Retirement Pot: Long Only, Deep Value, Growth, Foreign Companies: JAN 19, 2021
Summary
Shell’s dividend cut and unpredictability last year cost it a lot of shareholder confidence.
I outline three metrics I think show whether it’s investable again.
On all three metrics, I continue to see it as uninvestable with confidence.
U.K.-based oil major Shell (RDS.A, OTCPK:RYDAF) didn’t have a great time of it last year when it came to shareholder relations. With its mammoth dividend cut and poor signaling thereof before it was made, a lot of shareholders ditched the holding. I sold my entire stake and reinvested the proceeds in more Exxon Mobil (XOM).
Below, I outline what I think are the key challenges to Shell being investable at this point.read more
* Investors have shifted focus away from reserves to profits
By Ron Bousso
LONDON, Jan 30 (Reuters) – The number of years of production left in Royal Dutch Shell’s oil and gas reserves fell for the sixth year in a row in 2019 to below eight.
But there was little reaction from investors to the steady decline in what was once considered a key metric for gauging the strength of the world’s major oil and gas companies.
There is a growing perception the world holds enough oil and gas to meet demand many times over, especially against the backdrop of a gradual shift away from fossil fuels because of concerns about climate change. https://reut.rs/2GBtBvCread more
…in a spectacular blunder, Shell neglected to register what was the top-level domain name for the new company. Shell lawyers discovered, no doubt to their consternation and horror, that their most enduring critic had beaten them to the registration of royaldutchshellplc.com
In 2004, a huge scandal engulfed the Royal Dutch Shell Group after it fraudulently over-stated its claimed oil and gas reserves – the most important factor in determining the value of an oil company.
As a direct consequence, the Anglo-Dutch arms of the Royal Dutch Shell Group – Shell Transport and Trading Company Plc and Royal Dutch Petroleum Company, were forced to merge into a single new company: Royal Dutch Shell Plc.
However, in a spectacular blunder, Shell neglected to register what was the top-level domain name for the new company. Shell lawyers discovered, no doubt to their consternation and horror, that their most enduring critic had beaten them to the registration of royaldutchshellplc.com.read more
Extract below from pages 55, 56, 57 & 58 consisting of an informed damning judgement (in June 2004) on Shell management by Dr. John Huong a Shell Production Geologist. He blew the whistle internally on the reserves fraud that resulted in the forced merger of Shell Transport and Trading and Royal Dutch Petroleum, into Royal Dutch Shell Plc in 2005. He was fired for being a person man of high integrity. Eight companies in the Shell group jointly sued him for defamation, but eventually, six years later, settled that action along with his claim against Shell for wrongful dismissal.
Extract Begins
CONTENT OF A LEAFLET PUBLISHED ON OUR WEBSITE AND CIRCULATED IN JUNE 2004 AT THE SHELL CENTRE, LONDON. ALL EXTRACTS FROM COMMENTS MADE BY DR. JOHN HUONG
“I will supply for publication further informed comment and revelations in the run up to Shell’s AGM on 28 June. It will include examples of the toxic combination of arrogance, greed, dishonesty, and blatant disregard for all ethical norms by Shell Management, that has culminated in the current shame heaped upon the once proud Shell name.” read more
Energy Voice has announced that it has teamed up with Shell to “celebrate 40 years of Brent”.
A series of related “promoted” articles are being published. I take that as meaning Shell is paying for the articles. If this assumption is correct, the only history included will be of the whitewashed variety.
I doubt there will be any reference to the consequences of Shell’s appalling safety record on the Brent platforms, with falsified safety records, a “Touch F*** All” regime in regard to critical equipment maintenance, followed by the cover-up and the deaths on Brent Bravo, leading to a record-breaking fine. Will the unseaworthy lifeboats get a mention? Of course not. Shell continued to put production and profits before safety. Just read this index of related articles.read more
The Obama administration’s crusade against climate change is “inconsistent” with allowing Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A, RDS.B) to drilling for oil in the Arctic Ocean, environmentalists warn in a new report.
Pres. Obama has said he will consider climate change implications in deciding whether to permit the Keystone XL pipeline that would help ferry Canadian oil sands crude to U.S. refineries, and Greenpeace and Oil Change International argue the same climate test should be applied to other fossil fuel projects such as Arctic drilling.
Energy demand models stressing “multiple sources of energy” are flawed too, according to the report, which argues that the Energy Information Administration long-term outlook depicts a scenario that would boost temperatures by at least five degrees celsius.
It appears that a Shell employee in Norway has been filmed illegally killing and maltreating birds and the matter is pursued by NOAH, the Norwegian animal rightsorganization.
NOAH was tipped off about the movie clip which shows violations of the Animal Welfare Act and the draft Act, writes NOAH in a statement.
NOAH has identified distinct offenses and serious animal cruelty. A man is seen in the film clip walking around with the handle of a rake poking and in all probability, killing fledgling gulls on the forecourt canopy. read more
Shortly after the presentation, the oil majors posted dreadful Q2 results, prompting Shell CEO Peter Voser to declare Shell would discontinue production guidance to focus on quarter by quarter cash flow growth. Goldman Sachs singled out Shell for excessive investment in low return assets…
Those who saw the ‘Capex Compression’ road show back in the summer will recall that Douglas Westwood expressed concern that oil prices would not rise to cover rising exploration and production costs, and that this would force the operators to cut Capex. Shortly after the presentation, the oil majors posted dreadful Q2 results, prompting Shell CEO Peter Voser to declare Shell would discontinue production guidance to focus on quarter by quarter cash flow growth. Moreover, the investment banks began calling for the oil majors to cut Capex. Goldman Sachs singled out Shell for excessive investment in low return assets, although the investment bank had indicated that deepwater should be spared.read more
Peter Klinger, The West AustralianNovember 13, 2013
Royal Dutch Shell’s floating LNG ambitions are gradually taking shape in Samsung Heavy Industries’ Geoje shipyard in South Korea, where finishing touches are being put to the giant hull of the production vessel that will hover over the Prelude gas field off the Kimberley coast from 2016.
At 488m long and 74m wide, the vessel will be the world’s biggest. Once its topside is added, it will be capable of producing 3.6 million tonnes of LNG, 400,000t of liquid petroleum gas and 1.3mtpa of condensate a year.read more
Sir Philip Watts and Walter van de Vijver (whose headcut images appear courtesy of The Wall Street Journal), were among the Shell executives forced to resign.
(Reuters) – A Louisiana agency sued 97 oil companies – including BP Plc, Exxon Mobil Corp , Chevron Corp and Royal Dutch Shell Plc – in state court on Wednesday for allegedly damaging hundreds of miles of sensitive wetlands by cutting through them with pipelines and transportation canals.
Governor Bobby Jindal quickly accused the agency of overreach and said the filing should be withdrawn.
The suit demands the oil industry pay for or remediate environmental damages stemming from decades of work that allegedly caused erosion and hurt coastal wetlands – which experts say serve as critical buffers during floods and higher ocean swells from hurricanes, like the 2005 Katrina disaster.read more
The main reason an offshore oil rig ran aground off the coast of Alaska late last year was because oil company Royal Dutch Shell was trying to depart state waters to avoid paying millions in taxes.
Sean Churchfield, operations manager for Royal Dutch Shell in Alaska, testified to the Coast Guard over the weekend that the Kulluk, an Arctic offshore drilling rig, left Dutch Harbor in December “driven by the economic factors.” When the Coast Guard’s legal advisor Lt. Cmdr. Brian McNamara asked why leaving by the end of the year was such a concern, Churchfield said:read more
By John Donovan: Printed below is current email correspondence with the Open Security FoundationDataLossDB project, which had seen reports posted on the Internet that this website had been hacked by the “Brazilian Electronic Army”. The claims were false. Like the Brazilian Electronic Army, the Open Security Foundation seems to be under the impression that we are Royal Dutch Shell Plc.
Irrefutable evidence proves that Matthias Bichsel knew years before Shell investors that Shell had a major problem over its proven reserves bookings, which were not in compliance with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rules. Like his colleague Simon Henry, the current CFO of Royal Dutch Shell Plc, he participated in the cover-up by not blowing the whistle, thus protecting his own ambitions inside Shell. The evidence suggests he may have had a role in the reserves conjuring process and also has a memory problem. Lets hope it has not deteriorated further. He is not a man who can be trusted to look after the best interests of investors.
By John Donovan
Matthias Bichsel, a Swiss citizen, is currently an executive director of Royal Dutch Shell Plc. He joined Shell in 1980, rose through the ranks and was appointed as Director of Projects & Technology on 1 July 2009.
His current responsibilities include:
Project Execution
Global Technical Expertise
Research and Development
Third-Party Services
Safety and Environment
Contracting & Procurement
Technical IT
Can shareholders place their trust in Matthias Bichsel to protect their interests? The answer is absolutely NO, not if his track record is any guide.
“The decision not to have an audio/visual link to London for this years RDS AGM means that for the first time in history British based shareholders will not be able to attend a Shell AGM in the UK. At the time of the demise of Shell Transport and Trading and the formation of the new Royal Dutch Shell plc. it was stated that this did not mean that Shell was becoming a more Dutch, and less British, company. This was not true…
“There will not be an audio-visual link to a satellite meeting place in London this year.”
COMMENT FROM A WELL INFORMED INSIDER SOURCE
“The decision not to have an audio/visual link to London for this years RDS AGM means that for the first time in history British based shareholders will not be able to attend a Shell AGM in the UK. At the time of the demise of Shell Transport and Trading and the formation of the new Royal Dutch Shell plc. it was stated that this did not mean that Shell was becoming a more Dutch, and less British, company. This was not true and the latest decision just confirms that the inevitable move to total Dutch control is almost complete. It is likely also that Shell will move to a single Head Office in The Hague before too long. Shell Centre in London is virtually deserted and most of the site is being redeveloped. Insiders say that Shell will not return to Shell Centre when this is completed (from their “temporary” offices in Canary Wharf). Shell Centre will be sold and Shell will gradually move all but a few functions to The Netherlands. This is a complex process and will take time but it is likely to be completed well before the expiry of the 10 year rental arrangements in Canary Wharf.”read more
EBOOK TITLE: “SIR HENRI DETERDING AND THE NAZI HISTORY OF ROYAL DUTCH SHELL” – AVAILABLE ON AMAZON EBOOK TITLE: “JOHN DONOVAN, SHELL’S NIGHTMARE: MY EPIC FEUD WITH THE UNSCRUPULOUS OIL GIANT ROYAL DUTCH SHELL” – AVAILABLE ON AMAZON. EBOOK TITLE: “TOXIC FACTS ABOUT SHELL REMOVED FROM WIKIPEDIA: HOW SHELL BECAME THE MOST HATED BRAND IN THE WORLD” – AVAILABLE ON AMAZON.
JOHN DONOVAN TV DOCUMENTARY INTERVIEW
SHELL EXECUTIVES AT THE CENTER OF A SCHEME TO STEAL $1.3 BILLION FROM NIGERIA’S PEOPLE
SHELL ADMITS DEALING WITH NIGERIAN MONEY LAUNDERER – BBC NEWS
SHELL, ENI AND NIGERIAN OFFICIALS IN OPL 245 CORRUPTION SCANDAL
INVESTIGATION OF OPL 245 NIGERIAN OIL CORRUPTION SCANDAL
DUTCH EARTHQUAKES CAUSED BY SHELL/EXXON
SHELL KILLS FOR OIL IN NIGERIA
SHELL LIED ABOUT CLEANING UP OIL IN NIGER DELTA
SHELL SPIES INFILTRATED NIGERIAN GOVERNMENT
LEGO DROPS SHELL OVER GREENPEACE OIL SPILL VIDEO
SHELL ARCTIC DRILLING ACCIDENTS
SHELL KNEW ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE DECADES AGO
ROYAL DUTCH SHELL FOUNDER SIR HENRI DETERDING, NAZI FINANCIER
JOHN DONOVAN PROMOTIONAL GAMES FOR SHELL AND OTHER CLIENTS
Listen and read proof in audio and transcript form of Shell CEO Ben van Beurden’s cover-up tactics in the OPL 245 Nigerian corruption scandal. The instruction given by him in the covertly recorded call to CFO Simon Henry was at odds with Shell’s claimed core business principles. Cover-up and obstruction, instead of transparency and integrity, says Shell critic John Donovan
Customer Service NON EXISTENT: Received letter stating engineer would be out between 1-6pm no one turned up, not even a call,to my mobile. Called customer services to find out when engineer would be out and was told I didn’t need one and was connected. I said I was 89yrs and couldn’t get down to switches and didn’t know how to connect to WiFi, they hung up on me. Called again for complaints to let them know how I was treated and would be expecting the £25 credit which states on their website you receive for engineer not showing up, she hung up on me again!Date of experience: 03 October 2023
This company are appalling: This company are appalling. They come out as the cheapest on comparison sites but beware they then up their charges to an extortionate amount once you are with them.
They wanted us to pay over £500 a month for a 2 person household. They also made us pay over £1000 stating we were in debit on our account despite paying a really high monthly direct debit.
We are now with another company, pay less than half of the amount that shell charged us and are already in £600 credit after 4 months.
Date of experience: 16 August 2023
Bullying vulnerable old people is…: Bullying vulnerable old people is pretty low, and that is what they are doing. Message sent saying more than doubling their direct debit when they have never been in debit and we have to keep getting the overpayments back by wasting our time on the telephone to them. We keep putting in complaints which presumably go into the bin.
I really do thing there should be some legal comeback on these bullies.
In any other part of life just taking more money than you are due would either be theft or fraud. What makes them think they are above the law and decency? Arrogance and corporate targets for deposit amounts, and they are probably getting 5% on your overpayments, means their profits swell and anyone who is on a profit related bonus gets a bit more at your cost.
If you think about it, if Shell Energy have 1m customers, and they each have at least £500 overpayments in SE's deposit account then SE are raking in almost £2.1m per month in interest.
They should be made to pay customers 5% on any money they hold over £100 to discourage them ripping everyone off and defrauding vulnerable old people.
Date of experience: 29 September 2023
hey know I have heart issues yet still stressing me out. Disgusting cheaters and thieves.
Date of experience: 02 October 2023
2 Oct 2023 broadband down again: 2 Oct 2023 broadband down again, ring shell, tell them my password they then tell. Me to enter,,, low and behold it's up and running again. fault team saying nothing wrong, as well as passing me to different departments.
Octopus don't take it on
Date of experience: 02 October 2023
The installer who came to install the…: The installer who came to install the smart meter for me was very rude. First of all, he was late - he arrived at 5.20 pm. He raised his voice to me (I warned him 2-3 times not to shout at me). He wanted to see the radiator controller. When I said that there was no problem, but he had to change his shoe covers, he was wearing them outside - it was raining and he was walking on the ground -- HE SAID IT WAS NOT A PALACE AND HE WENT AWAY. He also threatened me that he would disconnect my gas. I also did not receive a home monitor that would control my gas consumption. I also didn't sign the completion of work for him - the signature I gave him before starting work, he said that he couldn't start doing anything without it... That's not the way to do it. It's a showcase of your company, which isn't very pretty.
Date of experience: 02 October 2023
Bye bye Shell: Fixed price came to an end. Payment is going from £153 to £243 despite the spot gas price being historically low.
They offered a fixed rate tariff, takes the price down to £226, the catch? I must take a Smart Energy meter that I don't want and have never wanted, and have declined SMS who have phoned me easily 15 to 20 times since I've been with Shell Energy.
I've told them every time to stop phoning me, I don't want a smart meter, but still they do it. Albeit I haven't had a call for a few months, maybe they've stopped. I don't know. But not before telling them over and over again to stop phoning me.
I also used to get nagged regularly with text messages to book a Smart Meter despite never wanting one and making that clear from the first time they asked.
Now shell is giving me a high price, with a tiny discount if I accept a smart meter.
I started my switch to Octopus energy today. £217 a month, albeit a variable rate, so the Corrupt Neo Marxist government can treat me and everyone else like an ATM machine to fund the hotels for illegals, and the Ukraine war that had nothing to do with us.
This after they put 28+ energy companies out of business by pretending to care about people with a Price Cap, now the greedy corrupt energy companies have no incentive to compete against each other, since the corrupt Marxist government killed off almost all free market competition.
Date of experience: 03 October 2023
This is not a Shell website. That fact should be abundantly plain from the overall content of this home page and our sister Shell focussed websites, including shellnazihistory.com. Click on the Disclaimer link at top of this page for more information. You Can Be Sure Shell does not endorse or approve of this website. There are no subscription charges nor do we solicit or accept donations. No advertising is accepted. It is an entirely free to use non-commercial website drawing attention to the negative side of Shell. The Shell logo image with the white text used on this website, as per the above example, is in the public domain because its copyright has expired and its author is anonymous. It can be found here on WIKIMEDIA COMMONS. Use this link for Shell’s own website.
OVER 500 EXTERNAL PUBLICATIONS CITING OUR SHELL WEBSITES
See our link list of over 500 articles by the FT, Wall Street Journal, Reuters, Bloomberg, Forbes, Dow Jones Newswires, New York Times, CNBC etc, plus UK House of Commons Select Committee Hansard records, information on U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission websiteetc. all containing references to our Shell focussed websites, or our website founders Alfred and John Donovan. Includes TV documentary features in English and German, newspaper and magazine articles, radio interviews, newsletters etc. Plus academic papers, Stratfor intelligence reports and UK, U.S. and Australian state/parliamentary publications, also citing our Shell websites. Click on this link to see the entire list, all in date order with a link to an index of over 100 books also containing references to our non-profit websites and/or our activities.
John Donovan, the website owner
Shell: What It Will Take To Be Investible Again
Extract from the ebook “
By:
Shell’s reputation was destroyed in 2004 after 
EBOOK TITLE: “SIR HENRI DETERDING AND THE NAZI HISTORY OF ROYAL DUTCH SHELL” – AVAILABLE ON AMAZON
EBOOK TITLE: “JOHN DONOVAN, SHELL’S NIGHTMARE: MY EPIC FEUD WITH THE UNSCRUPULOUS OIL GIANT ROYAL DUTCH SHELL” – AVAILABLE ON AMAZON.
EBOOK TITLE: “TOXIC FACTS ABOUT SHELL REMOVED FROM WIKIPEDIA: HOW SHELL BECAME THE MOST HATED BRAND IN THE WORLD” – AVAILABLE ON AMAZON.
