I would have thought that Simon Henry’s position as CFO should now be untenable, in view of the apparent lack of effective financial governance in Nigeria while he was CFO. 

By John Donovan

A large number of press articles have appeared recently mentioning Ben van Beurden. 

Since these articles are presumably fed to the press by Shell’s PR team, and Shell is not a one-man company, I checked to see whether other Shell directors have appeared recently in press releases.

The results are somewhat curious. For example, searching for Matthias Bichsel on Google News shows that articles were published about him at least weekly until October last year, but the articles then stopped abruptly. References to Simon Henry seem to have dried up a few weeks ago – until mid-March there were articles on Henry on an almost daily basis, but recently there has been nothing. Harry Brekelmans seems to have had a low profile since his appointment, so it is harder to see whether any change has occurred. Andy Brown has almost as many press articles as Ben van Beurden.  read more

Chief executive Ben van Beurden said Prelude, Shell’s first attempt at FLNG, should generate “real material cash” in 2018.

But he steered clear of disclosing the construction progress and when the floater would leave its South Korean shipyard for the Browse Basin.

The gas world is watching Prelude’s progress, not least the Woodside Petroleum-led Browse joint venture (which includes Shell) which wants to use FLNG as the development option but is pondering technological advances beyond what Prelude is designed to achieve. read more

• THE AUSTRALIAN
• APRIL 13, 2016 12:00AM

Matt Chambers: Resources reporter: Melbourne

Paul Garvey: Resources reporter: Perth

Shell chief Ben van Beurden has defended the company’s floating LNG program after the shelving of the Browse LNG project in ­Western Australia and calls from joint-venture partner Woodside Petroleum for Shell to use more advanced FLNG technology to ­reduce costs at the giant gasfields.

Shell is pioneering the use of floating LNG (FLNG) through the $US15 billion ($19.6bn) Prelude project, where the world’s largest vessel is being built to process gas from the Prelude field in the Browse basin. read more

“This incident sickened many people in the community, and people felt unsafe in their homes and at work,” said Mark Asmundson, Executive Director of the Northwest Clean Air Agency.

After a yearlong investigation, the Northwest Clean Air Agency is alleging Shell failed to follow shutdown and decontamination procedures while cleaning the refinery’s east flare system.

Shell’s actions led to a surge of wet, chemical-laden gases moving through the flare line and extinguishing the flare flame, allowing the release of unburned chemicals to the atmosphere. The purpose of the flare flame is to combust chemicals into less odorous and toxic forms. As a condition of its permit, Shell is required to maintain the flame if chemicals might be vented to the flare. The chemicals released included hydrogen sulfide, dimethyl sulfide, mercaptans and benzene. read more

ABC.Net.Au: by Babs McHugh: 13 April 2016

The head of one of the world’s largest oil and gas companies says market forces will eventually result in a global price on carbon.

Royal Dutch Shell CEO Ben van Beurden made the call at the 18th International LNG Conference underway in Perth.

Mr van Beurden also championed the need for greater innovation in accessing new oil and gas reservoirs at acceptable costs, while acknowledging the tough position producers faced.

“Market conditions are pretty challenging,” he said.

“But at the same time new markets are opening up, like Thailand, Pakistan and even Poland. read more

By KIMBERLY CAUVEL: 13 April 2016

ANACORTES — Harmful emissions from the Shell Puget Sound Refinery in February 2015 could have been avoided had the refinery followed protocols, the Northwest Clean Air Agency announced Tuesday.

A yearlong investigation suggests Shell failed to follow shutdown and decontamination procedures while cleaning the refinery’s east flare system, according to a news release from the regional air agency.

The refinery allegedly took shortcuts in shutting down and decontaminating its east flare system, leading to the release of chemicals on Feb. 20, 2015, that affected hundreds in La Conner and in the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community. read more

Seyed Mohsen Ghamsari, Executive Director for International Affairs at National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) made the remarks saying “despite the initiation of negotiations, no final agreement has been reached yet.”

In response to a question about the amount of oil sales to Royal Dutch Shell Oil Industry Company in case of sealing a deal, the official estimated that grounds will be provided for selling oil in accordance with pre-sanctions period which amounted to 100 thousand barrels per day. read more

by Andreas Exarheas: Rigzone Staff: Tuesday, April 12, 2016

In February 2016, Royal Dutch Shell plc announced in its fourth quarter 2015 financial statement that it was postponing the final investment decision (FID) on the Bonga South West/Aparo (BSWA) deep water project offshore Nigeria, in an effort to curtail spending amid the current low oil price environment. Shell’s decision to postpone the FID on BSWA comes after Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCo) announced last year that it was committed to the project. In February 2015, the company’s managing director Tony Attah denied reports that the energy firm had stopped the development due to the slump in oil price and confirmed that it was progressing the tender for engineering, procurement and construction contracts related to BSWA. read more

By Linda Rogers — April 12, 2016

In today’s session Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA) recorded an unusually high (474) contracts volume of put trades. Someone, most probably a professional was a very active buyer of the July, 2016 put, expecting serious RDSA decrease. With 474 contracts traded and 11054 open interest for the Jul, 16 contract, it seems this is a quite bearish bet. The option with symbol: RDSA160715P00047500 closed last at: $2.15 or 15.7% down. The stock is down 0.40% or GBX 7 after the news, hitting GBX 1725 per share. About 1.84 million shares traded hands. Royal Dutch Shell Plc (LON:RDSA) has risen 7.31% since September 10, 2015 and is uptrending. It has outperformed by 2.65% the S&P500. read more