Written by Rita Brown – 04/09/2017 7:29 am

Ben van Beurden’s rise to the top coincided with the oil price riding the crest of a wave.

But for a man who assumed Shell’s chief executive role just months before it all came crashing down, he sums up the last three years as “a blessing”.

“Less than a year into my new role, the oil price started going down and it’s been quite a journey, but if I look back on it I think this is probably the biggest blessing that I’ve had,” he said.

“It has done two things. First of all it provided a tremendous amount of focus on the things that needed doing. I mean, there’s nothing like a crisis to focus on cost efficiency. read more

Written by Mark Lammey – 30/08/2017 12:19 pm

Issuing a prohibition notice, the Health and Safety Executive said the Armada platform’s flare system pipe had been operating despite being in a “degraded state”. The inspector said the fault presented a risk of “serious personal injury” and could have led to an explosion. Shell said it had carried out improvement work on the platform, enabling the company to bringing it back online in July. Shell added the platform to its portfolio when it took over BG Group. FULL ARTICLE read more

Written by Bloomberg – 08/08/2017 2:08 pm

European diesel prices slumped as traders anticipated more fuel supply. Shell is trying to restart a crude distillation unit at the Pernis refinery in Rotterdam. A Shell spokesperson said: “Shell Pernis shut down most of its units on July 30 due to a power outage. We are currently restarting a number of units as part of the phased restart of the full complex. Complete restart will take place in a structured and controlled way. Flaring and noise will be part of recommissioning. We will do our utmost to minimize impact for residents. FULL ARTICLE read more

India’s LNG-led gas market may grow over 6 times by 2030: Royal Dutch Shell: Business Standard: 22 June 2017

Global oil major Royal Dutch Shell says that India may see at least six times growth in Indian gas market by 2030 from the current levels. It adds that liquefied natural gas (LNG) may be the largest contributor to it.

Brains behind Shell’s iconic Brent bid final farewell: EnergyVoice.com: 22 June 2017

Shell gave some of its former employees the chance to bid farewell to the platform, which generated more than £35billion over its four decades.

Oil Majors Snatch Up Mexican Oil Blocks: OilPrice.com: 21 June 2017

Other top-tier oil companies won blocks as well – Russia’s Lukoil took one, and Total SA and Royal Dutch Shell joined hands to win another. It marked Shell’s first upstream entry into Mexico. read more

Shell to cash in $10bn from divestments in second half: EnergyVoice.com: 14 June 2017

The Anglo-Dutch energy giant’s net debt currently stands about $72billion and Shell wants to shave off about $20billion to reduce gearing − the level of a company’s debt related to its equity capital − to around 20%. Shell is in the midst of a push to sell $30billion worth of assets between 2016 and 2018 to rebalance its books following its takeover of BG Group.

UK Government pays Shell £112m tax rebate despite oil giant making billions in profits: Independent: 14June 2017

Most of the payment from HM Revenue and Customs is a contribution towards Shell’s costs for decommissioning its North Sea oil and gas fields. It follows a similar payment of £85m in 2016. read more

Friday 2 JUNE 2017

A north-east MSP called for “urgent government action” after oil giant Shell said yesterday it was axeing 90 onshore roles in Aberdeen. Labour’s Lewis Macdonald said it highlighted a need for support to protect jobs and skills in the UK oil and gas industry amid “the ongoing impact of the downturn” caused by a sharp slump in oil prices.

FULL ARTICLE

Printed below is an EnergyVoice.com article about defects found at Shell’s Norway gas plant. These were uncovered during a recent inspection carried out by The Petroleum Safety Authority of Norway.

Actually, the situation is far more serious. On Saturday I supplied certain related information to Ben van Beurden just in case he has been kept in the dark. The ball is in Shell’s court.

Shell knows I intend to publish an array of leaked communications and other information they would prefer to keep secret. read more

Written by Reporter – 12/12/2016 1:20 pm

Oil stocks topped the FTSE 100 on Monday after non-Opec producers agreed to curb production to help buoy floundering crude prices.

The UK’s blue chip index was down 0.1% at around 6946.53 points, but Royal Dutch Shell’s ’B’ shares rose 3% and BP jumped 2.4%.

Away from the top tier, Tullow Oil soared 9.6% and Premier Oil surged 9.9%.

Sterling was flat against the dollar at 1.256, but down 0.3% against the euro at 1.187.

Brent crude prices climbed more than 5% to around 57.03 US dollars per barrel (£45.33) in early trading, marking its highest level since July 2015. read more

Written by Mark Lammey – 10/12/2016 12:02 am

Shell said today that it had submitted “a majority” of the plan for its Brent field decommissioning campaign to the UK Government.

Earlier, WWF Scotland cited a Shell communique to stakeholders as saying the plan was with the UK department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (Beis).

But a spokesman for Shell later confirmed that the submission process had not been fully completed.

The remaining documents are expected to be handed in during the next few weeks, with a 60-day public consultation to start early next year. read more

Shell given go-ahead for Norway gas plant expansion

Written by Mark Lammey – 05/12/2016 1:31 pm

Norway’s oil and gas safety body said today it had given Shell permission to expand its gas plant at Nyhamna.

The facility has been processing gas from the Ormen Lange field in the Norwegian Sea since 2003.

It will now be expanded to take in gas from the Polarled pipeline, which connects the Aasta Hansteen field to the Norwegian gas transport system.

Shell wants to raise its production capacity to 84million standard cubic metres of gas per day from 70million. read more

Written by Reporter – 30/11/2016 2:02 pm

Shell said it is studying acquisitions in the green energy sector.

It comes amid shareholder pressure to look at a strategy beyond fossil fuels.

The oil major currently has a market value of $200billion and produces 2% of the world’s oil and gas.

Chief executive Ben Van Beurden said: “The idea you can just be a very clever observer and step in when the moment is right, forget about it.

“I am convinced that in this space we will play an active role, a leafing role and we will plan acquisitions in it.” read more

Written by Reporter – 18/11/2016 

A Dutch court has received 25 appeals against the government’s decision to cap production at the Groningen gas field to an annual figure of 24 billion cubic metres from protesters who do not think it goes far enough.

A number of groups in the region asked for a steeper reduction to prevent earthquakes, which have damaged thousands of structures in the northern province.

Groningen used to supply 10% of demand in the European Union.

But it has halved in the past two years after the Dutch Safety Board said the government was failing to protect citizens from earthquakes triggered by gas exploitation. read more

Written by Mark Lammey – 09/11/2016 1:31 pm

Oil major Royal Dutch Shell has wished Donald Trump a successful presidency following his election win in the US.

Shell said it was looking forward to working with the new White House leadership.

It also vowed to keep advocating the importance of the energy sector to the US economy.

A spokesperson for Shell said: “We wish the President-elect success as he embarks on his transition and look forward to working with the new administration as they take office in January. read more

Written by Bloomberg – 02/11/2016 4:16 pm

Royal Dutch Shell Plc, the world’s second-biggest oil company by market value, thinks demand for oil could peak in as little as five years.

“We’ve long been of the opinion that demand will peak before supply,” Chief Financial Officer Simon Henry said on a conference call on Tuesday. “And that peak may be somewhere between 5 and 15 years hence, and it will be driven by efficiency and substitution, more than offsetting the new demand for transport.” read more

Written by Niamh Burns – 26/10/2016 7:35 am

An energy contractor working at a Shell Canada site has been killed in an accident, according to reports.

The 47-year-old was fatally injured in the workplace incident near Fox Creek, Alberta, on Sunday.

He was an employee of Secure Energy Services and was working at the Shell Canada site 260km northeast of Edmonton.

It’s understood the man had been struck by a hose.

An Occupational Health and Safety spokeswoman said: “The work site was situated by the side of a river and the workers were pumping water to a different location for wellsite activities. read more

Written by Mark Lammey – 22/10/2016 5:30 am

Oil and gas giant Shell plans to sell $30billion worth of assets from 2016 to 2018 to offset the cost of its $50billion takeover of BG Group, which was completed in February.

By the end of June, 2016, Shell had completed deals worth $1.5billion, according to its half-year results update.

Of that sum, $820million was generated by offloading interests in Shell Midstream Partners, while $560million came from the sale of property, plant and equipment and businesses. read more