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July 29th, 2005:

Shell’s woes mount as it admits cost overruns and delays

THE TIMES (UK): Shell’s woes mount as it admits cost overruns and delays

“FURTHER delays and soaring expenditure in big energy projects emerged at Royal Dutch Shell yesterday when the company admitted that the start-up of Bonga, a giant offshore Nigerian oilfield, had been pushed back until late this year.“: “Bonga’s budget has already swelled from a $2.7 billion estimate in 2001 to about $4 billion (£2.3 billion).”: “In a reference to the Sakhalin cost overruns, admitted by Shell a fortnight ago, Mr van der Veer said: “It is clear we must improve project management.”

Friday 29 July 2005

By Carl Mortished, International Business Editor

FURTHER delays and soaring expenditure in big energy projects emerged at Royal Dutch Shell yesterday when the company admitted that the start-up of Bonga, a giant offshore Nigerian oilfield, had been pushed back until late this year.

The billion barrel oilfield was expected to start producing in the summer but Peter Voser, Shell’s finance director, said that production would not get going until the fourth quarter. Bonga’s budget has already swelled from a $2.7 billion estimate in 2001 to about $4 billion (£2.3 billion). 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.

The Guardian: Shell meets its match in the Rossport Five

The Guardian: Shell meets its match in the Rossport Five

“Suddenly, the issue became one of the biggest news stories of the year and, as the Irish Examiner called it, “a major public relations disaster for the Shell corporation”: “The “Rossport Five” were jailed at the specific request of the company, which had obtained compulsory purchase orders for the land in question – the first time in Irish history that such an order was granted to a private company. The five will remain in jail until they undertake not to obstruct the company.”: “Shell officials misjudged the situation…”: “July has seen huge rallies in support of the men in Co Mayo and in Dublin, the picketing of Shell garages nationwide, and round-the-clock blockades of the refinery construction site.”

William Hederman

Friday July 29, 2005

The residents of the tiny village of Rossport, in the north-west corner of County Mayo on Ireland’s Atlantic coast, have been up in arms for almost five years now. They have spent that time campaigning against a proposal by the petroleum giant Shell to lay a pipeline through their community to carry untreated gas from beneath the sea to a refinery 5.5 miles inland. Their cause secured little or no coverage in the national press until, at the end of June, five of them were jailed for refusing Shell access to their land to begin work on the pipeline. 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.

Shell’s first results as a single group disappoint

Financial Times: Shell’s first results as a single group disappoint

“Shell, which this month united its Dutch and UK holding companies, is struggling to keep up. It lags behind competitors in production growth, faces lawsuits in the US over false reserves statements and announced a $10bn cost overrun at Sakhalin-2, the flagship Russian project. There was further bad news yesterday from Jeroen van der Veer, Shell chief executive, who said that Bonga, one of Shell’s most important projects in Nigeria, would also be delayed.”

Friday 29 July 2005

By Carola Hoyos in London

Published: July 29 2005

* Oil company’s performance fails to match BP’s

Royal Dutch Shell, the world’s third biggest listed energy group, disappointed investors yesterday as its first earnings report as a unified company revealed weaker-than-expected results.

Second-quarter “current cost of supply” net profit, a closely watched measure which excludes gains from rising fuel stock values and one-off charges, was $5.17bn (€4.29bn), compared with expectations of $5.44bn. 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.

THE NEW YORK TIMES: High Energy Prices Boost 3 Oil Companies

THE NEW YORK TIMES: High Energy Prices Boost 3 Oil Companies

“Repeated restatements of its oil reserves last year cost Shell, one of the world’s largest oil producers with BP PLC and Exxon Mobil, almost $150 million in fines imposed by U.S. and British regulators and led to the dismissal of three senior executives.”

Friday 29 July 2005

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

DALLAS (AP) — Two of the world’s largest oil companies, Exxon Mobil Corp. and Royal Dutch Shell PLC, said Thursday that second-quarter profits rose by about one-third, buoyed by high energy prices and higher worldwide consumption. The companies improved their earnings despite rising costs and lower output of oil and natural gas.

Marathon Oil Corp., a smaller player in the energy business, also benefited from soaring energy prices in the second quarter, achieving 91 percent earnings growth. 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.

Exxon, Shell Profits Climb Sharply

The Wall Street Journal: Exxon, Shell Profits Climb Sharply

“The company, which earlier this month disclosed budget overruns and a half-year delay at its massive Sakhalin II gas project in Russia, said yesterday that production at its giant offshore oil field in Nigeria, Bonga, would be delayed once again, though just by a few months.”

Friday 29 July 2005
High Oil Prices Lift Results,
But Declines in Production
Reflect Industry’s Challenge

By JEFFREY BALL and BENOÎT FAUCON
Staff Reporters of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
July 29, 2005; Page A3

In the latest sign of the oil industry’s current success and future challenge, Exxon Mobil Corp. and Royal Dutch Shell PLC said their second-quarter net income shot up more than 30% amid soaring oil prices, but both saw production fall as aging fields continued to decline.

Cash-rich Exxon also announced a further increase in its rate of share buybacks, its preferred method of rewarding shareholders, even as some investors renewed calls for a dividend boost. The company — the largest U.S. company by market value, ahead of General Electric Co. — said it will spend $5 billion in the third quarter on share buybacks, up from $3.5 billion in the second quarter and $2.5 billion in the first quarter. 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.

Daily Mirror: GROTESQUE: Union blasts Shell’s £372 a second profit

Daily Mirror (UK): GROTESQUE: Union blasts Shell’s £372 a second profit

“SHELL sparked outrage yesterday by revealing profits of £372 a second.”: “Union Amicus called the profit “grotesque” and accused Shell of putting cash before staff safety. The company was fined £900,000 in April for health and safety lapses over the deaths of two Scottish workers in 2003. Keith Moncrieff, 45, and Sean McCue, 22, were overcome by gas on the Brent Bravo platform.”

Friday 29 July 2005

SHELL sparked outrage yesterday by revealing profits of £372 a second.

The oil giant made £5.85 billion in the first half of the year – up 27 per cent on the same period in 2004.

The firm’s profit is just below the near £6billion – or £422 a second -reported this week by rival BP.

Union Amicus called the profit “grotesque” and accused Shell of putting cash before staff safety. The company was fined £900,000 in April for health and safety lapses over the deaths of two Scottish workers in 2003. Keith Moncrieff, 45, and Sean McCue, 22, were overcome by gas on the Brent Bravo platform. 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.

The Guardian (UK): Shell’s big profits fail to impress City

The Guardian (UK): Shell’s big profits fail to impress City

“The City was less than impressed with yesterday’s figures, which were below expectations. “Shell has a relatively weak competitive position, limited organic growth opportunities, poor reserve replacement record and its project management is poor,” according to Barclays analyst Andrew Fisher.”

Friday July 29, 2005

Mark Milner and David Teather in New York

Royal Dutch Shell yesterday added its name to the ranks of oil companies posting big profits increases only to find its performance under scrutiny.

The company, which has just completed the merger of the Royal Dutch and Shell holding companies, said second-quarter earning had risen 26% to $4.6bn (£2.6bn) on a current cost of supplies basis.

Chief executive Jeroen van der Veer said the company would continue to concentrate on “more upstream and profitable downstream” and that its strong earnings and cash flow would be used for dividends, investment and a share buyback programme that could be resumed after completion of the unification process. 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.

Daily Telegraph: Shell gushes to $10bn in face of Sakhalin costs

Daily Telegraph: Shell gushes to $10bn in face of Sakhalin costs

Friday 29 July 2005

By Malcolm Moore (Filed: 29/07/2005)

Shell yesterday declared a 27pc increase in first-half profits to $10.17billion (£5.8billion) but admitted that its oil and gas production had fallen by 129,000 barrels a day over the period.

Shares in the newly-restructured Royal Dutch Shell fell 31p to £17.59. Analysts said that Shell’s upstream oil and gas unit had underperformed – even though it saw profits rise by around 50pc on the back of higher energy prices.

Shell’s main problem in the second quarter was a huge cost overrun on its landmark Sakhalin project, which aims to tap four billion barrels of hydrocarbons in the frozen sea off the east coast of Russia. 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.

Lloyds List: Investment concern as Shell earnings soar

Lloyds List: Investment concern as Shell earnings soar

Capital expenditure figure for year of $15bn excludes cost overruns on Sakhalin II, writes Martyn Wingrove:

“STRONG oil prices have sent unified Royal Dutch Shell’s earnings into a 26% rise in the second quarter, but there are concerns over rises in capital investments on Russian projects.”

Friday July 29, 2005

STRONG oil prices have sent unified Royal Dutch Shell’s earnings into a 26% rise in the second quarter, but there are concerns over rises in capital investments on Russian projects.

The London-listed oil group reported earnings of $4.63bn in the second quarter compared with $3.66bn for the same period last year, but its capital expenditure climbed 20% to $4.13bn in the quarter, $2.4bn of this in upstream operations.

The Anglo-Dutch group has seen its oil and gas production fall since the first quarter to 3.5m barrels of oil equivalent a day from almost 3.85m in March, although it was flat compared with the second quarter last year. 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.

Lloyds List: Shell LPG sale process gains momentum

Lloyds List: LPG sale process gains momentum

“Shell is about to take a step forward in the oil major’s efforts to sell its liquefied petroleum gas business, writes Tony Gray. The group will soon open a ‘data room’ to allow serious potential bidders access to all the information needed to assess the business’ value.”

Friday July 29, 2005

Shell is about to take a step forward in the oil major’s efforts to sell its liquefied petroleum gas business, writes Tony Gray.

The group will soon open a ‘data room’ to allow serious potential bidders access to all the information needed to assess the business’ value.

Buying candidates will be selected from those which respond positively to a ‘teaser’ document, effectively an executive summary of the operations.

Shell aims to have an offer in place for the marketing and distribution assets of its branded LPG business by the end of this year and finalise the deal next year. 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.

EBRD Raps Sakhalin 2 Gas, Oil Project Over Environmental Concerns

RedNova News: EBRD Raps Sakhalin 2 Gas, Oil Project Over Environmental Concerns

“The so-called Sakhalin 2 natural gas and oil development project involving Japanese trading houses has suffered a fresh setback after the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development said the project lacks environmental awareness.”

Posted Friday 29 July 2005

Jul. 28–TOKYO — The so-called Sakhalin 2 natural gas and oil development project involving Japanese trading houses has suffered a fresh setback after the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development said the project lacks environmental awareness.

According to sources close to the matter, the EBRD has been considering funding the project but recently called on Sakhalin Energy Investment Co., the project’s operator, to improve on the lack of environment protection measures after conducting inspections at project sites off the island of Sakhalin in Russia’s Far East. 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.