The Sunday Times Business Person of the Year 2022: The shortlist

Sunday December 11 2022, 12.01am, The Sunday Times

In a year buffeted by war, falling markets and government upheaval, we present the shortlist for the business person who has stood out above the rest

Ben van Beurden, Shell

The Dutchman will call time on a 40-year career at Shell in 2023, having spent nine years in the hot seat. He gambled early in his tenure on the £36 billion takeover of gas giant BG Group, relocated Shell’s head office to London, and cut its dividend when the oil price tanked during Covid. But the company has surged this year on the back of higher oil prices stoked by the Ukraine war. Van Beurden, 64, leaves Shell in a fitter state and with plans to embrace green energy — read more

This is MONEY

Shell’s £80m boss Ben van Beurden preparing to join stream of FTSE100 bosses heading for the door

By LUCY WHITE FOR THE DAILY MAIL: PUBLISHED: 21:50, 2 September 2022 | UPDATED: 08:04, 3 September 2022

The £80million boss of Shell is preparing to join the stream of FTSE100 bosses heading for the door. 

Ben van Beurden – who, it emerged in March, bagged £4.6million in bonuses on top of his £1.4million salary last year, taking his total pay and bonuses to almost £80million during his nine years at the helm – could step down as soon as 2023 as the oil giant begins its search for a replacement. 

His departure will mark the end of an era for Shell, as it tries to toe the tricky line of boosting Britain’s energy security with embracing sustainable technologies. While Van Beurden’s legacy includes a commitment to reduce oil production, he has been criticised for failing to take more drastic action. read more

REUTERS

Breakingviews: Shell’s next boss looks a shoo-in

LONDON, Sept 2 (Reuters Breakingviews) – Shell (SHEL.L) is about to get a new boss. Chief Executive Ben van Beurden, who has been in situ since the start of 2014, is likely to step down from the $192 billion oil giant next year, Reuters has reported read more . Plenty of credible candidates exist to replace him, but one looks the most obvious.

Despite battling with two major oil price slumps and an unprecedented 66% cut to Shell’s dividend in April 2020, Van Beurden’s track record looks acceptable. Since Jan. 1 2014, when he took over, Shell shares have returned 67%… He also pulled off the $70 billion purchase of BG Group in 2016, which made it a leading force in liquefied natural gas (LNG). read more

Shell invests in the Jackdaw gas field in the UK North Sea

Jul 25, 2022

BG International Limited, an affiliate of Shell U.K. Limited, has taken the final investment decision (FID) to develop the Jackdaw gas field in the UK North Sea, following regulatory approval earlier this year. Jackdaw will comprise a wellhead platform that is not permanently attended, along with subsea infrastructure which will tie back to Shell’s existing Shearwater gas hub.

The project is expected to come online in the mid-2020s, and at peak production rates, could represent over 6% of projected UK North Sea gas production in the middle of this decade, with operational emissions of less than 1% of the whole UK basin. That is enough energy to heat 1.4 million homes. read more

Reuters

Climate-focused Dutch funds to take lead on Shell investor engagement

By Shadia Nasralla and Ron Bousso: MAY 19, 2022

LONDON, May 19 (Reuters) – Two climate-focused Dutch pension fund managers have been named to lead climate negotiations with Shell (SHEL.L) on behalf of a major group of investors that helped shape the energy company’s drive to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

MN and PGGM will officially take the role on behalf of the Climate Action 100+ (CA100+) investor group comprising $68 trillion in assets following Shell’s annual general meeting on May 24, MN said on Thursday. read more

This is MONEY

Oil major switches sides: Shell’s UK move is a big plus for the City post-Brexit, says ALEX BRUMMER

By ALEX BRUMMER FOR THE DAILY MAIL

PUBLISHED: 22:21, 15 November 2021 | UPDATED: 22:21, 15 November 2021

Shell’s decision to sacrifice its ‘Royal Dutch’ designation and unify its domicile in London is epoch-making.

It is a big plus for the City post-Brexit, even if there are green campaigners who will find the increased presence of an oil major in the UK a cause for disquiet. read more

Energy giants’ lobbying fuels the rise of hydrogen

Shell and BP want the controversial gas in families’ boilers. They’re pushing hard. By John Collingridge

Sunday May 02 2021, 12.01am, The Sunday Times

EXTRACTS

Few parts of the UK have attracted as much government attention in recent months as northeast England. Although Conservative mayor Ben Houchen is favourite to win Thursday’s Tees Valley mayoral election, ministers have left nothing to chance.

The 34-year-old has hosted visits from Boris Johnson, chancellor Rishi Sunak and business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng. Nearby Hartlepool, where the Tories’ Jill Mortimer is the bookies’ favourite to grab the seat from Labour in this week’s by-election, has received a similar love-bombing.

Houchen’s campaign has had a distinctly green tinge. He has campaigned on a ticket of clean industrial rebirth in an area ravaged by the closures of steel and chemicals works.

Hydrogen has been at its heart — an element that in just a few years has propelled into the mainstream.

Huge vested interests lie behind the rise of hydrogen: oil giants such as Shell, BP and Norway’s Equinor have staked their futures on natural gas as a less-polluting alternative to oil. read more

Shell shareholders miss out on payday under weight of $74bn debt mountain  

The oil giant has promised more cash for investors – but not until debt has fallen to $65bn (£47bn)

Shell shareholders are to be kept waiting for higher dividend payouts as the oil giant labours under a massive debt pile.

The Anglo-Dutch company has pledged to distribute up to 30pc of cash flow to shareholders as soon as its debts come down to $65bn (£47bn), as it tries to keep investors on board while it moves towards lower carbon energy. read more

Shell has written down the value of some of its gas assets, including its Queensland Curtis project in Australia.

As the Shift to Green Energy Speeds Up, Shell’s Big Natural-Gas Bet Is at Risk. The fuel faces growing environmental scrutiny and competition from cleaner energy sources

By Sarah McFarlane: March 27, 2021 5:30 am ET

LONDON— Royal Dutch Shell PLC bet big on natural gas as the energy source of the future when it bought BG Group for $54 billion. Five years later, it appears the gas era won’t last long. read more

Tunisia faces exodus of Western oil giants

By Ron Bousso, Shadia Nasralla: 3 MIN READ: MARCH 26, 2021

LONDON (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell and Italy’s Eni are seeking to sell their oil and gas operations in Tunisia, industry sources said, as the North African country struggles to attract new investments following years of political instability.

Shell has hired investment bank Rothschild & Co. to sell its Tunisian assets, which include two offshore gas fields and an onshore production facility the Anglo-Dutch company acquired as part of its 2016 $53 billion takeover of BG Group, the sources told Reuters. 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

Shell cuts exploration ambitions in Norway, to focus on natural gas

By Reuters Staff: 9 February 2021

OSLO, Feb 9 (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell will narrow its exploration scope in Norway to focus on natural gas production and possibly offshore wind in future, it told the Norwegian oil and energy ministry.

Shell said in October it planned to reduce its oil and gas operations to nine basins around the world as part of its strategy to reduce the carbon intensity of its operations. It is expected to announce details of its new strategy on Thursday. read more

Is former BG Group/Shell Exec Sami Iskander carrying any reputational baggage?

MESSAGE POSTED BY JOHN DONOVAN ON OUR SHELL BLOG: 4 FEB 2021

POSTED ON BEHALF OF AN INVESTIGATIVE CONTACT:

Newly former Shell executive Sami Iskander has been appointed CEO to London-traded energy company Petrofac, which is facing corruption allegations in Italy and from the U.K.’s SFO.

The question is whether Iskander, who was one of only four executives from British Gas retained by Shell when the two merged in 2015, brings any baggage with him? read more

“Bonus Group” posting on Shell Blog: 20 JAN 2020

The long overdue structural reorganisation at Shell is rapidly approaching. No better place to start than within the Brazil Asset which has been propped-up for over ten years now by the same BG Group sycophants who have a proven track record of overbooking reserves on the basis of flawed functionall approved technical workflows. These individuals are still clinging desperately to their positions five years after the takeover of BG Group by Shell. Can it be that Shell cannot afford to move them on lest their poor work and lies be revealed? Get rid of them, truth and transparency are now required if not demanded in the Brasil Asset! read more

The Telegraph

Big Oil’s huge bet to save itself from extinction

A shift to renewables and the rise of green energy giants means the future for former fossil fuel titans is far from certain, writes Rachel Millard

Tuesday 20 October 2020 The Daily Telegraph 

EXTRACTS

It was the early days of 2015 when Shell’s chief executive Ben van Beurden ascended the stage of the InterContinental Hotel on London’s Park Lane with a stirring message for his industry peers amid strengthening global action on carbon emissions. read more

Royal Dutch Shell: Energy Transition Woes

• Poor messaging from management, as well as an ill-prepared balance sheet caused in part by buybacks, has caused the European major a lot of pain.
• Arguably, senior executives deserve to be shown the door. But even if that happens, expect the pivot away from fossil fuels to continue.
• Is the move into Power and other “Green Energy” assets the right move? Maybe, maybe not.
• This idea was discussed in more depth with members of my private investing community, Energy Income Authority. Get started today »

I often get asked why I don’t cover the supermajors all that often on Seeking Alpha. The answer comes down to a rather simple reality: time invested versus potential gain. Anyone that has followed my long / short book knows that whatever I take a stake in, I know inside out. Quite frankly, the sprawling operations of most majors coupled with competing against institutionals that have enough research analysts on the payroll to pack a local gymnasium makes it a losing proposition – or at least in my view. read more