The merger and acquisition market in the oil and gas industry has been like a ballroom at the start of the evening. Everyone knows there will be a lot of pairing-up going on, but everyone is nervous about making the first move.
Posts on ‘March 23rd, 2009’
Suncor and Petro-Canada build their oil sand castle
Suncor to Buy Oil Rival
Recent speculation has focused on giant companies such as Exxon Mobil Corp., Chevron Corp. and Royal Dutch Shell PLC, which have large cash reserves and have been struggling to find new places to drill.
BG Group wins control of Pure Energy
The bid for Pure initially pitted BG against its larger rival Royal Dutch Shell, which is a joint venture partner of Arrow in developing coal bed methane in Australia and around the world. However, Shell undermined Arrows chances of winning Pure when it said last month that it would sell its 11 per cent stake to BG, in the absence of a higher offer.
Beady eye for the small print
Lex (March 19) states Royal Dutch Shells announcement yesterday of an $8.3bn hole in its pension fund is a sign of the times. In fact Shell disclosed the underfunding quite clearly when it issued its 2008 results on January 29, though it was buried rather deep in the notes.
Theories of rational behaviour are facing crisis
Second, Shell is to spend an extra $5bn-$6bn on plugging its pension deficit. But Shell is nowhere near insolvent and its pension fund has decades to play with. The deficit figure may be interesting information for investors. Why it should require the diversion of much-needed cash flow right now is a different question.
Rouble rebound
The reason might be termed the "trust gap". Scared off by attacks on TNK-BP, Mechel and Royal Dutch Shell and by Moscow's continuing foreign policy prickliness, investors are in no hurry to return. Rebuilding trust may take longer than returning Russia's economy to growth.
Jorma Ollila: Champion of Nordic capitalism
Mr Ollila demonstrates his unflappable side when asked how Shell's recent decision to stop investing in wind and solar energy and only focus on biofuels plays to its values of trying to address climate change. "It is a business portfolio decision, above all. Not everyone can be a jack of all trades. It is more about pragmatism," he says.
Shoppers need clear labels to put a stop to ‘greenwash’
A complaint against Shell, which ran a newspaper advert depicting its refinery chimneys emitting flowers, was upheld by the advertising watchdog. Friends of the Earth complained about the advert, which ran with the slogan: "Don't throw anything anyway. There is no away."