Angry Dutch citizens on Thursday will ask their country’s highest court to put an immediate end to gas production in the Groningen region due to the risk of life-endangering earthquakes. read more

Printed below is an English translation of an article published today by the Dutch Financial Times, Financieele Dagblad.

Shell and PGGM want to buy Eneco together

Bert van Dijk: Martine Wolzak

Oil and gas multinational Shell and pension provider PGGM want to bid together for Eneco, one of the three largest energy companies in the Netherlands. The combination is the first party to publicly announce its interest. Shell and PGGM agree to jointly want to expand Eneco into a European player, while maintaining the company’s sustainable strategy.

The shareholders of Eneco, 53 Dutch municipalities, announced at the end of last year after one and a half years of internal dispute to sell the company through a ‘controlled auction’. Interested parties are invited to make an offer, but they also have different criteria than price. At Eneco, this includes guarantees for the sustainable character and retention of employment. The market takes into account a sales price of around € 3 billion. read more

Jan. 9, 2019 11:58 AM ET| By: Carl Surran, SA News Editor

The Dutch High Court says it will consider demands on Jan. 17 seeking an immediate end to gas production from the Groningen field, after the government said it would cut output gradually.

The High Court says it received 26 objections to the plan, expressing concerns about seismic risks caused by drilling and demanding an urgent halt in production.

Analysts say the court is unlikely to grant an immediate halt because the Netherlands still depends on Groningen gas for a significant part of its energy supply. read more

Ben van Beurden Photographer: Aaron M. Sprecher/Bloomberg

The boss of oil giant Shell has admitted he is “still unhappy” with the firm’s safety performance, despite pledging a redoubling of efforts in 2018.

Written by David McPhee – 07/01/2019 1:03 pm

Chief executive, Ben van Beurden, raised a call to redouble the firm’s focus on safety last year after a number of serious incidents in 2017.

An overturned tanker spill and explosion in Pakistan caused the tragic death of 200 people, while there were also fatalities in Canada and Nigeria.

Mr van Beurden added he is also focusing on restoring trust in the oil firm.

He said: “I’m still unhappy with our safety performance.

“In 2018, sadly two people died on our watch – one at a refinery in Germany and another at an onshore well in the USA.

“More broadly, the safety performance at our facilities has improved, but our performance on personal safety is worse than the previous year.

“We have to step up our efforts to keep people safe.”

Mr van Beurden also said that he can see that trust has noticed an “eroding” or trust in the UK, the Netherlands and the USA.

Shell came under heavy criticism from climate groups in 2018, with high profile opposition coming from investor group Follow This.

The firm also faced widespread shareholder opposition over chief executive pay last year.

Mr van Beurden said: “I feel an attack on Shell as an attack on my personal integrity. It’s something I feel deeply, probably at least once a day. If I can reduce that to once every other day, I’ll know that we are making progress.

“Of our three strategic ambitions – to become a world-class investment case, to thrive through the transition to lower-carbon energy and to have a strong societal licence to operate – I’m confident that we can achieve the first two.

“But I can’t see a sure path towards strengthening our societal licence to operate just yet.

“We need to change people’s perceptions through better performance and behaviours. And we need to have a better dialogue with civil society in some parts of the world.”

SOURCE

Marissa Luck, Houston Chronicle: Monday, Jan 7, 2019

The Gulf Coast has become home of one the largest producers of a common plastic: Shell fired up its fourth alpha olefins unit at its chemical plant in Geismar, Louisiana, the company said Monday.

The multi-billion dollar expansion adds 425,000 metric tons per a year in capacity to the chemical manufacturing site, bringing its total alpha olefin production up at Geismar to more than 1.3 million metric tons per a year. That makes it the largest alpha olefins producing site in the world, the company said. read more

Article by Paddy Briggs in response to a recent story in “The Times” – “Wind farms are back on Shell’s horizon.” Taken with his permission from Paddy’s Blog.

My 40 years in Shell taught me one thing – it is a Corporation that’s very good at oil and gas, but hopeless at anything else! In my time here’s a partial list of things we tried but couldn’t make work:

• Nuclear
• Metals
• Coal
• Forestry
• Solar
• Wind
• Agrochemicals
• Electricity Generation
• Convenience Stores
• Biofuels
• Fast food
• Home insulation
• Natural Gas retailing…

The way to the top in Shell is based on the skills of finding and extracting of hydrocarbons occasionally augmented by those who can refine, market or trade and transport them. If in doubt the top management always retreats to its oily comfort zones. We dipped a toe in many waters but diversification was not really what we did. read more

• Author Andrew Toh    Wanda Wang    Eric Yep
• Editor Wendy Wells
• 03 Jan 2019 | 07:14 UTC

Singapore — Shell will load the first condensate cargo from Australia’s Prelude FLNG project at end January, according to shipping reports and sources Thursday.

The condensate will be loaded in a 80,000 mt clip over January 31 to February 2, shipping reports showed.

A vessel has not been fixed for the cargo, and shipbrokers said Shell began looking for an Aframax tanker to load the cargo Thursday.

Shell did not immediately respond to an email query seeking comment.

The destination of the cargo is unclear, though trade sources have said that the oil major will likely use the cargo within its own network of splitters and refineries. read more

• In 2018 it would all be well for the earthquake victims in Groningen. But again they became victims, this time from a bureaucratic swamp.

• The underlying idea was clear: if gas extraction decreases, there are fewer quakes and fewer homes need to be strengthened.

• The goal is that Groningen residents in the earthquake area can live safely as quickly as possible

• A complete earthquake industry has emerged in Groningen…

• The decision by Minister Wiebes to stop gas extraction means that he has left € 70 billion of gas in the ground.

• A grocery mentality at the NAM, which was going to do difficult about the smallest amounts, a government that took it too long, an earthquake industry that was rigged and got the characteristics of a maze; in the end, that has all led to billions being left in the ground.

Printed below is an English translation of an article published today by the Dutch Financial Times, Financieele Dagblad. NAM is the Shell/Exxon Joint Venture company responsible for the earthquake blighted Groningen Gas Field and consequential potential bill for untold billions to deal with damaged residences.

No action but words for Groningen

BY Carel Grol: 1 JAN 2019

In 2018 it would all be well for the earthquake victims in Groningen. But again they became victims, this time from a bureaucratic swamp.

The most defining moment in the past year for Groningen was not the earthquake in Zeerijp on Monday 8 January. Not even Thursday, March 29, when Minister Eric Wiebes of Economic Affairs and Climate said: we are moving away from the gas. The actual turning point came in a meaningless Hague press room at Nieuwspoort, on Monday 2 July.

Prime Minister Rutte was visiting US President Trump that day, German Chancellor Merkel swore a government crisis, and later that evening Belgium would qualify for the quarter-final of the World Cup. Co Verdaas came into the modest room at the end of that sunny Monday morning. read more

Jessica Jaganathan: December 26, 2018

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell said on Wednesday it has begun output at its Prelude floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) facility in Australia, the world’s largest floating production structure and the last of a wave of eight LNG projects built in the country over the last decade.

Though the project started up later and cost more than originally estimated, it is expected to further cement Australia’s lead as the world’s biggest LNG exporter, after the country took the crown in November. read more

Almost a year on from raids that led to over a dozen arrests, including of several former employees of the local unit of Royal Dutch Shell, charge sheets state that around 340,000 tonnes of gasoil were stolen from the oil major’s Pulau Bukom site in Singapore. Some of the incidents date back to 2014.

Smokes rises out of chimneys from a Shell oil refinery on Pulau Bukom, five kilometres to the south of the main island of Singapore on January 13, 2015. 

Around $150 million worth of oil was stolen from Shell’s biggest global refinery over several years, Singapore court documents reviewed by Reuters show, far more than reported when police first revealed the heist earlier this year.

Almost a year on from raids that led to over a dozen arrests, including of several former employees of the local unit of Royal Dutch Shell, charge sheets state that around 340,000 tonnes of gasoil were stolen from the oil major’s Pulau Bukom site in Singapore, in incidents dating back to 2014. read more

NAM is the Shell/Exxon Joint Venture company responsible for the earthquake blighted Groningen Gas Field and consequential potential bill for untold billions to deal with damaged residences.

PRINTED BELOW IS A TRANSLATION INTO ENGLISH OF INFORMATION PUBLISHED IN DUTCH BY NAM ON 13 DECEMBER 2018

The gas year 2017-2018 ended on 1 October 2018. In this period, NAM produced 20.1 billion m3 of gas from the Groningen field. That is 1.5 billion m3 of gas less than was foreseen.
 
As a result of the quake at Zeerijp on 8 January 2018, Minister Wiebes of Economic Affairs and Climate commissioned NAM to release the intended production of 21.6 billion m3 of gas.

NAM has been asked to limit production to the extent possible within the applicable conditions. The security of supply for the Netherlands had to be taken into account.
 
This has resulted in 1.5 billion m3 less gas being produced from the Groningen gas field.
 
In addition, the last gas year was a warm year. Despite a cold period in late February – early March. ‘Groningen’ had to step in those weeks in order to meet the demand for low-calorific gas.
 
The figures on gas production in the Groningen gas field can be found on the NAM website. read more

FULL ARTICLE

********************************************

FULL ARTICLE

Jessica Jaganathan: DECEMBER 4, 2018

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell expects production at its Prelude floating liquefied natural gas (LNG) unit to start at the end of the year, a spokeswoman told Reuters on Tuesday.

“We continue to progress Prelude towards operations, with safety and quality being our main focus … We expect to see production around the end of the year,” she told Reuters in an emailed statement.

Prelude – which will process natural gas produced offshore northern Australia and export it as LNG – is expected to have an annual LNG production capacity of 3.6 million tonnes. It will also produce 1.3 million tonnes a year of condensate and 400,000 tonnes a year of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). read more

Royal Dutch Shell will set carbon emissions targets next year and link these to executive pay, reversing its chief executive’s opposition and following intense pressure from shareholders who want fossil fuel companies to take greater responsibility for their contribution to global warming. FULL FT ARTICLE

The deal resulted in Shell taking a sizeable financial hit as a consequence…

FULL ARTICLE

Possibly 15,000 houses must be strengthened. Of these, 2500 have an increased risk and some 7,000 still have to be inspected. Sietsma predicted that the whole operation will take five to seven years.

Printed below is an English translation of an article published today by the Dutch Financial Times, Financieele Dagblad. NAM is the Shell/Exxon Joint Venture company responsible for the earthquake blighted Groningen Gas Field and consequential potential bill for untold billions to deal with damaged residences.

House in Loppersum that has been damaged by the gas quakes and whose façade needs to be supported.ROBIN UTRECH / HOLLANDSE HOOGTE

Billions of future plans for a beautiful Groningen, but uncertainty about the approach to damage remains.

Bas Knoop

Debating about the future of Groningen, while many Groningers themselves still live in uncertainty about the handling of earthquake damage and the strengthening of houses. Is that possible? Several MPs struggled with this question on Thursday evening during a debate on the future plan for the quake province.

Sandra Beckerman, MP for the SP and Groningen, even took the word ‘surreal’ in the mouth. ‘I find it difficult to talk about a hip hydrogen bus when many people do not know if they live in a safe house.’ read more

Nov. 14, 2018 By: Carl Surran, SA News Editor

FULL ARTICLE

FULL ARTICLE

FULL ARTICLE