Oil Giants’ Production Cuts Come to 1 Million Bpd as They Post Massive Writedowns

By Reuters: Aug. 9, 2020, 1:18 a.m. ET

(Reuters) – The world’s five largest oil companies collectively cut the value of their assets by nearly $50 billion in the second quarter, and slashed production rates as the coronavirus pandemic caused a drastic fall in fuel prices and demand.

The dramatic reductions in asset valuations and decline in output show the depth of the pain in the second quarter. Fuel demand at one point was down by more than 30% worldwide, and still remains below pre-pandemic levels. read more

Translation of an article published today by the Dutch FT, the FD Het Financieele Dagblad 2020)

Shell has to pay for its openness

Carel Grol

In Brief

• All oil companies are hit by the low oil price.
• Nevertheless, American companies perform better than European companies, with Shell as the largest descender.
• One explanation is that Shell makes more predictions, and is therefore punished more harshly. American companies say less, so they can count on less.

Shell is experiencing an annus horribilis. The oil and gas company’s share price has halved this year. The oil price has suffered from the massive drop in demand due to corona and disagreement between Saudi Arabia and Russia over the reduction of oil production. Shell wrote off billions and cut the dividend for the first time since World War II. But remarkably, the American oil majors are doing much better in the exact same market. read more

The Anglo-Dutch company reported adjusted earnings of $638 million for the second quarter of 2020. That compared with net profit of $3.5 billion over the same period a year earlier and $2.9 billion in the first three months of 2020.

Analysts had warned that “Big Oil” companies, referring to the world’s largest energy majors, were likely to report “horrendous” second-quarter results as coronavirus lockdown measures coincided with an unparalleled demand shock.

The ongoing economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic had prompted Shell to announce that it expected to incur write-downs of up to $22 billion in the second quarter. read more

Report: Oil and gas companies have extensive ties to police groups

BY RACHEL FRAZIN – 07/27/20 02:17 PM EDT

Major fossil fuel and utility companies as well as financial institutions have contributed to law enforcement organizations for years, according to a report published Monday.

The report from the left-leaning Public Accountability Initiative and its research arm LittleSis highlight contributions to police organizations in big cities from oil giants including Chevron, Marathon and Shell. 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

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

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

BP to Cut 10,000 Jobs as Virus Accelerates Reorganization

“Shell extracts a lot of oil and gas from Nigerian soil, and that is associated with pollution, sabotage, tax lawsuits, protests from the local population and suspected corruption.”

English translation of a Dutch article by nrc.nl

Dutch ambassador leaked information to Shell

Nigeria Robert Petri, the Dutch ambassador to Nigeria, had been in post for less than a year and a half. He did not have a good relationship with his staff. And above all: wasn’t he too close to Shell?

Prime Minister Mark Rutte (l) and Shell chairman Ben van Beurden (r) visiting President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria, autumn 2019. Photo Bart Maat / ANP read more

Crude Woes: Chevron to Make Nearly 10-15% Staff Redundant

Shell is proposing voluntary unemployment.

A Nightmare Scenario For Offshore Oil