Posts Tagged ‘BP’

Conclusion: I Regard Shell As Uninvestable

Shell: What It Will Take To Be Investible Again

Summary

• Shell’s dividend cut and unpredictability last year cost it a lot of shareholder confidence.
• I outline three metrics I think show whether it’s investable again.
• On all three metrics, I continue to see it as uninvestable with confidence.

U.K.-based oil major Shell (RDS.A, OTCPK:RYDAF) didn’t have a great time of it last year when it came to shareholder relations. With its mammoth dividend cut and poor signaling thereof before it was made, a lot of shareholders ditched the holding. I sold my entire stake and reinvested the proceeds in more Exxon Mobil (XOM).

Below, I outline what I think are the key challenges to Shell being investable at this point. read more

Justice Amy Coney Barrett to hear climate lawsuit against Shell – despite accusations of conflict of interest

Despite her father’s long career at Shell, Justice Barrett is due to hear arguments in a case brought against the oil giant by the city of Baltimore next week, writes senior climate correspondent Louise Boyle: 16 JAN 2021

Trump’s Supreme Court appointee, Justice Amy Coney Barrett, is set to hear legal arguments in a climate lawsuit against Shell next week amid conflict-of-interest accusations due to her father’s 30-year legal career at the oil giant. read more

Oil giant Shell to axe 330 UK jobs due to covid restrictions – with thousands more to follow

The move forms part of 9,000 jobs set to be axed across the business over the next two years following a collapse in demand for oil due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic

• 13:31, 12 JAN 2021
• UPDATED14:45, 12 JAN 2021

As well as cutting costs, Shell says it wants to be a net-zero emissions energy company by 2050

Shell is preparing to cut 330 UK jobs over the next two years as coronavirus continues to hit profits.

The oil giant said it plans to shed a quarter of its workforce in Aberdeen by December 2022. read more

2020 Was One of the Worst-Ever Years for Oil Write-Downs

Royal Dutch Shell’s Prelude floating facility has struggled to deliver income. PHOTO: ROYAL DUTCH SHELL AUSTRALIA/REUTERS

By Collin Eaton and Sarah McFarlane: Dec. 27, 2020 9:00 am ET

The pandemic has triggered the largest revision to the value of the oil industry’s assets in at least a decade, as companies sour on costly projects amid the prospect of low prices for years.

Oil-and-gas companies in North America and Europe wrote down roughly $145 billion combined in the first three quarters of 2020, the most for that nine-month period since at least 2010, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis. That total significantly surpassed write-downs taken over the same periods in 2015 and 2016, during the last oil bust, and is equivalent to roughly 10% of the companies’ collective market value. read more

New York Becomes The First State To Divest From Oil And Gas

09/12/2020 13:10 GMT | Updated 09/12/2020 14:54 GMT

The Empire State’s pension fund is the largest to dump fossil fuel investments ― ever, in the entire world.

New York state announced plans on Wednesday to eject oil and gas stocks from its $226 billion financial portfolio, becoming the first U.S. state and the biggest pension fund anywhere to divest from fossil fuels.

By 2025, the New York State Common Retirement Fund, which disburses some $1 billion in benefits to retirees each year, will sell off its “riskiest” oil and gas stocks, following a review. The state aims to completely eliminate carbon polluters from its portfolio by 2040. read more

Special Report: How oil majors shift billions in profits to island tax havens

Shell and other oil majors are avoiding hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes in countries where they drill by shifting profits to thinly staffed insurance and finance affiliates based in tax havens… Shell denied that its arrangements constituted tax avoidance… Shell booked $1.3 billion in 2018 and 2019 profits through Bermuda-based banking and insurance subsidiaries that together employed three people… read more

POSTING ON OUR SHELL BLOG: 2020/12/06 at 10:26 pm (UPDATED WITH RESPONSE FROM “LONDONLAD”)

Escaped from C16Atraz

There are many parallels to be drawn between Shell and the one unbeatable Manchester United. Both are now mid table. Weak manager, senior players who are arrogant and only play for money, and have got rid of their most hard working players. Shell better get used to mediocrity. It doesn’t care at all about climate change but Van Beurden will no doubt continue to sell more of the crown jewels to greenwash its reputation like the loony who heads BP. read more

The new black gold? Big Oil bets on retail networks in an electric era

Subway and McDonald’s, the world’s two biggest food chains, both have fewer outlets than Shell… Shell’s retail division, known as “marketing”… has the world’s biggest network of filling stations…45,000 retail sites over more than 80 countries…Shell plans to expand its retail network by more than 20% to 55,000 sites worldwide by 2025

Ron Bousso: 3 December 2020 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

‘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

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

City investors deserting oil giants 

By HARRIET DENNYS, FINANCIAL MAIL ON SUNDAY

PUBLISHED: 21:50, 31 October 2020 | UPDATED: 11:55, 1 November 2020

Fund titans blacklist BP over green shift: Fidelity among City investors deserting oil giants – as clean energy plans fuel profit fears

• BP and Shell are undergoing the biggest restructurings in their histories, shedding a total of 19,000 jobs globally 
• Both have committed to cutting the carbon footprint of the oil and gas they produce to net zero by 2050

EXTRACTS:

BP and Shell are undergoing the biggest restructurings in their histories, shedding a total of 19,000 jobs globally. Both have committed to cutting the carbon footprint of the oil and gas they produce to net zero by 2050.

BP chief executive Bernard Looney said in August that his company is shifting to a low-carbon business because ‘the energy mix is changing’, with greater demand from customers for cleaner fuels. The pandemic has made the shift more urgent as global oil prices and demand have collapsed further. read more

Investors fear there’ll be no bright post-Covid dawn for oil majors

Jillian Ambrose: Sun 25 Oct 2020 00.05 BST

Royal Dutch Shell and BP will both face investors this week with quarterly financial results that will deliver profits well below those achieved a year ago, against a backdrop of tumbling share prices and rising Covid infections across major economies. In the same week, Shell is expected to reveal a modest underlying profit, of $146m, for the third quarter, according to analysts, after plunging to a loss of $18.4bn for the second quarter. This is still a fraction of the $4.76bn profit recorded in the same quarter last year, and follows the company’s decision to cut 9,000 jobs and reduce the dividend for the first time since the second world war. read more

Shell and BP investors look to results after tough year for oil majors

By Press Association:  23/10/2020, 3:45 pm

Britain’s two biggest oil companies are set to update shareholders next week amid a low oil price and a race to reduce emissions.

Investors will be leafing through BP’s results on Tuesday, while Shell will present how its third quarter went two days later.

Shares in both have cratered during 2020, as oil prices fell to record lows at one point at the beginning of the pandemic. 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