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Shell Carbon-Capture Plant Hits 4 Million Ton Milestone Early

By Kevin Orland: 23 May 2019, 12:00 BST

*Canadian project has seen better-than-expected reliability

*Adviser sees more activity in carbon-utilization projects

A Royal Dutch Shell Plc-operated carbon capture and storage project in Canada has hit a milestone of sequestering 4 million tons of carbon dioxide about six months ahead of schedule and at a lower cost than estimated, helped by better-than-expected reliability.

The Quest facility, which sequesters emissions from the Scotford Upgrader near Edmonton, Alberta, started up in November 2015 and has since run ahead of its target of capturing 1 million tons of carbon a year, said Anne Halladay, a geophysicist who has been an adviser on the project since it was in construction in 2014. That performance has been driven by less unplanned maintenance than projected and more efficient performance, including less chemical usage, she said. read more

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Chevron Bows Out Of Anadarko Fight, Oxy Jet Trip Suggests Shell Might Step Up

By Irina Slav – May 09, 2019, 9:30 AM CDT

A report that Occidental Petroleum’s corporate jet traveled to the Hague, one of Shell’s two home towns, has sparked a fresh flare-up of speculation regarding its proposed acquisition of Anadarko, CNBC reports, citing an unnamed source.

The news comes after reports on Thursday suggest that Chevron is bowing out of the fight to acquire Anadarko, despite some analysts thinking that it would up its offer to compete with Occidental’s. Chevron will be entitled to a $1 billion breakup fee per the terms of the original agreement. read more

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Shell Seen Increasing M&A to Become World’s Top Power Company

By Kelly Gilblom: 29 March 2019, 11:13 GMT

*Company likely to expand acquisitions of electricity producers

*Shell must manage 61 gigawatts of clean power in 2030s

Royal Dutch Shell Plc could ramp up acquisitions of electricity producers to achieve its target of becoming the world’s biggest power company by the 2030s, according to analysis by Sanford C Bernstein Ltd.

To become the biggest low-carbon electricity provider, the company must produce 214 terawatt-hours of clean power every year by 2035, the analysis shows. That’s 11 percent more than Egypt, a country of nearly 100 million people, generated last year, according to data from BP Plc. read more

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Nigerian Oil Region Crisis Threatens Buhari’s Economic Plans

By Dulue Mbachu and Elisha Bala-Gbogbo: 13 March 2019, 03:00 GMT: Updated on 13 March 2019, 10:51 GMT

Niger River delta wracked by pipeline sabotage, crude theft

Buhari must act now or face ‘doomsday’ later, activist says

After the military government in 1995 executed nine Ogoni activists, including the writer Ken Saro-Wiwa, regional unrest spiraled into full-blown armed militancy in the past 15 years.

Fresh from his comfortable re-election, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari faces a huge hurdle to keep his vow to end the economy’s addiction to oil: win a lasting peace in the crude-rich Niger River delta.

The 76-year-old former military ruler will have to score a breakthrough that’s eluded previous governments in an area where armed groups and thieves pose a constant threat to the flow of crude. To carry out his plans to develop a backbone of stable power, roads and rail lines for agricultural expansion and industrialization in Africa’s most-populous nation, Buhari needs all the money he can get from oil, the source of two-thirds of government revenue. read more

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Shell Says It Can Be Top Power Producer and Make Money

By Kevin Crowley and Alix Steel: 11 March 2019, 20:09 GMT: Updated on 11 March 2019, 21:38 GMT

Oil major aims to be top power producer by early 2030s

Shell seeks 8-12% returns in historically low margin business

Royal Dutch Shell Plc plans to become the world’s biggest power company despite electricity’s historically narrow margins.

The world’s second-largest oil explorer by market value is spending up to $2 billion a year on its new energies division, mainly to grow in a power sector it envisions delivering 8 percent to 12 percent annual returns, according to Maarten Wetselaar, director of Shell’s integrated gas new energies unit. read more

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Shell on Prowl for Permian Deals as Majors Make Shale Play

By Kevin Crowley: 11 March 2019, 16:16 GMT: Updated on 11 March 2019, 22:56 GMT

European major ‘actively looking’ for targets, Sawan says

Upstream director-in-waiting declines to comment on Endeavor

Royal Dutch Shell Plc is on the hunt for deals to bulk up its position in the Permian Basin, where it lags rivals Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp.

“We are definitely actively looking at opportunities,” Wael Sawan, Shell’s deepwater boss, said in an interview on the sidelines of IHS Markit’s CERAWeek conference on Monday. “If none ever come up then that’s a disappointing outcome.” Sawan is set to lead the European supermajor’s entire upstream division in July. read more

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Shell striving to become world’s top power company

Royal Dutch Shell plans to become the world’s biggest power company despite electricity’s historically narrow margins.

Written by

The world’s second-largest oil explorer by market value is spending up to $2 billion a year on its new energies division, mainly to grow in a power sector it envisions delivering 8-12% annual returns, according to Maarten Wetselaar, director of Shell’s integrated gas new energies unit.

“We believe we can be the largest electricity power company in the world in the early 2030s,” Wetselaar said.

“We are not interested in the power business because we like what we saw in the last 20 years.

“We are interested because we think we like what we see in the next 20 years.” read more

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Shell Still Isn’t Earning Enough Money

The oil giant is finally making enough cash to pay its dividends and cut debt. But it’s yet to show that it can boost returns while shifting to renewables.

Royal Dutch Shell Plc appears at first glance to have arrived at its destination. The Anglo-Dutch oil major made enough cash last year to pay its dividends and cut debt, seemingly confounding skeptics who feared the payout would need to be cut. But this isn’t yet a sustainable performance. Shell is still traveling.

The company’s dividend yield hit about 9 percent in 2015 as falling oil prices and the acquisition of BG Group, funded partly by debt, sowed doubts over whether the payout was affordable. Shell has since cut costs and capital expenditure and brought new production on stream. Add an oil price recovery and the group generated $53 billion of operating cash flow last year. That left it able to fund $14 billion of capital spending and other investments, net of disposals, and a $20 billion bill for interest payments and dividends.

Shell has used the surplus cash to cut debt and buy back its own shares. Net borrowings of $51 billion at the end of the fourth quarter are down from nearly $80 billion in the aftermath of the BG takeover and stood at 20 percent of total capital, Shell’s target.

Job done? Not so fast. This is still only a snapshot, rather than sustained proof. The debt reduction was aided by a huge boost from working capital movements in the last three months of 2018. The volatility in Shell’s working capital as inventories jump around is one reason why investors can’t be sure just yet that the company’s leverage will stay at or below the threshold.

The average price for Brent crude in the fourth quarter was about $69 per barrel. It is around $62 currently. While Shell could have afforded its cash dividends for 2018 had the oil price averaged out at that lower level over the whole year, it’s hard to be confident about crude’s buoyancy right now. read more

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Truce Reached for Now on Canadian Blockade of Shell Pipeline

A truce was reached in a dispute over a natural gas pipeline in western Canada, easing tensions for now as government leaders remain wary of intervening on the side of either the company or indigenous protesters.

Hereditary leaders of the Wet’suwet’en First Nation in British Columbia reached a tentative deal with police late Wednesday to effectively allow work to resume on part of Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s $31 billion gas export project.

Coastal GasLink workers will be able to access a bridge that had been barricaded, so long as a nearby protest camp isn’t dismantled, the Canadian Press reported, citing comments from one of the chiefs. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also said Wednesday there had been a resolution. “This is how this is supposed to work,” he told a town hall event in the Pacific coast province. read more

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Germany Wobbles on Russian Gas Pipeline as Trump Pressure Starts to Bite

By Patrick Donahue: 7 January 2019, 17:00 GMT Updated on 8 January 2019, 10:10 GMT
  • Merkel coalition lawmakers become more critical of Nord Stream
  • Mood shift may place pressure on government to shift stance

Support in German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s coalition for a major new Russian gas pipeline is slipping as frustration with the Kremlin’s brinkmanship grows and pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump starts to bite.

Nord Stream 2, an $11 billion project that will double the natural gas supply under the Baltic Sea to Germany, faces growing skepticism among German officials who had previously defended it against criticism from Trump and some European Union allies, according to senior lawmakers. The shift could translate into pressure on Merkel’s government to back down on the controversial pipeline and possibly delay its implementation. read more

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Shell, Total among the majors committed to developing Chinese acreage

China signaled its openness for business with a raft of deals that’ll give oil majors including Royal Dutch Shell Plc new opportunities to develop fields in partnership with the nation’s biggest offshore explorer.

Written by

China National Offshore Oil Corp. said in Beijing on Tuesday that it had inked oil and gas accords with nine firms. The signing ceremony followed President Xi Jinping’s address to party cadres marking 40 years of reform and broadly underlining the nation’s commitment to global trade.

The agreements cover 64,000 square kilometers in the Pearl River basin, to a depth of up to 3,000 meters. In addition to the Netherlands-based Shell, France’s Total SA and U.S.-based Chevron Corp. were also awarded parcels. All three majors hold existing production sharing contracts with CNOOC. The other firms involved are: ConocoPhillips, Equinor ASA, Husky Energy Inc., Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Co., Roc Oil Co., and SK Innovation Co. read more

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BP, Shell to Face New Shareholder Challenge Over Climate in 2019

  • Dutch group Follow This may also target Exxon Mobil, Chevron
  • Resolutions ask companies to align business with Paris accord

The activists who rankled Royal Dutch Shell Plc by filing climate-change resolutions for three straight years now are targeting other oil majors.

Follow This, a Dutch group that accumulates shares in oil companies in order to press them over greenhouse gas emissions, has filed another resolution against Shell for 2019. It also filed its first resolution against BP Plc and may target Chevron Corp. and Exxon Mobil Corp. in the same way.

The group, led by former journalist Mark van Baal, has been a source of frustration for Shell management, even though its resolutions have gone down to defeat. Van Baal stood up at the Anglo-Dutch supermajor’s May 2018 shareholder meeting and said Shell was misleading its investors by saying it was on track to meet global climate targets, prompting CEO Ben van Beurden to angrily retort that wasn’t the case. read more

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Shell churns out cash like oil’s above $100 again

Oil is trading well below its price of a decade ago, but you’d have no idea looking at Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s giant pile of cash.

The Anglo-Dutch oil major generated the most cash from operations in 10 years last quarter — almost $15 billion. The last time Shell pumped out that much money was the year crude soared to $140 a barrel, compared with about $75 today.

As a result, the company is showing greater confidence. It increased the pace of a $25 billion buyback program, rewarding shareholders who stuck with it through crude’s collapse. The cash surge is a feather in the cap of Chief Executive Officer Ben van Beurden, who splashed more than $50 billion on buying BG Group Plc in 2016 during the depths of the downturn. read more

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Shell’s up next, and last, in $200 billion Australia LNG bonanza

And then there was one.

Australia’s nine-year, $200 billion boom in liquefied natural gas still has a final debut in the works: Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s Prelude, floating 200 kilometers (124 miles) off its northwest coast. It’s the last project in that investment cycle to start production after Japan’s Inpex Corp. shipped its maiden cargo from Ichthys LNG on Monday.

Shell’s Prelude is among seven export projects in gas-rich Australia sanctioned since 2009 by global energy giants including Chevron Corp. and Exxon Mobil Corp., as well as regional big hitters such as Australia’s Woodside Petroleum Ltd. and Malaysia’s Petroleum Nasional Bhd. The Pacific nation now rivals Qatar as the world’s biggest seller of LNG, a form of natural gas super-chilled into a liquid that can be shipped on tankers. read more

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Oil CEOs Jostle for Global Natgas Crown Under Putin’s Gaze

Royal Dutch Shell Plc Chief Executive Officer Ben van Beurden

By Elena Mazneva , Dina Khrennikova , and Jack Farchy

4 October 2018, 00:01 BST

  • Pouyanne responds to Shell investment in Canadian LNG project
  • Russia is now largest source of Total’s oil and gas output

Two oil company bosses shared a stage with one of the most powerful men in the market, and all they wanted to do was brag about natural gas.

Royal Dutch Shell Plc Chief Executive Officer Ben van Beurden hailed his $31 billion liquefied natural gas venture in Canada, the biggest new project since 2013. Very nice, but not as competitive as low-cost Russian supplies, said Total SA boss Patrick Pouyanne. read more

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Free Gas! Alberta Market Looks Forward to Shell Export Project

By Rachel Adams-Heard and Ryan Collins: 1 October 2018, 19:11 BST: Updated on 1 October 2018, 22:42 BST

  • The company said to reach final investment decision on terminal
  • U.S. competition has pummeled Western Canadian gas prices

An export terminal on Canada’s west coast may eventually rescue one of the cheapest markets for natural gas in North America — so cheap that sometimes the fuel price falls below zero.

Royal Dutch Shell Plc and its four partners have agreed to invest in the $31 billion LNG Canada project, according to people familiar with the matter. The decision to build the export terminal provides a much-needed outlet for gas in a region battered by competition from U.S. drillers, which has created bottlenecks so severe that prices can occasionally go negative. read more

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Shell-Led LNG Project Bucks Trend by Not Waiting for Buyers

By Naureen S Malik and Natalie Obiko Pearson: 1 October 2018, 22:53 BST: Updated on 2 October 2018, 08:32 BST

  • LNG Canada partners said to formally approve investments
  • British Columbia gas-export terminal to cater to Asian markets

The developers of a C$40 billion ($31 billion) project to export Canadian natural gas are taking on a bold strategy: build now and worry about buyers later.

After a decade of planning and negotiations, Royal Dutch Shell Plc and four partners gave their formal approval to build the gas-liquefaction and export terminal in British Columbia, according to a statement late Monday local time. The super-chilled fuel that’s produced will be divided up among the partners, who will each be free to sell it however and to whomever they please, according to Andy Calitz, chief executive of the joint venture, LNG Canada. read more

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Shell, Partners Announce $31 Billion LNG Canada Investment

By Natalie Obiko Pearson , Stephen Stapczynski , Elffie Chew , and Kelly Gilblom: 2 October 2018, 07:08 BST: Updated on 2 October 2018, 13:51 BST

  • Project will create new route to Asia for North American gas
  • Investment to be Canada’s largest infrastructure project

Royal Dutch Shell Plc and its partners announced an agreement to invest in a multibillion-dollar liquefied natural gas project in western Canada — the largest of its kind in years that will carve out the fastest route to Asia for North American gas.

LNG Canada — comprised of Shell, Malaysia’s Petroliam Nasional Bhd, Mitsubishi Corp., PetroChina Co. and Korea Gas Corp. — confirmed the expected final investment decision in the C$40 billion ($31 billion) project, according to a statement from Shell on Tuesday. Bloomberg News reported Sunday that the group had approved the investment and an announcement was imminent. read more

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Shell Tries to Come Clean on Its Dirty Past in Nigeria

Italian prosecutors allege that a year after its agreement with the U.S., Shell and Eni SpA, its partner in Nigeria, paid more than $1 billion to win offshore licenses, which mostly went to bribes.

As the company moves away from oil, it can’t shake its years operating in the pollution- and graft-ridden nation.

A leaking, out-of-service Shell oil well head catches fire in Nigeria in 2006. PHOTOGRAPHER: ED KASHI/VII

By Kelly Gilblom

Perched in a helicopter sweeping over the mangrove forests of the Niger Delta, a photographer named Casey is looking for trouble. And she finds it, down among a cluster of tree trunks stained with crude. A faint disturbance in a jungle clearing turns out to be a group of men pawing at a pipeline, a tiny slice of a 1,200-mile web that feeds Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s bustling export hub on Bonny Island. Some of the men flee as the chopper closes in, but most redouble their efforts as Casey aims her camera. “I’ve seen things get better,” she said before takeoff. “Then they go back to getting worse.” read more

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Shell’s LNG Canada ‘Sprints’ Ahead After Asian Partners Give OK

By Jasmine Wang , Stephen Stapczynski , and Aibing Guo: 28 September 2018, 10:23 BST: Updated on 28 Sep 2018, 11:34 BST

  • PetroChina, Kogas approve investment in gas export venture
  • All partners expected to take final investment decision soon

Two of Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s Asian partners in a liquefied natural gas venture in western Canada approved their share of the investment, pushing the multibillion-dollar development one step closer to a final approval.

The board of PetroChina Co., the nation’s largest oil and gas company, approved its $3.46 billion share of the LNG Canada project, the company said in a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange Friday. Korea Gas Corp. made a similar announcement in Seoul about its stake. read more

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Shell Poised for LNG Canada Decision With Signs Pointing to Yes

By Natalie Obiko Pearson , Michael Bellusci , and Kevin Orland
26 September 2018, 15:31 BST

  • Shell, partners said to plan announcement in early October
  • Project group plans event involving fireworks in Kitimat

Royal Dutch Shell Plc and its partners are set to announce a decision on their C$40 billion ($31 billion) liquefied natural gas terminal in western Canada as early as next week, amid signs the companies are poised to approve it, according to people familiar with the plans.

Preparations for an Oct. 5 announcement followed by an LNG Canada event and fireworks at the local golf club the next day are underway in Kitimat, British Columbia, the site of the proposed project, said people with direct knowledge of the activities, who asked not to be identified. The situation is fluid and timing could change, the people said. read more

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Shell Is in Talks to Sell $1.3 Billion in Gulf Coast Assets

By Kiel Porter and Kelly Gilblom: 20 September 2018, 21:38 BST

  • Oil major seeks to sell its Caesar Tonga stake to Focus Oil
  • Shell is nearing end of $30 billion divestment program

Royal Dutch Shell Plc, shedding assets to pay for its takeover of BG Group Plc, is in talks to sell its interest in a Gulf of Mexico oilfield to Focus Oil, according to people familiar with the matter.

The deal could value Shell’s stake in the Caesar Tonga field at about $1.3 billion, said the people, who asked to not be identified because the matter isn’t public. A deal hasn’t been completed and negotiations could still fall apart, they said. read more

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Battered Oil-Sands Servicers Pin Hopes on Shell’s LNG Project


By Kevin Orland: 19 September 2018, 11:00 BST

Canadian industry hit hardest by downturn in energy prices

Shell-led group due to decide on $30 billion project this year

A rendering of the Shell LNG site. Source: PSM Ventures Inc.

Companies that do everything from drilling wells to building work camps are pinning their hopes on a potential C$40 billion ($30 billion) liquefied natural gas facility on British Columbia’s Pacific Coast. LNG Canada, the Royal Dutch Shell Plc-led group behind the plant, may decide whether to build the project in the coming weeks.

The export complex would be a boon for an industry that was hit hardest by the 2014-2016 downturn in oil and gas prices, and one that still hasn’t recovered. The project would need new pipelines built and fresh gas wells drilled, bringing scores of workers and tons of equipment off the sidelines.

“To see some sort of major infrastructure investment go forward would be pretty positive, both from an investment and an economics and an employment perspective,” said Scott Matson, chief financial officer of Horizon North Logistics Inc. read more

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African Oil Hunt Returns as Majors Seek to Tap Vast Reserves

By Paul Burkhardt: 5 September 2018, 00:01 BST: Updated on 5 September 2018, 14:31 BST

  • Rigs drilling in Africa’s waters have hit a two-year high

  • Companies including Exxon, Shell, BP have accumulated acreages

Africa is entering the oil-hunt spotlight as drillers, flush with cash after crude’s recovery, are turning their attention back to the continent’s potentially vast resources.

The world’s biggest companies from Exxon Mobil Corp. to Royal Dutch Shell Plc and BP Plc are setting up camp across Africa. Armed with stronger balance sheets and higher crude prices the industry is on track to double drilling in African waters this year. Rising natural gas demand is adding to the attraction. read more

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Why World Worries About Russia’s Natural Gas Pipeline

Russia’s Gazprom PJSC owns the project, with Royal Dutch Shell Plc and four other investors including Germany’s Uniper SE and Wintershall AG providing half of the 9.5 billion-euro ($11 billion) in cost.

By Elena Mazneva and Anna Shiryaevskaya | Bloomberg
August 27 at 12:00 AM

A planned new natural-gas pipeline into Europe from Russia is shaking up geopolitics. Nord Stream 2, as it’s called, worries leaders in Eastern Europe, has stirred the ire of U.S. President Donald Trump and has put German Chancellor Angela Merkel on the hot seat.

1. What is Nord Stream 2?

It’s a planned new 1,230-kilometer (764-mile) undersea pipeline that will carry natural gas from fields in Russia to the EU network at Germany’s Baltic coast. It will double the capacity of an existing undersea route — the original Nord Stream — that opened in 2011. Russia’s Gazprom PJSC owns the project, with Royal Dutch Shell Plc and four other investors including Germany’s Uniper SE and Wintershall AG providing half of the 9.5 billion-euro ($11 billion) in cost. read more

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Oil Major and Miner Ethics Scrutinized by Methodist Investors

By Elizabeth Burden and Thomas Biesheuvel
15 August 2018, 08:54 BST

*Methodist fund developing system analyzing company ethics
*Top mining and oil companies will be graded by end of 2018

Divestment may be too blunt an instrument to encourage the world’s biggest oil and mining companies to behave ethically: the Methodist Church is prepared to back those committed to mending their ways.

While the precise workings of its new “traffic light system” are still being debated, the Central Finance Board of the Methodist Church plans to determine by the end of the year whether BP Plc, Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Total SA and Equinor ASA have the ethical credentials to merit continued investor support. Those preferences will be denoted by red, amber and green categories, which will reflect a firm’s efforts and commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, its asset mix, capital expenditure, climate strategy and governance. read more

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Shell Sees Gas as Answer in Nigeria After Decades of Oil Strife

By Kelly Gilblom: 7 August 2018, 10:49 BST

Company plans to use gas to attract foreign-owned factories

Nigeria still lacks robust natural gas distribution network

After decades of difficulties in Nigeria over crude theft, pollution and oil-related corruption, Royal Dutch Shell Plc still feels optimistic a fossil fuel can improve life in the country.

The Anglo-Dutch oil major is seeking to develop Nigeria’s domestic energy market around natural gas. It’s plentiful, harder to steal, better for the environment and can underpin a robust industrial sector that could potentially employ thousands, according to Ed Ubong, the managing director of Shell Nigeria Gas. read more

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INSIGHT: Royal Dutch Shell plc “Shell-shocked” over Tax Structure Criticism

By Miles Dean

Before considering whether the claims have any merit it is necessary to turn back the clock to 2005 when the two operating limbs of the Shell group were brought under one central holding company. The U.K. limb being The Shell Transport and Trading Company plc (“STTC”), the Dutch arm being Royal Dutch Petroleum Company NV (“RDPC”). By way of corporate reorganization, these two companies were brought under the common ownership of a new U.K. incorporated but Dutch tax resident company, namely Royal Dutch Shell plc (“RDS”) on July 20, 2005. read more

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Shell and Conoco Don’t Deserve This Treatment

You oil investors are one tough crowd. I mean, what do you want, really?

On Thursday morning in Europe, Royal Dutch Shell Plc finally came around and gave the masses what they had been shouting for: a $25 billion buyback program. The masses promptly dumped the stock. On Thursday morning in America, ConocoPhillips announced a slew of forecast-beating results, having recently boosted its own buyback program by $1 billion. But it also said it was raising its full-year investment budget by $500 million. Pearls were duly clutched and “sell” buttons pushed (the stock had moved into slightly positive territory as of writing this). read more

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Shell Starts Long-Awaited Buybacks Even as Profit Misses

By Kelly Gilblom: 26 July 2018, 07:21 BST. Updated on 26 July 2018, 08:40 BST

*Energy giant to buy back $2 billion of shares over 3 months

*Second-quarter profit misses even the lowest analyst estimate

Royal Dutch Shell Plc finally gave investors the share buybacks they’ve been demanding, even as profit fell short of expectations despite resurgent crude prices.

The Anglo-Dutch energy producer said Thursday that it is starting a $25 billion share-repurchase program, initially buying up $2 billion of stock over three months. That should soothe investors who have grown increasingly anxious about when they’ll see the reward for sticking with Shell through the biggest oil-industry downturn in a generation. read more

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Shell’s Offshore Wind Play Energizes Renewables Industry

By Bobby Magill: July 20, 2018

If Royal Dutch Shell Plc wins a federal lease to build an offshore wind farm in New England this fall, the company will be the first oil major with experience drilling in U.S. waters to enter the fledgling domestic offshore wind market.

Shell’s interest in U.S. offshore wind development is seen within the industry as marking a shift toward the mainstream of the domestic energy sector, as offshore wind strengthens ties with the oil industry while harnessing one of the nation’s largest untapped sources of carbon-free electricity. read more

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Bloomberg: Royal Dutch Shell in talks to sell $2B in Nigeria oil licenses

By: , SA News Editor: 20 July 2018

  • Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A, RDS.B) is in talks to sell two Nigerian oil licenses, including infrastructure assets such as a natural gas-fired power plant, for $2B, Bloomberg reports.
  • Discussions have been advanced at times and run into hurdles at others as the Nigerian entity has yet to secure financing, according to the report.
  • Shell has sold billions of dollars of Niger Delta assets in the past decade amid local opposition, civil conflict, militant attacks and accusations of causing pollution, and another sale would allow the company to focus on its operations in Nigerian waters, where the risks of attacks on infrastructure and theft are lower.
  • read more

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    LNG Terminal Poised to Boost Struggling Canadian Gas Producers

    By Kristine Owram: 19 July 2018, 10:00 BST

    A C$40 billion Canadian LNG project led by Royal Dutch Shell Plc appears to be ramping up, although a final decision hasn’t been announced. Scotiabank’s Jennifer Stevenson expects the project to go ahead, prompting investors to reevaluate struggling Canadian gas producers. FULL ARTICLE

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    Russia’s grasp on EU gas tightens despite Trump slating Germany

    Mr Trump last year signed a law giving him the right to impose sanctions on companies involved in the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project. Royal Dutch Shell, BASF’s Wintershall unit, Uniper, OMV and Engie have agreed to provide Russia’s Gazprom with financing for the €9.5bn pipeline and could be at risk of penalties.

    Elena Mazneva, Margaret Talev and Naureen S Malik: 18 July 2018

    US President Donald Trump eased his tone about a Russian natural gas pipeline to Germany after a one-on-one meeting with President Vladimir Putin, shifting from the harsh criticism of Germany he’d levied in Europe last week.

    “We are going to be selling LNG and will have to be competing with the pipeline and I think we’ll compete successfully, although there is a little advantage locationally” because Russia is closer to buyers in Europe, Mr Trump told reporters at a news conference with Mr Putin after their meeting in Helsinki on Monday. read more

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    The Pipeline Trump Says Risks Making Germany ‘a Captive of Russia’

    By Elena Mazneva and Laurence Arnold: 11 July 2018

    A planned natural-gas pipeline, Nord Stream 2, is the latest point of friction between U.S. President Donald Trump and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. At a summit meeting of North Atlantic Treaty Organization members, Trump said the pipeline risks making Germany “a captive of Russia.” He’s not the first American leader to criticize the pipeline project, and the U.S. isn’t alone in its disapproval.

    1. What is Nord Stream 2?

    It’s a planned new 1,230 kilometer (764-mile) undersea pipeline that will carry natural gas from fields in Russia to the EU network at Germany’s Baltic coast. It will double the capacity of an existing undersea route and cut Russia’s reliance on gas transit through Ukraine. (Russia has been locked in conflict with Ukraine since 2014, when a pro-Russian president there was forced from power and Russia seized the country’s Crimean Peninsula.) Russia’s Gazprom PJSC is overseeing the project with funding from five investors including Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Engie SA, which are providing half of the 9.5 billion-euro ($10.3 billion) in cost. read more

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    Shell ramps up in Kitimat, raising Canada’s $30B LNG hopes

    NATALIE OBIKO PEARSON, BLOOMBERG: July 9, 2018

    A flurry of activity is raising optimism that Royal Dutch Shell Plc and its partners are ready to go ahead with the nation’s largest infrastructure project: a $40 billion liquefied natural gas terminal that could at last unlock energy exports to Asia.

    The action is unmistakable in Kitimat, the Pacific coast city hugging a deep inlet that would be the closest launch point on the continent for LNG cargoes to Asia. The lights are on, shades open and SUVs parked outside a 49-unit apartment complex built to house Shell executives, which sat mostly darkened for the last two years. Local workers have left jobs at a Rio Tinto Plc smelter nearby to join contractors ramping up for the LNG project. Landlords are raising rents and houses are selling twice as fast as they used to in anticipation of a flood of workers coming to town. read more

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    $US150 a barrel? Shareholder greed could make oil prices double

    By Ben Sharples: Bloomberg News: 7 July 2018

    Oil investors may regret urging companies to cough up cash now instead of investing in growth for later as the dearth of exploration is setting the stage for an unprecedented crude price spike, according to Sanford C. Bernstein.

    Companies have been compelled to focus on boosting returns and shareholder distributions at the expense of capital expenditures aimed at finding new supplies, analysts including Neil Beveridge wrote in a note on Friday. read more

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    Big Oil, Utilities are Lining Up for an Electric Vehicle War

    Big Oil, Utilities are Lining Up for an Electric Vehicle War

    By Kelly Gilblom and Anna Hirtenstein2 July 2018, 05:00 BST

    • BP and Shell have bought electric-car charging companies
    • Power utilities are boosting sales to homes, chargers on roads

    A red-hot electric vehicle market has triggered a face-off between Big Oil and utilities.

    Oil majors, who’ve sold fossil fuels to cars for a century, are now moving into an electricity sector that’s preparing for exponential growth. The problem is that utilities, the primary power suppliers for a century, have the same idea.

    BP Plc predicts electric vehicle sales will surge by an eye-watering 8,800 percent between 2017 and 2040, making it an attractive business for oil companies as demand for gasoline and diesel are forecast to slow. Big Oil will have to battle the traditional utilities for charging at people’s homes, on the road and even offices of green-car owners. read more

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    Opposition Lawmaker Demands Probe into Netherlands-Shell Tax Deal

    By Linda A. Thompson: June 27, 2018

    A Dutch opposition lawmaker is pushing the government to launch a parliamentary inquiry into Shell, calls that follow criticism of the oil giant’s past deals with the tax authority.

    Jesse Klaver, the leader of the Dutch Greens, is specifically focused on a 2004 tax ruling the tax authority issued to Royal Dutch Shell Plc. A parliamentary inquiry would be lawmakers’ only shot to question Shell executives about the deal, and would be the latest development in scrutiny of the company’s tax planning. read more

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    Future of Big Oil Increasingly Shaped by the Fate of Global Gas

    By Kevin Crowley and Kelly Gilblom
    25 June 2018, 00:00 BST

    Big Oil’s fortunes are becoming tied more closely to natural gas than ever before.

    Majors including Royal Dutch Shell Plc and BP Plc have boosted their proportion of gas output in recent years, helping them trim Exxon Mobil Corp.’s lead as the world’s most valuable oil company. Meanwhile Chevron Corp. added two giant Australian liquefied natural gas projects and Exxon is punching back with two major projects of its own, in Papua New Guinea and Mozambique. read more

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    Debate Over Netherlands’ Tax Treatment of Shell Heats Up

    June 20, 2018

    By Linda A. Thompson

    Practitioners are divided over whether an agreement between Shell and the Dutch tax administration breaks EU government aid rules.

    The debate has heated up in recent days after an article released June 18 by a Dutch academic claimed Royal Dutch Shell Plc avoided a tax on dividends by routing shares through a trust in the Channel Island of Jersey.

    Shell didn’t immediately return a request for comment.

    The company received permission to use the structure in 2005 during a merger of its British and Dutch parent companies, but the agreement may have violated Dutch withholding tax rules, according to the article, written by Jan van de Streek, a professor at the University of Amsterdam. read more

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    Shell May Be Rediscovering Its Swagger in Texas Shale Oil Country

    By Kelly Gilblom: 18 June 2018, 05:00 BST

    Shale oil hasn’t always been Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s best friend, but they’re working on the relationship.

    Shell is said to have bid, with partner Blackstone Group LP, on a portfolio of U.S. shale assets BHP Billiton Ltd. wants to sell for about $10 billion. If it wins, the Anglo-Dutch oil major could exceed its goal of doubling its American onshore output, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co.

    That would boost the unit’s free cash flow — currently on track to grow by $2 billion by 2025 — and turn around a shale portfolio that is currently “mid-lower ranked,” analysts from the bank including Christyan Malek said in a report. read more

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    Shell says Nigeria attacks continue despite oil output recovery

    Nigeria’s oil wells may be flowing again, but the country’s largest operator says attacks continue to put a brake on output.

    Written by

    “Security in parts of the Niger delta remains a major concern with persisting incidents of criminality, kidnapping and vandalism as well as onshore and offshore piracy,” said Igo Weli, general manager for external relations at Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s local unit. The warning underlines the enduring threat of attacks even as production recovers from a major militant campaign in 2016.

    Shell declared force majeure on Bonny Light crude shipments last month following pipeline leaks, while loadings of Forcados exports were also delayed. Weli didn’t specifically link those incidents to his comments on vandalism. read more

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    As Trump Riles Europe on Trade, Putin Offers More Natural Gas

    …the EU may protect the companies financing Nord Stream 2. Those include Royal Dutch Shell Plc…

    By William Wilkes and Ewa Krukowska
    4 June 2018, 05:00 BST

    As Donald Trump’s trade policy risk worsening economic conflict with Europe Union, Russia’s Vladimir Putin is strengthening ties with the region.

    Putin will mark 50 years of gas exports to Europe at an event in Vienna on Tuesday. A controversial 9.5 billion-euro ($11 billion) pipeline to feed more supplies from Siberia directly into Germany is progressing despite a U.S. sanctions threat. And Moscow-based Gazprom PJSC last month settled a seven-year-old pricing dispute with the European Union, enabling it to expand its market share. read more

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    Shell Tries to Market Some of Its Natural Gas as Clean Energy

    By Mathew Carr, 1 June 2018

    Royal Dutch Shell Plc is attempting to market some of its natural gas as clean energy, packaging it with credits for eco-friendly projects that offset pollution coming from the fuel.

    The oil giant is offering business customers in Europe a combination of gas and certificates that show emissions are offset with financing for carbon-reduction projects. It’s testing markets in Germany, Italy, Spain and Britain to gauge demand for what credits to use, according to David Wells, head of Shell Energy Europe. read more

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    Petronas Takes 25% Stake in Shell-Led Canadian LNG Project

    By Elffie Chew and Natalie Obiko Pearson: 31 May2018

    (Bloomberg) — Malaysia’s Petroliam Nasional Bhd. agreed to take a 25 percent equity stake in a proposed liquefied natural gas project in Canada led by Royal Dutch Shell Plc.

    The Canadian unit of Shell will hold a 40 percent stake, while subsidiaries of PetroChina Co. and Mitsubishi Corp. will have a 15 percent share each, according to a statement from Thursday from Petronas. A unit of Korea Gas Corp. will hold 5 percent. The announcement confirmed an earlier Bloomberg News report that a deal was imminent. read more

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    The Mystery of a Geneva Briefcase, Nigeria Middleman and Big Oil

    By Hugo Miller , Kelly Gilblom , and Sergio Di Pasquale: 24 May 2018, 08:40 BST Updated on 24 May 2018, 10:23 BST

    A briefcase seized from a Geneva apartment two years ago could be the key to an Italian bribery case against Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Eni SpA — if it makes it to Milan in time.

    The bag held SIM cards, Nigerian passports, a laptop and a hard drive containing more than 40,000 documents, and belonged to Emeka Obi, according to a spokesman for the Geneva Prosecutor’s Office. Swiss prosecutors found it during a raid for an unrelated investigation and are trying to get it to their Italian colleagues, who are prosecuting Obi as an alleged middle man in a $1.1 billion kickback scheme involving the energy companies vying for a Nigerian oil license.

    Obi’s lawyers persuaded a Geneva judge to put the contents of his briefcase under seal, citing his rights to privacy. Now a decision by Geneva’s Measures of Constraint Court on whether to lift that seal is expected as soon as this month.

    While officials in Milan have moved forward with charges against the oil companies without the briefcase, the evidence could strengthen the graft case. The trial, which centers around events in 2011, begins on June 20. Milanese Prosecutor Fabio De Pasquale said he has “sent more reminders” to the Swiss saying he wants the briefcase, underscoring its importance. read more

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    Climate Change Warriors’ Latest Weapon of Choice Is Litigation

    By Jeremy Hodges, Lauren Leatherby and Kartikay Mehrotra
    May 24, 2018

    In the global fight against climate change, one tool is proving increasingly popular: litigation.

    From California to the Philippines, activists, governments and concerned citizens are suing the biggest polluters and national governments over the effects of climate change at a break-neck pace.

    “The courts are our last, best hope at this moment of irreversible harm to our planet and life on it,” said Julia Olson, an attorney for Our Children’s Trust, a legal challenge center in the U.S. that is involved in climate change litigation across 13 countries, including the U.S., Pakistan and Uganda. read more

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    Shell Sees Off Controversial Votes on Climate Change, CEO Pay

    Photographer: Andrey Rudakov/Bloomberg

    Kelly Gilblom: 22 May 2018, 14:48 BST

    Royal Dutch Shell Plc has seen off the two most debated issues at its shareholder meeting — the boss’s pay and responsibility in tackling climate change. But not without a degree of drama.

    The company won the backing of about 94 percent of shareholders to not set specific emission-reduction targets, with Chief Executive Officer Ben van Beurden saying it is taking “leadership” on the issue. However, while almost 75 percent of investors also approved the remuneration report, it faced stiffer resistance after an influential advisory firm asked them to reject the package. read more

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    Shell Faces Shareholder Outcry Over Incident That Killed 200

    BY Kelly Gilblom: 14 May 2018, 12:02 BST

    Royal Dutch Shell Plc will face difficult questions at its annual general meeting next week after an investor-advisory group urged shareholders to challenge executive pay and the company’s response to a fatal accident in Pakistan. 

    Institutional Shareholder Services Inc., an influential adviser on corporate governance, has recommended investors reject Shell’s pay report at its AGM on May 22, saying it was initially “silent” on the Pakistan incident. ISS also said it could only offer “qualified support” to the re-election of the independent director looking after corporate social responsibility.  read more

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