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

Royal Dutch Shell PLC (NYSE:RDS.A) Q4 2017 Earnings Conference Call February 1, 2018 9:00 AM ET

Executives

Ben van Beurden – CEO and Director

Jessica Uhl – CFO and Executive Director

Analysts

Michele Vigna – Goldman Sachs Group

Jason Gammel – Jefferies LLC

Christyan Malek – JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Theepan Jothilingam – Exane BNP Paribas

Iain Reid – Macquarie Research

Lydia Rainforth – Barclays PLC

Oswald Clint – Sanford C. Bernstein & Co.

Jason Kenney – Grupo Santander

Thomas Adolff – Crédit Suisse AG

Jonathon Rigby – UBS Investment Bank read more

by Angela Macdonald-Smith: Nov 29, 2017

Royal Dutch Shell has sewn doubt in the market about an early 2018 start-up of the oil major’s innovative Prelude floating LNG project off the coast of north-west Australia, with chief executive Ben van Beurden signalling that the project will only start contributing noticeably to cash flow in 2019.

While the ramp-up of the $US54 billion (71 billion) Gorgon LNG project in Western Australia was named by Mr van Beurden as among projects named to help grow cash flows next year, Prelude was included in the later batch. read more

Reuters Staff: NOVEMBER 13, 2017

LONDON/SYDNEY (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell is selling part of its stake in Australia’s largest independent oil and gas company, Woodside Petroleum Ltd, to equity investors for about $1.7 billion.

Shell, which has been slowly divesting its Woodside holding, said on Monday its Shell Energy Holdings Australia Limited (SEHAL) unit had struck a deal with two investment banks over the sale of 71.6 million Woodside shares for A$31.10 ($23.79) apiece.

The oil major said that represented 64 percent of its interest in Woodside and 8.5 percent of the issued capital in Woodside. FULL ARTICLE read more

July 27, 2017 12:23 PM EDT

The image of a driver slurping an iced latte while pulling a Mustang up to the drive-in window of a fast-food joint is either your idea of a capitalist apotheosis or civilization’s decadent demise.

Or … it’s what flashed through your mind as you listened to Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s earnings call on Thursday.

Jessica Uhl, Shell’s chief financial officer, at one point talked up the oil major’s marketing business:

We’re the world’s largest fuel retailer. Every day, Shell serves more than 30 million customers across our 43,000 sites in close to 80 countries. That is more sites than Starbucks; it is more than McDonald’s. read more

Anglo-Dutch energy giant Royal Dutch/Shell is shifting its focus toward downstream operations like refining and chemicals and away from traditional upstream activities like exploring for oil and gas, the Financieele Dagblad said on Wednesday.

This shift is likely to become even clearer when the company publishes its second quarter figures on Thursday, the paper said.

Shell’s investment in exploration slumped to $157m in the first quarter of 2017 from an annual quarterly average of between $500m to $600m in recent years, the paper points out.  This is partly due to the group’s recent acquisition of the BG Group which has large deep-sea reserves off the coast of Brazil. read more

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MARK WILLIAMSON: 5 MAY 2017

ROYAL Dutch Shell’s new finance chief has said the company will continue to invest in the North Sea where it is making good returns but declined to rule out selling off more UK assets.

Speaking after Shell posted a 140 per cent increase in first quarter profits, Jessica Uhl said the North Sea remains important to the firm although rationalisation moves will leave it with a much reduced presence in the area.

The oil and gas giant agreed in January to sell a portfolio of mature assets which account for around half its UK production to Chrysaor for up to $3.8 billion. read more

from an old EP hand: 

Another american woman. I do not know her, she must be very clever. But Shell has not had a lot of luck with senior american women. Do I need to mention the Cook woman? Or the Boynton woman?

And as a total outsider, I must observe that this Uhl woman is a bit tainted. She worked for Enron in the top years of all the scandals and in a very senior position.

We now know that the people working in Enron in that period might be the cleverest in the business, but not the most ethical ones. And for a finance director only the highest ethical standards should apply. A huge risk IMHO. read more