News and information on Royal Dutch Shell Plc
By Ahmad Ghaddar, Alex Lawler and Rania El Gamal | VIENNA
OPEC has agreed its first limit on oil output since 2008, sources in the producer group told Reuters, with Saudi Arabia accepting “a big hit” on its production and agreeing to arch-rival Iran freezing output at pre-sanctions levels.
Brent crude futures jumped 8 percent to more than $50 a barrel after Riyadh signaled it had finally reached a compromise with Iran after insisting in recent weeks that Tehran fully participate in any cut.
By Ed Crooks, November 11, 2016
“Between a battle lost and a battle won, the distance is immense and there stand empires,” said Napoleon. The same is true of elections.
Donald Trump may have come slightly behind Hillary Clinton in the popular vote for the presidency, but his convincing victory in the electoral college will give him the ability to reshape the energy industry in the US and around the world.
His hand will be strengthened by Republican control of Congress. Parts of Mr Trump’s agenda will face resistance in Congress, but his energy policy is unlikely to be one of those areas. His support for oil, gas and coal, his commitment to deregulation and his rejection of climate policy are all well aligned with mainstream Republican thinking.
By The Motley Fool Nov 7, 2016
Deal in danger
My bearish view on Royal Dutch Shell (LSE: RDSB) hasn’t improved over the weekend, either, following news of fresh bickering between OPEC members.
On Monday, OPEC’s Mohammed Barkindo was forced to deny that the wheels are not falling off its much-lauded supply freeze agreement, with the group’s secretary general announcing that all 14 member states remain committed to the deal.
But rumours that Saudi Arabia vowed late last week to raise its own production, should members fail to rubber-stamp the deal this month, negates any suggestion of cross-cartel unity. Some members like Iran have been exempted from cutting, or even holding, their own production, causing other group members to publicly call for similar exemptions. The political and economic ramifications of getting an agreement over the line are clearly colossal.
By Rania El Gamal and Alex Lawler | DUBAI/LONDON
Old disputes between Saudi Arabia and rival Iran resurfaced at a meeting of OPEC experts last week, with Riyadh threatening to raise oil output steeply to bring prices down if Tehran refuses to limit its supply, OPEC sources say.
Clashes between the two OPEC heavyweights, which are fighting proxy wars in Syria and Yemen, have become frequent in recent years.
Tensions subsided, however, in recent months after Saudi Arabia agreed to support a global oil supply limiting pact, thus raising the prospect that OPEC would take steps to boost oil prices.
KYODO, STAFF REPORT: 13 October 2016:
Oil distributors Idemitsu Kosan Co. and Showa Shell Sekiyu K.K. have decided to postpone their planned April merger as Idemitsu has yet to gain consent for the deal from the founding family, sources close to the matter said Thursday.
Idemitsu, the nation’s second largest wholesaler, and Showa Shell, the fifth biggest, were expected to announce the decision later in the day, according to the sources.
Idemitsu and Showa Shell originally revealed a plan to merge in 2015. But the progress of the merger has become increasingly uncertain after Idemitsu founding members, who hold a 34 percent stake, enough to veto the merger, announced their opposition to the plan in June.
9 October 2016
Royal Dutch Shell signed a preliminary memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Iran’s National Petrochemical Company on Sunday for cooperation in the petrochemical industry, the Iranian oil ministry’s news agency SHANA reported.
Hans Nijkamp, the head of the department for Iran affairs at Royal Dutch Shell, said the signing of the MOU came after months of negotiations between the two companies, according to SHANA.
“We believe that we can have joint projects in the petrochemical field with the National Petrochemical Company,” he said.
By Rania El Gamal and Alex Lawler | ALGIERS
For years, debates in the OPEC conference room were dominated by clashes between top producer Saudi Arabia and arch-rival Iran.
But as the two managed to find a rare compromise on Wednesday – with Riyadh softening its stance towards Tehran – a third OPEC superpower emerged.
Iraq overtook Iran as the group’s second-largest producer several years ago but kept its OPEC agenda fairly low-profile. On Wednesday, Baghdad finally made its presence felt.
By Ed Crooks: September 9, 2016
“Grant me chastity and continence, but not yet,” St Augustine wrote in his Confessions, remembering his prayer as an adolescent. Opec members are taking much the same attitude to restraining their oil production.
Saudi Arabia and Russia, the world’s two largest crude producers, said on Monday they would co-operate on ways to stabilise oil prices, but stopped short of agreeing to freeze production. There will be a working group to study ways to curb price volatility, and co-operation on production curbs was held out as a possibility. But Khalid al-Falih, Saudi Arabia’s energy minister, was clearly in no hurry to make any commitments.
Sarfaraz A. Khan: Aug. 31, 2016 3:20 PM ET
Summary
Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A, RDS.B) has recently agreed to sell its Brutus/Glider assets in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico to Houston-based EnVen Energy for $425 million in cash. Shell was pumping 25,000 barrels of oil per day from these offshore properties, which was equivalent to 5.8% of the oil giant’s Gulf of Mexico production or less than 1% of its total production.
The asset sale is a small step in the right direction which will improve Shell’s cash reserves which stood at $15.2 billion at the end of June. Shell intends to sell $6 billion to $8 billion of assets this year. Overall, the company aims to dispose $30 billion of assets, spread in 5 to 10 countries and representing 10% of its production, by 2018. That will allow the company to reduce its debt which has ballooned following the $53 billion takeover of BG Group.
Mon Aug 29, 2016 2:01pm EDT
By Karolin Schaps | STAVANGER, NORWAY
The huge global oil oversupply that has weighed on prices for the past two years may not clear until the second half of 2017, Shell’s chief energy adviser Wim Thomas told Reuters.
The potential return to the market of some 1.5 million barrels per day of supply from Libya and Nigeria and uncertainty about Iranian and Iraqi production levels could push a rebalancing further away than many in the oil industry are hoping.
By Tsuyoshi Inajima, Stephen Stapczynski and Shigeru Sato: August 3, 2016 — 7:09 AM BST Updated on August 3, 2016 — 8:37 AM BST
Idemitsu Kosan Co. founding family descendant Shosuke Idemitsu has begun buying up shares in rival Japanese oil refiner Showa Shell Sekiyu KK in a bid to block a proposed merger between the two companies.
The Idemitsu founder’s son purchased 400,000 Showa Shell shares and may buy more until his namesake company gives up on the deal, according to a statement distributed to reporters in Tokyo on Wednesday. Showa Shell rose as much as 12 percent to 1,014 yen, the biggest intraday gain in more than a year, and closed 3.8 percent higher. Idemitsu fell 3.9 percent to 1,984 yen.
For oil companies, the second quarter might be as good as it gets.
Shares gained more than in any other industry, thanks to crude rising from a 12-year low. Profits were the best in at least three quarters for majors including Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Chevron Corp. and BP Plc, helped by cost cuts, analysts say. The rest of the year might not be as rosy as supply holds near record levels.
The combined market value of the world’s oil companies shrank by $2 trillion in the past two years following crude’s collapse. While analysts agree the worst of the oversupply is over, BNP Paribas SA and JBC Energy GmbH are among those forecasting a slide back to $40 a barrel as output rebounds in Canada, Iran, Nigeria and the U.S., hurting producers whose investment cuts have put future growth in doubt.
Back in February 2015, the price of West Texas Intermediate stood at about $52 per barrel, half of its 2014 peak. I argued then that a renewed decline was coming that could drive it below $20, a scenario regarded by oil bulls as unthinkable. But prices did fall further, dropping all the way to a low of $26 in February. Since then, crude rallied to spend several weeks flirting with $50 per barrel, a level not seen since last year. But it won’t last; I’m sticking to my call for prices to decline anew to $10 to $20 per barrel.
The conflict between Middle East oil suppliers Iran and Saudi Arabia is playing out between the founding family of one of Japan’s largest refiners and its board.
Idemitsu Kosan Co. agreed last July to buy a stake with 33.3 percent voting rights in Showa Shell Sekiyu KK from Royal Dutch Shell Plc for 169 billion yen ($1.64 billion). Idemitsu has close ties with Iran and shouldn’t be associated with Showa Shell, in which state-run Saudi Arabian Oil Co. owns a stake, said a lawyer for Idemitsu’s founding family, which “wants the company to let go of the stake.”
The battle for hegemony in the Middle East between Saudi Arabia and Iran threatens to up-end a $US4 billion ($5.4bn) merger in Japan.
The family of the late founder of Idemitsu Kosan is opposing a planned merger between the oil refiner — Japan’s second-largest behind JX — and Showa Shell Sekiyu, its smaller rival. Idemitsu has maintained close ties with Iran since the 1950s while Showa Shell is 15 per cent owned by Saudi Arabia’s state-owned Saudi Arabian Oil Co, known as Aramco.
The Idemitsu family said a merger would be “inappropriate” given the growing tensions between the two countries. The two Persian Gulf nations, which belong to rival sects of Islam, are jockeying for political influence in the region and have recently clashed over the question of a cap on crude output.
By Ed Crooks: June 17, 2016
This week has brought evidence of contrasting short-term and long-term trends in the oil market. In the short term, demand and supply are both turning out to be stronger than many had expected. The IEA revised up its forecast for oil demand growth this year in its monthly oil market report, but added that rising production would mean global oversupply could persist into 2017.
There are early indications of an upturn in activity in the US shale industry, still faint so far, but ominous for anyone relying on a sharp rebound in crude. And Iran said its oil production had reached 3.8m barrels per day, confirming the strong growth following the lifting of sanctions that was already visible last month. Iran’s oil exports have tripled since late 2015.
: For a further example of outstanding performance by BG Group Alumni, London Lad need look no further than Sound Energy where the share price has plummeted from £0.935 in February 2017 to £0.0335 December this year. This remarkable performance, however, does not detract from the Directors' and the Senior Managers' whopping salaries and bonuses. One can barely hear oneself think above the slurping and grunting at the trough.
: Interesting news article. “Network Rail are well into devolving and restructuring the organisation so that all activities and roles are closer to passengers in order to drive up train performance”. In 2018, many UK train commuters had a tough time with timetable schedules, journeys that didn’t leave or arrive on-time and delays due to major projects. Could this revival be attributed to the previous chief executive and one of the former Shell and BG Group ‘chosen few’, stepping down from his role?
: To put London Lad's rather naive comments into context. In the final days before the Executive Chairman, Andrew Gould 'pulled the plug' on the whole shooting match, at a Town Hall Meeting, the Chief Operating Officer, Sami Iskander, stood up and announced, to anyone who could be bothered to listen, that the company had spent £200MM assuring work which later cost them £2Bn because it was wrong. An absolutely, stellar performance. The people responsible for this are now deeply embedded within Shell's matrix organisation. An excellent result for the shareholders. Perhaps, a Bridge too Far?
: London Lad, Good to hear from you. I hope that you enjoyed your recent trip to Aberdeen. Having also been employed by Shell, I consider myself fortunate that I was not one of the 'Chosen Few'. The 'Chosen Few' are the most corrupt of the corrupt and will fit in well with your ilk. In respect of the slur about my performance, BG were involved in what can only be described as a stupendous multi-billion dollar technical fraud against Petrobras based upon a corrupt workflow which was both Functionally Approved through their Assurance Team and signed-off by the relevant Discipline Functional Head. They refused to correct their workflow and that resulted in a technical fraud. They tried to make me complicit in this fraud, but I refused. That is called integrity, something which I have no doubt that you know little of. You clearly relish brushing shoulders with fraudsters and liars.
: I can only assume from the continuous moaning from “Bonus Group” that he/she was not one of the “chosen few” from the BG group and hence the vindictiveness. Poor performance = limited or no job opportunities which applies to both Shell and ex-BG staff. As a share holder I wouldn’t want it differently.
: Further to Bogus Group's post of Thursday 21st November. BG Group the failed Internet Cafe, cappucino and Belgian chocolate lifestyle company had an established reputation for: constructive dismissal, lack of transparency and corrupt 'do as I say, not as I do' line management. The acceptance of the 'Chosen Few' from BG by Shell into its upper echelons can only lead to further corruption. After all what was on the BG Portal in terms of Company Policy was of course also law, or at least that is what they would have you believe. As employers they were a complete disgrace and the company a complete shambles from top to bottom. Visitors to this site can look forward to more revelations of incompetence in due course as they unfold.
: I was lured by the Michael Coates (Associate General Counsel at Shell) interview by Lawyer Monthly, and the question……. what is the most challenging aspect of your job and how do you overcome this? His response “There are a number of interesting challenges but I will share one internal challenge, the management of our in-house legal team” The acquisition of BG Group and the infiltration of “the chosen few” from that company’s in-house legal team, may have bestowed a challenge he could never have imagined.
: Well “Theo” when you say that “I know for sure the following” followed by a former director said “Black Gold we are digging up” then I think perhaps you are making this up. Most directors of an oil company (even including Shell) would not use the word “digging”! “Drilling” or “producing” yes but certainly not “digging” - exception being the muppets in the HR departments perhaps. In addition your last two sentences are irrelevant to the usual attacks on Shell and are somewhat waffle and insulting to most readers here. You clearly have a problem. I await the onslaught!!
: There are normally two sides to every story, but Mike Curless’ version of his termination employment under the pretext of the takeover of BG reorganisation could hold some credence. However, if there was a fair and transparent succession strategy, Sarah Franklin’s self-promotion, see previous post and article, https://www.accdocket.com/articles/tips-and-insights-a-world-class-combination.cfm must have made her a good candidate for one of the “vacant” roles within the Shell legal team. Time will tell if the relevant due diligence was done on Ms Franklin, considering her escapades with a previous company.
: I know for sure the following. A former director of Royal Dutch Shell had said: it is a simple problem with the Black Gold that we are digging up and selling. All what the government has to do is fix the price of the Black Gold at a level nobody will notice. Maybe add something. But there you have the money to pay for the transition to a more sustainable energy. So actually what everybody wants in the agreements in Paris. Also I know for sure that beloved sister Rep. Ilham Omar was perfectly right in her conclusion that a few guilty criminals did something to create the chaos of nine eleven, so not the rest of the world. So that about 7 Billion simple descendants of the first human beings not being a monkey are supporting her for keep on being the one and only first president of all sovereign or not sovereign United Nations.
: Good day
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: Caution needed over false almost hysterical claims about current Brent Structures
It was a long time ago but as London Lad highlights in his blog post the onshore disposal of Brent Spar Greenpeace apologised formally to Shell for its claims during that period of intense scrutiny and public interest that the Spar could not be disposed of at sea because it held over 5000 tons of crude oil when in fact it was found to have contained 100 tons of oily sludge much of which was inert silt.
Bill
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