By: The Associated Press:  August 30, 2017  

Pollutants have been released from refineries operated by Exxon, Shell and other companies as torrential rains damaged storage tanks and other industrial facilities on the Texas Coast.

Shell told state regulators this week that a floating roof over a tank at its oil refinery in Deer Park, Texas, partially sank during the heavy rainfall. The company said 100 pounds of benzene and 100 pounds of toluene were released.

A similar event happened at Exxon Mobil Corp.’s refinery in Baytown, Texas. David Gray, a spokesman for the Environmental Protection Agency, said the company reported the release of 15 pounds of benzene. The EPA classifies benzene as a carcinogen. Toluene, a solvent, is less toxic.

A Shell spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

“This is an unprecedented storm, and we have taken every effort to minimize emissions and safely shut down equipment,” said Exxon spokeswoman Charlotte Huffaker. She said the Irving, Texas-based company was monitoring emission levels and was committed to complying with environmental laws. read more

AUGUST 30, 2017 / 6:16 PM

LONDON (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L) staff have returned to a major oil and gas platform in the Gulf of Mexico in preparation to restart production one week after its shutdown due to Hurricane Harvey, industry sources said on Wednesday.

A small team was airlifted to the Perdido platform and is currently assessing conditions to understand when production can be resumed, the sources said.

Perdido, operated by Shell, was shut down on Aug. 23 ahead of Hurricane Harvey’s arrival. The hub, the second deepest in the Gulf of Mexico, normally produces around 100,000 barrels per day of oil and gas. read more

By Alex Kuffner: Journal Staff Writer: Posted Aug 30, 2017 

PROVIDENCE — One of the region’s leading environmental groups has filed a lawsuit in federal court that accuses fossil fuel giant Shell of violating the federal Clean Water Act by discharging toxic pollutants into the Providence River from its storage terminal on the Fields Point waterfront.

The Conservation Law Foundation also alleges that the multinational corporation headquartered in the Netherlands — the second-largest oil and gas company in the world — has failed to take adequate steps to protect the facility from rising waters caused by climate change and a projected increase in the frequency of coastal storms and rain events. read more

By Daveen Rae Kurutz [email protected]: 31 August 2017

POTTER TWP. — Local critics who wanted Shell Chemicals to increase monitoring of air pollution are pleased with a settlement agreement that will create a fence-line monitoring system.

Terrie Baumgardner, a member of the Beaver County Marcellus Awareness Committee, said the move shows that Shell officials listened to the 750 people who signed a petition objecting to the lack of fence-line monitoring in Shell’s plan to build a $6 billion ethane cracker plant in Potter Township. read more

Shell boss Ben Van Beurden says Storm Harvey is a “major event” for the industry and the firm’s staff in Texas.

Shell, which has its US base in the Texas city of Houston, has put some of its staff in emergency homes and closed two major facilities.

The storm, which earlier achieved hurricane status, has ripped through the US energy industry in the region.

However, Mr Van Beurden thinks the tropical storm will not have a major impact on its US oil production.

Large parts of Houston are under water, and more than 20 people are reported dead.

Thousands of people there have fled their homes in search of emergency shelter after record rainfall caused severe flooding.

The Shell chief executive said: “We’ve all seen the pictures. Many, many of our people – as with others as well – have been displaced… We’ve had to put people up in temporary accommodation.” read more

Upstreamonline.com reports 30 Aug 2017…

Shell has been served with more safety warnings over a gas leak in May at its Brent Charlie facility in the UK northern North Sea, which is only now beginning a gradual restart of production.

A Shell spokesperson told Upstream on Wednesday that the facility commenced a gradual restart at the weekend and is fully up-manned.

Free access to article subject to Upstreamonline.com terms

Written by Mark Lammey – 30/08/2017 12:19 pm

Issuing a prohibition notice, the Health and Safety Executive said the Armada platform’s flare system pipe had been operating despite being in a “degraded state”.

The inspector said the fault presented a risk of “serious personal injury” and could have led to an explosion.

Shell said it had carried out improvement work on the platform, enabling the company to bringing it back online in July.

Shell added the platform to its portfolio when it took over BG Group. read more

By Nick Cunningham – Aug 28, 2017, 6:00 PM CDT

The most powerful Hurricane to hit Texas in more than 50 years has devastated much of the coast, and the historic flooding is now causing havoc in the energy markets.

The rain is not over, and will continue over the next few days, spilling a year’s worth of rain within a week.

ExxonMobil shut down its Baytown refinery, the second largest in the United States with a capacity of 560,500 bpd. Royal Dutch Shell closed its 360,000 bpd Deer Park refinery, according to S&P Global Platts, and Phillips 66 shut down its 247,000 bpd Sweeny refinery. read more

HOUSTON, Aug. 29, 2017 /PRNewswire/ — Shell today informed the American Red Cross it will make an initial contribution of $1 million to the Hurricane Harvey disaster relief fund. As recovery and relief efforts evolve, Shell will consider where else to offer assistance that can have the most immediate impact.

“Our roots run extremely deep in Houston and we are committed to doing our part to help the city move on in the aftermath of Harvey,” said Bruce Culpepper, Shell U.S. President. read more

By TIM FAULKNER/ecoRI News staff: August 29, 2017

PROVIDENCE — The Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) is again taking on a fossil-fuel titan. This time, the environmental legal firm is suing Royal Dutch Shell and its many subsidiaries for violating the Clean Water Act at its oil storage and fuel terminal on Allens Avenue.

CLF says it was forced to take Shell to court after the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) were notified of Clean Water Act violations but failed to take action.

In addition to polluting the Providence River, the terminal is also accused of failing to plan for sea-level rise and other climate-change impacts. According to state flood maps, the terminal would be flooded by any category of hurricane.

“We can’t wait around for the next natural disaster to inundate our communities. Shell’s facility sits on the banks of the Providence River, poised to spew toxic chemicals into our waters and our neighborhoods with no adequate safeguards in place,” CLF president Bradley Campbell said. read more

AUGUST 29, 2017 / 11:09 AM

CAIRO (Reuters) – Egyptian Oil Minister Tarek El Molla has signed three oil and gas exploration deals for 16 new fields in the Western Desert worth at least $81.4 million in total with Royal Dutch Shell and the U.S.-based Apex International Energy.

The Petroleum Ministry said in a statement that the first deal would see Shell invest $35.5 million, and the other two would see Apex, which is operating in Egypt for the first time, invest a combined $45.9 million on two projects. read more

By Anya Litvak / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: 28 August 2017

After a two-year legal battle, Shell Chemical Co. has agreed to install continuous air monitors on the fenceline of its petrochemical complex in Beaver County.

The chemical company reached a settlement with two environmental groups, Clean Air Council and Environmental Integrity Project, to provide publicly-available data on what chemicals will be leaving the sprawling Potter Township site where Shell is building an ethane cracker, three other chemical units, a power plant and a rail yard. read more

Exclusive: New Energy Institute president ‘fears for North Sea’ if innovation falls by wayside

The Energy Institute’s new president has said he fears for North Sea’s future if industry and government fail to stimulate innovation.

Malcolm Brinded, a former executive director of Shell, also urged the UK Government to provide the greater certainty around energy policy.

In his first interview since becoming Energy Institute (EI) president in July, Mr Brinded warned failure to do so could mean missing out on ambitious oil production targets.

Industry and government are targeting the extraction of another 20billion barrels of oil over the remaining lifetime of the North Sea.

The MER (maximising economic recovery) UK strategy was launched in March 2016 to assist with the task. read more

Jordan Blum, Houston Chronicle: 27 August 2017

Royal Dutch Shell said Sunday the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey is causing the shutdown of its massive refining and petrochemical complex in Deer Park.

Shell is closing one of Texas’ largest refineries, which can refine more than 315,000 barrels of crude oil a day into gasoline and other petroleum products.

“The top priority of Shell Deer Park is to operate in a safe and environmentally sound manner. Due to continued inclement weather conditions from Hurricane Harvey, Shell Deer Park is conducting a controlled/planned shut down of the refinery and chemical plant,” Shell said in an email response. read more

AUGUST 27, 2017

HOUSTON (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell Plc said on Sunday it has not yet been able to assess damage to its deepwater Perdido platform in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico after evacuating it ahead of Tropical Storm Harvey, which came ashore as a hurricane.

The company scrapped plans on Saturday to send a reconnaissance flight over the platform, about 200 miles (321 km) south of Freeport, Texas, said spokesman Curtis Smith. A second flight will be attempted on Sunday.

Reporting by Ernest Scheyder; Editing by Sandra Maler read more

AUGUST 27, 2017

HOUSTON (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell Plc said its Deer Park, Texas, refinery and chemical plant complex may be shut for up to a week because of Tropical Storm Harvey’s impact on the Houston area.

Shell spokesman Curtis Smith said following a controlled shutdown of the complex including the 325,700 barrel per day (bpd) refinery on Sunday, only essential personnel would remain at the plant through the end of the week.

Reporting by Ernest Scheyder and Erwin Seba; Editing by Andrea Ricci read more

AUGUST 26, 2017 / 7:06 PM

HOUSTON (Reuters) – Hurricane Harvey has not impacted operations at Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSa.L) refineries in Convent and Norco, Louisiana, and at its joint-venture refinery in Deer Park, Texas, company spokesman Ray Fisher said on Saturday.

Harvey has dumped between 4 inches (10 centimetres) and 5 inches (13 cm) of rain in the area around the Deer Park refinery in the past 24 hours, according to the Harris County Flood Warning System.

24 August 2017 12:21 Source:ICIS News

LONDON (ICIS)–Two fires at Shell’s Rhineland refinery in Wesseling, Germany, in the early hours of Wednesday morning were quickly extinguished by the site’s fire brigade, according to a statement from Shell.

The first fire, which broke out at a crude oil distillation plant, according to local news reports, was caused by a scaffolding plane catching fire. Sections of the unit are currently undergoing planned inspections, according to Shell, and it was shut down as a precaution in the wake of the fire. read more

Shell has found a buyer for a chain of Argentine gas stations worth more than $1billion, a news report said.

Shell put the 630 Argentine gas stations up for sale as part of a £23.5billion divestment plan intended to balance the books in the wake of its takeover of BG Group.

Brazil’s Raizen Energia, a subsidiary of Shell, has outbid rivals including Argentina’s YPF, Chile’s Quinenco and China’s CNPC, Reuters reported, citing unidentified sources.

Shell and Cosan each own 50% of Raizen, which controls Brazil’s second largest chain of gas stations.

Shell said it would not comment on potential deals. Raízen also declined to comment. read more

Royal Dutch Shell Plc is investigating a solar power project in an Australian region better known for its fossil fuels, particularly coal.

The company is studying the feasibility of a solar development on its land in the Western Downs area of Queensland, which is subject to a final investment decision, a spokeswoman said by email. Though Shell’s statement didn’t elaborate on timing or size, the regional council this week said it had approved construction of the 250-megawatt Delga Solar Farm project proposed by Shell at Woleebee, near Wandoan. read more

According to Reuters, oil and gas companies, including Exxon Mobil and Royal Dutch Shell, have halted production and are evacuating employees from their facilities in the Gulf of Mexico. 

Posted By Alex Zielinski on Thu, Aug 24, 2017 at 2:50 pm

What was a mere “tropical depression” on Wednesday has quickly turned into a grown-ass, potentially life-threatening hurricane. The National Hurricane Center has now predicted that Hurricane Harvey, the storm brewing the the Gulf of Mexico, will the Texas shores Friday night with 125 mph winds, drenching the coastline from Corpus Christi east to the Louisiana border with up to 2 feet of rain.

The NHC predicts Bexar County will be hit with up to 10 inches of rain over the weekend, and the county’s officially under a flash flood warning. Monica Ramos, a county spokeswoman, said that public works crews are preparing for heavy flooding  — especially in the city’s south side — by  monitoring creeks, drainage ways, and low water crossings as the storm grows near. read more

AUGUST 24, 2017 / 12:43 AM

HOUSTON (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell, Anadarko Petroleum and Exxon Mobil announced they were curbing some oil and gas output on Wednesday at facilities in the Gulf of Mexico ahead of a storm expected to hit the Texas coast later this week.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) issued a hurricane watch Wednesday for much of the Texas coast, calling for slow-moving Tropical Depression Harvey to intensify as it nears landfall.

Shell said it was evacuating all personnel from the roughly 100,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) Perdido oil and gas production platform as a precaution. Anadarko said it had shut in production and was evacuating workers from its Boomvang, Gunnison, Lucius and Nansen platforms in the Gulf of Mexico. read more

Shell, where Mr Brinded was a director for 10 years until 2012, is facing an investigation over alleged corrupt payments to acquire an oilfield off the shore of Nigeria in 2011.

Jon Yeomans: 23 AUGUST 2017 • 11:07AM

The world’s largest mining company is to shake up its board after two directors announced they would be stepping down – one after just six months.

The FTSE 100 group also announced that former Shell executive Malcolm Brinded would be stepping down after three years on the board as a non-executive.

Mr Brinded would not be seeking re-election “given his involvement in ongoing legal proceedings in Italy relating to his prior employment with Shell”, Mr Nasser said. read more

Sergey Starodubtsev, the CEO of Shell NeftRoyal, said that Dutch Shell plans to increase the number of its gasoline stations in Russia to about 450.

24.8.2017: MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Anglo-Dutch oil giant Royal Dutch Shell intends to double the number of its gasoline stations in Russia to about 450, the CEO of company’s Russian subsidiary Shell Neft, Sergey Starodubtsev, said Wednesday.

“In Russia, Shell has 227 filling stations at the moment — in Moscow, St. Petersburg and other regions of Russia, for example, in Tatarstan. Do we plan to expand the network? Yes, we plan…. Shell considers Russia one of the priority regions… At least, we are planning to double the number of gas stations in Russia in the near term,” Starodubtsev said at a press conference. read more

MOSCOW, August 23. /TASS/. Global oil major Shell will double the number of its retail sites in Russia in midterm, chief executive of Shell Neft, its Russian affiliate, Sergey Starodubtsev said on Wednesday.

“We plan to double the number of retail sites in Russia in midterm,” Starodubtsev said.

Shell now has 227 retail sites in its chain.

The company’s plants in Russia

Multinational oil and gas major plans to bring its lubricants plant in Torzhok, Tver Region, to the design capacity of 200 mln liters per year in five years, Starodubtsev has added. read more

Oil companies evacuate workers as storm takes aim at Texas

AUGUST 23, 2017

HOUSTON (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell, Anadarko Petroleum and Exxon Mobil announced they were curbing some oil and gas output on Wednesday at facilities in the Gulf of Mexico ahead of a storm expected to hit the Texas coast later this week.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) issued a hurricane watch Wednesday for much of the Texas coast, calling for slow-moving Tropical Depression Harvey to intensify as it nears landfall.

Shell said it was evacuating all personnel from the roughly 100,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) Perdido oil and gas production platform as a precaution. Anadarko said it had shut in production and was evacuating workers from its Boomvang, Gunnison, Lucius and Nansen platforms in the Gulf of Mexico. read more

Shell starts new work in Nigeria’s Niger Delta

Aug. 23 (UPI) — The Nigerian subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell said Wednesday that hundreds of thousands of new barrels of product are expected from a project in the Niger Delta.

Shell said it started production from the second phase of its Gbaran-Ubie project in Nigeria’s Niger Delta region. The company said 18 wells have been drilled at the site already and a new pipeline connects it to a nearby plant.

Peak production is forecast at 175,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day by 2019, though most of that would be in the form of natural gas. read more

Dividend Stream: Aug 23, 2017

Summary

• Shell’s latest quarter was marked by successful cost reductions and acquisition-related synergies.
• Shell seems to be able to meet its cash flow obligations without much trouble.
• I recommend Shell for income investors, but with a few caveats.

Back on May 24th I “sounded the all clear” on Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A) (NYSE:RDS.B). Shell, I felt, would henceforth be able to pay its dividends and capital expenditure from operational cash flow. Shell’s latest quarter was another continuation of that, with ongoing synergies from the huge BG Group acquisition two years ago and also continued opex savings. Shell’s pro-forma workforce is about 30% smaller than it was in the beginning of 2016, and while that may not be good for employees who were laid off, it is a reflection of impressive modernization and productivity gains from the company itself. read more

Shell today confirmed it had kick-started production at Gbaran-Ubie Phase 2 in Nigeria’s Niger Delta region.

Written by Reporter – 23/08/2017 10:54 am

Today’s announcement is a positive step for Shell’s global gas portfolio,” said Andy Brown, Shell’s upstream director.

“It is also good news for Nigeria as gas from Gbaran-Ubie Phase 2 will strengthen supply to the domestic market and maintain supply to the export market.”

Phase 2 follows the success of the first phase of the Gbaran-Ubie integrated oil and gas development, which was commissioned in June 2010. Peak production of around 175,000 barrels of oil equivalent (boe) per day is expected in 2019. read more

AUGUST 23, 2017

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – Anglo-Dutch oil major Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L) has started gas production from the second phase of the Gbaran-Ubie project in Nigeria’s Niger Delta, the company said on Wednesday.

The project is an expansion of the Gbaran-Ubie development, which opened in June 2010.

Shell, through its Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria subsidiary, said the project would reach peak production of around 175,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2019. read more

BHP Billiton replaces directors Brinded and King

The firm says that, “given his involvement in ongoing legal proceedings in Italy relating to his prior employment with Shell”, Malcolm Brinded has decided not to stand for re-election as a non-exec.

Live Reporting: By Bill Wilson 23 August 2017 7.29

A shake-up at the board of mining company BHP Billiton has been announced this morning.

Firstly, the highly experienced Terry Bowen and John Mogford have been appointed to the BHP Board as independent non-executive directors.

But it is the departures that are more interesting.

The firm says that, “given his involvement in ongoing legal proceedings in Italy relating to his prior employment with Shell”, Malcolm Brinded has decided not to stand for re-election as a non-exec.

And “owing to concerns expressed by some investors”, fellow non-exec Grant King has decided that he will not stand for election at the 2017 annual general meeting. read more

AUGUST 22, 2017 / 2:13 PM

LONDON (Reuters) – French oil major Total (TOTF.PA) has overtaken rival Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L) to become the second-largest producer in the North Sea with its acquisition of Maersk’s (MAERSKb.CO) Norwegian and UK producing assets.

The $7.45 billion deal by Total was welcomed by the market, with analysts saying it helped the French company rebalance its portfolio by adding assets in developed countries after going for projects in riskier places such as Iran and Russia. read more

Children paddle past an oil pipeline head near their home in the Andoni settlement on Bonny waterways, in Nigeria’s southern Rivers state on April 12, 2011

By AFP: PUBLISHED: 10:40, 21 August 2017 

Royal Dutch Shell has raised an alarm over the continuing siege at a Nigerian facility by protesters, saying they could be putting their safety at risk.

Hundreds of protesters from the Kula and Belema communities in Nigeria’s restless southern Rivers state have occupied the plant since August 11 to press their demands for jobs and better living conditions.

“The illegal occupation of Belema Flow Station and Gas Plant in Rivers State has safety implications both for the people at the facilities and nearby communities,” the company’s Nigerian subsidiary, Shell Petroleum Development Company, said in a statement on Sunday. read more

Ukraine works to chart new energy strategy

Royal Dutch Shell at one point had a contract to explore what the Ukrainian government said was an area said to contain about 4 trillion cubic feet of shale natural gas.

By Daniel J. Graeber

Aug. 21 (UPI) — A Ukrainian government working to break out from under a Russian shadow said it’s developed a road map for a sustainable energy future.

Ukrainian energy security issues pre-date the outbreak of conflict that reached its zenith when Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula in 2014. Former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko was sentenced to seven years in prison a few years before the conflict on charges she abused authority when she helped broker a 2009 natural gas deal with Russia’s Gazprom. She later faced a $2.4 million suit for mismanaging her country’s United Energy Systems in the 1990s. read more

Up to 800 possible jobs for solar farm which has been given green light

POWER FROM THE SUN: An example of a large-scale solar farm.

The Delga Solar Farm will be the project of Shell Australia, subsidiary of multi-national oil giant Royal Dutch Shell.

THE Western Downs is keeping up its want to be Australia’s “energy capital” as it has approved the development application for the eighth solar farm project in the region yesterday morning.

The 250MW Delga Solar Farm will be built 25km south-west of Wandoan. This continues the prominence of Wandoan in the region, adding to the largest solar farm in Australia to be built in the area, as well as the approval for a new coal mine. read more

By Nick Cunningham – Aug 20, 2017, 6:00 PM CDT

Canada’s oil industry has faced a lot of strain lately. The list of oil majors selling off assets and withdrawing from high-cost oil sands is long. ConocoPhillips, Royal Dutch Shell, Marathon Oil, Murphy Oil and Statoil have sold upwards of $25 billion worth of oil sands assets this year. ExxonMobil also wrote down more than 3.5 billion barrels of oil reserves in Canada at the beginning of 2017. The companies viewed Alberta’s bitumen and heavy oil as no longer competitive in a $50 market, and many of them are focusing on other types of production, such as shale. read more

The Belema flow station has been occupied since August 11, 2017, by residents of the Belema and Offoin-Ama communities, who have camped out night and day at the facility.

Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) has described the occupation of its Belema flow station and gas plant in Kula Kingdom, Rivers State by host communities as  a “safety risk” to its operations.

The Belema flow station has been occupied since August 11, 2017, by residents of the Belema and Offoin-Ama communities, who have camped out night and day at the facility.

In a statement released on Sunday, SPDC said it was “deeply concerned that unauthorized persons (including women and children) have been observed in close proximity to equipment that processes crude oil and gas without the protection of safety clothing that is mandatory for people working or accessing such restricted areas.” read more

Royal Dutch Shell Plc is seeking creative solutions to bring gas from Israel and Cyprus to market, a step that could help turn the Mediterranean region into a major gas-producing hub.

Shell is in talks to buy natural gas from Israel’s Leviathan field, combine it with output from Cyprus’s Aphrodite field, in which it owns a 35 percent stake, and pump it to a liquefied natural gas plant in Egypt, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Talks are at an early stage and some of Aphrodite’s gas could be sold locally, said the people, who asked not to be named because the discussions are private. read more

Royal Dutch Shell Plc, the world’s largest oil trader, is said to have loaded its first crude from Libya in five years over the weekend, adding to evidence of the OPEC nation’s comeback.

The cargo on Saturday is for 600,000 barrels of crude from the Zueitina port, according to two people familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified because the information is private. A Shell spokesperson declined to comment on the shipment, but said the company’s Shell International Trading & Shipping “has a history marketing Libyan crudes. We welcome new business opportunities with Libya’s National Oil Corp.” read more

DUBAI (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell has lifted a cargo of 600,000 barrels of crude oil from Libya’s Zueitina port, its first from the war-torn north African country in 5 years, two industry sources told Reuters on Saturday.

“Libya is a significant resource holder and Shell International Trading and Shipping Company Ltd (STASCO) has a history marketing Libyan crudes,” a Shell spokesperson said.

“We welcome new business opportunities with Libya’s National Oil Corporation (NOC). However, we don’t comment on specific trading deals,” the spokesperson added. read more

The management team wants the company to focus on long-term returns, which means investing in different types of projects.

Making the grade

Shell has been trying to pull off an elaborate corporate shift over the past couple of years. It wanted to absorb and integrate BG Group into Shell, unload about $30 billion in assets from the combined company to lower total debt levels, reduce operating costs and capital spending, and get back to generating enough cash to cover capital expenditures and dividends. To make this transformation even more challenging, it was trying to do it in a low oil price environment.

Based on the company’s most recent performance, it looks like management has pulled it off. Here’s CEO Ben van Beurden taking stock of the situation. read more

HIROFUMI MATSUO, Nikkei senior staff writer

TOKYO — One after another, the top executives of Western oil majors have been stepping into the great Persian Gulf rift.

It has been more than two months since Saudi Arabia and other Arab states severed diplomatic ties with Qatar, and there are no signs of a thaw. But soon after the decision was made, a oil bosses began heading to Doha, the Qatari capital.

On June 14, just nine days after Qatar’s neighbors closed off their airspace and closed the sole land border, Royal Dutch Shell CEO Ben van Beurden met with Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani. Exxon Mobil CEO Darren Woods followed on June 24. Total CEO Patrick Pouyanne took his turn on July 11. read more

 Unused oil rigs sit in the Gulf of Mexico near Port Fourchon, Louisiana August 11, 2010. Lee Celano/File Photo

Royal Dutch Shell claimed the largest number of blocks, with 19 high bids valued at a combined $25.1 million.

Liz Hampton: AUGUST 16, 2017

HOUSTON (Reuters) – Major oil producers pushed up high bids at a Gulf of Mexico offshore auction to $121 million (94.08 million pounds) on Wednesday, a nearly seven-fold increase from a year ago, as their return to deep water exploration gained momentum.

This compared with $18 million in high bids at the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s (BOEM) Outer Continental Shelf auction last summer. read more

The television ad stated that natural gas was “the cleanest of all fossil fuels.”

This is the second time in 2017 that Dutch advertising authorities have sought to punish the oil and gas industry with Statoil reprimanded for claiming gas to be “clean energy” and “low emissions fuel” in June.

The Dutch Advertising Code Authority stated that the term “cleanest fossil fuel” was not in line with the MRC (the Dutch advertising code).

Friends of the Earth Europe co-filed the complaint.

Paul de Clerk of Friends of the Earth Europe, said: “This clear ruling by the advertisement standards board is of great importance. Time after time we see how oil and gas companies are misleading citizens and politicians. read more

Essential Retail sits down with David Bunch, global VP of Shell Retail to learn how the mobility services provider is innovating its traditional petrol forecourt model using technology.

Published: 09:32:05 on the 16th Aug 2017: Author: Caroline Baldwin

In recent years, the food retailers have had to adapt to changing consumer habits of convenience shopping. And Shell is no different, seriously stepping up its game to improve its ‘food for later’ offering, to ensure petrol stations are no longer known for their wilting bunches of flowers and rows of Ginsters pasties. read more

Shell pivots to electricity. The FT reports on the strategic shift underway at Royal Dutch Shell, which is moving to sell electricity to industrial consumers. The move highlights the potential for an oil major to adapt to a rapidly changing energy landscape. Beginning next year, Shell will sell electricity in the UK, but the company has said it would like to expand to the U.S. In the past, oil companies have declined to enter the electricity business, but with long-term oil demand uncertain, oil producers can hedge their bets by getting into electricity.

By Tom Kool – Aug 15, 2017, 3:00 PM CDT

Oil prices remain in a game of tug of war as conflicting news sends both the bears and the bulls to the sidelines.

• In 2015, the U.S. spent the least on energy in over a decade, largely due to the collapse of oil prices.

• In real terms, the U.S. spent $1.27 trillion on energy in 2015, down 20 percent from a year earlier.

• In inflation-adjusted terms, as well as in terms of percentage of GDP, the expenditures were the lowest since 2004. read more

By Farron Cousins: 15 August 2017

For many years, a standard talking point from the fossil fuel industry and those who speak on the industry’s behalf has been that natural gas is a cleaner alternative to conventional energy sources like coal and oil. This talking point is at least partially responsible for many people—including former President Barack Obama and his Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz—believing that natural gas can act as a “bridge fuel” in the eventual shift from coal and oil to renewable sources of energy. read more

Oil majors quietly investing into new technology start-ups

‘Disruptive power’ from small companies prompts Shell to move

Major oil companies are joining Silicon Valley in backing energy-technology start-ups, a signal that that those with the deepest pockets in the industry are casting around for a new strategy.

From Royal Dutch Shell Plc to Total SA and Exxon Mobil Corp., the biggest investor-owned oil companies are dribbling money into ventures probing the edge of energy technologies. The investments go beyond wind and solar power into projects that improve electricity grids and brew new fuels from renewable resources. read more

The Dutch advertising watchdog will on Tuesday censure Shell and Exxon for claiming that natural gas was “the cleanest of all fossil fuels” in an advert earlier this year. It will be the second time this summer that the Netherlands advertising standards board has ruled against the fossil fuels industry… FULL ARTICLE 

August 14, 2017

Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) remitted 29.8 billion dollars to the federation account and 1.2 billion dollars to Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) between 2002 and 2016, Igo Weli, General Manager, External Relations, made the disclosure on Monday.

Mr. Weli spoke in Port Harcourt while reacting to the shut-down of SPDC flow station and gas plant in Belema community by angry youth.

The youth accused the company of neglecting them and marginalising their community. read more