Jun 30th, 2017
by John Donovan.
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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
Jun 30th, 2017
by John Donovan.
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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
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
Jun 30th, 2017
by John Donovan.
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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
Jun 30th, 2017
by John Donovan.
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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
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
Jun 29th, 2017
by John Donovan.
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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
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
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
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
Jun 29th, 2017
by John Donovan.
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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
Jun 29th, 2017
by John Donovan.
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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
Jun 29th, 2017
by John Donovan.
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By Mike Corder | APJune 29 at 5:50 AM
THE HAGUE, Netherlands — The widows of four activists executed 22 years ago in Nigeria are launching a civil action in the Netherlands, alleging complicity by oil giant Shell in their husbands’ deaths, human rights organization Amnesty International said Thursday.
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
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
Jun 29th, 2017
by John Donovan.
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By REUTERS:
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
Jun 29th, 2017
by John Donovan.
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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
Jun 29th, 2017
by John Donovan.
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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
Jun 29th, 2017
by John Donovan.
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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
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
Jun 29th, 2017
by John Donovan.
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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
Jun 29th, 2017
by John Donovan.
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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
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
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 (RDSa.L) for alleged complicity in a military crackdown, according to a writ filed in a court in The Hague.
The Nigerian military cracked down heavily on local opposition to oil production by a Shell joint venture in the Niger Delta in the early 1990s. The four widows allege that Shell provided support to the military in the crackdown that ultimately led to the executions of the men, known as the Ogoni 9.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
Jun 28th, 2017
by John Donovan.
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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
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
Jun 28th, 2017
by John Donovan.
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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
Jun 28th, 2017
by John Donovan.
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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
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
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
Jun 27th, 2017
by John Donovan.
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By Ben Levisohn: The price of oil is rising today, but that hasn’t helped oil stocks like ExxonMobil (XOM), Chevron (CVX), Total (TOT), and Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A), which remain little changed or under pressure.
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
Jun 27th, 2017
by John Donovan.
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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.
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
Jun 27th, 2017
by John Donovan.
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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
Jun 27th, 2017
by John Donovan.
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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
Jun 27th, 2017
by John Donovan.
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Majors including Exxon Mobil Corp, Chevron Corp and Royal Dutch Shell have maintained Gulf operations but focused expansions on U.S. shale.
By REUTERS:
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
Jun 27th, 2017
by John Donovan.
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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.
China plans to pour almost $7 billion into floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) projects in Africa, betting on a largely untested technology in the hope that energy markets will recover by the time they start production in the early 2020s.
Western banks are wary due to the depressed state of the shipping and gas markets, as well as the technical difficulties of pumping gas extracted from below the ocean floor, chilling it into liquid form on a floating platform and transferring it into tankers for export.read more
Jun 26th, 2017
by John Donovan.
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Big gas field is causing tremors, exposing energy firms to criminal probe and rising bills
By Sarah Kent 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
Jun 25th, 2017
by John Donovan.
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Quakes Giving Dutch Province ‘A Makeover We Don’t Want’
By Sarah Kent 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
Jun 23rd, 2017
by John Donovan.
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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
Jun 23rd, 2017
by John Donovan.
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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
Jun 22nd, 2017
by John Donovan.
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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
Jun 22nd, 2017
by John Donovan.
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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
Jun 22nd, 2017
by John Donovan.
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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.
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
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
Jun 21st, 2017
by John Donovan.
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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.
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
Oil giants including Exxon Mobil and Royal Dutch Shell risk spending more than a third of their budgets by 2025 on oil and gas projects that will not be feasible if international climate targets are to be met, a thinktank says.
More than $2 trillion of planned investments in oil and gas projects by 2025 risk becoming redundant if governments stick to targets to lower carbon emissions to limit global warming to 2 degrees celsius, according to a report by the Carbon Tracker thinktank and a group of institutional investors.read more
OVER 500 EXTERNAL PUBLICATIONS CITING OUR SHELL WEBSITES
See our link list of over 500 articles by the FT, Wall Street Journal, Reuters, Bloomberg, Forbes, Dow Jones Newswires, New York Times, CNBC etc, plus UK House of Commons Select Committee Hansard records, information on U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission websiteetc. all containing references to our Shell focussed websites, or our website founders Alfred and John Donovan. Includes TV documentary features in English and German, newspaper and magazine articles, radio interviews, newsletters etc. Plus academic papers, Stratfor intelligence reports and UK, U.S. and Australian state/parliamentary publications, also citing our Shell websites. Click on this link to see the entire list, all in date order with a link to an index of over 100 books also containing references to our websites and/or our activities.
John Donovan, the website owner A head-cut image of Alfred Donovan (now deceased) appears courtesy of The Wall Street Journal.
JOHN DONOVAN, THE OWNER OF THIS AND SEVERAL OTHER SHELL FOCUSSED WEBSITES
SHELL PRELUDE TO DISASTER
The links below are to a series of articles, many triggered by a well-placed whistleblower directly involved in the pioneering Royal Dutch Shell Prelude project. Includes articles by Mr Bill Campbell above, the retired distinguished HSE Group Auditor of Shell International and another retired Shell guru with a track record of spotting potential pitfalls in major Shell projects.
The campaign waged on this website by John Donovan to persuade Edward Heerema to rename the worlds biggest ship, The Pieter Schelte - which he named after his late father, Pieter Schelte Heerema, a former Officer in the German Waffen-SS - has been successful. On Friday 6 February 2015, Allseas announced that it was changing the ships name, and on 9 February announced the new name - Pioneering Spirit.
GLOBAL NEWS COVERAGE: FEBRUARY 2010
MORE INFORMATION: Contact details for over 176,000 employees and contractors of Royal Dutch Shell reached John Donovan and some environmental and human rights groups, ostensibly from disaffected Shell staff calling for a “peaceful corporate revolution” at the company. The database, from Shell’s internal directory, contained names and telephone numbers for all the company’s work force worldwide, including some home numbers. It was supplied with a 170 page covering note, explaining that it was being circulated by “116 concerned employees of Shell dispersed throughout the USA, the UK, and the Netherlands”, to highlight the harm done by the company’s operations in Nigeria. John Donovan brought the leak to the attention of Shell. Tests proved that the data was authentic and he destroyed the database after being informed by Mr. Richard Wiseman, the then Chief Ethics & Compliance Officer of Royal Dutch Shell Plc, that the confidential information if publicly disclosed, could put Shell employees and contractors in real danger.
This is not a Shell website. That fact should be abundantly plain from the overall content of this home page and our sister Shell focussed websites, including shellnazihistory.com. Click on the Disclaimer link at top of this page for more information. You Can Be Sure Shell does not endorse or approve of this website. There are no subscription charges nor do we solicit or accept donations. It is an entirely free to use website drawing attention to the negative side of Shell while also publishing positive news about the company. The Shell logo image with the white text used on this website, as per the above example, is in the public domain because its copyright has expired and its author is anonymous. It can be found on WIKIMEDIA COMMONS. Our shellenergy.websitepublishes Shell Energy customer complaints posted on Trustpilot where there is an ample supply. Use this link for Shell’s own website.
Shell Breaking News
Shell Renewables Head to Leave Amid Fossil Fuel ShiftJune 30, 2023 14:49Financial PostBreadcrumb Trail Links PMN Business Shell Plc’s European renewable power boss Thomas Brostrom has decided to leave the company as the oil supermajor revises its strategy to focus more investment into fossil fuels. Author of the article: Bloomberg News …
Shell and BP take a beating as bank woes hit crude pricesMarch 15, 2023 17:36Proactive InvestorsBP PLC (LSE:BP.) and Royal Dutch Shell PLC (LSE:SHEL, NYSE:SHEL) shares have taken a hit, dropping over 8%, due to a sell-off in the banking sector.
The natural resources market has been volatile, with Brent Crude and West Texas Intermediate falling by 4- …
Shell CEO Pay Up 50%March 9, 2023 21:23Manufacturing Business TechnologyCEO of Royal Dutch Shell Ben van Beurden speaks at a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, June 21, 2017. Shell paid outgoing Chief Executive Ben van Beurden a total of 9.7 million pounds ($11.5 million) in 2022 as the …
Former Shell CEO's pay jumped 53% to $11.5m in 2022March 9, 2023 11:17Gulf NewsBen van Beurden, chief executive officer of Royal Dutch Shell, speaks during the 26th World Gas Conference in Paris, France, June 2, 2015
Image Credit: Reuters
London: Shell's former chief executive, Ben van Beurden, received a pay package of 9.7 …
SHELL’S ROLE IN NIGERIAN OPL 245 BRIBERY SCANDAL
Whatever fig leaves they might be trying to use to hide the truth, Shell and Eni paid over $1bn to a company called Malabu for the OPL 245 licence. Even though the payment was channelled through the Nigerian government, it was clear that Shell knew that the ultimate beneficiary was Dan Etete, the former minister of petroleum. Etete is the owner of Malabu, to whom he awarded the licence when he was Nigerian Minister of Petroleum.
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.
MORE INFORMATION
Shell appeased and collaborated with the Nazis. The oil giant instructed its employees in the Netherlands to complete a form giving particulars about their descent, which for some, amounted to a self-declared death warrant. Shell used slave labor and was a close business partner in Germany of I.G. Farben, the notorious Nazi run chemical giant that also used slave labor and supplied the Zyklon-B gas used during the Holocaust to exterminate millions of people, including children. Shell continued the partnership with the Nazis in the years after the retirement of Sir Henri and even after his death. It was money generated on Shell forecourts around the world, profiteering from cartel oil prices, that funded the Nazi party and saved it from financial collapse. Evidence about Shell's Nazi connections can be found in extracts from "A History of Royal Dutch Shell" Volumes 1 and 2 authored by historians paid by Shell, who had unrestricted access to Shell archives. There are 67 pages in total, so takes some time to download.
Photograph (full size here) shows a Swastika flag flying at the head office of Royal Dutch Petroleum, 30 Carel van Bylandtlaan, The Hague, during the Nazi occupation of the in World War II (From Image Database Hague Municipal)
Sir Henri Deterding, the founder of the Royal Dutch Shell Group - known as "The Most Powerful Man in the World" - who became an ardent Nazi and financial supporter of Hitler and the Nazi party.
Reading between the lines in various legal documents, it seems that the allegations are that after the technology in question had been disclosed to a Shell company in the USA, the information was passed to Shell in the Netherlands in breach of confidentiality. And Royal Dutch Shell subsequently exploited the technology without payment or credit to the company holding the rights; Newton Research Partners. The inference seems to be that Twister B.V. was founded by Shell partly on trade secrets stolen from Bloom/Newton.
DISCLAIMER: This is not a Shell website nor is it officially endorsed by or affiliated with Royal Dutch Shell Plc. Originally co-founded by the late Alfred Donovan and his son John, it is now operated by John, Shell's "No.1 Enemy", aided by an expert team, with invaluable support from retired Shell senior executives and officials as guest contributors and leaked information from Shell insiders. (JOHN DONOVAN, WEBSITE OWNER) For nearly a decade, we have operated globally under the Royal Dutch Shell Plc top level domain name, dealing on Shell’s reluctant behalf with job applications, business proposals, Shell pension enquiries, shareholder enquiries, complaints, invitations to speak at conferences, an approach from the Dutch Defence Ministry and even terrorist threats. All meant for Shell. Prospect magazine has aptly described this website as being:"An open wound for Shell": WIPO proceedings by Shell to seize the domain name failed. NO SUBSCRIPTION CHARGES: All of our watchdog activities monitoring Royal Dutch Shell, including operating this website, are carried out on a non-profit basis. Any advertising revenues generated are used to recover and/or defray operational costs. We are a news aggregator and original content website. All information is available free for educational and research purposes. SHELL TACIT ENDORSEMENT: WHAT A WELL INFORMED SHELL OFFICIAL SAID ABOUT US:
"John and Alfred Donovan well known in UK/Hague. They perceive Shell played them and so have made it their mission to embarrass,belittle and criticize Shell, which they do quite well. Their website, royaldutchshellplc.com is an excellent source of group news and comment and I recommend it far above what our own group internal comms puts out."
WARNING TO SHELL EMPLOYEES: Shell Global Affairs Security "CAS") is spying on Shell employees globally trying to trace who is visiting, posting, or leaking information to this website from Shell premises. Threats, including death threats, have allegedly been made against conscience driven Shell whistleblowers supplying us with information. The worlds biggest leak of employee details as part of a claimed corporate revolution by 116 Shell employees, suggest the espionage operation, threats and draconian litigation have not been entirely successful in cutting off the supply of information to this website. The insider leaks had already cost Shell billions on the Sakhalin Energy project and the loss of SEIC Deputy Chairman, David Greer. We publish our own carefully researched articles about Shell e.g. "How Royal Dutch Shell saved Hitler and the Nazi Party". MEDIA COVERAGE: Prospect Magazine, The Sunday Times, and The Guardian, have all published major articles about us: "Rise of the Gripe Site";"Two men and a website mount vendetta against Shell' and "92-year-old's website leaves oil giant Shell-shocked”. SHELL PETROL STATION images displayed in the website header panel are licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Information on copyright issues here.
John Donovan can be contacted at [email protected]
SHELL’S $500,000 WEDDING GIFT TO CORRUPT BRUNEI ROYAL FAMILY
EXTRACT FROM ASIAN JOURNAL ARTICLE IN LIST OF LINKS BELOW: "Fireworks will light up the sky for three nights. The local unit of oil giant Royal Dutch Shell has donated 500,000 Brunei dollars (US$292,400; euro 243,700) for the display, and for cultural events to be hosted by popular performers from Malaysia."
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:
THIS IS WHAT IT SAID:
Subject: This could be the most important whistleblower email you have ever received.
Some unfortunate Royal Dutch Shell workers have already lost their lives. More lives are at stake.
My name is Bill Campbell. I am a former Group Auditor of Shell International. I am writing to you on a matter of conscience in an effort to avert the inevitability of another major accident in the North Sea. The consequences could potentially impact on families in many constituencies, including your own.
As Royal Dutch Shell and the Health & Safety Executive would acknowledge, I am an expert on safety matters relating to offshore oil and gas platforms. In 1999, I was appointed by Shell to lead a safety audit on the Brent Bravo platform. The audit revealed a platform management culture that basically gave a higher priority to production than the safety of Shell employees. To our astonishment we discovered that a "Touch F*** All" policy was in place. Worse still, safety records were routinely falsified and repairs bodged.
I personally brought the shocking situation to the attention of senior management including Malcolm Brinded, the then Managing Director of Shell Exploration & Production. I revealed that ESDV leak-off tests were purposely falsified, not once but many times and that Brent Bravo platform management had admitted responsibility for the dangerous practices being followed. In response to my team ringing alarm bells, management pledged to rectify the serious problems which had been uncovered.
When I later complained that the pledges were not being kept, I was removed from my oversight function.
Four years later, a massive gas leak occurred on the platform. Two workers lost their lives. I have no doubt at all that the inaction of the relevant Asset Manager, the General Manager, the Oil Director and Malcolm Brinded, contributed in some part to the unlawful killing of two persons on Brent Bravo in September 2003.
Shell subsequently pleaded guilty to breaches of the HSE regulations and a record-breaking £900,000 fine was imposed. I thought this would bring about a real change in policy to put the emphasis on safety.
Unfortunately I was wrong. Although I supplied the evidence related to 1999, and the fact that there had been a collapse in controls of integrity from 1999 to 2003 on all 16 of Shell's North Sea offshore installations covered in a post fatality integrity review to the HSE for review by the Procurator Fiscal, none of this evidence was presented before the Sheriff at the subsequent Inquiry. The situation is explained in a letter to the Procurator Fiscal and the Sheriff (on 24th February 2007).
Shell management has engaged in spin to try to pretend that it is getting to grips with its safety problem. However, its atrocious safety record - the worst in the North Sea in terms of accidental deaths and absolute number of enforcement actions – tells a different story. This fact has resulted in a number of newspaper articles.
I have had meetings with senior Shell people including its CEO Mr. Jeroen van der Veer. I regret to say that I have found him to be economical with the truth. He prefers to support cover-up and deceit rather than confronting the underlying problems. Brinded is now Executive Director of Shell Exploration & Production. He believes in burying evidence.
My family and friends would probably prefer me to give up on this matter and enjoy my retirement after so many years working for Shell.
However, by writing to every MP in the UK, no one can ever say that I did not do my best to avert an inevitable further major accident event in the North Sea. When it happens (I pray that I am wrong) I will make this warning communication available to the media together with the vast amount of evidence in my possession.
At least my conscience is clear. I have done everything possible to ring the alarm bells about Shell management and its unscrupulous attitude to the safety of its employees.
Yours sincerely
Bill Campbell
ENDS
(Malcolm Brinded and Jeroen van der Veer are no longer with Shell. The Oil Director referred to in the email is Chris Finlayson, who left Shell to become Chief Executive of British Gas before being fired - his photo immediately below)
SIR PHILIP WATTS, THE GROUP CHAIRMAN OF ROYAL DUTCH SHELL GROUP, FORCED TO RESIGN IN 2004
Shell’s reputation was destroyed in 2004 after FIVE consecutive cuts to its hydrocarbon reserves covering 55% of its total reserves. US and UK financial regulators imposed $150 million in fines on Shell for securities fraud. Shell was also rocked by class action lawsuits. Sir Philip Watts
and Walter van de Vijver (whose headcut images appear courtesy of The Wall Street Journal) were among the Shell executives forced to resign. More details at the foot of this column.
MORE DETAILS: The Shell reserves scandal brought about
the end of the Royal Dutch Shell Group in its original form as an Anglo-Dutch partnership.
Shell Transport & Trading Co and Royal Dutch Petroleum were unified into a single Dutch owned company - Royal Dutch Shell Plc.
Sir Philip turned to religion and is now a very wealthy priest after receiving a payoff/pension package from Shell reportedly worth $18.5 million. Walter van de Vijver in contrast was the victim of a sadistic sacking by his Shell senior management backstabbing colleagues.
Displayed below are some of the spectacular promotional campaigns my company Don Marketing created for Shell in the 1980s and 1990s. This was before the series of SIX high court actions we brought against Shell for stealing ideas (4) and for defamation (2) - all settled by Shell. This website is a permanent response by me to the malicious underhand tactics, including treachery, espionage and intimidation, used by Shell during and after the bouts of litigation. More information is printed at the foot of this column.
MORE DETAILS: After a solicitor acting for Shell threatened to make the litigation "drawn out and difficult" with the intention of draining the resources of a financially weaker opponent, my late father (Alfred Donovan) and I decided to mount a wide-ranging campaign as a counter-measure. We jointly founded the Shell Corporate Conscience Pressure Group, which nearly 15% of Shell UK retailers joined. We regularly conducted ethical surveys involving up to 1500 Shell petrol stations. All responses were opened and authenticated by an independent solicitor who supplied Affidavits confirming the results. In whole page announcements in trade magazines (examples above) we challenged Shell to commission and publish the resuits of independent research asking the same questions and offering respondents GUARANTEED anonymity. Shell never took up the invitation. Instead it asked the UK Advertising Standards Authority to investigate our Shell surveys. No problems were found. The head-cut image of Alfred Donovan appears courtesy of The Wall Street Journal.
SHELL CONTROVERSIES
selection of memorable warnings/articles/images associated with the controversial track record of Royal Dutch Shell.
WARNING: DO NOT DISCLOSE YOUR IDEAS TO SHELL GameChanger OR SHELL Ideas360 WITHOUT TAKING EVERY POSSIBLE PRECAUTION. Shell management has ample funds to pay for intellectual property but prefers to steal it from small businesses and in our experience, gives its full backing to dishonest managers willing to do its bidding. We have sued Shell repeatedly in the High Court for the theft of our Intellectual Property. It is doubtful if anyone can match our dire experience in dealing with this ruthless unscrupulous serial poacher of other parties ideas. Expect threats, legal machinations and sinister action from Shell and its spooks if you object to having your ideas stolen.
Some years ago extensive documentary evidence was brought to the attention of Malcolm Brinded above, when he was Chairman of Shell UK, proving beyond any doubt that Shell executives had conspired to rig a tender for a major contract. A number of innocent firms were deliberately lured into signing confidentiality agreements and disclosing Intellectual Property to Shell under false pretences, in a carefully contrived plot. The firm which was awarded the contract never took part in the tender. One objective of the Machiavellian plan was to stop/delay IP trade secrets owned by the participants in the tender from being disclosed to Shell's rivals. This was achieved by outright deception, without paying a cent to the firms involved, who wrongly believed they were participating in an honest tender. Instead of sacking the ring leader, AJL - who had a personal relationship with the firm which miraculously won the race in which it never ran - Shell senior directors, including Brinded, gave AJL their full backing. Some of the Shell executives involved, including for example, Tim Hannagan, still hold high positions inside Shell - in his case, Global Brand and Visual Identity Manager. If Shell does not accept that this is a true, provable account of what happened, then it should sue for libel. How on earth is such predatory conduct compatible with Shell's claimed business principles?