Posts under ‘United States’

Oil titans vow climate collaboration with White House

Jennifer A. Dlouhy, Bloomberg: March 23, 2021Updated: March 23, 2021 8:24 a.m.

Chief executives of some of the largest U.S. oil companies promised to collaborate with the Biden administration in its campaign against climate change during a meeting Monday with White House National Climate Adviser Gina McCarthy.

The oil industry leaders pledged support for federal regulations explicitly limiting emissions of methane from wells and other oilfield equipment — a declaration that dovetails with President Joe Biden’s vow to clamp down on leaks of the potent greenhouse gas. read more

Federal, state agencies probing Shell’s Falcon ethane pipeline after whistleblowers’ allegations

ANYA LITVAK Pittsburgh Post-Gazette [email protected]: Mar 17, 2021

Early last year, Penn­syl­va­nia’s top en­vi­ron­men­tal of­fi­cial tried to raise an alarm at the high­est level of the fed­eral agency re­spon­si­ble for pipe­line safety.

“I write to you re­gard­ing a very se­ri­ous pub­lic safety mat­ter for Penn­syl­va­nia,” the let­ter from Patrick McDon­nell, sec­re­tary of Penn­syl­va­nia’s Depart­ment of En­vi­ron­men­tal Pro­tec­tion, be­gan. read more

Shell Pennsylvania petchems project 70% complete, operational in 2022: spokesman

• AuthorJacquelyn Melinek 
• Editor Richard Rubin 
• Commodity Oil,  Petrochemicals
• OIL | PETROCHEMICALS
• 12 Mar 2021 | 18:00 UTC
• New York

New York — Shell Chemical’s $6 billion petrochemical complex in Pennsylvania is now more than 70% complete and projected to be operational sometime in 2022, a company spokesman said March 12.”

On a daily basis workers are commissioning major pieces of equipment within our infrastructure units – a phased process that will continue until start-up” said the spokesman, Curtis Smith, in an email. “That includes connecting pipes and wiring that will eventually loop and extend for hundreds of miles along the site’s 386 acres,” he said. read more

Shell Funded Lobbying For Trump’s Pro-Fossil Fuel Financing Looking To Block Banks’ Climate Action

green queen: By Sally Ho Published on Mar 4, 2021 Last updated Mar 3, 2021

Anglo-Dutch global oil and gas giant Shell funded an industry group lobbying to block efforts by U.S. banks to tackle climate change, an investigation has found. Even as the corporation made new sustainability pledges and made net-zero its goal publicly, documents reviewed by nonprofit journalism platform SourceMaterial and HuffPost showed that Shell backed the lobbyists in favour of the controversial federal rule on fossil fuel financing that the Trump administration implemented in its final days. read more

Why the World Worries About Russia’s Nord Stream Pipeline

Gazprom owns the project operator, with Royal Dutch Shell Plc and four other investors contributing half of the 9.5 billion-euro ($11.6 billion) cost. By Dina Khrennikova and Anna Shiryaevskaya | Bloomberg: Feb. 25, 2021 A natural gas pipeline being built under the Baltic Sea from Russia to the German coast is shaking up geopolitics. Nord Stream 2, as it’s called, fuels worries in the U.S. and other countries that the link could give the Kremlin new leverage over Germany and other NATO allies. Pipe construction, halted in 2019, resumed in December 2020, yet U.S. sanctions still threaten to pull the brakes on the project backed by the Russia’s Gazprom PJSC.

1. What is Nord Stream 2?

It’s a 1,230-kilometer (764-mile) gas pipeline that will double the capacity of the existing undersea route from Russian fields to Europe — the original Nord Stream — which opened in 2011. Gazprom owns the project operator, with Royal Dutch Shell Plc and four other investors contributing half of the 9.5 billion-euro ($11.6 billion) cost. Initially expected to come online by the end of 2019, the link has been delayed by U.S. sanctions that forced Swiss contractor Allseas Group SA to withdraw its pipelaying vessels when all but 160 kilometers of the link was in place. When Nord Stream 2 started construction again, Russian vessels were deployed to lay 2.6 kilometers in Germany’s exclusive economic zone. In January 2021 work resumed on the Danish section. read more

Oil majors suffer massive losses in 2020

At the worst of the crisis the two US oil majors considered another solution according to the Wall Street Journal — a merger that would have created a massive oil firm.

AFP: Last Updated: Feb 10, 2021, 10:53 PM IST Paris: Already under pressure due to climate change, the world’s top listed oil firms suffered historic losses in 2020 as the Covid-19 pandemic sent demand and prices tumbling. The oil majors — BP, Chevron, ExxonMobil, Shell and Total — suffered $77 billion in losses for the year.

Shell CEO Ben van Beurden called 2020 an extraordinary year.

While much of the losses were accounting charges to record the drop in the value of their assets, the drop crude oil prices — which briefly turned negative in 2020 for the first time ever — caused real pain. read more

Shell details its layoff of hundreds at Convent site in 2021; full shutdown set for August

• BY KRISTEN MOSBRUCKER | STAFF WRITER
• DEC 28, 2020 – 10:11 AM

Shell plans to begin layoffs for nearly 700 workers in March at its Convent oil refinery, which it expects to fully shut down in August.

The Louisiana subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell, Equilon Enterprises LLC, previously had announced layoffs but has now filed an official notice with the Louisiana Workforce Commission outlining its plans. 

Shell looks to lay off all 698 workers at the refinery, 340 of whom are represented by a union, according to the letter. read more

Shell to Provide Over One Million Pieces of PPE to U.S. Communities

NEWS PROVIDED BY Shell Oil Company Dec 22, 2020, 09:00 ET

HOUSTON, Dec. 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — As the number of COVID-19 cases surges across the country, Shell Oil Company (Shell) has announced it will contribute more than one million pieces of PPE to communities and medical care facilities from coast to coast. Extra face shields, non-medical masks and nitrile gloves are now arriving in some of the hardest hit areas of the country. read more

Shell’s warning signals pain not yet over for oil majors

Dec. 21, 2020 12:45 PM ETRoyal Dutch Shell plc (RDS.A)By: Carl Surran, SA News Editor17 Comments

Royal Dutch Shell’s (RDS.A -5.7%) update, saying it expects to write down the value of its assets by as much as $4.5B and warning of another set of poor earnings in Q4, is the first indication of another tough quarter for oil and gas producers that continue to struggle with weak demand as COVID-19 lockdowns hit economies hard.

Shell says its oil and gas production business should report a third straight quarterly loss while Q4 results from its trading operations – a bright spot earlier in the pandemic amid volatile oil prices – would come in “significantly lower” than in Q3.

The S&P energy sector (XLE -3.8%) is today’s worst market performer, and Big Oil names are getting trounced but have moved off day’s lows: XOM -2.9%, CVX -1.9%, BP -5.7%.

“The indicative guidance looks disappointing, particularly in the context of the strong run Shell has had in recent weeks,” RBC analyst Biraj Borkhataria says.

Cowen analysts maintain their Buy rating and $41 price target for Shell shares, as the reduced cash flow outlook is offset by today’s announced divestment, and as such the analysts retain their outlook that debt will hit target levels around year-end 2021 to enable buybacks in 2022.

Shell says the anticipated $3.5B-$4.5B writedown includes an impairment of its Appomattox deepwater oil and gas project in the Gulf of Mexico, as well as charges related to its refining operations and onerous gas contracts.

The latest writedown follows Shell’s $16.8B writedown in Q2 and a sharp cut in its price outlook.

read more

Shell CEO hopeful Biden will speed up climate change fight

Laura Hurst, Bloomberg Dec. 4, 2020

Ben van Beurden, CEO of Royal Dutch Shell plc., speaks during CERAWeek by IHS Markit Thursday, March 9, 2017, in Houston. ( Melissa Phillip / Houston Chronicle) Photo: Melissa Phillip, Houston Chronicle

The change in the U.S. presidency will bring the collaboration and set of progressive policies needed to tackle the energy transition, Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s chief executive officer said.

President Donald Trump pulled the U.S. out of the Paris Agreement on global warming and railed back environmental protections while promising to keep the coal industry alive. read more

Shell begins permanent shutdown of Convent, Louisiana, refinery

By Erwin Seba: DECEMBER 2, 2020

HOUSTON (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell Plc began the permanent shutdown of its 211,146 barrel-per-day (bpd) Convent, Louisiana refinery, the company said on Tuesday.

Sources familiar with plant operations told Reuters the permanent shutdown of the refinery, which Shell has been unable to sell as fuel demand has been hammered in the COVID-19 pandemic, began on Monday night.

“We’re engaged in a phased shutdown of Convent and (will) take all of the time necessary to safely accomplish that,” said Shell spokesman Curtis Smith in an email on Tuesday. read more

Shell Convent, Louisiana, refinery workers get severance package details – sources

By Erwin Seba: Fri, 27 November 2020, 10:49 pm GMT

HOUSTON (Reuters) – Hourly employees at Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s Convent, Louisiana, refinery, scheduled for permanent closure as early as next week, received details this week of the severance package negotiated by their union and Shell, three people familiar with the agreement said on Friday.

Shell said on Nov. 5 it was closing the refinery after failing to find a buyer for the plant, which has been hit hard by crushed demand in the COVID-19 pandemic. A spokesman did not immediately reply to a request for comment on the agreement. read more

Dow Chemical, Shell Oil Sued Over Dirty Well Water Near Yosemite

Maeve Allsup Legal Reporter: Nov. 11, 2020, 12:00 AM The Dow Chemical Co. and Shell Oil Co. manufactured and sold soil additives containing a cancer-causing chemical without proper research and precautionary measures, which led to the contamination of certain wells in a county near California’s Yosemite National Park, a lawsuit filed Tuesday in San Francisco alleges.

Madera County seeks to recover costs to restore drinking water supply wells that it alleges are contaminated with 1,2,3-Trichloropropane, a chemical found in certain soil fumigants used to control worms that infest plant roots, the suit says.

TCP is an ingredient in products that were manufactured, marketed, and sold by the companies in…

FULL ARTICLE (PayWall)

COURT: Cal. Super. Ct.

COMPANY: The Dow Chemical Co., Shell Oil Co. (Bloomberg Law Subscription) read more

Shutdown of Shell refinery in Convent: Negotiations for job transfers and severance begin

By the end of 2022, Shell told investors it wants to cut up to 9,000 jobs in a corporate restructuring to save roughly $2.5 billion. It had 83,000 employees worldwide as of December 2019. So far, only 1,500 workers agreed to voluntary buyouts…

• BY KRISTEN MOSBRUCKER | STAFF WRITER
• PUBLISHED NOV 8, 2020 AT 4:30 PM | UPDATED NOV 8, 2020 AT 6:37 PM

About 1,100 workers at the Convent oil refinery, a combination of company and contract workers ranging from plant operators to maintenance crews, will be looking for new jobs as rolling layoffs are expected in the coming months, but only about one-third of those workers are unionized. read more

Louisiana Refinery Set to Close, 700 Jobs Will Go With it

BRANDON MICHAEL

Published: November 5, 2020

European petroleum giant Dutch Royal Shell dropped a bombshell on the oil and gas industries in Louisiana.  The company has announced that it will be closing the refinery located in Convent in the near future.  According to KATC, this shutdown will also mean the loss of 700 jobs. Shell claims that this closure is part of a larger strategy to reduce to the company’s carbon footprint. read more

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