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December 4th, 2015:

Paralysed Opec pleads for allies as oil price crumbles

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By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard: 04 Dec 2015

The Opec cartel is to continue flooding the world with crude oil despite a chronic glut and the desperate plight of its own members, demanding that Russia, Kazakhstan and other producers join forces before there can be output cuts.

Brent prices tumbled almost $2 a barrel to $42.90 as traders tried to make sense of the fractious Opec gathering in Vienna, which ended with no production target and no guidance on policy. It reeked of paralysis.

Prices are poised to test lows last seen at the depths of the financial crisis in early 2009. The shares of oil companies plummeted in London, and US shale drillers went into freefall on Wall Street. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Oil Price Crumbles

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By Ed Crooks
December 4, 2015

Late on Thursday afternoon, after a gathering that took longer than expected and left the markets on tenterhooks, the Opec meeting in Vienna came up with its decision: ministers agreed to do nothing at all, leaving production at current levels.

Before they gathered on Friday the FT team in Vienna wrote on the fundamental conflict inside the oil-exporting countries’ group: Saudi Arabia is prepared to cut output to help stabilise prices, but only if other producers, both inside and outside Opec, are prepared to do the same.

Explaining the reasons behind the plunge in crude prices last year, and the reasons why Opec meetings are now so fraught, Martin Wolf, the FT’s chief economics commentator, looked at the implications of the US shale boom. The FT warned in an editorial that, as remote as the prospect might seem today, an oil shock could still hurt the world economy. By cutting investment in oil production, low prices are choking back future supplies. The Lex column highlighted one example of that: the financial pressures on the US shale oil industry, which are intensifying. The column argues that seeing the signs of strain in the US, “Saudi may be feeling some vindication”. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Gas Wars Down Under Finally Come To An End: Shell-BG Group Tie-Up Gets Green Light

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Royal Dutch Shell CEO Ben Van Beurden addresses a keynote speech during the World Gas Conference in Paris on June 2, 2015. Photo Credit:  ERIC PIERMONT/AFP/Getty Images)

Tim Daiss, CONTRIBUTOR: DEC 4, 2015

The proposed $70 billion Shell-BG Group mega deal, one of the largest energy deals in a decade, is now a reality, at least in Australia.

On Thursday, the Australian Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) gave the green light to the energy tie-up. The deal has already received regulatory approval in the US, EU and Brazil, while regulatory approval from Chinese authorities is still pending, but expected to be granted. The FIRB approval comes just two weeks after the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), the country’s competition regulator, approved the deal. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.