By Catherine Ngai and Ernest Scheyder

NEW YORK/HOUSTON In a corner of the prolific Bakken shale play in North Dakota, oil companies can now pump crude at a price almost as low as that enjoyed by OPEC giants Iran and Iraq.

Until a few years ago it was unprofitable to produce oil from shale in the United States. The steep slide in costs could encourage more U.S. shale output if OPEC members cut supplies, undermining the producer group’s ability to boost prices. OPEC ministers meet Wednesday to weigh output cuts to end a two-year glut that has pressured global oil prices. read more

By Ahmad Ghaddar, Alex Lawler and Rania El Gamal | VIENNA

OPEC has agreed its first limit on oil output since 2008, sources in the producer group told Reuters, with Saudi Arabia accepting “a big hit” on its production and agreeing to arch-rival Iran freezing output at pre-sanctions levels.

Brent crude futures jumped 8 percent to more than $50 a barrel after Riyadh signaled it had finally reached a compromise with Iran after insisting in recent weeks that Tehran fully participate in any cut. read more

Costa Express has renewed its UK contract with Shell for a further five years. The signing of the contract marks five years since the partnership began in…

FULL ARTICLE

By Mikael Holter: November 30, 2016 

Norway expects Royal Dutch Shell Plc to go forward with a shelved project to boost recovery of natural gas at the Ormen Lange field and warned it will start pushing the company for progress from next year.

“A clear message to Shell is that we expect that it seizes the opportunities that exist at Ormen Lange and comes to a decision to take this forward,” Bente Nyland, the head of the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate, said in an interview in Oslo on Wednesday. “There are a lot of resources at Ormen and we have to get them out.” read more

By Karolin Schaps and Ron Bousso | LONDON

Royal Dutch Shell, the world’s second-biggest publicly listed oil company, is studying acquisitions in the green energy sector, its CEO told Reuters, as it bows to shareholder demands for a strategy beyond fossil fuels.

Shell, which has a market value of $200 billion, produces two percent of the world’s oil and gas but rapid technological change coupled with policies to protect the climate have kick-started a shift in energy markets that has put enormous pressure on oil companies to plan for a time after fossil fuels. read more

Written by Reporter – 29/11/2016 2:51 pm

A security firm which worked at Shell’s Corrib gas project has sought protecton from its creditors after a slump in its business.

Baker Tilly Hughes Blake has been appointed interim examiner to Business Mobile Security Services (BMSS) which trades as Senaca and Intergrated Risk Management Services.

According to reports, the firm’s finances were impacted by the ending of the Corrib project as well as the impact of costs to cover redundancy for affected staff. read more

Corrib job losses at Bellanaboy

Áine Ryan

SHELL E&P Ireland has announced that due to ‘challenging’ market conditions globally, ten jobs will be cut at its Corrib Gas refinery in north west Mayo. Employees were advised of the jobs losses, due to be implemented during 2017, at the Bellanaboy plant on Thursday last.

Speaking afterwards, a spokesman for the global oil and gas company said: “Since December 2015, the Corrib gas development has established itself as an integral element of Ireland’s energy infrastructure. Despite a good first year for operations, market conditions remain challenging with Irish gas prices reflecting lower oil and gas price conditions globally.” read more

Shell Canada President Michael Crothers (above) says “Canada should stick to its values and do something to protect the environment, regardless of what policy tack the incoming U.S. president takes.”

See CBC News article: Canada shouldn’t lose resolve for a carbon tax, says Shell exec (Published 29 November 2016)

This is the most breathtaking hypocrisy on the part of Shell and Mr. Crothers.

Shell is responsible for nightmarish pollution of the Niger Delta in Nigeria. It has already settled related litigation and more is underway: read more

By Ron Bousso | LONDON

Royal Dutch Shell is in advanced talks with a party interested in buying its onshore operations in Gabon as part of a $30 billion divestment plan following its purchase of BG Group, which was completed in February..

Shell had informed its staff of the discussions on Thursday, a spokesman for the firm told Reuters on Friday.

The oil and gas group, which plans to exit operations in 5 to 10 countries, has made relatively slow progress in its divestments as uncertainty over oil’s outlook has dampened buyer enthusiasm for deals at the prices it is targeting. So far this year, Shell has sold or agreed to sell around $6 billion of assets. read more

by Sarah Thompson Anthony Macdonald Joyce Moullakis

With December’s silly season now underway, brokers are left with precious few trading days to launch any significant placements and block trades.

But one stake remains at the top of every firm’s watchlist: Shell’s 13.3 per cent stake in Woodside Petroleum.

Firstly, there’s a motivated seller. The oil giant’s chief financial officer Simon Henry classified the $3.4 billion stake as “available for sale” when he informed investors in August of a change in how Shell classifies its stake in the Australian oil and gas producer. read more

By Julianne Geiger – Nov 28, 2016, 2:24 PM CST

Royal Dutch Shell is considering exiting its positions in Iraqi oil fields, according to industry sources cited by Reuters.

Shell, which declined to comment, is the world’s top liquefied natural gas producer, and is only exiting its oil field assets in Iraq, not its gas field assets. Iraq accounted for 4.4 percent of Shell’s total oil and gas production in 2015.

The fields in question are the Majnoon field, in which Shell holds a 45 percent interest, and the West Qurna field. Majnoon produces an average of 200,000 barrels per day, according to Shell’s website. read more

By Ed Crooks November 28, 2016

Opec’s possible production cut is the oil market equivalent of Schrödinger’s cat: neither dead nor alive. When they met in Algiers in late September, Opec ministers agreed the need to reduce output, but left the allocation of the cuts between individual members to be finalised later. If they cannot agree on that, the deal will die. At their meeting in Vienna on Wednesday, the ministers will have to open the box, and we will find out whether or not the agreement is still breathing. read more

By Rania El Gamal and Alex Lawler | VIENNA

OPEC was trying on Monday to rescue a deal to limit oil output as tensions grew among the producer group and non-OPEC member Russia, with top exporter Saudi Arabia saying markets would rebalance even without an agreement.

OPEC experts started a meeting in Vienna at 0900 GMT and were due to make recommendations to their ministers on how exactly the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries should reduce production when it meets on Nov. 30. read more

Royal Dutch Shell expects to pump out all the fossil fuel reserves listed on its balance sheet, its chief executive said, dismissing concerns that production limits in the wake of the Paris climate accord could hit the energy giant’s valuation.

In an interview with Dutch newspaper Het Financieele Dagblad, Ben van Beurden said the issue of “stranded” reserves – deposits in the ground that cannot be used because of carbon emissions limitations – would have no impact on balance sheets. read more

Nariman Gizitdinov and Torrey Clark: November 24, 2016 — 6:42 AM EST

Kazakhstan’s authorities are looking at whether the Karachaganak oil and gas venture, which includes Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Eni SpA, has unpaid taxes.

“The tax authorities have tax issues — they didn’t pay,” President Nursultan Nazarbayev said in an interview on Tuesday in Astana, without elaborating. He also confirmed the government is now seeking to change how revenue from the field is shared with the companies, which is allowed by the terms of the contract. read more

The High Court in London today began hearing the latest case against Royal Dutch Shell brought by the London law firm Leigh Day on behalf of Nigerian claimants.

Thousands of farmers and fishermen located in the Niger River Delta region who have suffered from oil spills and related toxic pollution. 

Leigh Day approached me last year making “an impassioned appeal” for my help, after first contacting me via Greenpeace.

This is not an unusual occurrence. Many parties contemplating or involved in litigation against Shell contact me after becoming aware of my Shell related website activities and a decades-long history of dealing with Shell, including its army of lawyers (over a thousand) and spooks (Shell Global Security and their external spy firm Hakluyt). read more

By AFP: PUBLISHED: 18:20, 22 November 2016

Anglo-Dutch oil giant Shell on Tuesday urged a High Court judge in Britain to block pollution claims brought against it by more than 40,000 Nigerians, demanding the case be heard in Nigeria instead.

Lawyers for the claimants are demanding action from Shell to clean up oil spills that have devastated their Niger Delta communities for decades.

But Royal Dutch Shell lawyer Peter Goldsmith told High Court of England and Wales judge Peter Fraser that the cases concerned “fundamentally Nigerian issues”, and shouldn’t be heard in London. read more

By Editor   |   22 November 2016  

King Emere Godwin Bebe Okpabi holds up a plastic bottle containing contaminated water from his community in Nigeria, proof of oil pollution that he blames on Royal Dutch Shell — and on which he hopes a London court will deliver justice.

“My people are drinking this water,” said the tribal king of the Ogale community in the oil-rich Niger Delta.

Okpabi has flown to London for a High Court hearing on Tuesday in which lawyers for more than 40,000 Nigerians are demanding action from Shell to clean up oil spills that have devastated their communities for decades. read more

By ASSOCIATED PRESS: 22 November 2016 

LONDON (AP) — Emere Godwin Bebe Okpabi, leader of Nigeria’s Ogale people, unpacked four bottles of water from his homeland and lined them up on a table to show why his subjects are suing Royal Dutch Shell in a London court.

The Nigerian water is contaminated with oil and cancer-causing compounds such as benzene. It’s what his people drink every day.

Britain’s High Court will begin hearing lawsuits on Tuesday filed by the Ogale and Bille people alleging that decades of oil spills have fouled the water and destroyed the lives of thousands of fishermen and farmers in the Niger River Delta, where a Shell subsidiary has operated since the 1950s. They brought their fight to Shell’s home base because they say the Nigerian courts are too corrupt. read more

The cases are being brought by Leigh Day, which was previously successful in agreeing a £55 million compensation package with Shell to another Nigerian community: GEORGE ESIRI/REUTERS

Neil Johnston: November 21, 2016

A legal battle between Shell and two Nigerian communities who claim that the company caused repeated oil spills will reach the High Court this week.

Tomorrow a four-day hearing will begin to decide whether British courts can hear the legal claims on behalf of 40,000 Nigerians against the oil giant and a subsidiary which operated in the Niger Delta. read more

by  Rigzone Staff: Thursday, November 17, 2016

Petronas announced Thursday that its first floating liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility, PFLNG SATU, has achieved first gas from the Kanowit gas field, located offshore Sarawak.

The first gas milestone signified the commencement of commissioning and startup for the floating LNG facility, which will soon progress towards commercial operations and first cargo, Adnan Zainal Abidin, Petronas acting vice president of LNG assets, development and production said. read more

By CITY & FINANCE REPORTER FOR THE DAILY MAIL: PUBLISHED: 21:51, 20 November 2016 

A legal claim brought against Royal Dutch Shell for alleged environmental damage in Nigeria could open the floodgates to more multinational firms being pursued in UK courts.

Two communities are seeking £100m in compensation from the oil giant and its Nigerian subsidiary after suffering repeated oil spills.

A four-day hearing this week will decide whether the case against Shell should be heard in London, where the company is incorporated, or Nigeria. Lawyers representing the communities claim the Nigerian legal system is too uncertain to deliver justice. read more

SARAH KENT: November 21, 2016

Royal Dutch Shell is fighting lawsuits this week in London and The Netherlands over its environmental record in Nigeria, highlighting the quagmire of problems the energy company faces there as it tries to pivot away from the West African nation.

The oil-rich Niger Delta has generated billions of dollars for Shell over the past 60 years, but the company’s operations have been plagued by sabotage, theft and oil spills that ravaged the local environment.

Though Nigeria was one of its most prolific regions for crude production in 2015, Shell has sold off tracts of onshore oilfields. Its new focus — sealed with the mammoth $US50 billion acquisition of BG Group this year — is deepwater wells off the coasts of the US and Brazil and a historic shift toward natural gas that puts it at the forefront of oil companies offering a more climate-friendly image to investors. read more

Danny Fortson: November 20 2016, 12:01am

A small, private oil company is nearing a deal to buy nearly $2bn (£1.6bn) worth of Shell’s North Sea oil fields.

Chrysaor was one of several suitors to have lodged bids for the assets that the FTSE 100 giant put on the block after its blockbuster takeover of rival BG.

It is understood that the company, which is run by former Amerada Hess executive Phil Kirk and chaired by Francis Gugen, founder of beleaguered shale gas developer iGas, is closing in on a deal. Chrysaor is likely to buy most, but perhaps not all of the North Sea fields Shell is hoping to unload, according to industry sources. read more

By Emily Gosden, energy editor: 19 NOVEMBER 2016 

Royal Dutch Shell is facing a High Court battle over alleged environmental damage from its oil pipelines in Nigeria, in a test case that could open the floodgates to more multinationals being sued in London courts.

The oil giant and its subsidiary, the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC), are both being sued by two Nigerian communities, who are seeking about £100m in compensation after suffering repeated oil spills they claim came from SPDC pipelines in the Niger Delta. read more

$15b Indian loan: Little meat in the bone

By Sonny Atumah

It  appears the proposed Nigeria US$15 billion facility from India may be a loansharking. The loan would be repaid with long term contract to supply crude oil to Indian Public Sector Undertakings, PSU (government owned corporations) that are mostly engaged in refining of petroleum products and in petrochemicals. The deal may also be in refining, executing City Gas Distribution, CGD, and Liquefied Petroleum Gas, LPG infrastructure projects by Indian PSUs.

The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu with his Indian counterpart in charge of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Shri Dharmendra Pradhan are putting thoughts on paper in a memorandum of understanding, MOU to be firmed up at the PETROTECH 2016, the 12th biennial International Oil and Gas Conference and Exhibition at the Vigyan Bhavan in the Indian National Capital Territory, Delhi from December 5-7, 2016. read more

By SARAH KENT: Nov. 19, 2016 7:00 a.m. ET

LONDON— Royal Dutch Shell PLC is fighting lawsuits this coming week in London and the Netherlands over its environmental record in Nigeria, highlighting the quagmire of problems the energy company faces there as it tries to pivot away from the West African nation.

The oil-rich Niger Delta has generated billions of dollars for Shell over the past 60 years, but the company’s operations have been plagued by sabotage, theft and oil spills that ravaged the local environment. read more

PUBLISHED NOV 19, 2016, 5:00 AM SGT

LONDON • Royal Dutch Shell is more than US$4 billion (S$5.71 billion) short of its asset-sales target for the year, prompting credit ratings agencies to warn that its record debt will not start shrinking soon enough.

Shell piled up borrowings following its biggest acquisition, the purchase of BG Group, and needs to hit disposal targets to help pay for it and stave off rating reviews, according to the agencies. The company sold US$1.7 billion of assets in the first nine months of this year, according to a Nov 1 statement, well short of its US$6 billion to US$8 billion guidance. read more

By William Yardley: 18 Nov 2016

The Obama administration said Friday it was banning offshore oil drilling in the Arctic through 2022, a move that prompted widespread praise from conservation groups but raised questions over how long the decision will stand just two months before President-elect Donald Trump takes office.

A new five-year leasing program prohibits any drilling in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas — an environmental battleground in recent years —and also blocks expansion in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, while allowing some new leasing in the Gulf of Mexico. read more

By Ed Crooks: November 19, 2016

The last rites have been read over the Age of Oil a few times recently, but this week the International Energy Agency suggested there was still plenty of life left in it yet.

In its 2016 World Energy Outlook, the IEA argued that even if the Paris climate agreement were fully implemented, demand for oil would keep rising until at least 2040.

The message was reassuring for oil producers worried that “peak demand” might condemn them to stagnation or decline, or even put them out of business. There was colder comfort, however, in a warning from Wood Mackenzie that big oil companies risked being left behind in the transition to low-carbon energy. read more

Written by Reporter – 18/11/2016 

A Dutch court has received 25 appeals against the government’s decision to cap production at the Groningen gas field to an annual figure of 24 billion cubic metres from protesters who do not think it goes far enough.

A number of groups in the region asked for a steeper reduction to prevent earthquakes, which have damaged thousands of structures in the northern province.

Groningen used to supply 10% of demand in the European Union.

But it has halved in the past two years after the Dutch Safety Board said the government was failing to protect citizens from earthquakes triggered by gas exploitation. read more

By Felix Onuah

Nov 17 Nigeria has reached a deal to pay $5.1 billion in unpaid bills to oil majors including Royal Dutch Shell and Exxon Mobil, the minister of state for oil said on Thursday.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), the OPEC member’s state oil firm, has amassed a total of $6.8 billion in unpaid bills up to December 2015, so-called cash calls, that it was obliged to pay under joint ventures with Western oil firms, with which it explores for and produces oil. read more

A top Dutch court has received 25 appeals against the government’s decision to cap production at the Groningen gas field at an annual figure of 24 billion cubic metres from protesters who think it does not go far enough.

Several groups in the region had asked for a steeper reduction to prevent earthquakes, which have damaged thousands of structures in the northern province.

Output from Groningen, which once supplied 10 percent of demand in the European Union, has halved over the past two years after the Dutch Safety Board said the government was failing to protect citizens from earthquakes triggered by gas exploitation. read more

By Elisha Bala-Gbogbo and Rakteem Katakey: November 17, 2016

Nigeria reached a $5.1 billion settlement to reimburse foreign oil companies including Exxon Mobil Corp. and Royal Dutch Shell Plc for past operating costs.

The amount, less than the $6.8 billion previously discussed, will be settled through crude-oil sales over five years and will be interest free, Petroleum Minister Emmanuel Kachikwu told reporters in the capital, Abuja, Thursday.

“What we have been able to put together has enabled us to shave about $1.7 billion in savings for the federal government from the $6.8 billion that was owed,” he said. “The barrels to pay those will come from incremental barrels generated by the oil companies, not from the current 2.2 million-barrel-a-day production. read more

SHELL EMPLOYEE AT WORK. IMAGE SOURCE: ROYAL DUTCH SHELL.  

By Reuben Gregg Brewer (ReubenGBrewer: Nov 17, 2016

Royal Dutch Shell plc (NYSE:RDS-A) (NYSE:RDS-B) is one of a small collection of international energy giants. That group, which includes companies like ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM) and Chevron (NYSE:CVX), as a whole, is thought of as oil companies. But over the past few years, Royal Dutch Shell has taken steps to tip the balance toward natural gas, a key difference investors need to know about. read more

By KIMBERLY CAUVEL @Kimberly_SVH: 17 November 2016

The Northwest Clean Air Agency has fined Shell Puget Sound Refinery near Anacortes $133,000 for emissions and related odors released from the refinery last year.

The air agency, which regulates air quality in Whatcom, Skagit and Island counties, announced the fine Wednesday.

According to a news release, the regional air agency received dozens of complaints in February 2015 about odors coming from the refinery, and found after investigating that the refinery had emitted various chemicals and “failed to meet general duties to follow good air pollution control practices.” read more

* Shell builds large position in BFOE forward cargoes

* Crude price differentials, Brent market structure weak

* Shell’s Forties sales to Asia in Jan had supported Brent

By Alex Lawler and Amanda Cooper

LONDON, Nov 17 Royal Dutch Shell has snapped up a large volume of North Sea oil that helps set the global Brent benchmark, trade sources said, the second time this year that its trading activities have attracted the glare of the spotlight.

Shell, the world’s second-largest oil company, runs some of Europe’s biggest refineries, including the 404,000-barrels-per-day Pernis facility, and is one of the biggest traders in the North Sea crude market, the home of the Brent benchmark. read more

Greig Cameron, Scottish Business Editor: November 17, 2016

Shell has dealt a “devastating blow” to 380 finance workers in Scotland by announcing plans to cut jobs and move functions overseas.

The decision came as official figures showed that unemployment in Scotland had dropped again — although there are concerns about the strength of the labour market.

The oil giant said it intended to close its business operations site on Bothwell Street in Glasgow over the next 15 months. The work will be transferred to lower-cost countries, with the company having offices handling business operations in the Philippines, Malaysia, Poland, India and South Africa. read more

Shell leases former Michael Baker headquarters

By Jared Stonesifer [email protected]

BRIGHTON TWP. — Shell Chemicals Co. has entered into a short-term lease of the old Michael Baker International headquarters on Dutch Ridge Road.

Shell spokesman Michael Marr said Wednesday the 76,000-square-foot building will be used to house employees during the five-year construction phase of a cracker plant in Potter Township. Those employees will be tasked with moving the site from a construction phase into an operational phase, Marr said. read more

Philip Whiterow: 16 November 2016

Shell PLC (LON:RDSB) may be sitting on an undiscovered jewel with its onshore acreage in the US according to analysts at Deutsche Bank.

The German broker notes that prospects in the US Permian Basin are now changing hands for up to US$45 per acre, which puts a value of US$10bn on its 2bn barrel Delaware position.

That is three times Deutsche’s previous estimate, but rather than suggesting others in the industry were overpaying, as it had been, the broker concedes it may have missed a trick on the potential within Shell’s US tight oil assets. read more

It is amazing that these “difficult choices” are all falling at the door of the lowest paid employees of Shell and yet the vastly inefficient and “fat” middle and upper level management just seems to keep on expanding.

With such low activity levels due to the transition away from oil and gas, low oil price and smaller geographic focus of Shell one would have thought that these highly paid meeting organisers would face the chop rather than the people doing actual work.

It is sad to say but it seems BvB has truly lost the plot after such a promising start and now tries to dig himself out of his own hubris after so many poor choices prime of which is the overpaying for BG. read more

By Irina Slav – Nov 15, 2016, 10:10 AM CST

Shell has emerged as the number-one employer in the energy industry, according to a Rigzone survey among 8,400 respondents in more than 100 countries. This is the first survey of this kind since the start of the price slump.

The top 10 of the best employers in the industry, according to the survey, is occupied by Big Oil and Big Oilfield Service, with Chevron at #2, Exxon at #3, and BP at #4. Halliburton was fifth, followed by Schlumberger, Aramco, Total, Baker Hughes, and Weatherford International at #10. read more

By Emily Gosden, energy editor: 16 NOVEMBER 2016 • 1:38PM

Royal Dutch Shell is to axe 380 jobs in Glasgow as it shuts its only UK finance operations office in favour of cheaper locations in Poland, India, South Africa, Malaysia and the Philippines.

The oil giant’s announcement that it plans to close its Bothwell Street office in the city as part of its cost-cutting drive brings the total number of jobs shed from its UK operations over the past 18 months to more than 1,350.

Staff in the Glasgow office, who undertake back-office administrative tasks such as processing invoices and managing travel and expenses, face “involuntary severance” as Shell moves their work to other offices in its “global Shell Business Operations network”. read more

Wednesday 16 November 2016

Shell is to axe its Glasgow operation with the loss of 380 jobs as a new report warns of a “boom/bust” cycle in the oil industry.

The cuts are in response to the low oil price – which is already hurting the Scottish economy amid thousands of job cuts in North Sea production.

Shell said the decision to close its finance operation in Glasgow, which will take place by 2018, came about as it was taking “difficult choices” in order to remain competitive. read more

Rob Davies: Wednesday 16 November 2016

Oil giant Shell is to shift nearly 400 jobs overseas as it looks to shore up its finances against persistently low oil prices by hiring cheaper workers in the developing world.

The Anglo-Dutch supermajor told 380 staff at its finance operations in Glasgow that the office would be closed and they were facing “involuntary severance”.

FULL ARTICLE

The Irish Police are said to be in the pocket of Shell

Gordon Deegan:Wednesday, November 16, 2016

Sales of more than €1.2m a day are being generated from gas flowing from the Corrib field off the Mayo coast, new figures show.

Production started on the field at the end of last year and for the first nine months of this year, the Corrib partners — including Shell, Statoil, and Canadian company Vermilion Energy — recorded estimated revenues of $360m (€335m) from the production of gas from the field.

A new report from Vermilion — which has an 18.5% stake in the project — show that it, alone, has generated sales of $66.42m from the first nine months of production. According to Vermilion production volumes on the project reached full capacity at the end of second quarter of this year. read more

Online Editor: November 16, 2016

UK based oil firm, Shell, is facing fresh environmental claims in a London high court from two Nigerian communities who have suffered pollution episodes following repeated large scale oil spills from the oil giant’s pipelines in the Niger Delta.  

This is according to a statement released Tuesday by Leigh Day, a London based law firm, which was signed by David Standard, its head of media relations.

The two separate legal actions are being brought by law firm Leigh Day who represented the Bodo Community against Shell in an unprecedented environmental claim resulting in Shell agreeing to pay compensation package of £55million to the Community and 15,600 Nigerian fishermen whose livelihoods had been destroyed by Shell’s oil pollution.    read more

By James Connington: 14 NOVEMBER 2016 

In the hunt for income‑producing stocks, BP and Royal Dutch Shell are two obvious candidates.

Both have so far kept dividend promises made before the oil price crash, leading to hefty yields: 7pc for BP and 6.7pc at Shell. But which firm is better placed to sustain such attractive dividends?

At first glance, it can look like splitting hairs. Each is prioritising dividend payments, although there is little chance of dividend growth.

Both have taken significant action to cut costs and sell assets in response to the lower oil price. read more

by Tsveta Zikolova: Monday, 14 Nov 2016, 10:36 GMT

Royal Dutch Shell (LON:RDSA) is considering a sale of part or all of its $3-billion Norwegian business, The Sunday Times has revealed. The disposal would come with the Anglo-Dutch oil giant looking to pay down debt amid growing investor pressure, following the acquisition of former smaller London-listed rival BG Group.

Shell’s share price has been little changed in London this morning, having inched 0.28 percent higher to 1,954.50p as of 10:08 GMT. The stock, however, is underperforming the broader market rally, with the benchmark FTSE 100 index having soared 1.15 percent to stand at 6,807.63 points. The shares have added just under a fifth over the past year, and are up by some 28 percent in the year-to-date. read more

By The Motley Fool  Nov 14, 2016

Donald Trump’s views on climate change may provide a boost to oil production in the US. He stated in his campaign that the US was being disadvantaged by rules and regulations aimed to prevent (or at least slow down) climate change. This could signal a more positive attitude from the US government towards oil and gas companies over the medium term.

Although there’s no certainty that Trump will follow through on his campaign policies when he becomes President, it seems likely that he’ll be less positive about battling the effects of climate change than Barack Obama. This could be bad news for Shell(LSE: RDSB). read more