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April 14th, 2015:

Coast Guard creates ‘First Amendment zone’ in Puget Sound for anti-Shell protests

Screen Shot 2015-04-14 at 09.05.35Article by Joel Connelly published 14 April 2015 by seattlepi.com

Coast Guard creates ‘First Amendment zone’ in Puget Sound for anti-Shell protests

The U.S. Coast Guard, with help from activist groups, has identified an informal  “First Amendment Zone,” just north of Terminal 5, where protesters can take to the water against Shell Oil’s Arctic drilling fleet when it arrives at the Port of Seattle.

“I didn’t choose this area:  I gave them a chart and asked them where they wanted to be,” Capt. Joe Raymond, captain of the port, said Tuesday.

Raymond initiated a meeting on Monday with organizers of a “sea of kayaks” protest. He described the zone as “an excellent place” for protesters wishing a high-visibility presence while not interfering with ferries, tugs and other marine traffic in the harbor. 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.

Chevron A Safer Bet Than Shell

Screen Shot 2015-04-14 at 17.26.47SeekingAlpha.com article published 13 April 2015

Chevron A Safer Bet Than Shell

Shell has lost a huge amount of money in its shale bets in North America to the tune of $900 million alone in 2014. As a result, Shell is cutting spending by 20% to lower its North American shale exposure to try and keep losses at a minimum.

Summary

  • Shell’s shale bets has been disastrous in North America. The company lost $900 million alone in 2014 and continues to hemorrhage profits.
  • Shell’s refining operations need to be restructured, as its current operations will likely affect profitability negatively over the next few years.
  • Chevron has a lower debt-to-equity ratio than Shell. If oil drops to $30 a barrel, Chevron has more resources to keep rewarding shareholders vs. Shell.

Income investors are attracted to Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE:RDS.A) because of the very attractive yield of 6%+. Nevertheless, as income investors we need to do more fundamental work on our underlyings instead of just looking at dividend payouts. In my opinion, Shell’s yield is not backed up by the fundamentals presently. We don’t necessarily need huge capital gains in our underlyings (as we manage an income portfolio), but protecting the downside is always our priority.

Let’s take a look at Shell and I’ll explain why, in my opinion, there are better opportunities in the energy space — such as Chevron (NYSE:CVX) — at the moment, irrespective of the high yield Shell is currently paying out. To start, we have to look at Shell’s track record. Why? Because the company is promising a $15 billion all cash dividend in addition to the repurchase of $25 billion of stock between 2017 and 2020. 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.

Dutch Court Limits Loppersum Gas Output in Groningen Region

Article by Isis AlmeidaElco and Van Groningen published 14 April 2015 by Bloomberg.com

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Dutch court limits fracking on earthquake fears

A Dutch court suspended gas production from the Loppersum area of the Groningen natural gas field, Europe’s biggest, as earthquakes linked to production damaged homes.

Loppersum, which pumps less than 10 percent of the field’s output, may produce “small volumes of gas” only if “extraction from other locations is no longer possible and if necessary for the security of supply,” the Administrative Jurisdiction Division of the Council of State in The Hague said Tuesday on its website. Dutch and U.K. gas prices reversed earlier gains. 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.

Nigeria: Govt Receives $48 billion From Shell in Four Years

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Screen Shot 2015-01-06 at 21.26.38Nigeria: Govt Receives N9.6 Trillion From Shell in Four Years

By Roseline Okere: 14 April 2015

The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC) paid $48 billion (N9.6 trillion) revenues to the Nigerian government from 2010 to 2014.

Also, the company paid $3 billion (N600 billion) share of royalties and taxes to the Nigerian government in 2014, with $1.8 billion from SPDC and $1.2 billion from Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company SNEPCo in the year under review.

Shell, which made this disclosure in its 2014 sustainability report released at the weekend, stated that 95 per cent share of revenue after cost went to the Nigerian government from each barrel of oil that SPDC produces. 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 Wins Lawsuit Against Greenpeace

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Royal Dutch Shell Wins Lawsuit Against Greenpeace

Royal Dutch Shell was granted a restraining order against six Greenpeace activists who boarded the company’s vessel last week

By: MICHEAL KAUFMANPublished: Apr 14, 2015 at 11:22 am EST

A group of Greenpeace protesters have left the vessel carrying Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s (ADR) (NYSE:RDS.A) oil rig, six days after they illegally climbed it to register their protest against offshore drilling in Arctic, the environmental group said in a statement on Saturday.

The decision to abandon the vessel was prompted by rough weather conditions, claims Greenpeace. The call was made only hours before a US District Court judge ruled in favor of Shell, when the company filed a legal complaint against the activists. A temporary restraining order has been granted for Greenpeace protesters to keep away from Shell’s drilling rigs and the vessel. They had climbed the vessel on April 6, when it was around 750 miles off the coast of Hawaii. 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 to Sell 25% Of Its UK Petrol Stations

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By: MICHEAL KAUFMANPublished: Apr 14, 2015 at 8:11 am EST

Royal Dutch Shell plc (ADR) (NYSE:RDS.A) has agreed to sell 25%, or 185, of its petrol stations in the UK. The sale of the petrol stations is part of the company’s cost-cutting strategy amid the declining crude oil price. Another strategy of the company is to grow its fuel dealer network instead of owing the retail outlets directly.

As reported by the Guardian, last year in September, Shell had indicated intentions of selling 250 of its petrol stations and cutting the total number of 1,000 petrol stations it owned by 50%. 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.

A Frank Discussion On Royal Dutch Shell’s Dividend

Screen Shot 2015-04-09 at 22.55.14SeekingAlpha.com article published 13 April 2015

A Frank Discussion On Royal Dutch Shell’s Dividend

Summary

  • Before the BG acquisition, Royal Dutch Shell had a dividend payout ratio of 90% for 2015.
  • The acquisition of BG Group will put Shell on the hook for $15 billion in annual dividends as BG shareholders will own 19% of the company.
  • Royal Dutch Shell has built up a large cash position and indicated a desire to maintain the current dividend for the rest of 2015, making no dividend promises thereafter.

Before Shell (NYSE:RDS.B) announced an intention to purchase BG Group (OTCQX:BRGYY), the downtick in oil prices had created a very thin gap between the company’s dividend payout obligations and annual profits. Shell is on the hook for paying $11.8 billion in annual dividends to shareholders. For most of the past five years, this high dividend payout wasn’t an issue — Shell made well over $20 billion in profits annually between 2010 and 2012, so the current payout wouldn’t have even consumed half of the profits. 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 Artic Fate To Be Decided Soon

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Article by Andy Tully published Monday 13 April 2015 by OilPrice.com

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Screen Shot 2015-04-14 at 09.05.35The US government has begun its full review of an application by Royal Dutch Shell to resume offshore drilling for oil and gas in the Arctic Ocean off the Alaskan coast.

The US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), an arm of the Interior Department, said April 10 that it had satisfactorily finished its initial review of Shell’s application, submitted March 31, to drill in the Chukchi Sea and now could begin its final analysis.

The Anglo-Dutch energy company has a lease on drilling rights in the region and plans to drill an exploratory well there this summer. Besides getting the BOEM’s approval, it must also undergo federal reviews of its plans for worker safety, the protection of indigenous wildlife and plans for the disposal of wastewater. 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.

Judge orders Greenpeace away from Shell vessels

ARTICLE BY TIM BRADNER PUBLISHED BY ALASKA JOURNAL OF COMMERCE 13 APRIL 2015

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Screen Shot 2015-04-14 at 09.05.35The free ride is over for six Greenpeace activists who hitched a ride mid-Pacific on the Shell-chartered Blue Marlin, a heavy-lift ship carrying the semi-submersible rig Polar Pioneer to the Pacific Northwest, its way-stop on the rig’s journey to drill in the Chukchi Sea.

The protesters quit the rig shortly before U.S. District Court Judge Sharon Gleason issued a Temporary Restraining Order late Saturday blocking Greenpeace from interfering with the Blue Marlin, the Polar Pioneer or the drillship Noble Discoverer, also en route to the Northwest. 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.

How Will Exxon Mobil Fare After The Shell-BG Deal?

Screen Shot 2015-03-02 at 19.27.29SeekingAlpha.com article published 13 April 2015

How Will Exxon Mobil Fare After The Shell-BG Deal?

Summary

  • It seems as though Exxon Mobil could be the next integrated oil company in line to announce a merger.
  • According to Credit Suisse, it is possible that Shell, post-merger, could surpass Exxon Mobil as the largest publicly traded producer three years from now.
  • Exxon’s better position in terms of reserve replacement might be able to placate some investor concerns relating to future growth of the company.
  • PetroChina was able to marginally leave behind Exxon’s $352.6 billion capitalization, as the former’s capitalization stood at $0.2 billion higher.
  • I believe that deal or no deal, Exxon is one of the best picks for your portfolio for the long run, mainly because of its project portfolio and bright prospects.

Following the announcement of the Shell (RDS.A, RDS.B)-BG Group (OTCPK:BRGXF, OTCQX:BRGYY) merger, it seems as though Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) could be the next integrated oil company in line to announce a merger. And why shouldn’t it? The company seems to be in a position of financial strength that most of its competitors lack. Moreover, in the current volatile environment, a merger seems to be a better option to expand the company’s production base as opposed to undertaking drilling activities to fuel growth in production, going forward. 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.

Dutch Court to Rule on Gas Output From Europe’s Biggest Field

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Screen Shot 2015-04-14 at 08.30.55Article by Isis Almeida published 13 April 2015 by Bloomberg.com

The Netherlands, the biggest gas producer in the European Union, said Feb. 9 it would limit output from the field during the first half of the year, sending prices up 13 percent that week. Unrelated to the court case, the government has also said it would decide July 1 on cutting a full-year output cap to 35 billion cubic meters (1.2 trillion cubic feet), 11 percent below a previous target.

“Groningen represents further loss of supply, so if a cut is announced to 35 billion cubic meters, the market will react,” May Mannes, head of gas and liquefied natural gas analysis at Platts’ Eclipse Energy Group, said April 9 by phone from London. “But we see more Norwegian continental shelf gas, LNG supplies and Russian flows stepping up. We don’t expect anything dramatic.” 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.