Emily Gosden, Energy Editor: Monday April 12 2021, The Times

Plans to install 5,000 rapid and ultra-rapid electric vehicle chargers in Britain by 2025 have been set out by Royal Dutch Shell.

The Anglo-Dutch oil major also is planning to invest in slower on-street public charging points as it seeks to cement a market-leading position established through the acquisition of Ubitricity in February.

The plans form part of Shell’s low-carbon strategy unveiled in February. It is aiming to operate half a million electric vehicle charging points globally by 2025 and as many as 2.5 million by 2030. read more

Future of Brent Oil Platform’s Giant Legs Remains Uncertain

Laura Hurst: 09 April 2021

(Bloomberg) — The U.K. government is still undecided on whether it will allow Royal Dutch Shell Plc to leave in the sea the giant concrete legs that once supported the iconic Brent oil platforms.

Shell has asked for permission to leave the columns — each almost as tall as the Eiffel Tower and together weighing around 1 million tons — jutting from the water because it says removing them would pose a greater environmental risk. A government decision on the matter, which was last due in September, has dragged. read more

Shell threatens to leave US trade groups over climate disagreements

The Netherlands-based oil major took aim at the American Petroleum Institute, the Texas Oil & Gas Association and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, pushing them to support and advocate for climate policies in line with the Paris climate agreement. The 2015 agreement aims to limit the rise in the average global temperature to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

Shell’s move reassessing its trade group memberships comes as the European oil giant moves from its longtime fossil fuels business to meet its goal of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050. read more

Oil giant Royal Dutch Shell says it will take a £145m first-quarter hit from Texas freeze that left nearly 200 dead

• Severe freezing weather hit Texas in February this year triggering many deaths
• Millions of people were also left without power and Shell’s operations were hit 

By JANE DENTON FOR THISISMONEY

PUBLISHED: 09:22, 7 April 2021 | UPDATED: 09:24, 7 April 2021

Royal Dutch Shell has warned that the severe winter storm in Texas earlier this year looks set to hit its bottom line for the fist quarter.

In February, a snowstorm swept across Texas and swathes of North America, knocking out sections of the former’s electricity grid, leaving millions without power and nearly 200 people dead. read more

Extracts from current Shell Energy customer reviews posted on Trustpilot in the last 48 hours: “Awful, awful company. Avoid at all costs if you possibly can.”: “Just a dreadful, dreadful company and by no means the cheapest.”: “The interaction from Shell has been ultra aggressive, completely unwarranted…”

Featured below are extracts from negative customer reviews about Shell Energy posted in the last 48 hours on Trustpilot. Visit the Shell Energy page on Trustpilot to view all reviews in their entirety, positive and negative (and Shell Energy responses). Watch out for any fake reviews. Note the reoccurring themes in the negative reviews, including difficulty in communicating with the company. This article posted on 03 April 2021. read more

1 Mar 2021: Author: Channa Samkalden, Prakken d’Oliveira

Lawyers’ insights on corporate legal accountability: Channa Samkalden, Prakken d’Oliveira, Netherlands

Channa Samkalden reflects on the decision of the Hague Court of Appeals in the lawsuit against Shell in the Netherlands regarding oil pollution in Nigeria.

1.Why is this case important?

The case is important because it was one of the first cases to argue parent company liability – and (as far as I know) it became the first where a parent company duty of care for the activities of a subsidiary abroad was indeed established. Oil pollution in the Niger Delta has been an immense problem for decades – and Shell has never really been held accountable for it. A crucial first step was taken in 2015 when the Court of Appeal of The Hague confirmed the jurisdiction of the Dutch courts and opened the route to justice for the Nigerian farmers and Friends of the Earth. Five years later the court concluded that Shell Nigeria must pay compensation and that Royal Dutch Shell must see to it that a Leak Detection System is installed on the Nigerian pipeline. read more

April 1, 2021

The company in charge of gas extraction in Groningen is disputing thousands of claims for damages by homeowners because it says the government’s criteria are too strict.

The NAM, a joint venture set up by Shell and Esso in 1947 to exploit the Netherlands’ natural resources, said the risk to safety had been exaggerated ‘by a factor of one to ten thousand’ in some cases.

It said the vibration limits used to assess if damage to homes was the result of earthquakes were too low and also queried the costs of processing the claims. read more

Shell takes control of first Dutch offshore wind farm

30 March 2021

Shell has acquired Vattenfall’s 50% share in the 108MW Egmond aan Zee offshore wind farm, one of the first to be built.

Following the transaction Shell is the 100% owner of NoordzeeWind that manages the asset.

Vattenfall head of asset management Kasper Simonsen said: “The lessons we have learned from the first Dutch offshore wind farm can be applied in the construction of Hollandse Kust Zuid and other future offshore wind farms. read more

As a climate activist, I object to the Post Office selling me to Shell Energy

Miles Brignall: Tue 30 Mar 2021 07.00 BST

I am among the 465,000 Post Office home phone and broadband users who have been collectively sold to Shell Energy, and are to become the firm’s customers.

As a climate activist, I most definitely do not want to become a customer of Shell Energy, something that I did not, and would never have, agreed to.

The Post Office has told me I will have to pay an £88 penalty if I wish to cancel my contract and leave. read more

Shell to link executive pay more closely to group’s climate performance

By Reuters Staff: Mon, March 29, 2021, 10:33 AM

LONDON (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell has proposed linking its directors’ pay more closely to the group’s climate performance and severing the link between bonuses and liquefied natural gas (LNG) production volumes, it said on Monday.

The weighting of Shell’s energy transition performance on its targeted path to net zero emissions by 2050 would double to 20% of the directors’ long-term incentive plan calculation if shareholders vote for the plan at a meeting on May 18. read more

Shell has written down the value of some of its gas assets, including its Queensland Curtis project in Australia.

As the Shift to Green Energy Speeds Up, Shell’s Big Natural-Gas Bet Is at Risk. The fuel faces growing environmental scrutiny and competition from cleaner energy sources

By Sarah McFarlane: March 27, 2021 5:30 am ET

LONDON— Royal Dutch Shell PLC bet big on natural gas as the energy source of the future when it bought BG Group for $54 billion. Five years later, it appears the gas era won’t last long. read more

No evidence of NAM criminal intent in Groningen gas scandal, public prosecutor says

MARCH 26, 2021

The public prosecution department said on Friday it had not found evidence that the lives of people living in parts of Groningen hit by subsidence-related earthquakes were actually at risk.

And despite an ‘intensive investigation’ there is no evidence that NAM, the company charged with extracting natural gas from under the province, had acted in a ‘deliberately criminal way’, the department said in a statement. read more

Tunisia faces exodus of Western oil giants

By Ron Bousso, Shadia Nasralla: 3 MIN READ: MARCH 26, 2021

LONDON (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell and Italy’s Eni are seeking to sell their oil and gas operations in Tunisia, industry sources said, as the North African country struggles to attract new investments following years of political instability.

Shell has hired investment bank Rothschild & Co. to sell its Tunisian assets, which include two offshore gas fields and an onshore production facility the Anglo-Dutch company acquired as part of its 2016 $53 billion takeover of BG Group, the sources told Reuters. read more

Extract from current Shell Energy customer review posted on Trustpilot: “Awful for broadband. Based on my experience as a broadband customer, I would give Shell 0 stars if it was an option. Not sure any of the staff know what is going on and if they do, they don’t communicate it to anyone. They are completely incompetent at installing and providing internet.”

Featured below are extracts from negative customer reviews about Shell Energy posted over the past 24 hours on Trustpilot. Visit the Shell Energy page on Trustpilot to view all reviews in their entirety, positive and negative (and Shell Energy responses). Watch out for any fake reviews. Note the reoccurring themes in the negative reviews, including difficulty in communicating with the company. This article posted on 25 March 2021. read more

Oil titans vow climate collaboration with White House

Chief executives of some of the largest U.S. oil companies promised to collaborate with the Biden administration in its campaign against climate change during a meeting Monday with White House National Climate Adviser Gina McCarthy.

The oil industry leaders pledged support for federal regulations explicitly limiting emissions of methane from wells and other oilfield equipment — a declaration that dovetails with President Joe Biden’s vow to clamp down on leaks of the potent greenhouse gas. read more

OPINION: UK leads way in holding corporations to account for rights abuses

British court rulings reflect global movement towards greater accountability for multinational corporations

By Oliver Holland and Liberty Bridge, a partner and solicitor at Leigh Day

EXTRACTS

For Zambian farmers, Nigerian fisherman and Bangladeshi shipyard workers, recent judgments from the UK courts have provided clarity that multinational companies can be held accountable for the harm caused to individuals by their operations. Claims that are based on whether a UK company can owe a duty of care to a foreign claimant even where damage has been caused by a third party is a rapidly evolving area of law – there is a global movement towards greater accountability for multinational corporations and these recent judgments show the UK courts are leading the way. read more