Oil Majors Are Paying The Price For Investing In Renewables

By Alex Kimani – Nov 19, 2020, 7:00 PM CST

Big Oil has been frequently lambasted for trying to burnish its green credentials through half-hearted investments in renewables. That might have been true for much of the past decade, but it appears to be changing as the oil and gas majors have started putting down big money into clean energy. For instance, European oil majors including BP Plc. (NYSE:BP), Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE:RDS.A), Eni SpA (NYSE:E), Total SA (NYSE:TOT), and Norwegian national oil company Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) have already invested billions of dollars in renewable energy and made big clean energy commitments.Yet, Big Oil just can’t seem to catch a break, with stocks of oil and gas companies that are investing heavily in renewables being punished by the markets. read more

Will Shell’s share price ever recover?

Edward Sheldon, CFA: Tue, 10 November 2020, 7:22 am GMT·

It’s fair to say 2020 has been a challenging year for Royal Dutch Shell (LSE: RDSB) investors. As a result of Covid-19, and the subsequent drop in demand for oil, Shell’s share price has plummeted. Year to date, shares in the FTSE 100 oil major are down about 50%.

Can Shell’s share price recover? I think it’s possible. That said, there are a few things that need to happen for the FTSE 100 oil stock to rebound. 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

Sneaky online censorship move by Shell Climate Change VP John MacArthur

When I revisited MacArthur’s Linkedin page yesterday, I discovered that all trace of his remarks and the adverse comments they had attracted have vanished.

By John Donovan

John MacArthur leads Shell’s Group Carbon strategy, climate change and energy policy and carbon innovation. See screenshot below downloaded on 06 Nov 2020 from here

John is not having a good week.

A few days ago he posted comments on his Linkedin page promoting Shell’s new climate change campaign on social media. read more

‘Greenwashing’ and ‘dirty tricks’: Shell sparks fierce backlash with emissions tweet

AOC and Greta Thunberg lead criticism of multinational fossil fuel firm

Her tweet refers to executives at Shell who have publicly admitted they knew decades ago that burning fossil fuels would cause the planet to warm. Shell chief executive Ben van Beurden said in a Time magazine interview this year: “Yeah, we knew. Everybody knew.”

Harry Cockburn: 03 Oct 2020

Multinational oil and gas company Shell – the second-largest investor-owned company in the world – is no stranger to the criticisms and concerns of the environmental movement, but this week, the energy giant inspired fresh anger with a tweet asking how people were reducing their emissions. read more

Oil giant Shell tries to hand off the climate-change fight to consumers and gets roasted by AOC, Greta Thunberg and thousands more

By Rachel Koning Beals:Published: Nov. 3, 2020 at 8:12 p.m. ET

We welcome the #energydebate, the oil major counters

Royal Dutch Shell PLC had a poll for consumers this week: What habits are individuals willing to give up to cut emissions, it asked.

A stampede of Twitter responses had a follow-up for the oil-and-gas super major: Are you serious?

Some comments, which eventually topped 4,000 as of Tuesday, made note of the less than 200 poll responses (for an account that has some 550,000 followers) to this four-answer query: read more

WHAT SHELL’S CLIMATE CHANGE VP POSTED ON LINKEDIN

By John Donovan

As is plain from recently published news articles, Shell’s use of social media to initiate a discussion about climate change has spectacularly backfired.

The fall out is not limited to Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.

This morning, I spotted the following postings on linkedin.com by Shell’s Climate Change VP John MacArthur

ohn MacArthur• 3rd+Climate & Sustainability Leader ★ Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering ★ Chairman OGCI Climate Investments ★ Executive Coach1d • 1 day ago Even though the world is going through uncertain times, we know there is an urgent need to tackle climate change. That’s why, at Shell, our ambition is to be a net-zero emissions energy business by 2050, or sooner. We aim to meet our customers’ demand for cleaner energy, keeping in pace with society. #MakeTheFuture#climatechange#netzero2050

GREENWASHING?

So Shell will get out of the primary energy business? Please explain how the world will solve the energy needs over the next 30 years. Eliminating about 12000 mtoe to zero in about 12000 days means 1 nuclear installation per day or 1500 windmills. We need to stop burning fossil and save it for useful stuff. But to reorganise the world in 10 or 30 years just is not possible. With a concerted effort by the world leaders (when was the last time this was achieved?) it will take 2-3 generations and great care is to be taken not to send the poorest 30% of the population into even more dire circumstances. Fortunately we have the time as there is sufficient fossil fuel around. In the meantime I vote your statement as a greenwashing marketing one. But I wish you a fine day and look forward to your explanation!

Wim der Kinderenout of network 3rd+Curator of private telecommunications museum (Self-employed) read more

Outlook darkens for North Sea oil and gas industry

TWO oil and gas majors provided votes of confidence in the North Sea last week but these may only provide cold comfort as the outlook for the sector gets ever bleaker.

On Tuesday BP underlined its belief in the exploration potential of the North Sea as it announced that it had returned to profit in the third quarter.

The giant included its successful bid for new North Sea exploration licences in a list of highlights for the three months to 30 September. read more

On the horizon: the end of oil and the beginnings of a low-carbon planet

With demand and share prices dropping, Europe’s fossil fuel producers recognise that peak oil is probably now behind them

Even as economies slowly emerge from the financial fallout of the pandemic, the shift towards cleaner energy has gained pace. A sharp plunge in fossil fuel use will be followed in quick succession by a renewable energy revolution, which will occur at unprecedented pace. The tipping point for oil demand may have come and gone, and major oil companies are taking note. read more

Shell raises dividend as retail boost drives confidence

Shell also plans to shed up to 9,000 jobs, or more than 10% of its workforce.

By Ron Bousso, Shadia Nasralla: 29 October 2020

LONDON (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell on Thursday raised its dividend after easily beating quarterly profit forecasts and outlined plans to shrink its oil and gas operations as it presses forward with a transition to low-carbon energy.

The Anglo-Dutch company hit record earnings from its vast retail division, despite the impact on demand of the COVID-19 pandemic, which it said continued to generate “significant uncertainty”. read more

Shell outlines tighter upstream, refining footprint in post-COVID transition plans

• Author Robert Perkins 
• Editor Debiprasad Nayak 
• Commodity Coal,  Natural Gas,  Oil

London — Shell plans to focus its future upstream operations on nine core areas and transform its refining portfolio into six integrated sites which are part of moves to grow its low-carbon businesses and support its cash flows, the major said Oct. 29.

Reporting stronger than expected third-quarter earnings, Shell said it wants to pursue more “value over volume” by simplifying its upstream assets to nine significant core positions; Brazil, Brunei, Gulf of Mexico, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Nigeria, Oman, Permian and UK North Sea. It said combined the areas will generate more than 80% of its upstream cash flow from operations. read more

GlobeNewswire

ROYAL DUTCH SHELL PLC THIRD QUARTER 2020 PRESS RELEASE

October 29, 2020 03:01 ET | Source: Shell International B.V.

The Hague, October 29, 2020 – Shell today announced a cash allocation framework that will enable it to reduce debt, increase distributions to shareholders, and allow for disciplined growth as it reshapes its business for the future of energy. Ongoing work to reshape Shell’s portfolio is expected to deliver continued cash generation to grow its low-carbon businesses as well as to increase shareholder distributions, making a compelling investment case. 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

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

Shell Plans to Cut Thousands of Jobs Amid Shift to Carbon Neutrality: What Investors Need to Know

Shell’s job cuts are just the latest unsettling news for Wall Street’s least-loved oil major (shares of Shell are down more than any other integrated oil and gas company so far this year).

BY Daniel Foelber:(TMFpalomino2) Oct 10, 2020 at 7:54AM

The case for why the job cuts are the right decision for investors.

To say it’s been an off-year for big oil would be an understatement. Shockwaves of volatility and lower energy demand have rippled through global markets. An added threat is the increasing role of renewables in the energy mix as wind and solar companies continue to gain market share — and oil companies lose it. read more

Royal Dutch Shell: Energy Transition Woes

• Poor messaging from management, as well as an ill-prepared balance sheet caused in part by buybacks, has caused the European major a lot of pain.
• Arguably, senior executives deserve to be shown the door. But even if that happens, expect the pivot away from fossil fuels to continue.
• Is the move into Power and other “Green Energy” assets the right move? Maybe, maybe not.
• This idea was discussed in more depth with members of my private investing community, Energy Income Authority. Get started today »

I often get asked why I don’t cover the supermajors all that often on Seeking Alpha. The answer comes down to a rather simple reality: time invested versus potential gain. Anyone that has followed my long / short book knows that whatever I take a stake in, I know inside out. Quite frankly, the sprawling operations of most majors coupled with competing against institutionals that have enough research analysts on the payroll to pack a local gymnasium makes it a losing proposition – or at least in my view. read more