors

* TPI prefers Eni for including third-party fuels, setting absolute carbon reduction target

* TPI says sector’s “net zero” carbon future not substantiated

* More details needed on offsetting, renewables plans

* OMV currently laggard among integrated energy groups

By Shadia Nasralla

LONDON, May 12 (Reuters) – None of the big oil companies currently meet U.N. targets to limit global warming despite the most ambitious targets set by Royal Dutch Shell and Eni , investors managing $19 trillion said on Tuesday. read more

“People will use public transport less” because of fears about picking up infection on crowded trains and buses, Cuneyt Kazokoglu, head of oil demand analysis at energy consultancy FGE, wrote in the Financial Times this month. “Increased reliance on cars once the lockdown measures ease will support petrol demand, potentially for years to come.”

There’s an intuitive logic to that proposition, and even signs that it might be backed up by data. Chinese cities are already seeing traffic jams on a par with pre-coronavirus times, according to data from TomTom International BV. With the pandemic still raging, the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s weekly petroleum status report has been showing a pick-up in gasoline consumption since its lows last month, though it’s still running 40% below where it was a year ago. read more

The petroleum giant is adjusting to falling oil demand, cutting both its dividend and its capital budget

The difference between Royal Dutch Shell and Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) is that Shell knows it’s a zombie, something Exxon refuses to believe. Regardless of whether you trade the Dutch version of Shell stock (NYSE:RDS.A) or the British version (NYSE:RDS.B), you’re buying an fossil fuel company that is now promising to disappear.

Shell CEO Ben van Beurden put it this way: “There is an energy transition underway which may even pick up speed in the recovery phase of this crisis and we want to be well positioned for it.” read more

By KATHERINE DUNN: April 16, 2020 4:07 PM GMT+1

Energy giant Royal Dutch Shell said Thursday it would aim to reduce its emissions to net-zero by 2050, making it the largest global oil and gas company in the world so far to sign on to the target. It’s a commitment that will fundamentally shift the nature of its business.

The target will cover emissions from the manufacture of its products, the company said. A net-zero goal means to reduce all possible emissions, while offsetting those that can’t be cut entirely; the 2050 target coincides with guidelines under the Paris climate change accord. read more

Jillian Ambrose: Thu 16 Apr 2020 11.11 BST

Royal Dutch Shell plans to become a net zero-carbon company by 2050 or sooner by selling more green energy to help reduce the carbon intensity of its business.

Ben van Beurden, Shell’s chief executive, said the company must focus on the long-term “even at this time of immediate challenge” caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Van Beurden told investors on Thursday that Shell would toughen its existing target to shrink the carbon intensity of its products by 50% within 30 years, to reach 65% by 2050. read more