Virus crisis threatens to set back oil platform decommissioning

By Benoît PELEGRIN: July 12, 2020: LONDON

Oil companies are being forced to cut spending due to a fall in global oil prices, threatening funds earmarked to dismantle dated off-shore rigs, despite environmental risks.

A drastic drop in revenue caused by the coronavirus outbreak has seen majors such as Total, Royal Dutch Shell and BP having to cut or defer expenditure by billions of dollars.

Decommissioning platforms is not “one of their top priorities”, according to Sonya Boodoo, an analyst at Rystad Energy. read more

‘Divest or we escalate’, Extinction Rebellion warns University of Cambridge

Extinction Rebellion is ready for an extensive campaign next month to encourage the University of Cambridge to divest fully from investments in fossil fuel companies.

Extinction Rebellion Cambridge (XRC) and Extinction Rebellion Youth Cambridge (XRYC) are “beginning their campaign by delivering their demands to the university and the non-divested colleges”.

The activist group add that “if divestment isn’t announced by the end of July”, they “will begin an escalating campaign of non-violent direct action until it is”. read more

Big Oil’s Investment Risk Is Spiking

By David Messler – Jul 07, 2020, 5:00 PM CDT

The major integrated oil companies: Shell,(NYSE:RDS.A, RDS.B); ExxonMobil, (NYSE:XOM); BP, (NYSE:BP); Chevron, (NYSE:CVX), and a few others, so named for their vertical stewardship of the hydrocarbon molecule from initial extraction to final refining, have come under increasingly accurate fire from climate change advocates. In the past organizations like Greenpeace and a host of other conservation organizations, have used direct measures to interdict oil company operations. Measures that were flashy, as they drew a lot of attention from the global press, but over the long haul did little to achieve their goals of stopping oil and gas exploration. read more

Virus crisis threatens to set back oil platform decommissioning

London (AFP) – Oil companies are being forced to cut spending due to a fall in global oil prices, threatening funds earmarked to dismantle dated off-shore rigs, despite environmental risks.

A drastic drop in revenue caused by the coronavirus outbreak has seen majors such as Total, Royal Dutch Shell and BP having to cut or defer expenditure by billions of dollars.

Decommissioning platforms is not “one of their top priorities”, according to Sonya Boodoo, an analyst at Rystad Energy. read more

English translation of an article published today by the FD.

“I don’t want to survive this pandemic with a company that is no longer capable of anything”

Bert van Dijk

The corona crisis is forcing Shell to restructure the company. At the same time, CEO Ben van Beurden must chart the course for a low-carbon future. What choices does he make and why can’t things go a bit faster? “We cannot organize ourselves anti-economically. We don’t have that mandate.”

Ceo Ben van Beurden leads Shell from home during the corona crisis. ‘The good thing about this period is that you can help with homework.’ Photo: David van Dam for FD

In brief

• Shell CEO Ben van Beurden has to guide the oil and gas multinational through various storms.
• In a long conversation with the FD, he explains why he couldn’t help but decrease the dividend.
• He also outlines the dilemma of developing new revenue models, while the old revenue model cannot be immediately discarded.

Last week, Shell CEO Ben van Beurden reduced the value of Shell’s assets by nearly $ 20 billion last week. The massive write-off is necessary because the corona pandemic has hit the global demand for oil and gas heavily and uncertainty about the future has increased. read more

Reuters: Reporting by Matthew Green in London, Valerie Volcovici in Washington and Emma Farge in Geneva; Editing by Katy Daigle and Lisa Shumaker: JULY 3, 2020

LONDON/WASHINGTON/GENEVA (Reuters) – Climate change may be having its day in court.

With the slow pace of international climate negotiations, lawyers from Switzerland to San Francisco are increasingly filing lawsuits demanding action.

And they are getting creative — using new legal arguments to challenge companies and governments before a judge. read more

One big question emerging from the pandemic is whether it will speed up the global shift away from oil. Life under lockdown gave a taste of a world that burns less petroleum, with consumption down by about a quarter and city dwellers from Los Angeles to New Delhi relishing the cleaner air. As restrictions eased, things weren’t exactly returning to normal. Many workers had given up on commuting and there was talk that air travel might never recover. On the other hand, rock-bottom oil prices and the desire to avoid crowded public transport had some people driving to work for the first time or taking road trips instead of flying. read more

The pandemic has now forced both of the U.K.’s oil majors to slash the value of their assets by billions of dollars. This is more than just an accounting issue for BP Plc and Royal Dutch Shell Plc. In the real world, it makes it even harder for them to meet targets for cutting leverage — targets they were already straining to hit.

Shell said on Tuesday it would take a $15 billion to $22 billion post-tax impairment charge after cutting its long-term view on oil and gas prices. BP warned earlier in June of potentially $18 billion in impairments. read more

London (CNN Business)Royal Dutch Shell is writing down the value of its assets by as much as $22 billion as lower oil prices push the Anglo-Dutch company to accelerate a shift away from fossil fuels.

Shell (RDSA) slashed its outlook for energy prices Tuesday, saying in a statement that it expects Brent crude to cost $40 per barrel in 2021 and $50 per barrel in 2022. Prices are forecast to rise to $60 per barrel in 2023.

The company said the changes to its price forecast reflect the economic trauma caused by the coronavirus pandemic, which has plunged countries around the world into recession and sharply reduced demand for energy. read more

LONDON — Royal Dutch Shell said on Tuesday it would write off assets worth up to $22 billion after the coronavirus crisis knocked oil and gas demand and weakened the energy price outlook.

The Anglo-Dutch company has already been preparing a major overhaul after CEO Ben van Beurden laid out plans in April to reduce Shell’s greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050.

Global travel restrictions to prevent the virus spreading affected more than 4 billion people at one point, taking cars off the roads and grounding planes, driving down fuel demand. read more

James Osborne: JUNE 25, 2020

WASHINGTON – The District of Columbia sued Exxon Mobil and other large oil companies Thursday over their contribution to climate change, adding the nation’s capitol to a growing list of states seeking to punish the oil sector for its history of climate denial.

At a time large oil companies are increasingly vocal about the need to address climate change, the suit tackles a long period when despite warnings from their own scientists oil executives openly questioned claims greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels were warming the planet. read more

Reporting by Valerie Volcovici; Editing by Marguerita Choy: JUNE 25, 2020

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The attorney general for the District of Columbia on Thursday filed a lawsuit against Exxon Mobil Corp , BP Plc, Chevron Corp, and Royal Dutch Shell Plc for “systematically and intentionally misleading” consumers about the role their products play in causing climate change, the latest action by a U.S. attorney general against the oil and gas industry.

The lawsuit brought by Attorney General Karl Racine comes a day after Minnesota AG Keith Ellison filed a lawsuit against the American Petroleum Institute, Exxon Mobil and Koch Industries for violating state laws barring consumer fraud, deceptive trade practices and false advertising. read more

Oil supermajor Shell plans to announce by the end of the year a significant restructuring to reflect its net-zero emissions goal for 2050 and to align itself with a green recovery from the pandemic, a Shell source told Reuters on Tuesday.

Shell’s chief executive Ben van Beurden has told employees in an internal website video that there would be restructuring and job cuts, sources who saw the video told Reuters.

Shell’s official website has posted a video message from van Beurden, who says that “[S]ociety must remain focused on the longer-term challenge of climate change. Because it hasn’t gone away. It still needs urgent action. Shell has a big part to play.” read more

“Over the coming months we will go through a comprehensive review of the company. Where appropriate we will redesign our organization to adapt to a different future…”

LONDON — Royal Dutch Shell will announce a major restructuring by the end of the year as the energy company prepares to accelerate its shift towards low-carbon, CEO Ben van Beurden told employees according to a company source.

In a video interview published on Shell’s internal website, van Beurden said that the restructuring would involve job cuts as part of broad cost reductions, although no figures have been decided yet, according to sources who saw the interview. read more

LONDON — Investors managing £1.8 trillion ($2.2 trillion) in assets are widening a campaign pressing oil majors to better reflect climate risks in their accounting, and will soon target other businesses with heavy fossil fuel exposure, the group said on Monday.

The investors believe their campaign is working, noting the “hugely important” news of BP joining other oil majors in lowering the value of its assets amid a global transition to cleaner energy, said Natasha Landell-Mills, head of stewardship at asset manager Sarasin & Partners. read more

Coronavirus has dealt the fossil-fuel industry the biggest single blow in its history, and it is clear that 2020’s plummeting demand for oil and gas is no mere flesh wound. The global Covid-19 crisis may have already triggered a terminal decline for big oil.

BP’s decision last week to reset its oil price forecasts for the next three decades was the latest tremor in a seismic shift for the industry. Its forecasts of a $75-a-barrel oil price over the next 30 years were scrapped in favour of an average price of $55. The watershed decision wiped more than $17bn from the value of its business at a stroke… read more