Sam Meredith | @smeredith19: 5 July 2017
Oil and gas giant Royal Dutch Shell has delivered far more cash from its downstream business than its upstream recently, Downstream Director John Abbott told CNBC on Wednesday, with the firm positioned to use the extra funds to pay off debt and maintain its dividends.
“I have seen times in my 36 years in Shell where upstream has delivered far more cash than the downstream (but) we are seeing a reverse at the moment,” Abbott said.
“What I’ve also talked about is resetting the business, high grading the portfolio… and nowhere else have we done that more than the downstream business. Downstream is actually fundamental to paying off the debt (and) to maintaining the dividend payments,” he added.
What is the difference between upstream and downstream?
In the oil industry, ‘upstream’ refers to the discovery and pumping of oil and ‘downstream’ involves the processing of oil and gas, selling and distribution.
European broker Kepler Cheuvreux downgraded Royal Dutch Shell to “hold” from “buy” last week, citing bearish forecasts for the oil sector. However, analyst Bertrand Hodée suggested in a research note that Shell’s downstream business had provided a “good buffer” for the oil company.
When asked whether Shell would be able to prove to its shareholders that it could cover the cost of its dividend, aggressively reduce debt levels and continue to invest with oil prices languishing at around $50 a barrel, Abbot said, “It’s a process of continuous improvement.”
Oil prices slipped more than 1 percent on Wednesday amid an increase in OPEC exports and a stronger U.S. dollar. Brent crude traded at around $49.06 a barrel on Wednesday morning, down 1.11 percent while U.S. crude was around $46.46 a barrel, down 1.3 percent.
Royal Dutch Shell conspired directly with Hitler, financed the Nazi Party, was anti-Semitic and sold out its own Dutch Jewish employees to the Nazis. Shell had a close relationship with the Nazis during and after the reign of Sir Henri Deterding, an ardent Nazi, and the founder and decades long leader of the Royal Dutch Shell Group. His burial ceremony, which had all the trappings of a state funeral, was held at his private estate in Mecklenburg, Germany. The spectacle (photographs below) included a funeral procession led by a horse drawn funeral hearse with senior Nazis officials and senior Royal Dutch Shell directors in attendance, Nazi salutes at the graveside, swastika banners on display and wreaths and personal tributes from Adolf Hitler and Reichsmarschall, Hermann Goring. Deterding was an honored associate and supporter of Hitler and a personal friend of Goring.
Deterding was the guest of Hitler during a four day summit meeting at Berchtesgaden. Sir Henri and Hitler both had ambitions on Russian oil fields. Only an honored personal guest would be rewarded with a private four day meeting at Hitler’s mountain top retreat.
IN JULY 2007, MR BILL CAMPBELL (ABOVE, A RETIRED GROUP AUDITOR OF SHELL INTERNATIONAL SENT AN EMAIL TO EVERY UK MP AND MEMBER OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS: 
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A head-cut image of Alfred Donovan (now deceased) appears courtesy of The Wall Street Journal.
