By Rakteem Katakey: 30 June 2017

Oil companies have spent three years slashing spending and firing workers to protect profits, only to find their hard work blown away as prices entered another bear market. The MSCI World Energy Sector Index is heading for a second consecutive quarter of declines, mirroring the drop in crude. The 90 companies that make up the index, including giants like Exxon Mobil Corp. and Royal Dutch Shell Plc, have together lost $115 billion in market value since the start of April, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. read more

Royal Dutch Shell’s Prelude floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) ship has left a shipyard in South Korea for its destination offshore northwest Australia, the company said on Thursday.

Shell’s $12.6 billion Prelude project is expected to start operating next year, the company said, after long delays since the oil major first decided to go ahead with the project in 2011.

Once the facility arrives in Australia, it will be secured to the seabed by mooring chains before it can be connected to the gas field and start operating, Shell said. read more

By Darryl Fears June 29 at 6:23 PM

The White House is making a bid to overturn the Obama administration’s five-year plan forbidding oil and gas exploration in the Arctic and Atlantic oceans and will examine opportunities to drill almost anywhere off the U.S. coast.

Interior Department officials said Thursday that opening most of the outer continental shelf to leasing is part of President Trump’s strategy to make the United States a global leader in energy production, stimulate coastal activity and create thousands of jobs. But as onshore oil and natural gas production has surged from horizontal drilling, helping to lower the price of petroleum, interest in offshore drilling has fallen. read more

By Ryan Maye Handy: 29 June 2017

Royal Dutch Shell said Thursday that it plans to acquire MP2 Energy, a power and retail electric company based in the Woodlands, as the oil major seeks to diversify its business.

The transaction, if approved by regulators, would expand Shell’s electricity business beyond the West Coast into Texas, the Midwest and the East Coast. MP2, which manages power plants and runs a retail electric business, serves mostly industrial and commercial customers. In Texas, however, it offers residential electric plans for customers, including a program with rooftop solar systems. The company also operates in Illinois, Ohio and Pennsylvania. read more

by  Rigzone Staff: Thursday, June 29, 2017

Royal Dutch Shell plc has welcomed the final recommendations set out in a report published Thursday by the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD). 

“I agree that companies should be clear about how they plan to be resilient in the face of climate change and energy transition,” Shell CEO Ben van Beurden said in a company statement.

“I believe it is right that it should be transparent which companies are truly on firm foundations over the long-term. I applaud the task force for its work to achieve this aim and I have signed a letter confirming Shell’s support for the initiative,” he added. read more

By Babs McHugh: 30 June 2017

The largest floating natural gas facility ever built has left Korea bound for waters off the north west of Western Australia.

The Prelude is the first floating liquified natural gas (FLNG) facility commissioned by Royal Dutch Shell, and it means the company will not have to pipe gas onshore for processing.

All extraction, refining, production and offloading of the LNG will be undertaken on the vessel, which will be moored over the Browse Basin, 475 kilometres off the coast of Broome. read more

HOUSTON, June 29, 2017 /PRNewswire/ — Shell Energy North America (“SENA”) announced today that it has signed a purchase agreement for the acquisition of MP2 Energy LLC (MP2). Subject to regulatory approvals, the transaction is expected to be closed in the 3rd quarter of 2017.

Through self-developed proprietary systems and technology, MP2 provides market based solutions to commercial and industrial customers for managing energy supply, load, and generation.  MP2 is unique in its skill set and at the front of the curve when it comes to developing fit for purpose solutions to its customers, which face ever more complicated energy choices. read more

‘Shell and the military regime formed an alliance in the events leading to the deaths’, a writ filed at a court in The Hague alleges

Environmental activist Ken Saro-Wiwa was among those hanged

• Ben Chapman
• Thursday 29 June 2017 16:28 BST

The widows of four men executed by Nigeria’s military regime in 1995 are suing oil giant Shell for allegedly aiding the army crackdown which led to their husbands’ deaths.

The women, led by one of the widows, Esther Kiobel, and supported by Amnesty International, filed a writ at a court in the Hague in which they are seeking an apology and unspecified damages.

Nine men, known as the Ogoni nine were hanged during the brutal military crackdown under the regime of dictator Sani Abacha. The hangings by a military court followed a peaceful uprising by 300,000 protesting against widespread environmental damage to the Niger Delta region caused by oil extraction. The incident provoked widespread international outcry. read more

Jillian Ambrose: 29 JUNE 2017 • 4:32PM

Royal Dutch Shell boss Ben Van Beurden has joined over 100 major companies to back calls from a G20 taskforce for the world’s largest companies to come clean on the financial impact of climate change.

The task force, set up by the G20’s Financial Stability Board (FSB), is chaired by Michael Bloomberg and aims to cast a light on climate-related financial risk to avoid incubating a future global market shocks by mis-pricing companies and assets. read more

By David Hunn: Thursday June 29, 2017

South Korean gas company and Royal Dutch Shell are considering throwing their weight behind yet another liquefied natural gas plant.

Energy Transfer Partners announced on Thursday that Korea Gas Corporation and BG LNG Services, a Houston-based subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell, are interested in working with the Dallas pipeline giant on its Lake Charles LNG Liquefaction Project.

The Lake Charles project in Louisiana is wholly owned by Energy Transfer and its entities. The company expects to build on its existing regasification import facility there. read more

Ogoni: Dutch Court to Investigate Shell’s Complicity in the Execution of Ogoni Nine

Four widows of members of the so-called Ogoni Nine accuse Dutch oil company Shell of having been passive accomplices in the executions of their husbands in 1995. Ogoni activists such as Dr Barinem Kiobel and Ken Saro-Wiwa were sentenced to death by the infamous Abacha regime after they had participated in peaceful protests against Shell’s disastrous and reckless pollution of Ogoniland’s Niger Delta region. Nine prominent human rights defenders and activists had faced an unfair and biased trial, which had been harshly denounced by the international community and prominent human rights organisations. The widows seek reparation and accuse Shell of not only having turned a blind eye to their husbands’ cases even though the company had evidence of the Ogoni activists’ innocence, but also of actively encouraging the Nigerian regime to crack down brutally on peaceful Ogoni protesters. read more

29 June 2017

The widows of four men executed by Nigeria’s military regime in 1995 are suing oil giant Shell for alleged complicity in a military crackdown.

The civil case, filed in The Hague in the Netherlands, argues that the company provided support to the army, which ultimately led to the executions.

Shell has repeatedly denied the claims.

Ken Saro-Wiwa was the best known of the nine men executed. He led protests against the environmental damage caused by oil production in the Niger Delta. read more

Amnesty said that Esther Kiobel is bringing the civil case at a court in The Hague along with Victoria Bera, Blessing Eawo and Charity Levula. The women are seeking a public apology and compensation.

Their husbands were among nine activists from the Ogoni tribe, led by writer Ken Saro-Wiwa, who were hanged in 1995 for the murder of four political rivals. Supporters say they were really targeted because of their involvement in protests against environmental damage by Shell’s Nigerian subsidiary. read more

By Daniel J. Graeber: June 29, 2017

June 29 (UPI) — The first in the industry, Royal Dutch Shell said it’s aligned with a transparency measure on climate steered by former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

“I agree that companies should be clear about how they plan to be resilient in the face of climate change and energy transition,” Shell CEO Ben van Beurden said in a statement.

Bloomberg steered efforts through the multilateral Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures, which said the transition to a low-carbon economy could require as much as $1 trillion in net investments per year. read more

By REUTERS: JUNE 29, 2017, 7:03 A.M. E.D.T.

LONDON — Royal Dutch Shell’s Prelude floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) ship has left a shipyard in South Korea for its destination offshore northwest Australia, the company said on Thursday.

Shell’s $12.6 billion (9.72 billion pounds) Prelude project is expected to start operating next year, the company said, after long delays since the oil major first decided to go ahead with the project in 2011.

Once the facility arrives in Australia, it will be secured to the seabed by mooring chains before it can be connected to the gas field and start operating, Shell said. read more

Crude’s fall raises new questions about huge payouts.

By Chris Bryant: 29 June 2017

Europe’s big oil companies have spent the past couple of years slashing costs because lower crude prices mean there’s less cash to balance the books. Despite those strains, most have left shareholder payouts untouched.

Now, with oil prices falling back into a bear market, the dividend yields of several European integrated oil stocks have widened again. Levels like these usually indicate a dividend cut is on the cards: 

That’s still probably not the case though. British income investors (and many pensioners) depend on Royal Dutch Shell Plc and BP Plc, which together account for more than 10 percent of FTSE 100 dividends, notes Macquarie. Shell’s alone cost an eye-watering $15 billion. Their boards’ credibility would suffer if they suddenly reversed course. Fortunately for management, there is a get-around but it looks like an expensive fudge. read more

Oil giant Shell stands accused of complicity in the unlawful arrest, detention and execution of nine men who were hanged by Nigeria’s military government in the 1990s, Amnesty International can reveal today, following the launch of an explosive new case against the company in the Netherlands over four of the executions.

The civil case has been brought by Esther Kiobel, the widow of Dr Barinem Kiobel, and three other women. Esther has pursued Shell for 20 years over the death of her husband. He was hanged in 1995 along with the writer and human rights activist Ken Saro-Wiwa, and seven other men, collectively known as the Ogoni Nine. At the time the executions sparked a global outcry. read more

Royal Dutch Shell is facing a fresh legal challenge over alleged complicity in the execution of nine people killed by the Nigerian government after protests against the oil industry in the 1990s.

Esther Kiobel the widow of one of the “Ogoni nine”, has brought a civil case in the Netherlands. She fought a legal battle to have the case heard in the United States, but it was rejected in 2013.

In 2009 Shell agreed to pay $15.5 million to settle a separate action over the deaths, but it denied the allegations. read more

June 29, 2017: Oladeinde Olawoyin

The widows of four of nine men executed by Nigeria’s military regime in 1995 have filed a civil lawsuit seeking compensation and an apology from Royal Dutch Shell.

The widows are Esther Kiobel, Victoria Bera, Blessing Eawo and Charity Levula.

According to a writ filed in a court in The Hague, the widows are seeking compensation from the company for alleged complicity in a military crackdown, leading to the deaths of their husbands.

The Nigerian military cracked down heavily on local opposition to oil production by a Shell joint venture in the Niger Delta region in the early 1990s. read more

The world’s biggest vessel – Shell’s Prelude floating LNG platform – has left the South Korean port where it was built, bound for waters off the North West.

Tug boats began towing the 488m Prelude out to sea early this morning from Samsung Heavy Industry’s Geoje shipyard, according to a website monitoring vessel movements.

Prelude was being towed by Terasea Hawk, Tereasea Falcon and Terasea Osprey, the MarineTraffic website showed.

The facility will be deployed off the North West coast to extract and process gas from the Prelude and Concerto gas fields. read more

Shell was alleged to have helped in the arrest of Nigerian men who had sought to peacefully disrupt oil development in the region because of health and environmental impacts

Four Nigerian women are taking legal action in the Dutch courts against Anglo-Dutch oil giant Shell accusing it of complicity in the 1990s executions of their husbands by the Nigerian military, Amnesty International said Thursday.

The civil case has been brought by Esther Kiobel, the widow of Barinem Kiobel, who was hanged in 1995 along with writer and campaigner Ken Saro-Wiwa and seven others. Three other widows are also joining the action in The Hague.

A writ was set to be placed before a civil court in The Hague on Thursday alleging that Shell was complicit “in the unlawful arrest, detention and execution of nine men who were hanged by Nigeria’s military government in the 1990s,” Amnesty said in a statement. read more

Rebecca Ratcliffe: Thursday 29 June 2017 00.01 

The widows of men who were hanged by Nigeria’s military government in the 1990s have launched a civil case against Shell, accusing it of complicity in their husbands’ executions.

Esther Kiobel, the widow of Dr Barinem Kiobel, and three other women whose husbands were hanged in 1995, served a writ in a Dutch court this week, following a 20-year battle with the oil giant.

Kiobel’s husband was executed along with the writer and human rights activist Ken Saro-Wiwa, and seven other men, who became collectively known as the Ogoni nine. They were hanged in a military court following a peaceful uprising by 300,000 Ogonis against Shell’s widespread pollution in Ogoniland. read more

Royal Dutch Shell has established a new energy trading business in Australia and has already started work on mitigating the growing political risk of supply-side failure in the liquid natural gas drained east coast gas market.

Shell Energy Australia recently signed its first gas supply contract with a Victorian customer and the plan is to trade actively in Australia’s domestic gas and electricity markets.

The immediate plan is that traders based in Melbourne and Brisbane will bypass existing market structures to deliver gas and electricity to, initially at least, commercial customers up and down the east coast. read more

Iraqi Kurdistan-focussed oil producer Genel Energy (GENL.L) has appointed an outsider as chief financial officer, diversifying a leadership team that has been dominated by Turkish executives since the departure of its two co-founders.

Genel said on Wednesday it had appointed Esa Ikaheimonen to head its finance team, following the departure of CFO Ben Monaghan.

Ikaheimonen, who starts on July 3 based in London, recently worked as CFO for drilling companies Transocean (RIGN.S) and Seadrill (SDRL.OL) after spending about 20 years at Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L), where he was vice president of finance at the firm’s Africa exploration and production business. read more

Shell, Exxon to appeal latest Groningen gas production cap

By Reuters: PUBLISHED: 10:12, 28 June 2017 

AMSTERDAM, June 28 (Reuters) – A joint venture between Royal Dutch Shell and Exxon Mobil said on Wednesday it will file an appeal against a Dutch government plan to lower a production cap at the Groningen natural gas field by a further 10 percent.

The 50-50 Exxon-Shell joint venture, known as NAM, said it has been left in an impossible position by being told it may continue production — vital to supply homes with gas — without guarantees it is meeting safety standards. It also opposes the latest, lowered production cap. read more

Oil Snaps Longest Gain in a Month on Signs U.S. Supplies Rose

Oil in New York and London tumbled into a bear market last week on concerns that rising global supply will counter output cuts from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its partners. U.S. crude inventories remain stubbornly high, more than 100 million barrels above the five-year seasonal average, according to data from the Energy Information Administration.

“It has become obvious by now that the current OPEC plan is not working, or at least has not been working in the first half of the year,” said Tamas Varga, an analyst at PVM Oil Associates Ltd. in London. “Bears will probably become the more dominant factor again” if the API stockpile figures are repeated by U.S. government data. read more

Royal Dutch Shell Plc is turning to India’s textile, cement and steel factories as it seeks to expand demand for its natural gas.

The Hague-based energy giant has set up a team of about six executives to identify small businesses that use dirtier fuels like coal and convince them to switch, according to Ajay Shah, a vice president with the company’s Asia unit. Shell, which will import the fuel as liquefied natural gas, is betting these users will account for a significant part of India’s gas demand growth, which it estimates will expand fivefold in 15 years. read more

By Jared Stonesifer: 28 June 2017

CENTER TWP. — About 15 students enrolled in the Community College of Beaver County’s process technology program on Monday got the surprise of a lifetime when their class was crashed by Royal Dutch Shell CEO Ben van Beurden.

The chief executive officer, accompanied by most of Shell’s board of directors, came to Beaver County to tour the company’s cracker plant site in Potter Township and to meet with local and state representatives to hear their thoughts and experiences about the project. read more

CALGARY, June 27, 2017 /CNW/ – Royal Dutch Shell plc, through its subsidiary Shell International Exploration and Production B.V. (“Shell”), and SBI BioEnergy Inc. have reached an agreement granting Shell exclusive development and licensing rights for SBI’s biofuel technology. Edmonton-based SBI has a patented process that can convert a wide range of waste oils, greases and sustainable vegetable oils into lower carbon drop-ins for diesel, jet fuel and gasoline. Under the agreement, Shell and SBI will work together to demonstrate the potential of the technology and, if successful, scale up for commercial application. read more

By Gregory Brew – Jun 27, 2017, 4:00 PM CDT

Russia has been a major energy supplier to the European market for decades, and is looking to expand its dominance with a new pipeline that could feed natural gas directly to the continent’s biggest economy.

A deal on Nord Stream 2, a gas pipeline that will link the Ust-Luga area west of St. Petersburg directly with Germany, was signed by Russian energy giant Gazprom in late April. If completed, the pipeline would give Russia more than fifty percent of the Germany gas market and potentially increase its share of markets throughout Central and Western Europe. The pipeline is set to be completed in 2019 and is supported by joint-funding from five European energy companies, including Royal Dutch/Shell, Uniper and ENGIE. read more

The International Integrateds and Majors can survive in a $40-50/bbl oil price range, in our view; however, we continue to see >$60/bbl required for them to thrive. We expect companies to continue pulling on all operational and financial levers in order to adjust to the oil price reality… read more

Mergers and acquisitions in Canada are set for the strongest start in a decade as foreigners sell their oil sands investments. ConocoPhillips and Royal Dutch Shell Plc are leading the exodus amid a bear market for crude. However, Canadian producers are responding by pumping money into oil deposits in the remote boreal forests, which trail only Saudi Arabia and Venezuela in proved reserves but are more expensive to extract.

FULL ARTICLE

By Jared Stonesifer: 27 June 2017

POTTER TWP. — The chief executive officer and a majority of the board of directors of Royal Dutch Shell were in Beaver County Monday to view the ethane cracker plant site, but also to talk to local leaders about their experiences with the $6 billion project.

Rebecca Matsco, chairwoman of Potter Township’s supervisors, was one of the local leaders in attendance and said Monday afternoon that it was a chance “to share our experiences of the last several years.” read more

It wants to be leader in the business and establish itself across full value chain of renewables, alternative energies

Royal Dutch Shell aims to be a leader in clean energy and sees an opportunity in using its global presence and established brand to scale up the new energies business quickly as and when. PHOTO: REUTERS

ROYAL Dutch Shell aims to be a leader in clean energy and sees an opportunity in using its global presence and established brand to scale up the new energies business quickly as and when.

The second largest-publicly traded oil company in the world also plans on establishing itself across the full value chain of renewables and alternative energies as it has done for oil, said a senior executive in the firm. read more

Three out of four oil and natural gas companies fell victim to at least one cyber attack last year as hacking efforts against the industry become more frequent and sophisticated.

That’s the finding from a report released Monday by industry consultant Deloitte LLP. Technology advances, such as Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s recent control of operations in Argentina from an operating center in Canada, offer new openings for hackers, the authors wrote.

At the same time, older equipment that must be retrofitted for cybersecurity, including the pumps known as nodding donkeys, make it tougher to defend against sophisticated attacks. Less than half of drillers use any monitoring tools on their upstream operations networks, the report found. Of those, only 14 percent have fully operational security monitoring centers. read more

Majors including Exxon Mobil Corp, Chevron Corp and Royal Dutch Shell have maintained Gulf operations but focused expansions on U.S. shale.

By REUTERS: JUNE 27, 2017, 1:09 A.M. E.D.T.

THUNDER HORSE OIL PLATFORM, Gulf of Mexico — About 300 BP workers commute 150 miles here by helicopter, from the Louisiana coast to a deep-sea drilling platform that can produce more oil in a day than a West Texas rig can pump in a year.

On the deck of Thunder Horse, they work two-week shifts, drink seawater from a desalination plant, and eat ribs and chicken ferried in by boat. On the ocean floor, robots provide remote eyes and arms as drills extract up to 265,000 barrels per day. read more

The $12.6 billion Prelude project, which is due to start operating off Australia in 2018, is typical of those conceived during the era of high energy prices.

Big gas field is causing tremors, exposing energy firms to criminal probe and rising bills

By Sarah Kent Published June 26, 2017 Dow Jones Newswires

GRONINGEN, The Netherlands — For decades, the giant Groningen gas field beneath the flat, green farmland in the north of this country counted among the greatest prizes for Exxon Mobil Corp. and Royal Dutch Shell PLC. Then the earthquakes started.

Shell and Exxon are pushing back through their joint venture, Nederlandse Aardolie Maatschappij BV or NAM.

NAM said it is considering formally contesting the government’s decision. It also expressed surprise at the Dutch court order to the prosecutor to open a criminal investigation this year… read more

Quakes Giving Dutch Province ‘A Makeover We Don’t Want’

By Sarah Kent Published June 25, 2017: Dow Jones Newswires

GRONINGEN, The Netherlands — Irma de Joode was talking on the phone with her brother when she heard what sounded like rolls of thunder and felt her entire house jump beneath her feet. The Aug. 16, 2012, earthquake was the biggest ever to rock the flat, green plains of this northern Dutch province. The source was Europe’s biggest natural gas field. The earthquake was one of more than 300 temblors since 1991 that Royal Dutch Shell PLC, Exxon Mobil Corp. and the Dutch government acknowledge were caused by their activities at the Groningen gas field. read more

At the end of last year, when it looked as if OPEC was making a concerted effort to rein-in oil market oversupply, shares in Royal Dutch Shell(LSE: RDSB) charged to a 52-week high of just under 2,400p. Unfortunately, this rally didn’t last long. By the end of the first quarter, the shares had fallen by nearly 10% and have continued to slide as worries about a new oil glut have continued to grow. The falling oil price has reignited the argument about the sustainability of Shell’s dividend payout. read more

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Court records suggest that Shell’s latest pipeline easement agreements in Pennsylvania will cost $75 a foot to carry ethane to its new ethane cracker facility.

Jun 23, 2017

Foot by foot, Shell Pipeline Co. is getting landowners in Beaver County, Pa., to sign easements for its 94-mile Falcon Ethane Pipeline. It’s a pipeline with two “legs” that will feed Shell’s ethane cracker plant now under construction at Monaca, Pa., northwest of Pittsburgh.

In early 2016, the Royal Dutch Shell affiliate began signing leases with landowners for the pipeline branches stretching into Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. See map. More easements were signed in January and May. read more

By Brett Foley , Perry Williams , and Scott Deveau
23 June 2017, 04:47 BST

Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s sale of its remaining New Zealand energy assets has drawn interest from companies including OMV AG and Vermilion Energy Inc., people with knowledge of the matter said.

Vermilion has been talking with potential financial partners about bidding together for Shell’s stakes in two New Zealand gas fields, one of the people said. Smaller local energy companies including Greymouth Petroleum Ltd. have also been considering teaming up with other investors for joint offers, the people said, asking not to be identified as details are private. The assets could fetch as much as $1 billion, the people said. read more

Russian Prime Minister Medvedev on Wednesday congratulated the Royal Dutch Shell company on the occasion of its 125th anniversary of working in Russia, and stressed that the company is deeply integrated in the Russian economy and is one of Russia’s main foreign investors.

23 June 2017

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Earlier in the day, Russian President Vladimir Putin held a meeting with Royal Dutch Shell CEO Ben van Beurden to discuss the plans regarding the company’s future work in Russia, including the construction and financing of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project.

“Today Shell is firmly integrated into our national economy and is one of our biggest foreign investors. Its companies and joint ventures are involved in various business areas: from exploration and production of mineral resources to the manufacture of fuel and lubricants and their sale at filling stations,” Medvedev wrote in a letter released by the government. read more

Shine Jacob  |  New Delhi  June 22, 2017 Last Updated at 15:47 IST

Global oil major Royal Dutch Shell says that India may see at least six times growth in Indian gas market by 2030 from the current levels. It adds that liquefied natural gas (LNG) may be the largest contributor to it. The prediction comes at a time when India is trying to increase the share of gas in the overall energy mix to over 15 per cent by 2030. read more

One of the brains behind an iconic piece of the North Sea oil and gas landscape will have a last chance to say goodbye before it is dismantled for good.

Written by Stephen Walsh – 22/06/2017 7:29 am

Shell’s Brent Delta platform was a major part of offshore infrastructure for more than 40 years.

But, last month, the top was removed from the waters, leaving its legs behind, and transported to Hartlepool as part of the decommissioning process.

The huge 24,000 tonne topside, which weighs the same as the Empire State Building, is currently being stored in an Able UK’s shipyard, where it is waiting to be taken apart and recycled.

However, Shell gave some of its former employees the chance to bid farewell to the platform, which generated more than £35billion over its four decades. read more

By Nick Cunningham – Jun 20, 2017, 4:00 PM CDT

Mexico hosted another oil auction on Monday, auctioning off shallow water oil and gas blocks to international companies. The auction was the latest in a series of offerings related to the country’s historic energy reform, which opened up Mexico’s energy sector to private investment.

The latest auction had modest hopes, as the blocks on offer were in shallow water areas, far from the much more sought after deepwater blocks near the U.S. maritime border. But the results exceeded expectations, with a handful of oil majors jumping into the fray.  read more

Norway opens up record 93 blocks for Arctic oil exploration

by: Richard Milne, Nordic Correspondent: 21 June 2017

Norway has infuriated environmental groups by opening up a record number of blocks in the Arctic for oil exploration. Environmental groups, emboldened by their success ending Royal Dutch Shell’s drilling off Alaska, are stepping up protests against Oslo. 

FULL FT ARTICLE

• Aaron Sheldrick
• Wednesday 21 June 2017 09:02 BST
• Reuters

A number of producers – notably Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Russia – have aggressively ramped up output

Oil prices held near multi-month lows on Wednesday as investors discounted evidence of strong compliance by OPEC and non-OPEC oil producers with a deal to cut a global output.

Global benchmark Brent LCOc1 was unchanged at $46.02 barrel at 0651 GMT after falling nearly 2 per cent in the previous session to its lowest settlement since November.

US crude futures CLc1 for August were trading up 4 cents at $43.55, after spending much of the day slightly lower and falling more than 2 per cent on Tuesday to the lowest since September. read more