Zacks: March 14, 2017
Shares of BP plc BP rallied after a London-based newspaper claimed that ExxonMobil Corporation XOM is looking to place a takeover bid for the British energy group.
A bid for BP cannot be ignored as these rumors about ExxonMobil’s interest have been doing the rounds for years. However, analysts believe that such a deal is unlikely as it does not seem to be a strategic fit.
The merger would create a company too big and complex to be managed. The weak oil price environment has resulted in just one big deal – Royal Dutch Shell plc’s RDS.A $54 billion purchase of BG Group Plc in 2016. Other key oil players in the industry have embarked on smaller acquisitions as they intend to preserve cash and maintain their balance sheets. Though oil prices have increased from the 12-year lows of last year, companies are still uncertain if the recovery is sustainable.
Texas-based ExxonMobil has one of the strongest balance sheets in the industry. The company hasn’t signed any major deal since the wave of oil-major consolidation in the late 1990s. In contrast, BP’s market capitalization has decreased considerably since 2010 oil spill in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico forced it to reserve over $54 billion for compensation and penalties.
In 2010, though BP had the same market capitalization as Royal Dutch Shell, its production was much higher when compared to the latter. Today, BP’s value of $112 billion is almost half that of Royal Dutch Shell. It’s even further behind ExxonMobil, the world’s most valuable oil company worth $337 billion.
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 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.
