Seeking Alpha

Royal Dutch Shell: Mid-Year 2021 Review

Tudor Invest Holdings: Aug. 03. 2021

Summary

• Higher commodity prices in Q2 pushed free cash flow to $12.7 billion.
• Shareholders should welcome the 38% increase in dividend and plan of share buyback.
• But the share price action seems to tell that the market is not that impressed.
• Net Zero carbon emission seems very ambitious to say the least.

FULL ARTICLE

Extracts from an email John Donovan received from the Guardian newspaper on 4 February 2020: 

…we will no longer accept advertising from fossil fuel extractive industries. 

We are the first major global news organisation to turn our backs on the oil and gas industry. The move will cost us money. But we felt obliged to act… 

-By Zik Gbemre  

OIL DEGRADATION/POLLUTION OF NIGER-DELTA CREEKS/LANDS: A SHARED BLAME 

• Most pipeline vandalism in recent times are third party induced for various unlawful gains 
• The increasing crime now a shared evil involving host communities, service contractors and some oil companies workers. 
• The polluted communities endangering lives and livelihoods of generations unborn 

It is very uncommon to experience crude oil/condensate spillages caused by equipment failure on the vast pipelines constructed by the Federal Government of Nigeria through supervisory NNPC/NPDC and operating oil partners to transport crude oil and associated product across the operating environment.

But no doubt, a significant proportion of crude oil/condensate spills that have become almost a daily experience, threatening health and livelihoods, in massive pollution, particularly across the Niger-Delta states are third party induced for various unlawful self-enrichment. read more

The Guardian

Shell boss: we have no plans to change strategy despite emissions ruling

Jillian Ambrose: Thu 29 Jul 2021 16.47 BST

‘Unreasonable’ court ruling does not need new strategy, Van Beurden says, as firm reveals multibillion-dollar shareholder windfall

Ben van Beurden denied the company would need to change its plans to meet the tougher court-ordered climate targets on Thursday, as he revealed a multibillion-dollar shareholder windfall for investors and better-than-expected quarterly profits. read more

DW.COM

Shell’s Niger Delta cleanup: Ogoniland’s uncertain future

A Dutch court in January ruled that Shell had polluted the Niger Delta and ordered the energy giant to pay compensation. But many are now questioning whether it is enough to put right the misery suffered by the people.

The conflict between the indigenous people of Ogoni in Nigeria’s Niger Delta is a perennial one.

This year’s court ruling by an appeals court in the Netherlands — in favour of Milieudefensie/Friends of the Earth Netherlands and four Nigerian farmers — was heralded by some of them as justice. read more

POLITICO

London Science Museum signed gagging order with Shell over climate change exhibition

The London Science Museum agreed not to publicly criticize Shell as part of a sponsorship deal for an exhibition about carbon capture. 

In a contract released to campaign group Culture Unstained under freedom of information laws, the museum said it would not “make any statement or issue any publicity or otherwise be involved in any conduct or matter that may reasonably be foreseen as discrediting or damaging the goodwill or reputation of the Sponsor.” read more

Shell’s failed blundering attempt to kill my royaldutchshell.website

By John Donovan (last updated 30 July 2021)

Last week, a CYBERSECURITY INTELLIGENCE outfit acting for Shell issued a 5-day ultimatum on behalf of Shell to the company hosting my royaldutchshell.website.

I would not have had a clue about the ultimatum letter if the hosting company had not tipped me off about what was going on behind my back at Shell’s direction.

For 26 years, I have used the Internet as a medium to criticise and expose Shell’s unscrupulous dishonest activities, including, for example, the Shell securities fraud that ruined Shell’s reputation. read more

Reuters

Shell to buy Inspire Energy in green energy push

Tue, July 27, 2021, 7:33 PM

The deal, by the company’s unit Shell New Energies U.S. LLC, advances Shell’s strategy to build and scale renewable and low-carbon businesses with a target to become a net-zero emissions energy business by 2050.

Shell has been seeking ways to accelerate its energy transition strategy and deepen carbon emission cuts following a landmark Dutch court ruling in May.

Like other oil companies, Shell has come under investor pressure to slash planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions… read more

THE BELLINGHAM HERALD

A refinery spewed black smoke into this NW community. Now this oil giant will pay

BY YSABELLE KEMPE: JULY 26, 2021 05:10 PM

The Northwest Clean Air Agency slapped Shell with a $60,000 penalty Monday, July 26, after its Puget Sound Refinery in Anacortes spewed odorous black smoke into the air in August and September.

FULL ARTICLE

Image from Amnesty International UK

IMAGE SOURCE: Slick PR can’t disguise Shell’s devastating oil pollution in Nigeria

ARTICLE FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES

The Fisherwomen, Chevron and the Leaking Pipe

By Ruth Maclean July 25, 2021, 3:00 a.m. ET

Oil companies like Chevron, Shell and Eni have made billions in profits in the vast Niger Delta region in the last decades. But now some are pulling out — and they are leaving utter ruin in their wake, according to government monitors and environmental and human rights organizations. The delicate ecosystem of the Niger Delta, once teeming with plant and animal life, is today one of the most polluted places on the planet. read more

Forbes

What If Shell Followed Volkswagen’s Example In The Fight Against Climate Change?

upstreamonline.com

Shell’s Niger Delta oil-spill case to be heard in UK courts

22 July 2021 8:13 GMT UPDATED  22 July 2021 8:13 GMT

Anglo-Dutch supermajor Shell has run out of time to appeal a UK court ruling earlier this year which found that a five-year-old case on environmental pollution in the Niger Delta should be heard in the UK and not Nigeria. In February, Shell’s lawyers failed to convince the High Court in London over the jurisdictional argument that the trial would be better decided in Nigeria, although Shell was given leave to appeal but declined to do so. read more

OILPRICE.com

Shell To Appeal Landmark Court Ruling

By City A.M – Jul 21, 2021, 11:30 AM CDT

Shell has today confirmed that it will appeal against a landmark court ruling requiring the oil giant to cut emissions faster than it had planned to.

The Anglo-Dutch firm said that it had been unfairly singled out by the ruling, which it said was not an “effective” way of tackling climate change.

In May, a court in the Hague ordered the firm to slash greenhouse emissions by 45 percent from 2019 levels by 2030. read more

Autocar

Shell to install 800 EV chargers at Waitrose shops by 2025

Project will increase the total number of Shell Recharge points in the UK eight-fold

By Jack Warrick: 22 July 2021

Multinational energy company Shell will install 800 electric vehicle chargers at Waitrose shops in by 2025, increasing its number of chargers almost eight-fold in the UK. Around 100 Waitrose shops will gain Shell Recharge stations, with each site expected to receive six 22kW chargers and two 50kW rapid chargers. read more

After two decades of seeking justice, the District Court of the Hague ruled in May 2019 that the case could be heard in The Netherlands. In the ongoing case, the Court is assessing the role that Shell played in the ‘Ogoni Nine’ – among them my husband – being sentenced to death and executed.

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

Shell to Appeal Dutch Court Ruling on Emissions Cuts

By Sarah McFarlane: July 20, 2021 8:24 am ET

Royal Dutch Shell PLC on Tuesday confirmed it would appeal against a Dutch court ruling calling for the oil major to reduce its carbon emissions at a faster pace, saying it was being unfairly singled out.

The energy giant said it was working toward increasing the scale and speed of its plans for cutting carbon emissions, but that the court ruling didn’t take into account the commitments it set out earlier this year to shift away from fossil fuels toward lower-carbon energy due to the timing of the hearings. read more