News and information on Royal Dutch Shell Plc
Conservation Council of WA director Piers Verstegen said the emissions data was absolutely shocking and suggested that Shell was making no effort to reduce Prelude’s emissions.
March 24, 2020 Updated: March 24, 2020 7:02 a.m.
Eleven energy companies over the past several days said they would cut a combined $18.6 billion dollars from their budgets as oil prices remain near 20-year lows, setting the stage for tens of thousands additional layoffs.
West Texas Intermediate crude closed at $23.36 per barrel Monday, a price not seen since March 2002 as Russia and Saudi Arabia flood global markets and the coronavirus pandemic crushes demand.
Energy companies big and small — including Conoco Phillips, Exxon Mobil, Marathon Oil, Hess and Halliburton — have responded by slashing spending for new projects and operations, halting stock buy back programs, putting deals on hold and selling assets.
Alex Kimani: Oilprice.com March 24, 2020
Last year, the energy industry was rocked by record bankruptcies and write-downs that did not spare even the oil majors. According to Energy and Restructuring law firm Hayes and Boone’s, a grand total of 50 energy companies filed for bankruptcy last year, including 33 oil and gas producers, 15 oilfield services companies and two midstream companies.
Meanwhile, Chevron Corp., Schlumberger, and Royal Dutch Shell announced multi-billion dollar asset impairments citing unfavorable macro outlook.
PUBLISHED WED, MAR 25 20205:14 AM EDT
KEY POINTSThe 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.
Parliament’s pension fund has made record investments in renewable energy and cut its exposure to fossil fuel companies to bring MPs’ pensions in line with the government’s climate action targets.
The move is a victory for the 360 serving and former MPs who have been pushing for the pension fund’s investments to fall in line with the government’s climate agenda.
The annual report showed that the fund has decreased its investment in BP by almost two-thirds in the past year, to £4.4m, and cut its holdings in Shell by a quarter, to £8m.
The Hague, March 23, 2020 – The following announcement is being made pursuant to the requirements of Rule 19.6(b) of the City Code on Takeovers and Mergers (the “Code”), which, inter alia, require a party to an offer, save with the consent of the Panel on Takeovers and Mergers, to promptly make an announcement should it decide to take a course of action different from its stated intentions during the period of 12 months or such longer stated period from the end of the offer period explaining its reasons for doing so.
Esther Kiobel and Victoria Bera sit with their lawyer as a Dutch court hears the first arguments in an historic case against Shell, in which the oil giant stands accused of instigating a raft of horrifying human rights violations committed by the Nigerian government against the Ogoni people in the 1990s, on February 12, 2019 in The Hague, Netherlands. © Pierre Crom/Getty ImagesShell’s operations in the Niger Delta were first, and most effectively, put under the spotlight in the 1990s by Ken Saro-Wiwa, an acclaimed Nigerian writer. Saro-Wiwa led a community organisation in his home area, Ogoniland, called the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP). MOSOP said that while outsiders had grown rich on the oil that was pumped from under their soil, pollution from oil spills and gas flaring had, “led to the complete degradation of the Ogoni environment, turning our homeland into an ecological disaster.”10
LONDON (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L) will lower spending by $5 billion and suspended its vast $25 billion share buyback plan in an effort to weather the recent collapse in oil prices, it said on Monday.
The Anlgo-Dutch oil major said it would reduce capital expenditure to $20 billion or below from a planned level of about $25 billion while seeking to reduce operating costs by an additional $3 billion to $4 billion over the next 12 months.
The cuts are expected to boost Shell’s cash generation by between $8 billion and $9 billion on a pre-tax basis.
Mar 23, 2020
As the COVID-19 virus spreads across the world – seriously impacting people’s health, our way of life and global markets – Shell is putting the safety and health of our people and customers first, along with the safe operations of all our businesses.
At the same time, we are taking decisive action to reinforce the financial strength and resilience of our business so that we are well-positioned for the eventual economic recovery.
“As well as protecting our staff and customers in this difficult time, we are also taking immediate steps to ensure the financial strength and resilience of our business,” said Ben van Beurden, Chief Executive Officer of Royal Dutch Shell. “The combination of steeply falling oil demand and rapidly increasing supply may be unique, but Shell has weathered market volatility many times in the past.”
Royal Dutch Shell is to stop buying back shares and slash spending by up to $9 billion this year in response to the collapse in oil prices.
The Anglo-Dutch energy giant said that it would suspend its share buyback programme after the current $1 billion tranche is completed.
It said that it aimed to reduce underlying operating costs by $3 billion to $4 billion over the coming 12 months and would reduce its capital spending to $20 billion or less, down from $25 billion planned.
Ben van Beurden, Shell chief executive, said that he was “taking immediate steps to ensure the financial strength and resilience of our business”.
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.
Robin Mills: March 22, 2020
EXTRACTS
Oil companies are survivors: Shell, BP and ExxonMobil each date back more than a century. After surviving wars, pandemics, depressions, gluts and nationalisations, they had begun to grapple with a new existential challenge: how to transform themselves in the era of climate change. Now the coronavirus crisis threatens to derail the big oil companies’ emerging plans.
Consolidation is inevitable, in the style of welding together two car wrecks to make a half-viable vehicle. Very cheaply, a supermajor could build a business to rule all shale – but it would be a huge gamble.
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A worker who has shown symptoms of the coronavirus has been placed into quarantine on Shell’s Brent Charlie platform in the North Sea.
The energy giant said the man has been placed in isolation and that arrangements are being made to fly him back to shore.
A spokesman said: “We can confirm that a colleague on Brent Charlie has been isolated as a precautionary measure, after showing symptoms which may indicate coronavirus.
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A trade union official has said the North Sea is firmly in the grip of coronavirus “fear” and lamented a perceived lack of leadership.
Nigeria is Africa’s largest oil producer.4
Its industry is based in the Niger Delta, in the south of the country, where Shell first found oil in commercially viable quantities near the village of Oloibori in 1956, when Nigeria was still a British colony.5
The Niger Delta has since become Africa’s most valuable oil-producing region.
The industry is run by joint ventures between the Nigerian government and multinational companies. Shell has always been the most important of these. Shell runs its oil operations in Nigeria through its subsidiary, Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC). It is a major shareholder and the operator of the country’s largest joint venture, which produces almost 40 percent of Nigeria’s oil.6
It is the biggest company in the FTSE 100 and its largest dividend payer – a cornerstone investment for millions of pension funds around the world.
Royal Dutch Shell has not cut dividend payments to shareholders for more than 70 years but a precipitous plunge in oil prices this month has left chief executive Ben van Beurden facing an agonising choice.
The oil price war launched by Russia and Saudi Arabia on March 9 and fuelled by a collapse in demand linked to coronavirus will damage the entire industry – but some producers are far better positioned than others to survive a lengthy downturn.
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.
: Ex Shell Nigeria finance director, ex BG Group CFO and current Centrica CFO’s rise up the ‘escalator to stardom’ continues as he assumes role of interim chief executive. Worth keeping this company pursuits on the radar and its affiliation with other companies. One of who’s chief executive travelled the same escalator. https://theenergyst.com/ian-conn-exits-centrica-woe-corona/
: Shell Brasil Announces Agreement with Ecopetrol Source Press Release Company Royal Dutch Shell, Ecopetrol Tags Asset Deals, Deals, Upstream Activities Story Focus Deals Date October 21, 2019 Negotiation involves sale of 30% interest in the the Gato do Mato project Shell Brasil Petroleo Ltda. (“Shell Brasil”) announces it has entered into an agreement with Ecopetrol for the sale of 30% interest in the the Gato do Mato project, a pre-salt gas-condensate discovery that covers two contiguous blocks: BM-S-54 and Sul de Gato do Mato. Shell Brasil retains a 50% interest in Gato do Mato and continues as operator of both blocks, with consortium partners Ecopetrol (30%) and Total (20%). “Shell Brasil has an exciting deep water portfolio with operated and non-operated positions that we are exploring, appraising, and developing. This transaction allows Shell Brasil to further optimize the portfolio. We look forward to progressing activities in the Gato do Mato blocks with our partners,” said Shell Brasil Country Chair André Araujo. The deal is subject to regulatory approvals. Let's hope that the regulators don't discover what Shell's Brazil Unitization Team have been up to. The same group of 'Shakespeare's Monkeys', previously employed by BG Group, have been working on the Brazil Asset for over ten years led by the same Front End Development and Integrated Reservoir Modelling Manager (who had been laughingly promoted to VP Developments to boost their status for the takeover by Shell). They have woven a considerable web of lies and deceit, and by playing games and politics with Petrobras have failed to do any serious technical work on this Asset. After all as long as there is significant production, who gives a hoot about where it comes from! Seriously though, it is about time the whole group were disbanded from their cozy 'ring fenced' workspace and introduced to the outside world. Shareholders might wish to ask why these particular employees receive 'special' treatment and are isolated from the dreadful flexible workspace other employees have to endure.
: Shell Energy customer score
Shell Utility came 29th out of 35 energy companies rated by 7,355 members of the public in the annual Which? energy supplier satisfaction survey - the biggest of its kind.
: Customers may not be aware of the discrete business segments in the Shell company or that Shell Energy is a distinct entity. From the numerous responses, they just see a company incapable of dealing with problems, which leads to excessive frustration. Maybe the solution is a single point contact for specific issues. As Sarah Franklin (ex BG Group chief counsel) noted in a previous publication that emotional intelligence was pivotal to success, maybe she could advise on how to relieve stress, communicate effectively, empathize with others, overcome challenges and defuse conflict, with Shell customers. Or is she too busy with complex safety and environmental issues on Prelude?
: A date worth forgetting? How incompetence is rewarded. Monday 15th February 2016 RECOMMENDED CASH AND SHARE OFFER FOR BG GROUP PLC BY ROYAL DUTCH SHELL PLC Feb 15, 2016 Royal Dutch Shell plc (“Shell”) is pleased to announce that the Scheme has become effective and that the entire issued ordinary share capital of BG Group plc (“BG”) is now owned by Shell. This follows the Court’s sanction of the Scheme at a hearing held on February 11, 2016 and the delivery of the Court Order to the Registrar of Companies today, February 15, 2016.
: Are Rob Jager’s idiotic statements (August’19 blog #52) coming back to trouble him? Another article in the Western Australian (23.05.19), “Shell Veteran, states the project is not driven by milestones or schedules, but by safety”, where Jager wants to methodically take his team through identifying and managing the risks towards Shell’s goal of zero incidents. However, this would appear to be in conflict with the CFO Jessica Uhl expectations of first cargo by the end of June of that year. The article also notes he was a director of Air New Zealand and chaired its safety committee. The ex BG Group chief executive who also salivated his commitment to safety during his tenure, is now non-executive with Rolls Royce and chairman of the ethics and safety committee. Issues with poor durability of components in Rolls Royce Trent engines for Boeing 787 are now apparent and more recently the regulator has recently issued a Safety Order, for what would appear to be a separate issue. Senior managers and executives may understand the commercial aspects of their business, but when found lacking in the technical aspects, they should be called to account, before they pass through the revolving door of opportunity and move on. Previous warning signs are conveniently forgotten, is this acceptable?
: Prelude to disaster? https://www.oedigital.com/news/475328-prelude-flng-shut-down
: Rumour has it is that the problems are due to malfunctioning valves that are being replaced hence the intrusive entry into plant, a very unusual and unwelcome occurrence it seems causing the operators to make short cuts, begs the question If shortcuts are being taken elsewhere? if this type of behaviour is prevalent and not discouraged in one area it can be contagious, no idea what valves and where in the process but likely to be a factor in the under performance of the plant reference design outputs.
: Having worked on LNG facilities and having seen the devastation of one going wrong, concerns posted on this blog about the risks posed with Prelude FLNG, were perfectly justified. But ‘as one would expect’, Shell would have considered and accounted for these risks! How else could they justify “Goal Zero ambition is to achieve no harm and no leaks across all of our operations”? However, ‘as some would know’, when costs are escalating , talk is cheap. Recent concerns raised by the Australian regulator that Shell has not ensured “best practice” for its isolation procedures on Prelude FLNG, must raise warning signs. But how can these concerns be warranted? In 2014 an article alluded to the role of Shell lawyers in collaboration with all aspects of the project, including safety regulation. If you believe the media, the acquisition of BG Group lawyers should enhance this type of collaboration. One such article centred on the responsibilities of Sarah Franklin (BG chief counsel), which included health and safety, who has inherited a new team that focuses on complex safety and environmental issues. There can be no more complex safety and environmental asset in the Shell portfolio than Prelude FLNG, yet there would appear to be a deficiency in a fundamental work control system, their isolation procedures. The article also noted her other skill sets, such as setting up BG’s first whistleblowing programme. Other’s will attest that this programme was unquestionably fallacious. As noted in a previous blog if you are a Shell employee with concerns, especially those with a safety connotation and you wish to engage with her………. beware.
: Shell plans to divest assets worth $10Bn by 2021 and is reportedly looking to exit the Abadi Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) Project in Indonesia, which could raise between $1Bn and $1.6Bn
: And the trough gets deeper..... Sound Energy, the Moroccan focused upstream gas company, announces, further to the Company's announcement of 20 January 2020, that the Company has today issued 5,805,555 new ordinary shares in the Company (the "New Ordinary Shares") to Brian Mitchener, the Company's Exploration Director, at an effective issue price of 1.86 pence per New Ordinary Share in connection with the termination of his employment contract. As previously announced on 20 January 2020, Mr. Mitchener will step down from the Board with effect from 31 March 2020.
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