The energy sector looks set for a round of mergers and acquisitions. Illustration: David Simonds for the Observer
April 12th, 2015:
Oil price down, coffers full: now Big Petroleum is in the mood for mergers
Shell paid too much to buy BG Group
ARTICLE BY STEPHEN SIMKO, MORNINGSTAR PUBLISHED APR. 11, 2015 BY BUSINESS INSIDER
On April 8, Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A) (RDS.B) (RDSA) (RDSB) announced its intention to acquire BG Group (BRGYY) (BG.) in a $70 billion cash-and-stock deal that values BG’s equity at GBX 1,350 per share, or 11% above our GBX 1,200 fair value estimate for BG at the time the deal was announced.
The deal will be roughly 70% stock and 30% cash, and it’s expected to close in early 2016. Our BG thesis has been that near-term execution problems and political issues in Brazil and Egypt were creating an attractive entry point for long-term investors.
BP left stranded by US vilification as rejuvenated Shell storms ahead
Article by Jeremy Warner published 12 April 2015 by The Sunday Telegraph
BP left stranded by US vilification as rejuvenated Shell storms ahead
They say that fortune favours the brave. Ben van Beurden (right), chief executive of Royal Dutch Shell, will be hoping they are right, for by firing the starting gun on a new wave of oil industry consolidation with an audacious £47bn swoop on BG Group, he’s taking quite a gamble on a recovering oil price.
By acting now, Mr van Beurden may have gained some sort of first mover advantage.
If he succeeds, he will also have catapulted his company into pole position as the world’s largest oil major. But he is also paying a very fancy price – so high, in fact that despite the enthusiastic backing of the BG board and the lack of any obvious regulatory obstacles, there is some manifest scepticism in markets about whether the takeover will ever come to fruition.
Funds circle for spin-off gains from Shell deal
Article by Ashley Armstrong published 12 April by The Sunday Telegraph
Funds circle for spin-off gains from Shell deal
The world’s largest private equity firms are already circling the $30bn (£20bn) of assets that could be spun off by Shell following its acquisition of BG Group, the largest ever merger between two UK companies.
Warburg Pincus and Blackstone are understood to be gearing up to get involved in the biggest industry deal for the past two decades. Shell’s £47bn takeover of its smaller oil and gas rival is expected to be the catalyst for a wave of consolidation in the sector.
Rival private equity firms Carlyle, Riverstone, KKR and Apollo, which also have a track record in energy investments, are expected to take an interest in the pool of assets that will be put up for grabs by Shell.
Shell’s chief executive, Ben van Beurden, said that the combined company would make $30bn of asset sales “from 2016 to 2018 averaging $10bn per year”.
Dividend doubts creep in after Shell’s £47bn swoop for BG Group
Article by Andrew Neil published 11 April 2015 by proactiveinvestors.co.uk
Dividend doubts creep in after Shell’s £47bn swoop for BG Group
“We think Shell’s acquisition of BG will likely be viewed as strategically smart and opportune, but should oil prices stay lower for longer, it could put pressure on UK dividends and be detrimental to UK pension investors.”
Shell’s swoop for BG Group (LON:BG.) failed to win over the Anglo-Dutch oil giant’s investors yesterday.
As BG soared, Shell shares (LON:RDSB) moved in the opposite direction and eventually posted their biggest fall since 2008.
At £47bn, the problem for boss Ben van Beurden is that some stakeholders fear he’s been too generous with his offer.
Shell’s dividend, which accounts for close to 10% of the total pay-out to UK equity investors, is also a particular concern.
“Shell has stuck its dividend reputation to the mast with this deal,” Investec oil and gas analyst Neill Morton told Proactive.
Greenpeace activists abandon Arctic drill rig retained by Shell after six-day stay
Associated Press article published by Fox News 11 April 2015
Greenpeace activists abandon Arctic drill rig retained by Shell after six-day stay
SEATTLE – Greenpeace says six activists opposed to offshore drilling in the Arctic have abandoned a Seattle-bound drill rig they boarded in the Pacific Ocean six days ago.
The organization said in an email Saturday that rough seas prompted the decision. The protesters rappelled off the rig and got into inflatable boats before returning to a Greenpeace ship stationed nearby.
The six climbed the Polar Pioneer about 750 miles northwest of Hawaii on Monday. A heavy-lift vessel called the Blue Marlin is transporting the rig to Seattle for staging before possibly heading to the Arctic.
Royal Dutch Shell, which leased the rig, sued in U.S. District Court in Anchorage, Alaska, last week seeking a court order to remove the protesters. A judge heard arguments on Friday but declined to rule immediately.
New Sea Drilling Rule Planned, 5 Years After BP Oil Spill
Article by CORAL DAVENPORT published APRIL 10, 2015 by The New York Times
New Sea Drilling Rule Planned, 5 Years After BP Oil Spill
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is planning to impose a major new regulation on offshore oil and gas drilling to try to prevent the kind of explosions that caused the catastrophic BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, administration officials said Friday.
The announcement of the Interior Department regulation, which could be made as soon as Monday, is timed to coincide with the five-year anniversary of the disaster, which killed 11 men and sent millions of barrels of oil spewing into the gulf. The regulation is being introduced as the Obama administration is taking steps to open up vast new areas of federal waters off the southeast Atlantic Coast to drilling, a decision that has infuriated environmentalists.
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.
