Comment posted our article Shell Sells U.S. Appalachia Assets to National Fuel for $541 million

World-class investment case?

Shell apparently paid 4.7 USD billion in 2010 for the Marcellus shale and sells it now for 0.541 USD billion. 

How does this fit in with Shell’s strategy to provide a “world class investment case”? Some investors reacted sheepishly to the dividend haircut as a “sensible choice made by the Board”. Other investors see perhaps deeper underlying issues with Shell’s management choices and delivery performance, triggering calls for a Van Beurden succession plan.

Perhaps they see a longer legacy of poor choices and dud projects. (Shale, drilling in the Arctic, lacklustre exploration success, Prelude, BG acquisition, ….) read more

The featured extracts are from customer reviews about Shell Energy posted on Trustpilot on 22 Jan 2020.  Visit the Shell Energy page on Trustpilot to view all reviews in their entirety, positive and negative (and Shell Energy responses). Watch out for any fake reviews. Note the reoccurring theme in negative reviews; the difficulty in communicating with the company. Some typos and punctuation amended for ease of reading. 

Don’t make the same mistake I made and use Shell Energy

The customer service for this company is non-existent, been waiting for help on call for the past 45 minutes. Never ever have I experienced such awful customer service… Avoid this company at all costs.

This company is a joke I left a review…

This company is a joke I left a review on shell last week. Called them again at 10.15 am and waited 20 minutes then a recorded message said they can call you back. It’s now 15.15 and still no call back. Their billing system is a joke… They are a joke cowboys!!!!!!

Would never go back to them poor service

Poor customer service waiting on the phone for a long time I eventually hung up… read more

Management thinks the things it has done in recent years will set it up to deliver huge returns for shareholders.

Now that Shell has weathered the storm of low oil prices and is back to generating returns, management has plans both within and without the oil industry to preserve what it calls a “world-class investment case.” Here are several quotes from the company’s most recent earnings conference call that highlight some of the efforts Shell is taking to both grow the business and make the stock a better investment. read more

…these are also the same waters unsuccessfully explored by Royal Dutch Shell in 2015, after which the company halted Arctic operations for the foreseeable future.

Sam Ori , Contributor: JAN 8, 2018 @ 09:58 AM

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke released the Trump Administration’s long-awaited offshore drilling proposal last week. Once enacted, the plan will replace the existing leasing schedule, which was designed by the previous administration and had been set to run through 2022. New administrations are free to scrap the hold-over plans of prior administrations, and anyone who followed the 2016 presidential campaign knew that President Trump had a dramatically different view of offshore energy development than his predecessor. FULL ARTICLE read more

Oil exploration in U.S. Arctic waters got underway this week with the spudding of a new oil well from the man-made Spy Island in the Beaufort Sea. Eni began drilling the new well off the north coast of Alaska, becoming the first company to do so since 2015.The well is expected to be over six miles (10 kilometers) long, and the project could result in oil production levels of 20,000 barrels a day. Eni is working with Royal Dutch Shell and plans to drill two exploration wells plus two potential sidetrack wells over the next two years. FULL ARTICLE read more

DECEMBER 27, 2017

HOUSTON (Reuters) – Italian oil producer Eni this week began drilling a new well in U.S. waters off the north coast of Alaska, becoming the first company to do so since 2015, federal regulators said on Wednesday.

The oil and gas firm is working from an artificial island in the Beaufort Sea about three miles off Oliktok Point in the Arctic Ocean. The well is expected to run more than 6 miles (10 km) long.

The project could result in 20,000 barrels a day of oil production, according to regulator U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE), which said it sent employees to the site to ensure compliance with federal regulations and safety standards. read more

By Elizabeth Harball, Alaska’s Energy Desk – Anchorage – November 28, 2017

The federal government has given an Italian company the go-ahead to explore for oil in Arctic waters this winter.

It’s the first oil exploration in Arctic federal waters since Shell abandoned its campaign in 2015.

The company, Eni, aims to begin drilling in December. It will operate from an existing man-made gravel island called Spy Island. Spy Island is about three miles offshore, in state waters west of Prudhoe Bay.

The prospect is about four miles away from the island, so Eni plans to use extended-reach drilling. According to the company, it will be be the longest extended-reach well in Alaska. read more

After Iran move, Total seen in pole position to snap up Qatar gas deals: Reuters: 10 July 2017

Total is well placed to take a lead role in helping Qatar expand output from the world’s largest gas field, largely thanks to its involvement in the Iranian side of the shared deposit, two sources familiar with Doha’s thinking said. That puts the French oil major ahead of rivals like Exxon and Shell… Read More

Native corporation makes move toward exploring for oil in Arctic Ocean, where Shell failed: Alaska Dispatch News: 10 July 2017

A subsidiary of Alaska’s wealthiest regional Native corporation is moving ahead with plans to follow in the footsteps of Shell and explore for oil in the U.S. Arctic Ocean. Read More read more

Shell acquires local power company MP2: Houston Chronicle: 29 June 2017

Royal Dutch Shell said Thursday that it plans to acquire MP2 Energy, a power and retail electric company based in the Woodlands, as the oil major seeks to diversify its business.

Trump says the Atlantic, Arctic could soon be open to oil drilling: The Washington Post: 29 June 2017

The White House is making a bid to overturn the Obama administration’s five-year plan forbidding oil and gas exploration in the Arctic and Atlantic oceans and will examine opportunities to drill almost anywhere off the U.S. coast. read more

By John Donovan

During the period that Shell was conniving in setting up the OPL 245 deal, the company had a vice-like grip on the oil wealth of Nigeria and more power than the Nigerian government. This information comes from an analysis of leaked secret US embassy cables.

Ann Pickard, a then senior Shell executive, was directly involved in the OPL 245 deal, and the primary indiscreet source of the secret information.

Extracts below from various publications provide evidence of her role in OPL 245. They are followed by astonishing related extracts from a Guardian newspaper article about the leaked classified cables. read more

The Shell-contracted rigs Kulluk (left) and Noble Discoverer (right) set sail from Seattle in July 2012 for Royal Dutch Shell’s ultimately unsuccessful drilling campaign offshore Alaska in Summer 2012. Photo credit: Vigor Industrial

December 19, 2016 by Bloomberg

By Jennifer A. Dlouhy

(Bloomberg) — President Barack Obama is preparing to block the sale of new offshore drilling rights in much of the U.S. Arctic and parts of the Atlantic, a move that could indefinitely restrict oil production there, according to two people familiar with the decision. read more

By Ron Bousso | LONDON

In the waters off Malaysia, Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L) is finding gas quickly and cheaply to replenish depleting fields where only a few years ago geologists had lost hope of discovering any new reserves.

The Anglo-Dutch group is combining the latest technology with the wisdom of industry veterans to unlock new oil and gas deposits where it already operates, usually within 20 km (12 miles) of existing platforms.

The result has been a string of finds which, while modest in size, can generate cash rapidly to suit an era of drastically reduced exploration budgets across the energy industry. read more

By William Yardley: 18 Nov 2016

The Obama administration said Friday it was banning offshore oil drilling in the Arctic through 2022, a move that prompted widespread praise from conservation groups but raised questions over how long the decision will stand just two months before President-elect Donald Trump takes office.

A new five-year leasing program prohibits any drilling in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas — an environmental battleground in recent years —and also blocks expansion in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, while allowing some new leasing in the Gulf of Mexico. read more

By Ed Crooks: November 19, 2016

The last rites have been read over the Age of Oil a few times recently, but this week the International Energy Agency suggested there was still plenty of life left in it yet.

In its 2016 World Energy Outlook, the IEA argued that even if the Paris climate agreement were fully implemented, demand for oil would keep rising until at least 2040.

The message was reassuring for oil producers worried that “peak demand” might condemn them to stagnation or decline, or even put them out of business. There was colder comfort, however, in a warning from Wood Mackenzie that big oil companies risked being left behind in the transition to low-carbon energy. read more

By CLIFFORD KRAUSS: NOV. 3, 2016

In a warming world, Big Oil doesn’t look quite so big anymore.

A global glut of oil and natural gas has sent prices tumbling over the last two years, and profits are evaporating. Improving auto fuel efficiency standards threaten to depress oil consumption eventually, and fleets of electric vehicles are gradually emerging in China and a few other important markets.

Perhaps most troubling for oil companies over the long term is the goal — agreed to last December by virtually every country in the world at a climate conference in Paris — of staving off a rise in average global temperatures of more than 2 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels. read more

Tyler Crowe: (TMFDirtyBird): Nov 1, 2016

It seems that now when an oil company’s earnings increase, financial pundits say it “rocketed” upwards or some other hyperbole like that. Sure, Royal Dutch Shell’s (NYSE:RDS-A) (NYSE:RDS-B) third-quarter results were better than the past few quarters thanks to the BG Group deal, but the devil’s in the details. Let’s take a look at the company’s results and why they improved, as well as peek into Shell’s near-term future as 2017 comes into focus.  read more