Saudi Arabia buys stakes in four big European oil firms: source

LONDON (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund (PIF), has accumulated stakes in four major European oil companies, a source familiar with the transaction said.

The four are Royal Dutch Shell, France’s Total, Norway’s Equinor and Italy’s Eni, the source said, confirming a Wall Street Journal report.

The source did not confirm the combined value of the stakes, which the WSJ reported were worth $1 billion.

“The Saudis have been buying every day almost for the past few weeks, specially since the share prices of many of these companies were in correction territory and dividend yields were very high,” the source familiar with the transactions said. read more

Ron Bousso: MARCH 31, 2020

LONDON (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L) slowed refining output and will write down up to $800 million (649.46 million pounds) in the first quarter of 2020 after a dramatic drop in oil demand due to the coronavirus.

In an update ahead of first-quarter results, Shell said it expects “significant uncertainty” over oil and gas prices and demand as a result of falling consumption.

With the global lockdown of 3 billion people – roughly 40% of the world’s population – demand for fuel has been in free fall, forcing Shell to lower its refining output by around 13%. read more

By Marcelo Teixeira and Roberto Samora: MARCH 30, 2020

NEW YORK/SAO PAULO, March 30 (Reuters) – Two of Brazil’s largest fuel distributors said on Monday they are cutting the amount of ethanol they will buy from local suppliers to adjust to a slump in demand amid the coronavirus lockdown in Latin America’s largest economy.

Brazil’s number 1 fuel distributor, BR Distribuidora , said it will reduce the amount of ethanol it buys from Brazilian mills to levels that are below the minimum defined in contracts, due to an “atypical situation” created by the COVID-19 pandemic. read more

UPDATE 2-Shell pulls out of U.S. Lake Charles LNG project, Energy Transfer delays FID

* Energy Transfer delays FID from late 2020 to early 2021

* Shell relinquishes 50% stake amid spending cuts

* Decision comes after collapse in oil prices 

By Ron Bousso and Shradha Singh

March 30 (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell Plc pulled out of a major liquefied natural gas (LNG) export plant under development in Louisiana following the recent crash in oil and natural gas prices that has forced the company to make deep spending cuts.

Energy Transfer LP, which was developing the project with Shell, said it remains focused on the commercial development of Lake Charles and is working toward making an early 2021 final investment decision (FID) to build the plant. read more

PUBLISHED WED, MAR 25 20205:14 AM EDT

• The world’s biggest oil and gas firms should break an industry taboo and consider cutting dividends as they weather the fallout from the pandemic, investors say.
• Investors prefer the dividend cut to companies taking on any more debt to maintain payouts.
• The top five so-called oil majors have avoided reducing dividends for years to keep investors sweet and added a combined $25 billion to debt levels in 2019 to maintain capital spending, while giving back billions to shareholders.

The world’s biggest oil and gas firms should break an industry taboo and consider cutting dividends, rather than taking on any more debt to maintain payouts as they weather the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, investors say.

The top five so-called oil majors have avoided reducing dividends for years to keep investors sweet and added a combined $25 billion to debt levels in 2019 to maintain capital spending, while giving back billions to shareholders. read more

March 23 (Reuters) – British oil major Shell joined other companies in the sector in lowering capital expenditure for the current year by about $5 billion and suspended the next tranche of its share buyback plan to weather a hit from the recent oil price crash.

The company said it would reduce 2020 cash capital expenditure to $20 billion or below from a planned level of around $25 billion, adding that the initiatives would contribute $8 billion-$9 billion to free cash flow on a pre-tax basis. read more

By Erwin Seba and Gary McWilliams

HOUSTON, March 15 (Reuters) – Major energy companies in the United States imposed work-from-home rules for office staff and began health checks for remote or critical workers as coronavirus spread across the United States and threatened an industry reeling by falling demand and profits.

BP, Exxon Mobil, Kinder Morgan, Motiva Enterprises and Royal Dutch Shell told non-essential staff to work from home starting Monday, workers and officials said. Shell and Chevron have begun routine health checks of workers and visitors at some key U.S. facilities, spokesmen said. read more

Ron Bousso: MARCH 12, 2020

LONDON (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L) Chief Executive Ben van Beurden’s pay package halved last year to 10 million euros ($11.3 million) after the energy company suffered seven deaths and saw a drop in revenue.

Van Beurden, who became CEO in 2014, oversaw a sharp growth in Shell’s oil and gas output following the 2016 acquisition of BG Group for $53 billion.

But in January, the Anglo-Dutch company was forced to rein in its vast $25 billion share buyback programme amid a drop in oil and gas prices and sliding global demand for fuels and petrochemicals. read more

MARCH 12, 2020

LONDON (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell’s (RDSa.L) onshore Nigeria subsidiary saw a 41% rise in the number of crude oil spills due to theft or pipeline sabotage in 2019, the group said in its annual report.

Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC) also recorded a rise in the volume of oil spilt in the Niger Delta as a result of illegal activity to 2,000 tonnes in 2019 from 1,600 tonnes a year earlier.

Of a total 164 SPDC spills of more than 100 kilograms in the delta, 157 were due to theft and sabotage, Shell said. That compared with 111 spills due to sabotage in 2018. read more

By Ron Bousso and Shadia Nasralla: 09 March 2020

LONDON (Reuters) – An oil price plunge means the world’s top energy companies will have to review promises to return billions to investors, either by slowing down share buybacks or reintroducing non-cash dividends, analysts said on Monday.

Brent crude <LCOc1> was trading at around $36 a barrel, down around 20% by 1645 GMT on Monday, when analysts lowered share price forecasts for top oil and gas producers. [O/R]

The Brent benchmark has fallen by as much as a third since Thursday, just before Russia walked away from an agreement by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to cut output. 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

…it is more than halfway through the process of selling out of its holdings in oil majors BP, Shell and Total.

LONDON, Feb 26 (Reuters) – Catholic religious order Jesuits in Britain will ditch fossil fuel companies from its $500 million equity portfolio by the end of the year, it said on Wednesday, citing corporate failure to respond quickly to the threat of climate change.

Asset managers responsible for more than $14 trillion have divested from the sector in recent years, though many more prefer to remain invested and engage with companies to change their business strategies.

Some companies have sought to address investor concern, including BP’s pledge this month to reduce its carbon emissions, though critics have said that such measures have not gone far enough. read more

Malabu Scandal: Italian judge orders prosecution of Nigerian businessman

February 24, 2020: Halimah Yahaya

An Italian judge has ordered a controversial businessman, Aliyu Abubakar, to stand trial, for his role in the Malabu OPL 245 scandal.

Reuters reported Wednesday that the Milan prosecutors alleged that Mr Abubakar played a major role in one of the oil industry’s biggest scandal in years.

The controversial businessman, through his companies, received over half of the $1.1 billion paid by Shell and Eni for OPL 245. He also allegedly gave out more than $500 million in cash to powerful Nigerian government officials. read more

UPDATE 1-Groningen gas output fall to prevent earthquake risk ahead of target

FEBRUARY 21, 2020 

* By mid 2022 no need for production in average year

* Groningen was once Europe’s largest onshore gas field 

AMSTERDAM, Feb 21 (Reuters) – Gas production at Groningen in the northern Netherlands can be lowered to 10 billion cubic metres (BCM) this year, the government said on Friday, beating an initial 2020 target to cut output at the field because of earthquake risk.

The Dutch government has said it would lower production at Groningen, once Europe’s largest onshore gas field, as quickly as possible after a series of tremors caused widespread damage to homes and buildings. read more