Crude Woes: Chevron to Make Nearly 10-15% Staff Redundant

Shell is proposing voluntary unemployment.

Zacks Equity Research: Zacks June 2, 2020

In a bid to bounce back from the drastic reduction in commodity prices resulting from the plaguing coronavirus, Chevron Corporation CVX is slashing headcount by nearly 10-15%, indicating an approximate cut of 6,000 of its 45,000 non-gas station staff. This move is in line with the company’s continued portfolio rationalization to reflect its operational efficiencies and match the projected activity levels. read more

A Nightmare Scenario For Offshore Oil

Editorial Dept: Oilprice.com: May 31, 2020

Between low demand, soaring inventories, depressed prices, a global pandemic, and now, hurricane season, it seems a perfect storm is forming around the offshore oil industry.

The world’s offshore oil market, responsible for 30 percent of all the world’s oil production, is facing an impossible set of challenges. With oil sitting at half the price of its yearly high, and doubts forming around the future of demand, in addition to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic wreaking havoc on the global economy, companies are struggling to rein in capital spending and are beginning to rethink the future of key projects. read more

Zacks Equity Research: Zacks:May 29, 2020

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit rejected the petition of oil supermajors and ruled that state courts are more suitable to impartially adjudicate climate change lawsuits against oil and gas companies instead of federal venues that are suspected to be bias to the energy industry.

The lawsuits, filed by the cities of San Francisco and Oakland, hold five Big Oil majors, namely ExxonMobil XOM, Chevron CVX, ConocoPhillips COP, BP plc BP and Royal Dutch Shell RDS.A accountable for misleading the public by wrongly promoting their work to be environmentally friendly when in reality, they were aware of their hazardous contribution to climate change. By alleging the companies to be financially responsible for this menace, they demand the oil giants to cough up billions for the damages caused due to intensified carbon footprint and help construct a protective infrastructure to prevent the rise in sea-level and other problems cropping up from global warming. read more

News provided by

Oil and Gas Climate Initiative

May 26, 2020, 08:03 ET

Focusing on what matters

LONDON, May 26, 2020 /CNW/ — The unprecedented challenges the world is facing force us all to sharpen our focus on what really matters. Our immediate priority, as CEOs, is to do everything we can so that our people and communities are safe and capable of confronting the pandemic effectively. We will work to help the world recover from the economic shock of this crisis that has undoubtedly hit some more than others yet impacts us all. read more

By Brian Melley | AP  May 26, 2020 at 7:22 p.m. GMT+1

LOS ANGELES — Big Oil lost a pair of court battles Tuesday that could lead to trials in lawsuits by California cities and counties seeking damages for the impact of climate change.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected arguments by energy companies and ruled state courts are the proper forum for lawsuits alleging producers promoted petroleum as environmentally responsible when they knew it was contributing to drought, wildfires, and sea level rise associated with global warming.

The lawsuits claim Chevron, Exxon Mobil, ConocoPhillips, BP, Royal Dutch Shell and other companies created a public nuisance and should pay for damage from climate change and help build sea walls and other infrastructure to protect against future impact — construction that could cost tens of billions of dollars. read more

The coronavirus pandemic has brought into sharp relief the existential threat posed to the world’s biggest oil companies from policies aimed at combating climate change by offering a glimpse into a future with little demand for petroleum products such as gasoline, diesel and jet fuel.

It has also brought to the fore a question with profound implications for the energy industry and Houston, where fortunes rise and fall with the price of oil. Has the virus — in two short but life-altering months — fundamentally changed society and consumer behavior, making it likely that global oil demand would peak earlier than expected, perhaps even during this decade? read more

Shell hoping voluntary severances will help weather oil crisis

Laura Hurst, Bloomberg May 21, 2020

Royal Dutch Shell will use measures including voluntary severance for staff to bolster its finances as the coronavirus pandemic batters profits, according to people with knowledge of the matter.In a note to staff, Chief Executive Officer Ben van Beurden wrote that the organization was being reshaped to make it leaner and more resilient, the people said. The company has already slashed spending and surprised investors with a two-thirds cut to its dividend.

Shell isn’t the only company making big changes to withstand the unprecedented oil-industry disruption caused by Covid-19. Most of its peers have made big spending reductions, while Norway’s Equinor ASA also cut its dividend.

BP Plc promised its employees their jobs were safe at least until the end of June, but companies including Chevron Corp., Marathon Oil Corp. and Halliburton Corp. are laying off employees. read more

BP, Shell Must Face Claims Emissions Caused Fatal Cancer

law360.com — Law360 (May 19, 2020, 7:51 PM EDT) — An Illinois appeals court has restored a wrongful death lawsuit brought against BP and other companies over a man’s cancer allegedly linked to a nearby refinery’s benzene emissions, deciding that suspicion alone of benzene’s link to the cancer isn’t enough to start the clock running on a claim.

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* 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

By Nick Cunningham – May 12, 2020, 7:00 PM CDT

Oil prices continue to rise on the prospect of a rebound in fuel demand as economies begin to reopen.  But there is a large difference between oil demand rising from recent lows and actually growing relative to pre-COVID-19 trends. In other words, demand destruction on the order of nearly 30 million barrels per day (mb/d) may have been brief, but we are a long way from a 100-mb/d oil market.

In fact, some are wondering whether the world will ever get back to 100 mb/d of oil demand. Even oil executives have their doubts. Royal Dutch Shell’s CEO Ben van Beurden recently suggested that a rebound is unlikely, even looking out beyond 2020. “We do not expect a recovery of oil prices or demand for our products in the medium term,” he said. read more

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

Shadia Nasralla: MAY 12, 2020

* 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

By David Fickling | Bloomberg: May 11, 2020 at 8:09 a.m. GMT+1 There’s one hope for oil market bulls facing into the abyss of the 9.3 million barrels-a-day demand slump from the spread of Covid-19: The aftermath will see a renaissance in car-driving.

“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

English translation of an article published by the Dutch FT.

Shell surprises investors with a historic decrease in dividend

Bert van Dijk and Saskia Jonker

• Shell is reducing the dividend due to challenging macroeconomic conditions.
• Shell’s dividend has been under pressure for some time.
• Due to sharply declining oil and gas prices and the drop in demand for oil products, net profit decreased 46% to $ 2.9 billion in the past quarter.

It took four board meetings, but then the time had come: oil and gas multinational Shell RDSA cut € 15.48-10.43% for the first time in 80 years in its dividend. “A difficult day for the company,” said Shell CEO Ben van Beurden. ‘No chairman of the board wants this on his track record, but it is wise to do’.

Shell reduces its quarterly dividend by 66% to $ 0.16 per share. It is the first time since World War II that Shell, one of the largest dividend payers in the world, is reducing the dividend. Shell paid $ 15 billion to shareholders last year. read more

By Chris Hughes | Bloomberg: April 30, 2020 at 11:33 a.m. GMT+1

Hats off to the board of Royal Dutch Shell Plc for letting reality rather than hope determine the oil major’s dividend. Thursday’s historic and hefty cut to the payout recognizes that the pandemic is likely to change the dynamics of energy demand for some time. The hope now must be that Shell resists any pressure to reverse the reduction in a hurry. Instead, it should use the breathing space to reset more fundamentally how it allocates financial resources to investment, debt reduction and paying out to shareholders. read more

Ron Bousso, Shadia Nasralla: APRIL 30, 2020

LONDON (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell RDSa. cut its dividend for the first time since World War Two on Thursday as the energy company retrenched in the face of an unprecedented drop in oil demand due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Shell also suspended the next tranche of its share buyback programme and said it was reducing oil and gas output by nearly a quarter after its net profit almost halved in the first three months of 2020.

Shell’s shares in London dropped 6.7% in early trading on Thursday, underperforming rival BP (BP.L).

“Given the risk of a prolonged period of economic uncertainty, weaker commodity prices, higher volatility and uncertain demand outlook, the Board believes that maintaining the current level of shareholder distributions is not prudent,” Shell Chairman Chad Holliday said. read more

By Nick Cunningham – Apr 26, 2020, 4:00 PM

The oil majors are facing a financial vice like they never have before.  With oil prices hovering around $20 per barrel and no end in sight for the global pandemic, the financial pain has only just begun. Norway’s Equinor became the first large oil company to cut its dividend, slashing it by 67 percent. It may not be the last.

On Friday, Italy’s Eni reported a 94 percent decline in profit in the first quarter, a period that did not capture the full brunt of the current slump. Eni cut spending by 30 percent and lowered its production guidance for this year by 100,000-125,000 bpd. “The period since March has been the most complex period the global economy has seen for more than 70 years,” Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi said. “Like everyone, we expect a complicated 2020.” read more