Posts under ‘Royal Dutch Shell Plc’

Shell mulls former BHP chief as new chairman

Harry Banks: Sunday 25 October 2020

Former BHP Billiton boss Sir Andrew Mackenzie is in pole position to become the next chairman of Shell, reports emerged today.

Mackenzie joined the Shell board this month as a non-executive director but is expected to move into the chair soon to be vacated by Charles Holliday.

The Sunday Telegraph first reported the news.

The oil giant was forced into its first dividend cut in more than 70 years earlier this year thanks to the oil price crash and the coronavirus pandemic. read more

Investors fear there’ll be no bright post-Covid dawn for oil majors

Jillian Ambrose: Sun 25 Oct 2020 00.05 BST

Royal Dutch Shell and BP will both face investors this week with quarterly financial results that will deliver profits well below those achieved a year ago, against a backdrop of tumbling share prices and rising Covid infections across major economies. In the same week, Shell is expected to reveal a modest underlying profit, of $146m, for the third quarter, according to analysts, after plunging to a loss of $18.4bn for the second quarter. This is still a fraction of the $4.76bn profit recorded in the same quarter last year, and follows the company’s decision to cut 9,000 jobs and reduce the dividend for the first time since the second world war. read more

The Telegraph

Shell lines up next chairman for energy shift

By Lucy Burton, BANKING EDITOR and Christopher Williams, SUNDAY TELEGRAPH BUSINESS EDITOR 24 October 2020 • 9:30pm

Shell has begun a search for a new chairman, with Andrew Mackenzie, the former BHP Billiton boss, emerging as an early front-runner….

Full Article (Paywall with one-month free trial on offer)

Shell and BP investors look to results after tough year for oil majors

By Press Association:  23/10/2020, 3:45 pm

Britain’s two biggest oil companies are set to update shareholders next week amid a low oil price and a race to reduce emissions.

Investors will be leafing through BP’s results on Tuesday, while Shell will present how its third quarter went two days later.

Shares in both have cratered during 2020, as oil prices fell to record lows at one point at the beginning of the pandemic. read more

Stephanie Kirchgaessner and Emily Holden in Washington

Sat 24 Oct 2020 09.15 BSTLast

Amy Coney Barrett is poised to make critical rulings on whether oil and gas companies will be held accountable for the effects of the climate crisis once she is confirmed to the supreme court, even though she has acknowledged in the past that she has a conflict of interest in cases involving Royal Dutch Shell.

As an appellate court judge, Barrett – who is expected to be confirmed to the supreme court on Monday – recused herself from cases involving four Shell entities because her father worked at Shell Oil Company as a lawyer. read more

Shell wants to add Post Office broadband to utilities division

Royal Dutch Shell has emerged as a bidder for the Post Office’s broadband business.

The Anglo-Dutch energy group is one of the final three bidders for the business, which has about 500,000 customers and is thought to be worth £100 million, according to Sky News.

Shell entered the British household utility market with its 2018 acquisition of First Utility, later rebranded as Shell Energy Retail. At the time the business had about 800,000 household energy customers and only about 20,000 broadband customers, having entered the telecoms market in 2017. read more

Shell addresses safety concerns from trade union

Royal Dutch Shell has dismissed “major safety concerns” allegations brought up by the UK’s largest trade union, Unite, reassuring safety of its operations remain paramount, Kallanish Energy reports.

Unite said on Wednesday Shell was reducing “vital” maintenance contractor jobs at its Mossmorran plant in Fife and St Fergus gas terminal “by more than 80%.” It claimed the compulsory redundancies at the Scottish gas plants raised “critical” health and safety concerns. The trade union also warned that fire and safety responses to any major incidents at the plants “could be severely impact.” read more

Prelude will not resume full production this year, says Shell

Article by Adam Duckett: 21st October 2020

SHELL has said its huge floating LNG production plant – the Prelude FLNG facility – is not expected to resume full production this year, following a troubled start for the pioneering facility.

Production aboard Prelude – which at 488 m long is the largest ship ever built – was halted in February after an electrical trip and it has not resumed. This fault followed, though was not linked to, an order from Australia’s National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority (NOPSEMA) for Shell to revise its safety management system. read more

Chevron Vs. Shell: Chevron Wins By A Landslide

Bill Zettler: Oct 20, 2020

• Over the last 5 years, Chevron has consistently outperformed Shell.
• On financial metrics, Chevron looks much better than Shell.
• Shell’s share count goes up, Chevron’s goes down.
• Chevron’s dividend continues to go up while Shell cuts its dividend.

Shell’s zero-emission goals will limit profit potential.

According to Seeking Alpha (see here), Chevron (CVX) has replaced Exxon (XOM) as the largest oil company by MV (Market Value). In many ways, this is more a race to the bottom than a race to the top with CVX falling 39% YTD while XOM is falling 52%.

Another oil company in the doldrums is Shell (RDS.A) (RDS.B) whose price has fallen by 56%.

I have recently compared Exxon to Chevron “Exxon Vs. Chevron: Exxon Wins By A Nose” and Exxon to Shell “Exxon Vs. Shell: Exxon Wins By A Dividend.” read more

Shell’s plans to slash maintenance staff at Mossmorran would put lives at risk warns union

by Aileen Robertson: October 21 2020, 7.00am

Trade union Unite said it understood Shell was intending to axe 63 out of 77 contractor jobs at the Fife NGL Plant and that this could put lives at risk.

Shell has disputed the union’s claims of an 80% cut in workforce, insisting the safety of its plants was “paramount” and would not be compromised.

Posts under threat are said to include scaffold inspectors and supervisors, riggers and rigging supervisors, forklift drivers, general assistants and mechanical supervisors. read more

Shell deny huge job cuts at two Scots plants then U-turns as union raises ‘critical’ safety concerns

SHELL have come under fire after denying union claims of huge job cuts at two of its plants raising ‘critical’ safety concerns – that were later confirmed.

Details seen by the Herald confirm Unite concerns that proposals affecting the energy giant’s Northern Systems and Plants (NSP) operations in Fife and Aberdeenshire would result in 63 out of 77 Kaefer jobs being axed at the Mossmorran plant with a further 46 out of 52 jobs being proposed for redundancy at St Fergus. read more

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

Investing in oil: I wonder if a BP-Shell merger could be a possibility?

By John Donovan

Displayed below is a letter dated 16 October 2020 addressed to the Chairman of Royal Dutch Shell Plc. 

The letter is from attorneys representing specified Nigerian OML17 Host Communities and specified local government areas of Rivers State.

It contains extremely serious allegations against Shell, including systematic genocide and catastrophic damage to the environment. 

As can be seen, reasonable demands are made. 

I am aware that Shell CEO Ben van Beurden and Shell’s legal boss Donny Ching have copies of the letter. read more

Is Shell’s $17 Billion Bet On Floating LNG A Flop?

What new ship construction project has cost more than a US Navy Supercarrier and is equally troubled with delays and problems? Shell’s Prelude FLNG.

SOURCE

Shell’s Australian Prelude LNG will not resume shipping LNG this year

By Sonali Paul: OCTOBER 15, 2020

MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell RDSa.L said on Thursday its Prelude floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) project off Australia, off line since early February, is working on restarting operations but would not resume full production this year.

The troubled Prelude FLNG platform was shut down following an electrical trip and Shell has faced a number of issues over the past few months in trying to restart full production and now does not expect to ship any LNG before next year. read more