| By Carl Surran, SA News Editor
Russia
Kazakhstan’s $1.1B Karachaganak project to sustain high output, Shell says
European Firms Hit Hard By U.S. Sanctions On Iran
Along with Royal Dutch Shell, Total was among the first energy companies to halt crude oil purchases from the Islamic Republic, fearing repercussions if they failed to do so.
By Scott Belinksi – Sep 01, 2018, 10:00 AM CDT
As Iran is turning to the UN’s International Court of Justice to have the US-imposed sanctions against its oil suspended, the EU is preparing for the hit its economies will have to absorb once the full weight of Washington’s punitive measures comes into effect in the fourth quarter of this year. With these latest moves, American intentions are clear: cut off Iranian oil from the market entirely and reduce Tehran’s financial power. As oil prices rise, however, the White House’s policy looks set to hurt more countries than just Iran. Will Europe’s economies take the hit – or will they fight back?
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.
Russia presses ahead with Nord Stream 2
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.
The Netherlands Can’t Afford To Keep Its Natural Gas Promise
By Vanand Meliksetian – Jul 03, 2018, 3:00 PM CDT
The Netherlands has been the source of cheap energy for northwest Europe for the past decades. The discovery of the Groningen gas field, the 9th largest in the world, provided a reliable source of energy in a period when the oil market was rocked by embargos due to the Yom Kippur War in 1973. The future of the Dutch gas sector, however, looks bleak due to two important developments in 2018: a political decision to reduce production with a timeline to stop entirely until 2030 and a new climate agreement. The Netherlands is preparing to make major changes regarding the role of gas in people’s lives.
U.S. sanctions will not affect Nord Stream 2, German ministry says
|By: Carl Surran, SA News Editor
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.
City heavyweights head for Putin’s business forum
Robin Pagnamenta, Deputy Business Editor: May 23, 2018
The chief executives of some of the biggest British-listed companies are set to travel to Russia this week for a business forum hosted by President Putin, despite simmering tensions over visas and US sanctions against the country.
The oil bosses Bob Dudley, of BP, and Ben van Beurden, of Royal Dutch Shell, are scheduled to speak at the St Petersburg Economic Forum on Friday. Ivan Glasenberg, chief executive of Glencore, the mining and commodities group, and Xavier Rolet, former chief executive of the London Stock Exchange, are also due to take part.
Shell’s $14-billion contract for Kitimat project a sign B.C. may catch the second LNG wave
Jesse Snyder: April 27, 2018 2:19 PM EDT
The consortium behind LNG Canada named the prime contractors for its $40-billion export project on Friday, taking the development forward amid concerns that steep import tariffs on some steel components could still make the project untenable.
In a decision the consortium called a “significant milestone,” LNG Canada said U.S.-based Fluor Corp. and Japan’s JGC Corp. would lead the $14-billion construction contract for the liquefied natural gas project in Kitimat on the B.C. West Coast. Construction of the facility would employ thousands of workers and take roughly five years to complete.
Shell’s Profits Soar From Strong Asian Demand
By Tsvetana Paraskova – Apr 20, 2018, 10:00 PM CDT
Oil major Shell has snapped up over 8 million barrels of June-loading crude oil grades from the Middle East and Russia and has resold some of the cargoes in Asia, taking advantage of the strong Asian demand, Reuters reported on Friday, citing five trading sources.
Wider Brent premium over the Middle Eastern benchmark Dubai this month has made Atlantic crude oil supplies more expensive than the Middle Eastern and Russian supplies, which are priced off the Dubai benchmark.
British firms advised to skip Russia summit
Robin Pagnamenta, Deputy Business Editor: April 2, 2018
Some of Britain’s biggest companies have been urged to boycott Russia’s main annual business summit in St Petersburg next month, amid growing political tensions triggered by the poisoning of Sergei Skripal and his daughter.
Bob Dudley, BP’s chief executive; Ben van Beurden, the chief executive of Royal Dutch Shell; and a number of other UK executives attended the St Petersburg International Economic Forum last year.
The event, hosted by President Putin, is due to be held this year on May 24-26, three weeks before the country hosts the football World Cup.
Polish Foreign Ministry to Advise Germany Against Nord Stream 2 After Salisbury
Sputniik International (Russian Publisher) 19 March 2018
WARSAW (Sputnik) – Poland will try to convince Germany to reconsider the Nord Stream 2 pipeline in the wake of the nerve agent attack on former Russian intelligence officer Skripal in London, Polish Secretary of State for European Affairs Konrad Szymanski said Monday.
“[Nord Stream 2] will surely be the most important issue of the talks, because after Salisbury we have a new situation. It is, beyond doubt, one of the aspects of Russian policy regarding Europe, not regarding the UK. And we should consider once again whether Russia is a trustworthy partner… Nord Stream 2 carries only negative consequences, but Germany is an independent state as much as Poland,” Szymanski told RMF FM radio.
Russia gains gas foothold in UK as relations deteriorate
David Sheppard, Energy Markets Editor: 14 MARCH 2018
Half of Britain’s imports of liquefied natural gas so far this year have come from Russia… Two of the shipments have been brought to the UK by Malaysia’s Petronas… The other was brought in by Royal Dutch Shell earlier this month… FULL ARTICLE
Houston outlook bright with U.S. shale set to dominate global growth for years
Forecasters at Royal Dutch Shell, the Anglo-Dutch oil major, have predicted that global oil demand could peak within a decade as electric cars and other clean energy technologies gain larger market shares.
March 5, 2018 Updated: March 5, 2018 8:42pm
Houston’s energy industry, which drives the local economy, has much brighter days ahead as global oil demand climbs, shale production booms and U.S. crude grabs larger shares of global markets, according to forecasts, industry officials and analysts.
The United States is already pumping oil at record levels above 10 million barrels a day, surpassing Saudi Arabia, and may take over from Russia as the world’s production leader by the end of 2018. Over the next five years, daily U.S. production is expected to climb 3.5 million barrels, or 35 percent, to more than 13 million barrels, according to a forecast by the International Energy Agency, which monitors the global oil industry.
Russian LNG Gas Reportedly Heads to UK Amid Record Cold Snap
President Putin: Photo Credit: Kremlin.ru
When cold weather strikes, Europe seems to come to an understanding that Russian energy deliveries to the continent carry a purely economic significance, not a political one.
Deliveries of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Yamal in Siberia are set to arrive in the UK this week as the island nation struggles to dig out from Storm Emma, the Financial Times reported.
The LNG will be delivered to the UK by Royal Dutch Shell, two sources familiar with the shipment have said. The gas will be picked up this weekend, and delivered to an LNG terminal in Milford Haven, Wales, where it will be regasified and pumped into the UK network by March 6.
Yedlin: East Coast LNG projects quietly moving forward
Local Input~ Aerial View of the Bear Head LNG Project Site, Nova Scotia, Canada. Photo: Courtesy of Liquefied Natural Gas Limited. 0211 biz gmo bearhead
DEBORAH YEDLIN, CALGARY HERALD: 24 FEB 2018
Lost in the hyper-focus on British Columbia and its persistent obstruction of energy infrastructure development is the East Coast, where two liquefied natural gas projects are quietly moving forward in Nova Scotia.
Both Bear Head LNG to be located on the north bank of the Strait of Canso and Pieridae Energy in Goldboro are at different phases of their progress, but unlike what’s going on in B.C. there is a marked absence of opposition.
Kashagan output crosses 300,000 b/d, but ‘giant’ increases unlikely: Shell executive
London (Platts)–23 Feb 2018 510 am EST/1010 GMT
Kazakhstan’s giant Kashagan oil field is achieving new production highs every month and has done better than 300,000 b/d, but development beyond the current phase is likely to be about “discretionary step-ups” rather than giant steps, Shell country chair and vice president Olivier Lazare said Thursday.
Speaking at the IP Week conference in London, Lazare declined to specify the current production level, saying there were still reliability issues with the first phase, which started producing in 2016 after more than $50 billion of investment and multiple delays, and has a target of 370,000 b/d.
Shell Russian exec says impact of Western sanctions was minimal
Reuters Staff: FEBRUARY 7, 2018
ORZHOK, Russia, Feb 7 (Reuters) – International oil major Royal Dutch Shell’s Russian business felt minimal impact from Western sanctions on Russia, the branch’s head Sergey Starodubtsev said on Wednesday, adding the firm was fully compliant with international law.
Shell Neft, the Russian arm of the global oil company, plans to double the number of petrol stations in Russia, currently at 259, in the next four to five years, and sees fuel sales rising 8 percent to 12 percent this year, Vitaly Maslov, head of Shell’s Russian retail business, told reporters.
From PortNews: December 15, 2017
On 14 December 2017, joint delegation of Gazprom and Shell visited Commercial Sea Port of Ust-Luga, JSC to discuss cooperation under Baltic LNG project, says the press center of CSPU.
An LNG plant able to produce 10 mln t per year for export shipments by sea-going ships is to be built at the port of Ust-Luga, north of CSPU.
Representatives of the delegation (17 members) visited Yug-2 terminal and discussed a number of issues related to transshipment of oversized equipment intended for the LNG plant.
Gazprom and Shell Discuss LNG projects and Nord Stream 2
A working meeting between Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee, and Maarten Wetselaar, Member of the Executive Committee of Royal Dutch Shell, took place in St. Petersburg today.
Posted by OilVoice Press – OilVoice: 22-Nov-2017
The meeting addressed relevant aspects of strategic cooperation.
Particular attention was paid to joint efforts in the liquefied natural gas (LNG) sector. The parties discussed the construction project for the third train of the LNG plant on Sakhalin Island and the progress of the Joint Study Framework Agreement for the Baltic LNG project.
The meeting also focused on the Nord Stream 2 project.
Background
Royal Dutch Shell is a British-Dutch oil and gas holding company focused on hydrocarbon production, processing and marketing in over 90 countries worldwide.
Royal Dutch Shell: The Cash Machine
Sarfaraz A. Khan: Nov. 6, 2017 12:35 PM ET
Summary
- Royal Dutch Shell has reported nearly 50% increase in profits following improvement in energy prices which fueled a turnaround of its upstream division.
- In the first three quarters of 2017, Royal Dutch Shell generated $15.42 billion of free cash flows (ex. working cap. changes), surpassing even the industry’s cash flow king Exxon Mobil.
- Oil prices have climbed to almost $61 a barrel and could stay at this level in the future, which could give a major boost to Shell’s earnings and cash flows.
Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A, RDS.B) is a well-oiled cash flow machine. In fact, it generates more free cash flows than any other oil majors, and this was evident from the latest quarterly results. The Anglo-Dutch oil giant could get even better in 2018 on the back of improvement in oil prices. The company’s shares will likely move higher while its valuation might also improve.
Latest Earnings
Royal Dutch Shell has recently released blowout quarterly results in which it posted significantly higher profits following a strong performance from its upstream, downstream and integrated gas divisions. The company reported an adjusted net profit (attributable to shareholders on a current cost of supplies (CCS) basis) of $4.1 billion, up 47% from the same quarter last year. That blew past the company-provided analysts’ estimate of $3.6 billion. The profits at the upstream segment ballooned from just $4 million a year earlier to $562 million. The profits at the downstream and integrated gas segments rose 28.4% and 37.7% to $2.67 billion and $1.28 billion respectively.
Gazprom and Shell confirm their interest in implementation of Baltic LNG project
2017 October 5 15:37
Gazprom and Shell have confirmed their interest in implementation of the Baltic LNG project, IAA PortNews correspondent cites Aleksandr Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of the Board, Gazprom, and Maarten Wetselaar, Integrated Gas and New Energies Director, Shell, as saying at the 7th St. Petersburg International Gas Forum (SPIGF-2017).
“Baltic LNG project will develop and we are participating in it financially”, said Maarten Wetselaar.
According to Shell, global LNG demand is 265 mln t per year and its growth prospects are good, particularly due to the markets of China, India and other Asian countries.
Will Shell’s Gas Gamble Pay Off?
By Cyril Widdershoven – Sep 16, 2017, 6:00 PM CDT
Supermajor Royal Dutch Shell has decided to divest its Iraqi oil assets in a move to focus on its future in natural gas.
The industry giant is seemingly breaking from its oil heritage to head full speed into the “Golden Age of Gas.” Shell’s decision to leave Iraq’s upstream oil assets is not without risk, however, as the market for natural gas is even more oversupplied than it is for crude oil.
Reuters reported the move first, based on a letter from the Iraqi ministry of oil, followed by a confirmation from Shell. The Dutch heavyweight indicated to the press that its oil asset divestment in Iraq is in line with its strategy to focus more on natural gas and downstream activities.
Nord Stream 2 Foreign Partners Want to Stay in Project – Russian Deputy PM
Russia’s foreign partners for the Nord Stream 2 expressed a desire to stay in the project, thus indicating that the project is commercially effective.
04.09.2017: MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Gazprom’s foreign partners for the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project say they want to continue participating in the project, despite US sanctions, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich told Sputnik Monday.
“To find funding is not the most difficult question in this sense… Partners are needed precisely to protect the project, because it is a sign, an indicator that the project is commercially effective. The presence of foreign private partners is a signal about this, it’s not about financing as such,” Dvorkovich said answering the question about the impact of the new US sanctions against Russia in relation to the Nord Stream 2 funding.
Shell Plans to Double Number of Gasoline Stations in Russia to 450
Sergey Starodubtsev, the CEO of Shell NeftRoyal, said that Dutch Shell plans to increase the number of its gasoline stations in Russia to about 450.
24.8.2017: MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Anglo-Dutch oil giant Royal Dutch Shell intends to double the number of its gasoline stations in Russia to about 450, the CEO of company’s Russian subsidiary Shell Neft, Sergey Starodubtsev, said Wednesday.
“In Russia, Shell has 227 filling stations at the moment — in Moscow, St. Petersburg and other regions of Russia, for example, in Tatarstan. Do we plan to expand the network? Yes, we plan…. Shell considers Russia one of the priority regions… At least, we are planning to double the number of gas stations in Russia in the near term,” Starodubtsev said at a press conference.
Shell plans to double retail sites in Russia
MOSCOW, August 23. /TASS/. Global oil major Shell will double the number of its retail sites in Russia in midterm, chief executive of Shell Neft, its Russian affiliate, Sergey Starodubtsev said on Wednesday.
“We plan to double the number of retail sites in Russia in midterm,” Starodubtsev said.
Shell now has 227 retail sites in its chain.
The company’s plants in Russia
Multinational oil and gas major plans to bring its lubricants plant in Torzhok, Tver Region, to the design capacity of 200 mln liters per year in five years, Starodubtsev has added.
Total overtakes Shell in North Sea where appetite for assets remains high
AUGUST 22, 2017 / 2:13 PM
LONDON (Reuters) – French oil major Total (TOTF.PA) has overtaken rival Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L) to become the second-largest producer in the North Sea with its acquisition of Maersk’s (MAERSKb.CO) Norwegian and UK producing assets.
The $7.45 billion deal by Total was welcomed by the market, with analysts saying it helped the French company rebalance its portfolio by adding assets in developed countries after going for projects in riskier places such as Iran and Russia.
Shell Set To Play A Major Role In The Global Gas Market
Zoltan Ban: Aug. 3, 2017 6:55 PM ET
Summary
– Shell profits down compared with the previous quarter, which is in part a reflection of the lower oil prices.
– While the shorter-term results were affected by the falling oil price, the long term strategy of becoming a leading and dominant player in LNG remains intact.
– Global energy trends continue to suggest that LNG is a good long-term bet, given economic as well as environmental considerations.
While Shell (RDS.A) did report a second quarter net operating profit of $1.55 billion compared with $3.5 billion in the previous quarter, it should be noted that when looking at the different sectors, it is the downstream segment which has been helping it stay above water this year. The upstream segment seems to be struggling within the context of the current oil & gas price environment, same as we can expect the global oil & gas industry to do overall.
Russian pipeline projects likely to go ahead despite sanctions, analysts say
Aug. 3, 2017 11:49 AM ET|By: Carl Surran, SA News Editor
New U.S. sanctions will make it harder and more expensive for Russia to build the Nord Stream 2 and TurkStream gas export pipelines to Europe, but analysts say the two Gazprom-led (OTCPK:OGZPY) projects are unlikely to be stopped.
But the sanctions bill, which had the overwhelming support of the U.S. Congress before it was signed by Pres. Trump, throws into doubt the €4.75B pledged by European companies including Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A, RDS.B), Engie (OTCPK:ENGIY) and OMV (OTCPK:OMVJF) to help fund Nord Stream 2 and could threaten other projects.
Warning of US sanctions ‘disaster’ for Russia energy projects
By: Henry Foy in Moscow and Andrew Ward in London
International energy investments in Russia will suffer from new US sanctions imposed on Moscow, executives have warned… A senior executive at a western oil group with a large presence in Russia told the Financial Times that the new sanctions “could be a disaster” given its current business in the country. Mr van Beurden said Shell had authorisation from Dutch authorities to press ahead with financing of Nord Stream 2, but was waiting to see how the US situation “evolves.”
US and EU on collision course over Russia pipeline sanctions
Araft of top European companies will be forced to pull out of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project with Russia or face crippling sanctions under draconian legislation racing through the US Congress.
Berlin and Brussels have threatened retaliation if Washington presses ahead with penalties on anything like the suggested terms, marking a dramatic escalation in the simmering trans-Atlantic showdown over America’s extra-territorial police powers.
A consortium of Shell, Engie, Wintershall, Uniper, and Austria’s OMV is providing half the €9.5bn (£8.5bn) funding for the 760-mile pipeline through the Baltic Sea to Germany. “This is a spectacular interference in internal European affairs,” said Isabelle Kocher, the director-general of Engie in France.
EU Divided on How to Answer New U.S. Sanctions Against Russia
BRUSSELS — European Commission preparations to retaliate against proposed new U.S. sanctions on Russia that could affect European firms are likely to face resistance within a bloc divided on how to deal with Moscow, diplomats, officials and experts say.
A bill agreed by U.S. Senate and House leaders foresees fines for companies aiding Russia to build energy export pipelines. EU firms involved in Nord Stream 2, a 9.5 billion euro ($11.1 billion) project to carry Russian gas across the Baltic, are likely to be affected.
Kazakhstan and Eurasia new oil consortium in a multi-billion Caspian project
LONDON (TCA) — In a move presented as glorious and spectacular, oil companies from Russia (Rosneft), China (CNPC), Kazakhstan (Kazmunaygas), Azerbaijan (SOCAR) and Italy (Eni) have teamed up to form a consortium for the exploration and exploitation of what is expected to be a new “giant” located in the very heart of the northern Caspian tectonic structure. The project, if successful and market demand to remain unchanged, should prolong the position of Kazakhstan as a global-scale oil supplier from 2040 till 2080. The Kazakhs are committed to contribute in the order of a billion greenbacks each year from now to the project. No overall picture of the total price tag has been presented so far.
Oil majors among top contributors to greenhouse emissions, report says
by Alan Shields –
More than half of global industrial emissions can be traced back to just 25 corporate and state producing entities, the report says.
China, India and Russia’s coal industries and major oil and gas players like Saudi Aramco, Gazprom, ExxonMobil, BP and Shell are among those named in the paper from CDP, formerly the Carbon Disclosure Project.
The research found that 100 active fossil fuel producers were linked to 71% of global industrial greenhouse gases since 1988.
Shell No.9 in Top 100 greenhouse gas emitters since 1988
The Chinese coal industry and stock market debutant Saudi Aramco have been named as the world’s biggest emitters of carbon dioxide.
As new data claims to have identified the top 100 emitters of greenhouse gases over the last three decades, a leading NGO has warned that natural resources companies need to transform their business models to adapt to a low-carbon future.
Just 100 firms are responsible for 71pc of carbon dioxide gases released into the atmosphere since 1988, the year that climate change was first recognised as an international problem, according a report by the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP).
EU energy groups criticise US sanctions threats to Nord Stream pipeline
by: Michael Stothard in Paris and Henry Foy in Moscow: 10 July 2017
Engie, Britain’s Royal Dutch Shell, Austria’s OMV and German companies Uniper and Wintershall have agreed to fund half the cost of the €9.5bn Nord Stream 2 pipeline being built by Gazprom between Russia and Germany. Supporters say the project is critical to safeguarding future gas supplies to the EU.
Russia’s Pipeline Play Has Eastern Europe On Edge
By Gregory Brew – Jun 27, 2017, 4:00 PM CDT
Russia has been a major energy supplier to the European market for decades, and is looking to expand its dominance with a new pipeline that could feed natural gas directly to the continent’s biggest economy.
A deal on Nord Stream 2, a gas pipeline that will link the Ust-Luga area west of St. Petersburg directly with Germany, was signed by Russian energy giant Gazprom in late April. If completed, the pipeline would give Russia more than fifty percent of the Germany gas market and potentially increase its share of markets throughout Central and Western Europe. The pipeline is set to be completed in 2019 and is supported by joint-funding from five European energy companies, including Royal Dutch/Shell, Uniper and ENGIE.
Shell Company Firmly Integrated in Russian Economy, PM Medvedev Says
Russian Prime Minister Medvedev on Wednesday congratulated the Royal Dutch Shell company on the occasion of its 125th anniversary of working in Russia, and stressed that the company is deeply integrated in the Russian economy and is one of Russia’s main foreign investors.
23 June 2017
MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Earlier in the day, Russian President Vladimir Putin held a meeting with Royal Dutch Shell CEO Ben van Beurden to discuss the plans regarding the company’s future work in Russia, including the construction and financing of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project.
“Today Shell is firmly integrated into our national economy and is one of our biggest foreign investors. Its companies and joint ventures are involved in various business areas: from exploration and production of mineral resources to the manufacture of fuel and lubricants and their sale at filling stations,” Medvedev wrote in a letter released by the government.
Global oil price falls to nine-month low as oversupply fears mount
A number of producers – notably Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Russia – have aggressively ramped up output
Oil prices held near multi-month lows on Wednesday as investors discounted evidence of strong compliance by OPEC and non-OPEC oil producers with a deal to cut a global output.
Global benchmark Brent LCOc1 was unchanged at $46.02 barrel at 0651 GMT after falling nearly 2 per cent in the previous session to its lowest settlement since November.
US crude futures CLc1 for August were trading up 4 cents at $43.55, after spending much of the day slightly lower and falling more than 2 per cent on Tuesday to the lowest since September.
Gazprom and Shell CEO’s sign JV agreements
Royal Dutch Shell and Russian gas monopoly Gazprom have signed two agreements on the Baltic liquefied natural gas (LNG) project.
Gazprom CEO Alexey Miller and Shell CEO Ben van Beurden signed the agreements at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum 2017 on June 3.
The first agreement to sign a joint venture, which will secure financing for and carry out the design, construction and operation of the LNG plant in the Leningrad Region. Based on that concept, Gazprom and Shell will take further steps in the implementation of the Baltic LNG project.
Gazprom Neft and Shell
1 june 2017
Gazprom Neft and Shell have used the occasion of this year’s St Petersburg International Economic Forum to sign a Memorandum of Understanding. Vadim Yakovlev, First Deputy CEO, Gazprom Neft, and Olivier Lazar, Country Chair, Shell Russia, have both put their signatures to a document confirming both companies’ intention of promoting further cooperation.
Both sides have confirmed their intention of continuing negotiations on the Khanty-Mansiysky Oil and Gas Union’s provisional assessment of a range of non-shale oil deposits in Eastern Siberia, including the Achimovsky deposits in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. In addition to this, Gazprom Neft and Shell have committed to undertake geological prospecting of license blocks in the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug, adjoining licence blocks owned by Salym Petroleum Development N.V.,* through that enterprise.
Gazprom, Shell review LNG opportunities
By Daniel J. Graeber: May 30, 2017
May 30 (UPI) — Russian energy company Gazprom said it signed agreements with Royal Dutch Shell that could expand on bilateral deals related to liquefied natural gas.
Gazprom Chairman Alexei Miller hosted delegates from Shell at his Moscow office to discuss future collaboration on projects covered under strategic cooperation agreements from 2015.
Gazprom holds a 50 percent stake in the Sakhalin liquefied natural gas project on Russia’s far eastern coast, while Shell controls a 27.5 percent stake. Japanese companies hold the remaining interest.
Gazprom and Shell discuss joint prospects under Agreement of Strategic Cooperation
Royal Dutch Shell is a British-Dutch oil and gas company focused on hydrocarbon production, processing and marketing in over 90 countries worldwide.
Gazprom and Shell are jointly engaged in the Sakhalin II project, which includes Russia’s only active LNG plant. The Sakhalin II operator is Sakhalin Energy Investment Company Ltd. (Gazprom – 50 per cent plus one share, Shell – 27.5 per cent minus one share, Mitsui – 12.5 per cent, and Mitsubishi – 10 per cent). In 2015, Gazprom and Shell signed the Memorandum to construct the third production train of the LNG plant, as well as the Agreement of Strategic Cooperation providing for the expansion of the companies’ joint project portfolio, including a potential asset swap.
Shell proposes adding Russian oil to Brent benchmark
The suggestion marks a shift from two years ago when Shell said adding Urals would not be “worth the trouble”.
May 10, 2017, 05:38:00 AM EDT By Reuters
LONDON, May 10 (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell <RDSa.L> on Wednesday urged oil pricing agency S&P Global Platts <SPGI.N> to protect the dated Brent crude benchmark from declining North Sea supply by including other grades, such as Russian Urals, in its price-setting process.
The suggestion marks a shift from two years ago when Shell said adding Urals would not be “worth the trouble”. The benchmark, based on light North Sea crude grades, is used to price about two-thirds of the world’s oil but a decline in North Sea output has led to concerns that physical volumes could become too thin and prone to large price swings.
Shell-BG Merger Benefits Becoming More Clear
Zoltan Ban: May 8, 2017
When I decided to position for a coming oil price recovery towards the end of 2015, I decided on buying Shell (NYSE:RDS.A), alongside Suncor (NYSE:SU) and Chevron (NYSE:CVX). My investment strategy always has a longer term horizon, therefore Shell was an obvious choice, given the very generous dividend. When deciding to hold a stock for a number of years, it really makes a difference, as long as the dividend is sustainable, of course.
There were other factors which I saw as positive long term prospects that makes Shell stock worth holding on to for a while. Shell’s leadership in the LNG sector, in large part thanks to the BG deal is one of the things that attracted me to the stock. As I stated many times before, I believe that natural gas will eventually become the number one energy source on the planet and as such it will have to become more flexible in terms of delivery. LNG shipments will most likely become a globally strategic industry, which is likely to grow a lot in coming years and decades.
Royal Dutch Shell & Others Sign Financing Deals For Gazprom’s Nord Stream 2 Project
April 24, 2017, 11:49:10 AM EDT By MT Newswires
American depository shares of Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A, RDS.B) were up nearly 2% Monday after the oil major said it and four European energy firms signed financing agreements for Gazprom’s proposed Nord Stream 2 pipeline project. Shell said each of the five energy companies has committed to provide financing and guarantees for up to 10% of the total cost of the Nord Stream 2 project, which is currently estimated at EUR9.5 billion ($10.3 billion).
Opec outflanked
By Ed Crooks of the Finacial Times: January 13, 2017
In the 1930s many newspapers carried impressively detailed diagrams showing France’s defences along the German border, described by Popular Mechanix and Inventions magazine as the “world’s greatest underground fortifications”. By the end of May 1940, Hitler had demonstrated that while the Maginot Line might indeed be an engineering marvel, it was also irrelevant, as his panzer divisions swept past it through Belgium and into France. Last year’s agreement between leading oil-producing countries to curb their output had something of the same feel about it this week.
Opec bends the markets
By Ed Crooks, December 2, 2016
In 451 CE, the great Roman general Flavius Aetius rallied a motley army of imperial troops and barbarian allies, and halted the advance of Attila’s Huns at the Catalaunian Plains in Gaul, buying the empire some time and temporarily interrupting its long-term decline. This week’s Opec meeting in Vienna had something of the same feel about it.
Opec’s power peaked in the 1970s, and the US shale oil revolution of the past half-decade has threatened to consign the cartel’s influence to history. But by agreeing a deal to cut production on Wednesday, the Opec ministers showed that if they all acted together they could still bend the oil markets to their will, at least for a while.
OPEC agrees first output cut since 2008, Saudis to take ‘big hit’
By Ahmad Ghaddar, Alex Lawler and Rania El Gamal | VIENNA
OPEC has agreed its first limit on oil output since 2008, sources in the producer group told Reuters, with Saudi Arabia accepting “a big hit” on its production and agreeing to arch-rival Iran freezing output at pre-sanctions levels.
Brent crude futures jumped 8 percent to more than $50 a barrel after Riyadh signaled it had finally reached a compromise with Iran after insisting in recent weeks that Tehran fully participate in any cut.
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.
