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

Shell Plans to Cut Thousands of Jobs Amid Shift to Carbon Neutrality: What Investors Need to Know

Shell’s job cuts are just the latest unsettling news for Wall Street’s least-loved oil major (shares of Shell are down more than any other integrated oil and gas company so far this year).

BY Daniel Foelber:(TMFpalomino2) Oct 10, 2020 at 7:54AM

The case for why the job cuts are the right decision for investors.

To say it’s been an off-year for big oil would be an understatement. Shockwaves of volatility and lower energy demand have rippled through global markets. An added threat is the increasing role of renewables in the energy mix as wind and solar companies continue to gain market share — and oil companies lose it. read more

The international oil giant will cut about 40pc of overheads including staff…

Shell cuts back on fracking to fund renewable energy drive

The oil giant is seeking to free up investment for early-stage carbon capture and hydrogen projects

Falling oil and gas prices due to the pandemic have taken the shine off many assets and triggered heavy write-downs.

By Rachel Millard: 19 September 2020 • 9:30pm

Shell is making deep cuts in its fracking business as it tries to free up cash to cope with the pandemic and invest in renewable energy. read more

Royal Dutch Shell CEO Discusses Getting to Net-Zero Emissions in 2050; the Importance of Being “In Step” with Society; the “Knock” on Future Demand and on Maintaining “Financial Resilience” in a Crisis

Ben van Beurden speaks with IHS Markit Vice Chairman Daniel Yergin for the latest CERAWeek Conversations – available at www.ceraweek.com/conversations

WASHINGTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Royal Dutch Shell CEO Ben van Beurden talks about the company’s pending announcement on an up to $22 billion asset write down; the historic decision to cut what had been the world’s largest dividend for the first time since World War II; getting to net-zero emissions in 2050 and the future makeup of the company in latest edition of CERAWeek Conversations. 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

A Nightmare Scenario For Offshore Oil

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

FEBRUARY 27, 2020 / 10:26 AM

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – Oil and gas company Royal Dutch Shell and Dutch gas company Gasunie [GSUNI.UL] plan to build a massive green hydrogen plant in the northern Netherlands in the next decade, the companies said on Thursday, to cut emissions.

Fueled by a large new wind farm off the coast of Groningen province, the plant would ultimately be able to produce 800,000 tonnes of hydrogen by 2040, the companies said, cutting the Netherlands’ CO2 emissions by about 7 megaton per year. read more

February 27, 2020

Oil giant Shell, gas group Gasunie and Groningen’s port authority are joining forces to build a massive offshore wind farm and hydrogen plant in the northern province, Dutch media reported on Thursday.

The plan, dubbed NortH2, will be formally presented on Thursday afternoon but will, the companies say, be one of the ‘biggest renewable energy projects in the world’.

The project is still at the planning stage and definitive investment decisions still have to be taken. read more

Published by Industry Global News24: 06 Jan 2020

The Anglo-Dutch company had promised its investors in 2017 that, it will spend $1 bn to $2 bn per year. The fund will be invested in developing a clean energy project till the end of 2020. The company is falling short of the planned $4 billion-$6 billion to be invested between 2016 to end of 2020. This slow progress is likely to raise concerns from environmental groups that oil companies are not contributing to environmental conservation.

Since setting up the “new energies” division, the country has spent approximately $2 billion in setting up a low-carbon energy and electricity production facility. With only a year left to go, the company is far behind the set investment target of $4 bn-$6 bn. read more

Why energy companies are still investing gasoline in the age of the electric vehicle

Marissa Luck July 30, 2019

Why energy companies are still investing gasoline in the age of the electric vehicle

Tucked away off a Houston highway and behind a tightly-secured check point, Royal Dutch Shell’s tree-lined campus is packed with hundreds of researchers working on the next technological breakthroughs that could transform how the Anglo-Dutch oil major powers the world economy through the energy transition.

As Shell’s largest research and development center, the 200-acre Houston campus has 1,500 employees and hundreds of contractors. They’re working on everything from formulating new biodiesel to advancing liquefied natural gas into transportation fuels. Their research also extends into something more tangible in the near term: how to improve gasoline. read more

Printed below is an English translation of an article published today by the Dutch Financial Times, Financieele Dagblad.

Shell is looking for a green future in silence

How should Shell still make money if the role of fossil fuels becomes smaller and smaller? The company is sorting out with investments in green start-ups.

Beeldbewerking FD studio

Bert van Dijk

The construction of a large wind farm in the North Sea, an offer for Eneco and the acquisition of the charging station company NewMotion; it is the big steps that everyone can see that oil and gas multinational Shell is putting to a little less fossil. But under the bonnet of Shell and out of view of the general public, many smaller investments in start-ups give at least as interesting an insight into Shell’s view of the future. A search for the green future of Shell. read more

Printed below is an English translation of an article published today by the Dutch Financial Times, Financieele Dagblad. 

Maarten Wetselaar: ‘There has been a period of thirty years in which the industry and we also only talked about the largest oil platforms that were built and the deepest wells that were drilled.’ Photo: Michel de Groot

‘The energy transition gives power back to the customer’

Bert van Dijk: Energy: 12 Sept 2018

ShellRDSA € 27.85 + 1.05% is still an oil and gas multinational, but is sorting for a future in which it will become one of the largest electricity companies. ‘We are faced with a revolution’, says Maarten Wetselaar, member of the Executive Board of Shell in an interview with the FD. He is responsible, among other things, for the New Energies division that was established two years ago. read more

Ben Marlow, executive business editor: 9 SEPTEMBER 2018 • 8:39PM

Like a pair of mysterious soothsayers, Maarten Wetselaar and John Abbott are peering into the future. The world they see is almost unrecognisable from the one we inhabit today, and yet it is only just around the corner. In the west, the petrol car has become obsolete. Lorries are powered by liquid natural gas. Freight liners criss-cross the oceans fuelled by hydrogen. Solar and wind provide the energy to our homes. And the petrol station has been reimagined as an unlikely retail hotspot where people routinely gather to do their food shopping, pick up parcels, and sip artisan coffee. A convoy of vehicles are being rebooted at one of many charging points on the forecourt. FULL ARTICLE read more