The oversupplied gas market provides the logic for the company’s move downstream

NICK BUTLER

Since Maarten Wetselaar, Royal Dutch Shell’s director of gas and new energies, suggested a few weeks ago that Shell could be “by far the biggest power company in the world” by 2035 as it moves into electricity, oil and gas rivals have been asking if they should be doing the same. Existing power suppliers have begun to worry about whether their business models are secure.

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From next week Wednesday, Shell will offer customers in the Netherlands the option to pay one cent extra per liter of fuel. The Dutch oil and gas giant will then use that extra money to compensate for CO2 emissions. “This offers customers in the Netherlands an interim solution as long as electric driving is not yet affordable for everyone”, Marjan van Loon, director of Shell Nederland, said to NOS.

According to Shell, that one extra cent per liter is enough to drive in a “CO2 neutral” way. The voluntary contribution from customers will be invested in CO2 compensation projects, such as planting trees in Peru and Indonesia. The company invests abroad in such projects because the Netherlands does not yet have a certified CO2 compensation system, Shell said. read more

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On Friday, April 5, we will file the summons with which we will sue Shell for causing climate change. Normally you send a bailiff to hand over the package of paper. But we want to go to Shell headquarters with as many co-claimants as possible to hand over the summons in person. With a march and speeches and music and hundreds of people. So come to The Hague, bring your children, friends and family. And put an end to Shell’s climate destruction together with us. 

Extracts from a translated email involving Dutch climate change campaigners.

TRANSLATION STARTS

Come to the Shell headquarters on 5 April!

Date: Fri 29 Mar 2019

Subject: FW: Come to the Shell headquarters on 5 April!

Dear xxxxx

Did you hear it? We sue Shell for causing disastrous climate change. On Friday, April 5, we file the summons at the Shell headquarters in The Hague to officially start the lawsuit. Not only do we send a bailiff to hand over the papers, but we go to Shell headquarters with as many co-claimants as possible to personally hand over the summons. read more

Ed Crooks in New York and Anjli Raval in London: 25 March 2019

On Sunday Royal Dutch Shell, one of the world’s largest oil and gas companies, announced that its First Utility retail power business would be rebranded as Shell Energy, with 700,000 households switched to renewable power. Customers will be offered not only cleaner electricity but discounts on fast-charging for their electric vehicles as well as broadband and smart-home technologies.

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Exxon Mobil Corp., Royal Dutch Shell, Chevron, Total and BP together have spent more than $1 billion on public relations since the Paris Agreement.

• By Alexander C. Kaufman
• Chris D’Angelo, HuffPost US
• 22 March 2019

The world’s five largest publicly traded oil companies are increasing their investments in oil and gas, putting a combined $110 billion in new fossil-fuel production.

Meanwhile, those firms are projected to spend just $3.6 billion on low-carbon investments, such as biofuels and renewables, according to a new analysis that Influence Map, a British nonprofit that analyzes corporate influence on climate policy, derived from industry data and numbers buried in company disclosures.

The reckless disparity comes just months after the United Nations warned that the world must rapidly phase out fossil fuel use over the next decade or face catastrophic global warming of at least 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit. read more

Printed below is an English translation of an article published today by the Dutch Financial Times, Financieele Dagblad.

Shell enters green methanol project in Botle

Hans Verbraeken: 1 March 2019

Shell is going to co-invest in the planned construction of a green methanol plant in the Botlek in Rotterdam. The construction costs amount to more than € 200 million.

Methanol can serve as a fuel or as a raw material for making chemistry products. The oil and gas company will be the fifth participant in the consortium that has been active for one and a half years. Shell will also become a customer of green methanol as fuel.

The participation of Shell gives the other four companies in the consortium ‘extra trust’ in the project. ‘Shell has also looked and thinks it’s a great project,’ says the spokesman for the consortium, Marco Waas, director R & DI and Technology at Nouryon, one of the other four participants. Nouryon is the former chemical branch of AkzoNobel, which was sold last year. Waas is chairman of the Waste-to-Chemicals consortium. read more

By Ivana Kottasová, CNN Business

Updated 1819 GMT (0219 HKT) February 15, 2019

London (CNN Business)Royal Dutch Shell is making a bet on home battery storage as it tries to boost its sustainable energy business. The oil giant announced Friday that it has purchased Sonnen, a German startup that makes residential battery systems that store energy generated from solar panels. The move puts Shell in direct competition with companies such as Samsung (SSNLF), LG (LPL) and Tesla (TSLA), which makes a home battery system called the Powerwall. Full Article read more

That letter followed the public release of a trove of documents by the Dutch news organization De Correspondent showing that for decades, Shell has been aware of the impact of burning fossil fuels on the climate. Like ExxonMobil, Shell had studied the problem and acknowledged the danger in internal documents, yet publicly downplayed the risk while funding climate denial groups.

By Dana Drugmand

Seven environmental and human rights organizations in the Netherlands announced on Tuesday they are prepared to sue Royal Dutch Shell if the oil giant refuses to align its business model with the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement.

The groups, led by Friends of the Earth Netherlands/Milieudefensie, Greenpeace Netherlands and ActionAid Netherlands have gathered more than 13,000 signatures from Dutch citizens backing the forthcoming lawsuit. If Shell fails to meet their demands, they plan to deliver a court summons to the company at its headquarters in The Hague on April 5. This would be a new legal approach in battling climate change, the first lawsuit to directly challenge the business model and growth strategy of an oil company. read more

Printed below is an English translation of an article published today by the Dutch Financial Times, Financieele Dagblad.

Shell invests money in Google’s energy flyer

Makani prototype system at a test location in Hawaii. Photo: Makani

Bert van Dijk

ShellRDSA € 27.98 + 0.65% has taken an interest in Makani, a start-up of Google parent company Alphabet, which has developed a kite with which electricity can be produced. That is what Makani CEO Fort Felker announced on Tuesday. Makani is now being further developed as an independent company outside Alphabet.

The investment is made by Shell New Energies, Shell’s business unit that deals with new forms of energy, such as wind and solar energy. Financial details of the deal have not been disclosed.

Great ambition

“Shell has great ambitions to expand renewable energy activities and we see great potential in floating offshore wind technology,” said Dorine Bosman, vice president Shell Wind Development in a press statement. According to Shell, Shell wants to further develop and test the energy-flyer technology together with Makani at sea.

It is Shell’s second investment in a company that can generate electricity using kite technology. Previously Shell already invested money in the Scottish Kite Power Systems through its investment arm Shell Ventures. Makani has developed a lightweight wing with eight propellers attached. The kite is released via a cable, after which it flies in circles in the air. Electricity is generated here, which is led back to the ground via the cable. read more

Printed below is an English translation of an article published today by the Dutch Financial Times, Financieele Dagblad.

Total may challenge Shell in violation of the acquisition of energy company Eneco

From our Editor

The French energy group Total is considering making an offer for the Dutch energy company Eneco. The financial press agency Bloomberg reports this on the basis of information from insiders.

Total would already have counsellors in hand to study the pros and cons of a bid. If the French continue this plan, they may expel Shell who has publicly announced that they want to acquire Eneco.

About three weeks ago, it became known that the British-Dutch oil and gas multinational and pension provider PGGM wanted to bid together for Eneco, one of the three major energy companies in the Netherlands. The combination was the first party that had publicly announced its interest. read more

Shell’s Prelude floating LNG project has taken longer than expected to start up.  Shell Australia

By Angela Macdonald-Smith: 01 Feb 2019

Energy giant Shell has brushed off persistent talk about technical problems dogging the start-up of the huge Prelude floating LNG project off Australia’s far north-west coast but has signalled the first LNG cargo from the closely watched venture may still be several weeks away. FULL ARTICLE

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Shell Offshore to pay $2.2 million fine for 2016 Gulf spill

By Mark Schleifstein, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune

Shell Offshore Inc. has agreed to pay a $2.2 million civil fine to the federal government to settle charges that the company violated the Clean Water Act by spilling 1,900 barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico in May 2016 when a subsea pipeline cracked at the company’s Green Canyon oil field. FULL ARTICLE

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ROYAL Dutch Shell boss Ben van Beurden has underlined the fact the company wants to grow in the UK North Sea even as he expressed concern about the prospect of a no-deal Brexit. Speaking after Shell posted a 36 per cent increase in annual profits to a four year high of $21.4 billion (£16.3bn), from $15.8bn, Mr van Beurden said the oil giant believed a no deal Brexit would be “a very bad outcome” but had prepared for the possibility. FULL ARTICLE

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FUEL giant Shell came under fire yesterday after unveiling a 36 percent profit leap – while “exploiting hardworking motorists”.

By CYRIL DIXON

15:29, Fri, Feb 1, 2019

Executives at the British-Dutch company were jubilant after reporting a £4.3billion surplus for the final quarter of last year. But critics pointed out that the “strong financial performance” came at the expense of millions of drivers. Campaigners are demanding a new watchdog for pump prices after they rose more than 11 percent year-on-year. FULL ARTICLE read more

Printed below is an English translation of an article published today by the Dutch Financial Times, Financieele Dagblad.

Shell is looking for a green future in silence

How should Shell still make money if the role of fossil fuels becomes smaller and smaller? The company is sorting out with investments in green start-ups.

Beeldbewerking FD studio

Bert van Dijk

The construction of a large wind farm in the North Sea, an offer for Eneco and the acquisition of the charging station company NewMotion; it is the big steps that everyone can see that oil and gas multinational Shell is putting to a little less fossil. But under the bonnet of Shell and out of view of the general public, many smaller investments in start-ups give at least as interesting an insight into Shell’s view of the future. A search for the green future of Shell. read more

Deal supports the acceleration of electric vehicle infrastructure deployment and management in the US

Jan 30, 2019, 13:00 ET

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 30, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — Greenlots, a US-based leader in electric vehicle (EV) charging and energy management software and solutions, today announced it has signed an agreement to become a wholly owned subsidiary of Shell New Energies US LLC, a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell plc. With this deal, Greenlots’ technology and team become the foundation for Shell’s continued expansion of electric mobility solutions in North America. Together, the companies will offer best in class software and services that enable large-scale deployment of smart charging infrastructure and integrate efficiently with advanced energy resources like solar, wind and power storage. read more

Printed below is an English translation of an article published today by the Dutch Financial Times, Financieele Dagblad.

Deep pockets are strong points for Eneco bidders Shell and PGGM

Carel Grol

Shell and PGGM want to expand Eneco ‘into a European player, while maintaining the sustainable strategy’. And geographically focused on Northwest Europe. This was reported by the oil company and the pension provider on Monday when they expressed their interest. And now?

One thing is clear: Shell and PGGM have not bought Eneco. Not yet. The sales process will take months. There will be an auction. Price is not the only criterion here: it is also about issues such as sustainability and employment.

Leader

Adriaan Visser, the D66 alderman in Rotterdam who boosts sales, and Eneco CEO Ruud Sondag, have both hinted at great interest. “I do not think there are five parties,” Visser said in February last year about possible bidders. Sunday, a month ago: “We are a great company. Leader in the energy transition. ‘ So he expected a lot of bids. read more

Printed below is an English translation of an article published today by the Dutch Financial Times, Financieele Dagblad.

‘Shell must become a greener company? Well, here we are’

Maarten Wetselaar (l) and Frank Roeters of Lennep: ‘We do not intend to buy Eneco with a load of debt and then strip it.’ Photo: Peter Boer

Bert van DijkMartine Wolzak

Eneco does not have to worry about losing its sustainable character when it comes to selling to Shell and pension provider PGGM. That is what the two potential buyers of the Dutch energy company say to the FD. Some of the shareholders and staff are afraid that a sale will put an end to Eneco’s sustainable strategy. read more