Evening Standard

Shell finance boss Jessica Uhl departs with £1 million payday

Renumeration bonanza at odds with drivers facing record petrol prices at pumps

By Mark Banham: 1st April 2022

Jessica Uhl’s renumeration package will include a £921,000 payment for “loss of office” plus salary paid until June this year and an as yet to be decided annual bonus. In addition, she will continue to receive pension payments and medical benefits until June despite officially stepping down yesterday.

She announced her departure from Shell early last month citing “family reasons”. She took the decision to leave after her position was moved from The Netherlands to London. read more

Evening Standard

Shell finance chief Jessica Uhl quits after oil supermajor’s move to London

Jessica Uhl cites ‘family reasons’ as she steps down

Mother-of-three Jessica Uhl, who has held finance roles in London, Houston and The Hague since joining the oil super-major from Enron in 2004, will step down as CFO on March 31.

Uhl will be replaced by Sinead Gorman, a civil engineer by background who joined Shell in 1999 and steps up from her role as head of finance of its global upstream business. She will be based in London full-time. read more

Directorate Change – Shell announces Executive Committee and Board change

March 01, 2022 02:00 ET | Source: Shell plc

LONDON, March 01, 2022 — Shell plc (“Shell”) today announced the appointment of Sinead Gorman as chief financial officer (CFO), effective April 1, 2022. She will become a member of both Shell’s Executive Committee and Board of Directors. After a distinguished career of 17 years with Shell, the last five years as CFO, Jessica Uhl will step down from her role on March 31, 2022. Jessica will be available to assist Sinead and the Board with transition until June 30, 2022, after which she will leave the group. read more

FORTUNE

Shell’s decision to leave the Netherlands is about keeping investors on its side in difficult times

The Dutch government is scrambling to find a way to make Royal Dutch Shell remain royal and Dutch after the oil and gas giant announced Monday that it had decided to up sticks from its home in the Hague and move its headquarters to London.

The Dutch government’s eagerness to retain the giant firm is not surprising—and exactly how Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and his cabinet are trying to do so says a lot about which of Shell’s stated reasons for moving is the most important one. 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

FORTUNE

SHELL CFO: Jessica Uhl

It was another roller-coaster year at Shell, where Uhl has served as CFO since 2017 and played a fundamental role in the energy giant’s emissions targets and pivot toward renewable energy. In 2020, while grappling with a historic drop in energy demand, Shell announced its net-zero-by-2050 emissions target, which will require the company to transform its business away from fossil fuels.

That plan has also been accelerated under pressure from a Dutch court ruling in May that demanded Shell move up its targets. read more

Goldman Sachs board nominates Royal Dutch Shell CFO for director role

By Elizabeth Dilts Marshall: 2 MIN READ: MARCH 15, 2021

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Goldman Sachs Group Inc’s board of directors on Monday nominated the chief financial officer of Royal Dutch Shell plc to become its newest member.

If her appointment is approved by shareholders, Jessica Uhl will be the fifth woman director on Goldman’s board and its only member to come from the fossil fuel industry.

The bank has backed away from fossil fuel development in recent years. read more

Shell Freezing Salaries for Majority of Staff

(Bloomberg) — Royal Dutch Shell Plc will not raise salaries for most of its employees this year, according to people with knowledge of the matter, as it looks to save cash amid an overhaul of the company.

In a note to staff, Chief Executive Officer Ben van Beurden wrote that while the company had previously told employees to have low expectations for salary increases, most wouldn’t get a salary increase this year.

Shell is starting one of the biggest reorganizations in its history as it pivots from a century-long structure that prioritized oil and gas production. There will be as many as 9,000 job losses over the next two years, with cuts already announced in The Netherlands, the U.K. and Malaysia. A second round of voluntary redundancies is also underway, Van Beurden said last week. read more

Shell Convent, LA, refinery will close amid to pandemic

by Laura Sanicola: NOVEMBER 5, 2020

(Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell RDSa.L said on Thursday it will shut down its refinery in Convent, Louisiana, the largest U.S. facility to close since the coronavirus pandemic first hit and devastated economic demand worldwide.

The shutdown, to occur this month, comes after Shell failed to find a buyer.

The refinery is the ninth in North America either to announce a shutdown or to be idled since the pandemic, which has delivered a heavy blow to fuel demand globally. The United States is the world’s largest fuel consumer. read more

Why Royal Dutch Shell Outperformed Expectations in Q2 2020

Europe’s top oil company had a few tricks up its sleeve.

It’s been a horrible earnings season for most top oil and gas companies. Oil supermajors ExxonMobil, Chevron, and  all did worse than expected in Q2 2020 as low oil prices forced drastic spending cuts and the coronavirus pandemic destroyed demand.

Bucking the trend was Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE:RDS.A)(NYSE:RDS.B), which managed to squeak out an adjusted profit of $0.16 per share, versus analysts’ expectations of a $0.31-per-share loss. As surprising as it was to see a profit — even on an adjusted basis — out of the oil industry, even Shell couldn’t pump oil profitably in Q2. Instead, it made money another way. read more

Bloomberg

Royal Dutch Shell said it will be well placed to boost shareholder payouts once the oil market recovers as it sought to appease investors after last month’s surprise dividend cut.

Shell broke with industry convention playbook when oil’s collapse forced it to slash payouts. For decades, Big Oil had used its hefty balance sheet to borrow money when needed and keep investors sweet until the next upward cycle. But 2020’s unprecedented market rout has seen several major players – including Exxon Mobil and Equinor – freeze or reduce dividends. read more

Shell boss says headcount reductions ‘probable’ in time, while projects also at risk

by Mark Lammey: 30/04/2020 

Shell’s boss has said the firm will “probably” have to reduce its headcount and “resize” parts of the organisation the longer the oil price slump lasts.

The company also said it would defer projects for as long as possible, including in the UK North Sea, but that developments could eventually run the risk of cancellation.

Tens of thousands of jobs are being shed throughout the oil and gas industry due to the collapse in crude prices.

Oil and Gas UK said up to 30,000 jobs could be lost in the sector it represents in the next 12-18 months unless drastic action is taken to support employers. read more

Jillian Ambrose, energy editor: 22 JULY 2018 • 10:57PM

Royal Dutch Shell is under pressure to repay its investors’ patience this week by beginning a bumper $25bn (£19bn) share buy-back plan. The oil giant issued shares to existing investors instead of paying out dividends when oil prices were low as it sought to hang on to cash. As the crude market has recovered, Royal Dutch Shell has so far prioritised debt reduction over repurchasing the dividend scrips. But expectations are high that its quarterly report on Thursday could signal the start of buy-backs. FULL ARTICLE read more

26 April 2018

ROYAL Dutch Shell finance chief Jessica Uhl has hailed a big increase in profitability in the North Sea and underlined the oil and gas giant’s commitment to the area. As Shell posted a 42% increase in first quarter profits to $5.3bn (£3.8bn) from $3.8bn, helped by the rise in oil and gas prices, Ms Uhl indicated the North Sea has played a big part in the growth story. “We’re seeing a really fantastic performance from our assets in the North Sea,” she told reporters. FULL ARTICLE read more

REUTERS STAFF: APRIL 26, 2018

April 26 (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell Chief Financial Officer Jessica Uhl said in a conference call following first quarter 2018 results:

* SHELL CFO UHL SAYS “ON TRACK BUT NOT THERE YET” TO TRIGGER $25 BILLION BUYBACK PROGRAMME

* SHELL CFO UHL SAYS “QUESTION OF TIME, NOT INTENT” TO BEGIN BUYBACKS

* SHELL CFO UHL SAYS GAS TRADING “PARTICULARLY SOFT” IN FIRST QUARTER 2018 

* SHELL CFO UHL SAYS THERE IS STILL OPPORTUNITY TO FURTHER DRIVE DOWN OPERATING COSTS Further company coverage: ( read more

Management thinks the things it has done in recent years will set it up to deliver huge returns for shareholders.

Now that Shell has weathered the storm of low oil prices and is back to generating returns, management has plans both within and without the oil industry to preserve what it calls a “world-class investment case.” Here are several quotes from the company’s most recent earnings conference call that highlight some of the efforts Shell is taking to both grow the business and make the stock a better investment. read more