Posts under ‘Ben van Beurden’

Shell plays down risk of stranded oil and gas reserves

The disclosure is a rare admission by a major oil and gas company that some of its reserves may be worthless in a world shifting to renewable energy from fossil fuels in an effort to stem global warming.

The Anglo-Dutch company said in a document to investors summarising its climate strategy that around 75% of its proved oil and gas reserves will be produced by 2030, with an additional 3% produced after 2040.

Since late 2019, Shell has wiped out over $20 billion from the value of its oil and gas reserves after lowering the outlook for commodity prices because of the energy transition and the impact on demand of the COVID-19 pandemic. read more

Shell flags shrinking oil, gas reserves life in energy transition document for shareholders

• author Robert Perkins 
• Editor Jonathan Fox 

HIGHLIGHTS

Two-thirds of proved reserves to be produced by 2040

Comes amid rising concerns over future asset write-offs

Shell expects oil production to slide by 1-2% in coming years

London — Shell expects to have produced about two-thirds of its existing oil and gas reserves over the next two decades, the company said April 15, highlighting its falling exposure to future oil prices as the major shifts focus to renewable energy and electricity supplies. read more

Shell threatens to leave US trade groups over climate disagreements

The Netherlands-based oil major took aim at the American Petroleum Institute, the Texas Oil & Gas Association and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, pushing them to support and advocate for climate policies in line with the Paris climate agreement. The 2015 agreement aims to limit the rise in the average global temperature to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

Shell’s move reassessing its trade group memberships comes as the European oil giant moves from its longtime fossil fuels business to meet its goal of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050. read more

Oil giant Royal Dutch Shell says it will take a £145m first-quarter hit from Texas freeze that left nearly 200 dead

• Severe freezing weather hit Texas in February this year triggering many deaths
• Millions of people were also left without power and Shell’s operations were hit 

By JANE DENTON FOR THISISMONEY

PUBLISHED: 09:22, 7 April 2021 | UPDATED: 09:24, 7 April 2021

Royal Dutch Shell has warned that the severe winter storm in Texas earlier this year looks set to hit its bottom line for the fist quarter.

In February, a snowstorm swept across Texas and swathes of North America, knocking out sections of the former’s electricity grid, leaving millions without power and nearly 200 people dead. read more

By John Donovan

On 1st April 2021, I sent the email printed below to Royal Dutch Shell PLC Chief Executive Mr Ben van Beurden and to his legal director, Mr Donny Ching.

It contained serious allegations by a credible whistleblower about Shell’s alleged corrupt activities in Iraq in collusion with the Iranian regime.

I invited Shell to comment. Shell chose not to do so.

Shell also had time to obtain a legal injunction to prevent publication.

Shell chose not to do so.

Shell could have requested more time to investigate. read more

Shell to link executive pay more closely to group’s climate performance

By Reuters Staff: Mon, March 29, 2021, 10:33 AM

LONDON (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell has proposed linking its directors’ pay more closely to the group’s climate performance and severing the link between bonuses and liquefied natural gas (LNG) production volumes, it said on Monday.

The weighting of Shell’s energy transition performance on its targeted path to net zero emissions by 2050 would double to 20% of the directors’ long-term incentive plan calculation if shareholders vote for the plan at a meeting on May 18. read more

SHELL COMMENTS ON THE VERDICT FROM THE MILAN TRIBUNAL OVER OPL-245

Mar 17, 2021

Ben van Beurden, Chief Executive of Royal Dutch Shell plc (“RDS” or the “Company”), today made the following statement after the Milan Tribunal acquitted the company of charges related to Oil Prospecting Licence (OPL) 245 in Nigeria:

“We welcome today’s decision by the Milan Tribunal. We have always maintained that the 2011 settlement was legal, designed to resolve a decade-long legal dispute and unlock development of the OPL 245 block. At the same time, this has been a difficult learning experience for us. Shell is a company that operates with integrity and we work hard every day to ensure our actions not only follow the letter and spirit of the law, but also live up to society’s wider expectations of us.” read more

Eni and Shell Acquitted of Nigeria Bribery Charges in Milan

Alberto Brambilla, Laura Hurst: Mar 17 2021, 9:24 PM Mar 18 2021, 4:43 AM

(Bloomberg) — Eni SpA, Royal Dutch Shell Plc and several of their current and former executives were acquitted of corruption charges related to a Nigerian oil deal by a court in Milan.

The verdict ends a three-year legal saga that loomed large over the tenure of Eni Chief Executive Officer Claudio Descalzi, who was among those found not guilty on Wednesday. Italian prosecutors had sought an eight-year jail term for him. read more

Russia’s Gazprom, Shell ink 5-year ‘strategic’ deal

By New Europe Online/KG: PUBLISHED 21:57 MARCH 17, 2021

Gazprom and Royal Dutch Shell signed on March 16 an Agreement of Strategic Cooperation for a five-year period, the Russian gas giant said.

The signing ceremony was held via a video link in the presence of Gazprom CEO Alexey Miller and Shell CEO Ben van Beurden.

The newly signed document, which expands the interaction between the two companies, focuses on research of energy markets, implementation of projects along the entire value chain, cooperation in digitalization of technologies, and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, Gazprom said. read more

Andrew Mackenzie named new Shell chairman

Amanda Jordan: March 11, 2021

Royal Dutch Shell announced the appointment of Andrew Mackenzie as chairman with effect from the conclusion of the annual general meeting on May 18.

Mr Mackenzie will succeed Chad Holliday, who will step down the same day having served as chairman for six years, Shell said Thursday in a statement.

Mr Mackenzie, a British national, joined Shell’s board in October after a career in the energy, petrochemicals and resources sector, latterly as chief executive officer of mining giant BHP from 2013 to 2019. read more

Shell Names Mackenzie as New Chairman, Proposes 50% Female Board

(Bloomberg) — Royal Dutch Shell Plc appointed former BHP Group executive Andrew Mackenzie as chairman, and said its board would have as many women as men on it for the first time.

Mackenzie, who oversaw BHP’s retreat from shale, takes over from Chad Holliday, whose departure had been flagged since last year. It also appointed cyber expert Jane Lute, a move that will take its board to gender parity, the company said.

“Andrew brings to Shell his experience of leadership, his global outlook, and a deep understanding of the energy business and climate action,” the company said in the statement. read more

Shell CEO takes pay cut in 2020 for the second straight year

By Reuters Staff: MARCH 11, 2021: 8.30 am

March 11 (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell’s Chief Executive Ben van Beurden pay package nearly halved in 2020, a year in which the oil major’s profit tumbled because of low oil prices and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Van Beurden, who became CEO in 2014, oversaw sharp growth in Shell’s oil and gas output following the 2016 acquisition of BG Group for $53 billion.

But an unprecedented hit to the energy sector last year, knocked oil prices into negative territory for the first time in history, and forced major players to cut dividend payouts and management pay to weather the storm. read more

APPOINTMENT OF NEW CHAIR AND OTHER BOARD AND COMMITTEE CHANGES AT ROYAL DUTCH SHELL PLC

March 11, 2021 02:04 ET | Source: Shell International B.V.

APPOINTMENT OF NEW CHAIR AND OTHER BOARD AND COMMITTEE CHANGES

CHAIR ANNOUNCEMENT

The Board of Directors of Royal Dutch Shell plc (the “Company”) has announced the appointment of Sir Andrew Mackenzie as the new Company Chair with effect from the conclusion of Shell’s 2021 Annual General Meeting, scheduled for May 18, 2021. Andrew will succeed Chad Holliday who will step down on May 18 having served as Chair for six years and as a Board Director since September 2010. read more

Shell changes senior UK leadership in global overhaul

LONDON (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell is changing the senior leadership of its operations in Britain as part of a global overhaul to cut costs and shift away from oil and gas to renewables and power.

Under the changes, which have been announced internally, country chair Sinead Lynch will become Shell’s global head of low-carbon fuels, a company spokeswoman said.

Lynch, who joined the Anglo-Dutch company in 2016 following its acquisition of BG Group, will be replaced by David Bunch who currently runs Shell’s retail business across Europe and South Africa. Bunch joined Shell in 1997. read more

Energy firms bet on hydrogen boom, but payday far away

By Ron Bousso, Stephanie Kelly: March 3, 2021: 4 MIN READ

“Without hydrogen by 2050 we cannot aim to be a net zero (carbon) economy,” Royal Dutch Shell CEO Ben van Beurden told the CERAWeek online conference this week.

The universe’s most abundant element, hydrogen has been touted for decades as an alternative to fossil fuels, but attempts to commercialise it for use in vehicles and industry have largely failed.

So far, commercial-scale production has been from natural gas or coal and it is a niche market used mainly in oil refining and heavy industry. read more

By John Donovan

The BBC recently published an article under the headline: Shell’s legal woes over Nigeria’s oil.

The article listed some of the growing numbers of lawsuits being brought against Shell in multiple legal jurisdictions, all arising from Shell’s deplorable conduct in Nigeria.

The damaging global news coverage reporting on the various court actions seems to have stung Shell’s CEO Ben van Beurden into threatening that Shell may pack its corporate bags and pull out of Nigeria. read more