Exclusive: Shell launches major cost-cutting drive to prepare for energy transition

By Ron Bousso: SEPTEMBER 21, 2020

LONDON (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell is looking to slash up to 40% off the cost of producing oil and gas in a major drive to save cash so it can overhaul its business and focus more on renewable energy and power markets, sources told Reuters.

Shell’s new cost-cutting review, known internally as Project Reshape and expected to be completed this year, will affect its three main divisions and any savings will come on top of a $4 billion target set in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis. read more

Big Oil’s patchy deals record casts shadow over green makeover

When Shell bought BG Group for $54 billion in 2016 in the midst of the price crash, Chief Executive Ben van Beurden made a compelling case to investors…: Speaking in July, Shell’s CEO stood by the deal. “The company did get stronger, but indeed the company was not able to withstand the onslaught of COVID if we wanted to adopt a prudent stance … I remain convinced it was the right move,” van Beurden told reporters. read more

By Akshat Rathi and Laura Hurst: 9 JUNE 2020

Royal Dutch Shell Plc had been turning out about 2.7 million barrels of oil each day until the novel coronavirus took hold of the world. Demand for oil, the company’s core product, dropped almost a third in April, and the price of West Texas Intermediate briefly dipped into negative numbers for the first time.

It’s not easy to run an oil major when people suddenly stop needing oil. Chief Executive Officer Ben van Beurden responded by slashing spending and cutting Shell’s dividend for the first time since World War II. And, as critics warned, the company remains saddled with debt from its $53 billion acquisition of BG Group in 2015. read more

English translation of an article published today by the Dutch FT

Shell needs to consider Van Beurden succession

From our editor

CFO Jessica Uhl and CEO Ben van Beurden before the start of the Shell Shell shareholders’ meeting in Scheveningen last May. Photo: Piroschka van de Wouw / Reuters

In brief

• Investors say in the Sunday Telegraph that Shell should reflect on the position of its top man.
• The British newspaper published a story based on anonymous sources.
• Shell is struggling: last week, the dividend was cut for the first time in decades.

One of Shell’s largest shareholders has suggested that the oil and gas company should start thinking about succeeding CEO Ben van Beurden, the day after Shell reduced its dividend for the first time since World War II. That writes the Sunday Telegraph. The British newspaper has spoken to two investors from the top 20 largest shareholders, one of which says it is time for a ‘changing of the guard’. read more

ABOVE SCREENSHOTS DOWNLOADED 14 APRIL 2020

COMMENT POSTED TO SHELL BLOG 14 APRIL 2020

Mr Gould, clearly an avid reader of this Blog, has now amended his profile on the professional networking site LinkedIn to show that he is no longer a Board member of Saudi Aramco, but is now a Board member at Occidental Petroleum. Sadly, however, like most of his BG Group counterparts he did not check his profile thoroughly enough, because it shows that he is still (May 2012 – Present) Chairman of BG Group, a defunct oil and gas company.

linkedin.com/in/andrew-gould-8a54b239 read more

Rule 19.6(b) update to stated post-offer intention statement with regard to the combination with BG Group plc

March 23, 2020 03:15 ET | Source: Royal Dutch Shell

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. read more

Ron Bousso: MARCH 12, 2020

LONDON (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L) Chief Executive Ben van Beurden’s pay package halved last year to 10 million euros ($11.3 million) after the energy company suffered seven deaths and saw a drop in revenue.

Van Beurden, who became CEO in 2014, oversaw a sharp growth in Shell’s oil and gas output following the 2016 acquisition of BG Group for $53 billion.

But in January, the Anglo-Dutch company was forced to rein in its vast $25 billion share buyback programme amid a drop in oil and gas prices and sliding global demand for fuels and petrochemicals. read more

WHISTLEBLOWER COMMENT POSTED ON OUR SHELL BLOG ON 4 MARCH 2020.  ABOUT A PRESS RELEASE ISSUED 21 OCTOBER 2019

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. read more

Please read in conjunction with the recent comments made by Bill Campbell in the article Alarming warning to the Australian National Offshore Petroleum and Environmental Management Authority about Shell Prelude Project

By Bill Campbell

Hydrocarbon leaks an ever-present danger – the argument with respect to inevitability

HSE started in 1992 to record and classify dangerous occurrences including hydrocarbon releases. This was adopted as their principal technical integrity measure. In the circa quarter of a century from 1992 to 2015, for example, there were 4656 hydrocarbon releases on average 194 per annum. The latest data available is for 2018 where the number of releases was recorded at 96 per annum, so there has been a trend downwards but this should not be understood to be a significant improvement because the population number of installations in 1992 was larger than the number in 2018 due to installations being abandoned at end of life. In any case, the reality is that over the period 1992 to 2015 there was between 3 to 4 hydrocarbon releases per week and in 2018 there was approaching two hydrocarbon releases per week. This can not be viewed as a significant reduction in risk because hydrocarbon loss into the atmosphere, whether it be minor significant or major, are all classified as dangerous occurrences because of the potential of these incidents. read more

Mark Robinson

When Royal Dutch Shell (RDSB) launched its £35.6bn bid for BG Group, it was easy to appreciate the strategic rationale. At a stroke, the Anglo-Dutch energy giant not only bolstered its reserves, but also shored-up its position in a global liquefied natural gas (LNG) market which had grown rapidly since the turn of the millennium.

Shell wasn’t alone in increasing its exposure to the sector, but investors may now be questioning whether long-term prospects in gas markets warrant the massive capital allocation. A supply glut, most noticeably in the US Permian basin, weighed on gas prices last year, and there are few signs of respite as new fields in Australia and Russia come online. read more

“Investors are gradually moving away from energy stocks. A look behind the dividend payments of the leading companies helps explain why. For the core business of these companies, there is more money going out than coming in.” 

By Jordan Blum: Thursday, January 16, 2020

The largest oil and gas companies for years have lived beyond their means and paid more money to investors than they can reasonably afford, according to a new report.

The study from the Cleveland-based Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis found that the five largest Big Oil majors — Exxon Mobil, Chevron, Royal Dutch Shell, BP and Total — spent $536 billion on shareholder dividends and stock buybacks since 2010 while bringing in just $329 billion in free cash flow. read more

Postings on our Shell Blog making allegations about the so-called BG Group ‘Chosen Few’ transferred into Shell

LondonLad

2019/11/26 at 11:36 am

I can only assume from the continuous moaning from “Bonus Group” that he/she was not one of the “chosen few” from the BG group and hence the vindictiveness. Poor performance = limited or no job opportunities which applies to both Shell and ex-BG staff. As a share holder I wouldn’t want it differently.

Bonus Group

2019/11/27 at 12:30 pm

London Lad, Good to hear from you. I hope that you enjoyed your recent trip to Aberdeen. Having also been employed by Shell, I consider myself fortunate that I was not one of the ‘Chosen Few’. The ‘Chosen Few’ are the most corrupt of the corrupt and will fit in well with your ilk. In respect of the slur about my performance, BG were involved in what can only be described as a stupendous multi-billion dollar technical fraud against Petrobras based upon a corrupt workflow which was both Functionally Approved through their Assurance Team and signed-off by the relevant Discipline Functional Head. They refused to correct their workflow and that resulted in a technical fraud. They tried to make me complicit in this fraud, but I refused. That is called integrity, something which I have no doubt that you know little of. You clearly relish brushing shoulders with fraudsters and liars. read more

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Postings on our Shell Blog

Bonus Group

2019/11/22 at 11:59 pm

Further to Bogus Group’s post of Thursday 21st November. BG Group the failed Internet Cafe, cappucino and Belgian chocolate lifestyle company had an established reputation for: constructive dismissal, lack of transparency and corrupt ‘do as I say, not as I do’ line management. The acceptance of the ‘Chosen Few’ from BG by Shell into its upper echelons can only lead to further corruption. After all what was on the BG Portal in terms of Company Policy was of course also law, or at least that is what they would have you believe. As employers they were a complete disgrace and the company a complete shambles from top to bottom. Visitors to this site can look forward to more revelations of incompetence in due course as they unfold. read more

By HARRY WISE FOR THISISMONEY.CO.UK and PA

PUBLISHED: 12:19, 31 October 2019 | UPDATED: 12:27, 31 October 2019

Oil giant Shell has experienced a large fall in third-quarter profits due to weaker oil prices.

Earnings after stripping out fluctuating expenses fell 15 per cent to £3.7billion, well below estimates it might reach almost £5billion.

Shell was able to charge an average of £43.25 per barrel of oil it produced in the quarter, down from £52.69 in the same three months last year. It was even more than a dollar lower than the second quarter price. read more

The Sunday Times

Investors turn fossil fuels into dinosaurs

Bank of England governor Mark Carney sent shock waves through the City four years ago by warning that investors in fossil fuel companies faced “potentially huge” losses from vast reserves that could become “literally unburnable”.

Fear among investors is evident in the oil giants’ share prices. read more