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January 7th, 2016:

Shell Executives Try to Seal Deal for BG

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Screen Shot 2015-12-23 at 09.03.45By SELINA WILLIAMS: Jan. 7, 2016 3:08 p.m. ET

The cash and shares deal, valued at around $51 billion, is important to both companies. If approved, the merger will give the Anglo-Dutch oil giant a dominant position in the growing liquefied natural-gas market as well as stakes in highly prized oil fields offshore Brazil. BG investors will receive a chunky premium for selling up if the deal goes through.

But the deal has been roiled by further declines in oil prices in recent weeks and turmoil in China’s stock market that has pulled down global equities. Investors are also still worried that Shell is paying too much for BG, which it proposed to buy when crude prices were about $55 a barrel in April—about 40% more than they are now. 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 sees BG deal working with oil at $50 for two years: sources

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Screen Shot 2015-12-23 at 09.03.45LONDON | BY RON BOUSSO AND EMILIANO MELLINO: Deals | Thu Jan 7, 2016 1:58pm EST

Royal Dutch Shell has told investors its purchase of BG can work even if oil prices average $50 a barrel for two years, its lowest estimate to date as it seeks to secure shareholder support for the $51 billion deal amid plunging crude markets.

The Anglo-Dutch group is confident investors will back the deal at a Jan. 27 meeting, even though crude prices are languishing near 12 year lows around $32 a barrel and it faces a cut to its credit ratings due to higher debts, sources with knowledge of its meetings with analysts and investors said. 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.

Royal Dutch Shell set to secure investor approval for BG takeover

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Screen Shot 2015-12-23 at 09.03.45“It’s fair to say most of the evidence points to them overpaying,” said a Shell shareholder. “There’s a decent chance we might vote against it. You can take a view on when oil prices are going to bounce . . . Over a 15 to 20-year timeframe, [Shell] are right, [the BG takeover] will work. But they certainly could have got it cheaper. As stewards of shareholders’ money they have to think about that.”

Another sizeable Shell shareholder threatened to vote against the deal, saying the company should renegotiate the terms. 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.

REPORT CRITICAL OF SHELL OVER SWITCH IN NORTH SEA HELICOPTER FIRMS

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Screen Shot 2015-11-20 at 08.55.47See Air Transport Feedback No116 at www.chirp.co.uk

The Confidential Human Factors Reporting Programme is critical of Shell giving helicopter operator Dancopter short notice of contract termination as they move the flying to CHC Helicopters threatening high pilot stress and a disincentive to report ill that they liken to Germanwings. 

CHIRP don’t name the companies but they are discussed at www.pprune.org in a thread entitled Shell Southern North Sea Contract 2012 which stated when Shell dropped Bristow (who had the contract for 14 years) for Dancopter.   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.

At what point in the continuing collapse in oil prices will Shell be forced to pull out of the BG Group deal?

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Screen Shot 2015-12-23 at 09.03.45By John Donovan: 7 JAN 2016

The continuing collapse in the price of oil is turning into a nightmare for the board of Royal Dutch Shell Plc. 

Especially for CEO Ben van Beurden and CFO Simon Henry, who have staked their reputations on completing Shell’s takeover of the BG Group.

This would not be the first major crisis at Shell for either executive. Both had involvement in the 2004 oil and gas reserves scandal. Ben van Beurden was personal assistant to the Group Chairman, Sir Philip Watts who was forced to resign. Simon Henry had a starring role

Both managed to survive but are unlikely to do so if the BG deal falls through, as is increasingly likely, because of the ill-fated miscalculation over oil prices. 

With hundreds of millions being paid to financial advisors, surely it was not beyond the ingenuity of those involved to have catered in the terms for the possibility of a severe fluctuation in the price of oil?  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.

Can Royal Dutch Shell Plc Withstand Another Year Of Cheap Oil?

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By Harvey Jones | Fool.co.uk: 7 JAN 2016

It’s been a shocking start to the year for global stock markets in general and the oil price in particular. A barrel of Brent crude has fallen to a 12-year low of $34 and there’s no sign of it bottoming out. That’s astonishing as you might have expected the opposite to happen, given soaring tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran, the world’s largest and fourth-biggest oil producers, respectively.

Glut of black gold

Geopolitical troubles could easily trigger an oil shock that could send the price spiralling upwards as fast as it has fallen. Yet markets can’t bring themselves to think about that prospect with the world swimming in an absolute glut of the black stuff. 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.

Oil price crashes to $33 – and could go as low as $18

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7 JULY 2016

So how low will oil go? Paul Stevens, professor emeritus at the University of Dundee and a Middle East specialist, predicted in a BBC interview that shale production would not slow down meaningfully until prices fall below $25 a barrel – and perhaps even as low as $20. This echoes the forecasts of analysts including Goldman Sachs late last year.

Capital founding partner John Kilduff, meanwhile, told CNBC that prices could even break below $18 a barrel if Iranian sanctions are lifted as expected in the coming months and the country ramps up exports. A price war is getting underway already in Europe as Saudi Arabia discounts to shore up market share. 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.

Oil price tumbles to below $33

Screen Shot 2016-01-07 at 13.37.25Brent crude fell 4.7% while US West Texas Intermediate was down 3.9%.

For US oil, that was its lowest point since touching $32.40 in December 2008 during the global financial crisis.

But the price of Brent crude was seen falling to fresh 11-year lows. The last time Brent was so low was April 2004.

Huge oversupply and near-record outputs have continued to drag on oil prices, which are now 70% lower in value than when the downturn began in June 2014.

Companies and governments that rely heavily on oil revenues have been suffering as a result.

Adding to the continuing fall in oil prices, China depreciated the yuan on Thursday, sending regional currencies and stock markets tumbling.

Demand for crude tends to fall when the US dollar is stronger against currencies of purchasing countries and China remains the world’s biggest energy consumer.

China’s stock markets were suspended for the rest of the day, less than half an hour into trading, after falling 7% and triggering a new circuit-breaking mechanism for the second time this week. 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.

ALEX BRUMMER: Oil pressure surges at Shell as it determinedly presses ahead with its bid for BG Group

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By ALEX BRUMMER FOR THE DAILY MAIL: 7 JAN 2016

The price of Brent crude oil continues its relentless slide on global markets and is now at its lowest level for 12-years, and there is no reason at all to think that it has hit rock bottom.

This has serious implications for Shell as it determinedly presses ahead with its bid for BG Group, formerly the exploration arm of the ‘old’ British Gas.

With each fall in the oil price the value of Shell shares, down 2 per cent in latest trading, takes a hit and the shape of the offer for BG changes. When Shell set out to buy BG in April the oil price was $67-a-barrel and it is now near enough half that. 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.

Oil Prices Decline More Than 5 Percent as Stockpiles Increase

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By CLIFFORD KRAUSSA version of this article appears in print on January 7, 2016, on page B2 of the New York edition

HOUSTON — Oil prices plunged again on Wednesday by more than 5 percent as investors paid more attention to signs that global stockpiles are growing than to increasing instability in the Middle East and North Africa.

The decline in the global Brent oil benchmark price to below $35 a barrel, the lowest level since the depths of the 2008-9 economic downturn and a decline of nearly two-thirds since summer 2014, helped push stock markets lower.

The Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index, the main benchmark for the United States stock market, declined 1.3 percent Wednesday and breached the psychologically important 2,000 level to close at 1,990.26. 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.

Royal Dutch Shell – Time to Pull the Plug

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Shell is expected to make some of the biggest announcements, as it tries to create a leaner structure following the $70 billion acquisition of BG Group.

In fact, The Hague-based group will look to liquidate $30 billion worth of assets once the megadeal is finalized. Shell is already believed to have sold properties worth around $20 billion during the 2014-2015 timeframe. It’s part of the company’s efforts to strengthen its financial position and earn considerable cash flow for the shareholders in the years to come. Toward this goal, Shell has also announced plans to cut 6,500 jobs (or 7% of its global workforce).  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.

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…already local people are alarmed by intense levels of gas flaring – burning off flammable gas and potentially producing dangerous emissions…

ANDY STOREYJANUARY 6, 2016

Erris, County Mayo, is a long way from Dublin. But events there have huge economic significance for the country as a whole, including the capital city.

Gas is finally flowing through the controversial pipeline in Erris, bringing raw gas ashore from the Corrib field for refining. Shell, the project leader, is bragging about its success. At peak production, it is expected that the field will produce the equivalent of 45,000 barrels of oil per day.

But already local people are alarmed by intense levels of gas flaring – burning off flammable gas and potentially producing dangerous emissions – on New Year’s Eve, confirming many residents in their long held doubts about the safety of the project. 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-led joint venture gets key permit for LNG facility in Kitimat, B.C.

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By The Canadian Press in News | January 6th 2016

A Shell-led joint venture company has obtained a key permit to build a liquefied natural gas export facility in northern British Columbia.

LNG Canada is the first in the province to receive a facility permit from the B.C. Oil and Gas Commission. The document outlines the requirements for design, construction and operation of the proposed facility in Kitimat, B.C.

Director of external affairs Susannah Pierce said it’s a crucial development for the project, following environmental approval from federal and provincial authorities last June. 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.