Adriana Barrera, Marianna Parraga JANUARY 31, 2018 / 3:31 PM

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L) won five of the first eight oil and gas blocks awarded in Mexico’s prized deep waters in the Gulf of Mexico, making the early running in the country’s biggest auction since the energy sector was opened to international oil firms.

The stakes are high for Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and his ruling party, which is keen to showcase the results of the liberalization ahead of a presidential election in July. read more

By Janene Pieters on January 31, 2018 – 13:40

Dutch gas firm NAM will for the time being not pay profits to its two shareholders – Shell and ExxonMobil, Shell announced in a press release. NAM has 18 billion euros available to compensate for damaged caused by gas extraction related earthquakes in Groningen for the next five years, the Dutch gas firm also announced in a press release.

These two press releases were an attempt to calm unrest caused by the revelation that Shell withdrew its so-called 403 declaration from NAM last year, as Trouw reported on Saturday. This 403 declaration held Shell liable for NAM’s debts. The withdrawal of this declaration, which happened in June last year, raised concerns that Shell is trying to escape its liability for damages caused by fracking earthquakes in Groningen. read more

Jordan Blum, Houston Chronicle: Updated 7:01 am, Wednesday, January 31, 2018

BP said it made two successful discoveries in the North Sea – one of which is with fellow Big Oil giants Royal Dutch Shell and Chevron.

BP said it struck oil in its Capercaillie prospect in the central North Sea east of Scotland, as well as the northwestern corner of the North Sea in the Achmelvich well, the latter of which is the partnership with Shell and Chevron.

The discoveries lend optimism to a slowly rebounding offshore energy sector, especially in the North Sea that’s so critical for Europe’s oil supplies. read more

BY BERT WILKINSON: 31 JAN 2018

Now that Guyana’s oil and gas basin has been deemed as one of the hottest and most exciting prospects in the world, Shell Oil has to be regretting its decision to withdraw as an investment partner with United States giant ExxonMobil, which has so far drilled six successful wells offshore Guyana worth about 3.2 billion barrels of oil, officials said Monday, Jan. 29.

Minister of Natural Resources Raphael Trotman said Exxon’s mid 2015 “world class” oil and gas find has clearly taken away all the fears and apprehensions about wasting investor dollars exploring offshore Guyana and Shell is one company which has missed out on the chance to cash in on one of the world’s largest oil finds in more than a decade. Exxon plans to begin producing about 120,000 barrels of oil daily in early 2020. This will make Guyana the largest producer in the Caribbean Community. The others are Trinidad, Suriname and Barbados. read more

Chayut Setboonsarng, Florence Tan: 31 JAN 2018

BANGKOK/SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell said on Wednesday that it will sell its stake in the Bongkot gas field and adjoining acreage offshore Thailand to PTT Exploration & Production PCL for $750 million before tax.

The deal with PTTEP comes after Shell in October canceled a $900 million agreement to sell the same gas field stakes to Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Company (KUFPEC).

“The two deal values are not comparable and we will not comment further on any commercial terms,” a Shell spokeswoman said in an e-mail when asked about the discrepancy between the price tags in the two sale accords. read more

Reuters Staff: JANUARY 30, 2018 / 3:58 PM

* The Netherlands is most gas-reliant EU nation

* Groningen gas output already 60 pct below 2013 peak

* Government to cut production as much as possible

* Falling export obligations ease demand pressure

By Bart H. Meijer

AMSTERDAM, Jan 30 (Reuters) – The Netherlands can cut gas output from the Groningen field by roughly a fifth after this month’s tremors but it will need to fill some of the gap with increased imports to meet domestic needs and honour its export contracts, analysts say. read more

January 30th, 2018

Shell Ireland is one of eight industrial sites listed on the Environmental Protection Agency’s latest list of industrial sites under its radar for breaches of environmental regulations.

The sites are included on the environmental watchdog’s National Priority Site (NPS) list, which is updated on a quarterly basis. Six of the sites account for more than half of all complaints received in 2017, the majority of which concerned odour, noise or dust. read more

By Paul J. Gough  –  Reporter, Pittsburgh Business Times

Jan 29, 2018, 11:04am EST Updated Jan 29, 2018, 8:47pm

A coalition of environmental groups is raising concerns about the route of the pipeline Shell Chemicals is using to carry ethane to its petrochemical plant under construction in Beaver County.

FracTracker Alliance announced Monday its own environmental study of the route of the 97-mile Falcon Pipeline through 22 towns in Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia. The study said 550 houses, 20 businesses, 240 wells and five schools are among 1,000 feet of the pipeline as well as three bodies of water in the Ambridge Reservoir watershed. read more

Written by Mark Lammey – 29/01/2018 7:53 am

Shell is performing “extremely well” at a time when Brent crude is at its highest price for three years, the oil giant’s upcoming fourth quarter results will show.

The Anglo-Dutch major is in its strongest position for many years in terms of its cash generation thanks to its upstream and LNG businesses, analysts said.

RBC Capital Markets anticipates Shell’s fourth-quarter adjusted net income will more than double year-on-year. The company recorded adjusted earnings of £1.3billion in Q4 2016.

Analysts said Shell, whose shares are up about 10% over the last 12 months, had been boosted by the sale of assets and disciplined spending.

The company implemented a £21billion-plus divestment plan following its £47billion mega-merger with BG Group, which was completed in 2016.

As part of that programme, Shell sold about £3billion worth of North Sea assets to Chrysaor in 2017.

RBC analysts said the company would have cashed in £1.1billion in the fourth quarter from the proceeds of UK North Sea sales alone. read more

FILE PHOTO: Four rigs drill at the Super Pad in Seven Generations Energy’s Kakwa River Project in northwest Alberta, Canada in a photo provided January 19, 2018. Seven Generations Energy Ltd/Handout via REUTERS

Nia Williams: 29 JAN 2018

CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) – The revolution in U.S. shale oil has battered Canada’s energy industry in recent years, ending two decades of rapid expansion and job creation in the nation’s vast oil sands.

Now Canada is looking to its own shale fields to repair the economic damage.

Canadian producers and global oil majors are increasingly exploring the Duvernay and Montney formations, which they say could rival the most prolific U.S. shale fields.

Canada is the first country outside the United States to see large-scale development of shale resources, which already account for 8 percent of total Canadian oil output. China, Russia and Argentina also have ample shale reserves but have yet to overcome the obstacles to full commercial development. read more

Port Harcourt — Five months after it shut down Shell flow station at Belema, hundreds of indigenes of Kula are still occupying Shell flow at Belema in Akuku-Torlu Local Government Area of Rivers State.

The indigenes, drawn from Offoinama, Belema and Ngeje, occupied the flow station in August 2017 shortly after it was shut down by irate youths of the community.

A visit by our reporter to the flow station at the weekend revealed that hundreds of nursing mothers, men and youths are still occupying the facility. read more

There has been furious reaction after energy giant Shell distanced itself from possible claims for earthquake damages in Groningen province made against its subsidiary gas production company NAM.

MPs are calling for an emergency debate to discuss the issue, the Financieele Dagblad reported on Monday.

In addition, farmers in the earthquake-damaged province of Groningen are planning a demonstration Monday evening in Delfzijl, local paper Dagblad van het Noorden said. Farmers claim subsidence harms their crops and threatens their manure stores.

Moreover, many claim NAM does not have the money to settle the escalating claims which are certain to reach billions of euros.

The row was triggered on Saturday when Trouw said Shell was backing away from possible earthquake damages claims made again NAM, an assertion based on Shell Nederland’s annual report published in June 2017. read more

A pump jack in a Permian Basin oil field in West Texas. The area has been a focus of the shale drilling boom. Credit Spencer Platt/Getty Images North America

By CLIFFORD KRAUSS: JAN. 28, 2018

HOUSTON — A substantial rise in oil prices in recent months has led to a resurgence in American oil production, enabling the country to challenge the dominance of Saudi Arabia and dampen price pressures at the pump.

The success has come in the face of efforts by Saudi Arabia and its oil allies to undercut the shale drilling spree in the United States. Those strategies backfired and ultimately ended up benefiting the oil industry.

Overcoming three years of slumping prices proved the resiliency of the shale boom. Energy companies and their financial backers were able to weather market turmoil — and the maneuvers of the global oil cartel — by adjusting exploration and extraction techniques. read more

Jillian Ambrose: 28 JANUARY 2018 • 5:04PM

Royal Dutch Shell is set to unveil its highest earnings since the oil market collapse this week, just one year after the oil major’s lowest profits in more than a decade.

The Anglo-Dutch oil group’s efforts to overhaul its portfolio during the depths of the oil market rout are expected to be turbo-charged by the recovery in oil prices to over $65 a barrel last year, from under $30 a barrel at their lowest point in early 2016.

Analysts predict the group’s earnings on a “current cost of supply” basis will be more than $15.7bn (£11bn) for 2017 from just $3.5bn (£2.5bn) the year before. The final quarter of last year is expected to generate higher earnings than the whole of 2016 at $4.2bn (£3bn), according to analyst consensus forecasts. read more

This year will be the year of the oil and gas revival, as prices lift performance and major projects come online.

While Australia is increasing its focus on securing domestic gas supply, it is taking a greater role globally and evolving the industry.

Wood Mackenzie Australasia oil and gas leader Saul Kavonic has outlined the five trends that will mark LNG growth in 2018.

Australia leads LNG

Australia has been ramping up its LNG projects for a number of years, and 2018 will see it finally take the world’s number one spot from Qatar. read more

PERRY GOURLEY Published: 23:54 Saturday 27 January 2018

The sustained recovery seen in oil prices is this week expected to see Royal Dutch Shell deliver a doubling in annual profits.

The energy giant, which this month approved its first significant development in the North Sea in more than six years, is predicted to report adjusted earnings of $15.7 billion (£11bn) for 2017, from $7.2bn a year earlier.

The improvement comes as Brent crude has hit $71 a barrel for the first time in more than three years, boosted by supply curbs from oil cartel Opec, a record run of declines in US crude inventories and a weaker US dollar. read more

January 28 2018, 12:01am

Royal Dutch Shell is forecast to have doubled its annual profits thanks to a resurgent oil price.

Brent crude has soared by 55% since June to more than $70 a barrel last week — a level not seen since the 2014 crash.

The surge is expected to have lifted Shell’s earnings from $7.2bn to $15.7bn last year, according to a consensus of analysts’ forecasts published ahead of this week’s results.

The Anglo-Dutch giant has been cutting costs and reducing debt levels after its 2015 takeover of smaller FTSE 100 rival BG. Last year it sold a large chunk of its North Sea oil fields to private equity-backed Chrysaor for as much as £3bn. read more

Big names in Houston’s energy world, like KBR, Shell and SBM Offshore, were suddenly having to explain how they came to win drilling rights and contracts worth billions of dollars in countries like Nigeria, Angola and Brazil. That money was then to be passed to Malabu Oil and Gas, a company controlled by the former Nigerian oil minister and convicted money launderer Dan Etete. For years, Shell said it was unaware of what happened to the money, but emails obtained by Global Witness indicated that the company knew the money was going to Malabu. read more

Published January 26, 2018 Features Dow Jones Newswires

Shell reported a “mechanical malfunction” that led to flaring of gases at its refinery in Martinez, Calif.

In a statement to the California Emergency Management Agency, the refinery said the flaring happened late Thursday night and caused the release of more than 500 pounds of sulfur dioxide. The flaring event has since stopped, it added.

The 160,000-barrel-a-day refinery is located about 30 miles northeast of San Francisco. read more

People take pictures of a high-efficiency petrol-burning concept car as it is unveiled by Royal Dutch Shell during a ceremony in Beijing, China April 22, 2016. REUTERS/Damir Sagolj

Ron Bousso, Clara Denina: JANUARY 26, 2018

LONDON (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L) has spent over $400 million on a range of acquisitions in recent weeks, from solar power to electric car charging points, cranking up its drive to expand beyond its oil and gas business and reduce its carbon footprint.

The scale of the buying spree pales in comparison to the Anglo-Dutch company’s $25 billion annual spending budget. But its first forays into the solar and retail power sectors for many years shows a growing urgency to develop cleaner energy businesses. read more

Craig Walker, CIO for Shell downstream, advises IT professionals to shed the analytical person’s habit of “being impatient with people not seeing things the way you do”.

Walker is one of a group of global CIOs at Shell who set the oil and gas giant’s technology strategy. Downstream is about the refining of crude oil, processing natural gas, and distributing oil and gas products. Walker sees his primary role as that of demonstrating leadership to the IT function, developing his team to move to a commerce first vocation. read more

Even in the dynamic world of business, some things always hold true: the Big Mac outsells the Whopper, Google gets more searches than Bing, and Exxon Mobil Corp. is the world’s biggest public oil company. Or perhaps not.

Royal Dutch Shell Plc is the closest it’s ever been to attaining the long-coveted prize of overtaking its American rival. While the Anglo-Dutch oil major still has some work left to snatch Exxon’s crown, Chief Executive Officer Ben van Beurden has made getting to the top his restless mission.

“At the moment we are number two and we are closing in on number one,” he said this month. “We almost have the tiger by the tail.”

That van Beurden thinks his goal is even in sight shows the risk he took in doing the industry’s biggest deal in decades is starting to pay off. Meanwhile, the strategy charted by Exxon’s former CEO Rex Tillerson has left the American major slightly adrift, according to investors.

“Ben doesn’t just talk the talk, he walks the walk now,” Richard Hulf, co-manager in Artemis Global Energy Fund, part of a London investment management group that owns both Exxon and Shell shares. “Shell’s got a bit better and Exxon is at a weak point in its cycle.”

The narrowing gap is likely to show through when both companies post earnings next week. Analysts estimate Shell will report $16 billion of profit in 2017 helped by the acquisition of BG Group Plc. Exxon is forecast to report $15.7 billion of earnings, dropping behind its European rival for the first time in at least two decades. Shell is also likely to have churned out more cash from operations than Exxon last year.

It’s the $53 billion BG deal that’s really made a difference. When oil’s crash started in the middle of 2014, just months into Van Beurden’s tenure as Shell’s boss, he saw an opportunity. BG’s oil projects in Brazil and gas in Australia were just starting up, easing uncertainty on future growth. Rumored for years to be a suitor, van Beurden finally made the move for the British company.

The deal immediately put Shell in an exclusive club with Exxon, placing it on a plane above its European rivals Total SA and BP Plc. Some use the phrase ultra-major to differentiate the industry’s big two from the pack – at least until Saudi Aramco’s giant IPO, slated for the end of this year.

It wasn’t all plain sailing. As oil prices continued to slide in 2014, many analysts thought the price tag was excessive, forcing Shell to borrow too much. Van Beurden was staking his reputation on the deal and he pressed on, seeking to create what he often calls a “world-class investment case.” The company was forced to cut costs, sell assets and rein in spending to keep borrowing under control.

Still, in the two years since the BG deal closed, Shell’s B shares in London, the most widely traded, have returned more than five times Exxon’s, reversing the performance of the previous two years and providing superior returns for shareholders.

“Strategically BG was the right deal,” said Iain Pyle, the investment director for U.K. equities at the investment unit of Standard Life Aberdeen Plc, among the largest Shell shareholders. “The only question about it at the time was the price they paid and the stress they put on the balance sheet to do the deal.”

In the start of 2015, before Shell announced the BG deal, Exxon’s market value was about $180 billion more than Shell’s and it had just reported an annual profit $10 billion higher.

Since then, Exxon has struggled to keep the business growing. Exxon’s production in the third quarter was 1.8 percent lower than a year ago while Shell’s rose 1.7 percent. The American company’s oil and gas reserves have also dropped (though this may change this year as it books reserves from a  giant discovery  off the coast of Guyana in South America.) The gap in the two companies’ market value has more than halved to about $73 billion.

Shell’s record takeover fueled speculation Exxon would snap up a big rival to maintain its world-leader status, but it’s recent deal history hasn’t been a resounding success.

The $35-billion purchase of American shale gas company XTO in 2010 came shortly before gas prices plummeted. It also struck a deal with Rosneft PJSC to explore and develop giant offshore fields in Russia in 2011, right before they became locked behind a wall of U.S. sanctions. These left its “upstream portfolio disadvantaged,” Credit Suisse said. read more

After more than three years of belt-tightening, a resurgence in crude prices has fueled oil-company optimism, and a readiness to reopen the checkbook.

More than two-thirds of 813 senior oil executives expect increased capital spending in 2018, double last year’s percentage, according to a survey by Norwegian consultants DNV GL. About a third say research and development budgets will rise, and the same number predict hiring will expand.

Underlying those projections is a recovery in Brent crude to $70 a barrel, a level not seen since 2014 and more than double the price two years ago. That’s emboldened major producers to roll back some of the self-help measures they introduced during the downturn. Royal Dutch Shell Plc stopped offering dividends in stock last quarter, while BP Plc has started share buybacks. read more

AMSTERDAM, Jan 24 (Reuters) – The Dutch gas regulator will publish its recommendation for production at the Groningen gas field on Feb. 1, a spokeswoman said on Wednesday.

Regulator SodM was asked to provide advice on a new production cut after the northern Dutch region was hit by the strongest earthquake in years earlier this month.

Both the regulator and gas production company NAM, a joint venture between Royal Dutch Shell and Exxon Mobil , have said that production needs to be cut substantially from the current level of 21.6 billion cubic metres (bcm) per year to limit seismic risks in the region. read more

By TheCable: 24 JAN 2018

Despite the litany of court cases surrounding the award of the juicy deepwater OPL 245, the two principal stakeholders in the acreage, Anglo/Dutch firm Shell and Italian oil giant Eni, are proceeding with the development of the main oil field already discovered.

TheCable Petrobarometer understands that Shell and Eni have taken the final investment decision (FID) to develop the field known as Zabazaba field, which lies in water depth ranging from 1,700 and 2,000 meters and holds an estimated oil reserves of up to a billion barrels. read more

Ron Bousso: 24 JAN 2018

LONDON (Reuters) – The world’s top oil companies are expected to generate more cash in 2018 than at any other time this decade after three painful years of cuts, but it isn’t party time yet.

The shift in sentiment has been rapid as crude prices have risen by more than 50 percent over the past six months to reach $70 a barrel, a level not seen since the crash year of 2014, thanks to global supply cuts led by OPEC.

Only a year ago, many investors still fretted over the sustainability of the sector’s lavish dividend payouts in a weak energy market. Now the focus on company boards is gradually switching from slashing jobs and investment to boosting shareholders’ returns and growth. read more

Last March, Royal Dutch Shell said it was selling most of its stake in Canada’s oil sands, a vast project that has extracted millions of barrels of sticky, gooey hydrocarbons from the ground in a process that resembles mining more than drilling. The oil and gas giant announced that it was unloading its oil-sands assets, for $7.25 billion, so that it could double down on businesses “where we have global scale and a competitive advantage.”

Left unsaid was a deeper reason for the divestiture. Months of deliberations behind closed doors at Shell headquarters in The Hague, Netherlands, had led the top brass at the world’s largest non-state-owned oil company by sales to conclude that the energy industry was changing fundamentally—in a way that could turn the profitable oil-sands operation into a liability. read more

The world’s largest energy companies plan to significantly widen a two-year effort to standardize the kit they use to pump oil and gas, hoping they can deliver significant cost savings, said people familiar with the matter.

The discussions, scheduled on Wednesday for a closed-door meeting at the World Economic Forum in Davos, are the latest sign companies are seeking to tighten their belts permanently even as oil prices recover. Bespoke equipment designed on a project-by-project basis was common during the decade-long boom in crude prices, but looks less affordable after the industry’s worst downturn in a generation. read more

The Value Portfolio: Jan 23, 2018

Summary

• Royal Dutch Shell took advantage of the market downturn to acquire BG Group. That let the company grow by 50%, something that has supported production significantly.
• Royal Dutch Shell anticipates cash flow of $25-30 billion by 2020, and that could grow to almost $50 billion with recovering oil prices. That will result in significant reward to shareholders.
• I think LNG will be an especially rewarding opportunity for Royal Dutch Shell going forward. That could help the company’s cash flow to grow even further.

Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE:RDS.A) (NYSE: RDS.B) has been on a tear recently, growing to a $300 billion oil giant, making it the second-largest publicly traded oil company in the world. Yet the company isn’t done. A combination of the company’s integration of its more than $50 billion acquisition of BG Group, at an opportune time, combined with the company’s strong portfolio and its growth potential makes the company a royally good investment.

BG Group Combination

The company’s acquisition of BG Group, at a time when the oil markets were dropping, was viewed with various opinions. Many wanted the company to not issue shares when prices were low and preserve cash. However, the company paying for roughly 40% of the acquisition with cash minimized the dilution to shareholders. And it enabled the company to gain access to strong assets at a great time. read more

By Lindsay Stein and Megan Graham. Published on January 23, 2018.

Oil and gas giant Shell is tossing its global creative and media business into review after working with a WPP team consisting of JWT and MediaCom for many years, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

Ad Age has learned that the global account is valued at more than $200 million.

Shell has sent RFIs to select media and creative agencies, these people said, adding that the winning shops do not have to be part of the same holding company. Shell representatives declined to comment. read more

Daniel Boffey in Brussels: Tue 23 Jan 2018

Extraction from the Groningen field, one of Europe’s richest sources of gas, is operated in a joint venture between Royal Dutch Shell and ExxonMobil, but has been capped in recent years by ministers due to seismic activity in the area. Following a quake two weeks ago which registered at 3.4 on the Richter scale – the second-strongest recorded above the gas fields and the biggest in five years – the country’s minister for economic affairs, Eric Wiebes, put major corporations on notice this week. read more

Reuters Staff: JANUARY 22, 2018

SAO PAULO, Jan 22 (Reuters) – Anglo-Dutch oil company Shell has hired a former executive of U.S.-based First Solar to lead its solar energy business in Latin America, a source said on Monday, as the industry invests in renewable energy to address global concerns about carbon emissions.

Maria Gabriela da Rocha Oliveira, First Solar’s former senior manager of business development for Brazil and South America, will take on a similar role at Shell’s New Energies unit for the region, said the source, requesting anonymity to discuss the confidential matter. read more

Tuesday 23 Jan 2018

Companies come together to develop large-scale hydrogen production project

The world’s largest hydrogen electrolysis plant is set to be built in Germany. The plant will be built at a refinery in Rhineland, Germany, by ITM Power, a leading developer of fuel cells, and Shell. The two companies will also be working with SINTEF, thinkstep, and Element Energy to develop the new electrolysis plant. The project has received some $10 million in funding from the Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking, adding onto another $10 million in investments the project had already attracted. read more

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection is inviting public comments on a proposed water obstruction and encroachment permits for a nearly 60 mile ethane pipeline by the Shell Pipeline Company. Royal Dutch Shell is building the $6 billion facility on the Ohio River in Beaver with a view toward using ethane from the Marcellus shale play and processing it into ethylene and, finally, polyethylene for the plastics industry.

The 12-inch pipeline would connect the Shell ethane plant in Beaver County with facilities in other parts of Pennsylvania and Ohio, according to DEP. read more

Aliya Ram and Andrew Ward in London: 19 JAN 2018

Royal Dutch Shell has applied for a licence to operate private hire taxis in London through one of its subsidiaries, marking the first move by an oil major to test out an Uber-style technology in Europe’s biggest car-booking market. Shell’s FarePilot app, which tells drivers where there is high demand for taxis, filed the application with London’s transport authority in July. If successful, the service could expand to offer a full taxi booking service for drivers to use. FULL FT ARTICLE read more

SHELL and ITM Power have announced a plan to build the world’s largest hydrogen electrolysis plant at Shell’s Rheinland refinery in Wesseling, Germany.

The 17m t/y refinery uses around 180,000 t/y of hydrogen obtained through steam-reforming natural gas, to process and upgrade the refinery’s products. The new electrolysis plant, called ‘Refhyne’, will produce 1,300 t/y of hydrogen, and will be fully integrated into the refinery’s processes. As well as providing some of the refinery’s hydrogen, it will enable Shell and ITM Power to test the technology and explore applications in other sectors. read more

Jan. 18, 2018 6:58 PM ET|By: Carl Surran, SA News Editor

Nigeria’s House of Representatives passed a bill governing the country’s energy sector after the Senate did so in May, taking Africa’s top oil producer one step closer to a much-awaited overhaul of the key industry.

The Petroleum Industry Governance Bill now awaits President Muhammadu Buhari’s signing to become law.

The bill will “promote openness and transparency in the industry by clarifying the rules, processes, and procedures that govern the oil and gas sector,” Senate President Bukola Saraki said in a statement Thursday. “After nearly two decades of back-and-forth, near-misses and ‘near-passages’, the 8th National Assembly finally reached a milestone.” read more

Late last year, a Milan judge ruled that Shell and Eni must stand trial in Italy…

A spokeswoman for JP Morgan dismissed the accusation on Thursday, saying the firm “considers the allegations made in the claim to be unsubstantiated and without merit”.

The suit filed in British courts relates to a purchase of the offshore OPL 245 oilfield in Nigeria by oil majors Royal Dutch Shell and Eni in 2011.

At the core of the case is a $1.3 billion payment from Shell and Eni to secure the block that the lawsuit says was deposited into a Nigerian government escrow account managed by JP Morgan. read more

Gaurav Sharma , CONTRIBUTOR: 18 JAN 2018

Oil giant Royal Dutch Shell’s trading arm Shell Trading International made a significant move into blockchain development on Thursday (18 January) by bagging a minority stake in London, U.K.-based start-up Applied Blockchain.

In the simplest of terms, a blockchain is akin to a digitally distributed ledger that can be replicated and spread across many nodes in a peer-to-peer network, thereby minimising the need for oversight and governance of a single ledger. read more

FILE PHOTO: A bird’s-eye view of ships along the coast in Singapore July 9, 2017. REUTERS/Jorge Silva/File Photo

The suspects in the latest case are accused of stealing oil from Royal Dutch Shell’s (RDSa.L) Pulau Bukom refinery, often during business hours, and distributing it around the region.

Several of the men charged worked for Shell. Employees of a major Singaporean fuel trading company and a London-listed business that inspects and certifies cargos have also been charged.

“Siphoning off fuel is a common thing in Southeast Asia. There is a huge black market for it,” said Ben Stewart, commercial manager of the shipping security firm Maritime Asset Security and Training, which has helped authorities in the region fight fuel theft and smuggling. read more

By Irina Slav – Jan 18, 2018, 9:00 AM CST

Just a couple of days after it acquired a hefty stake in a U.S. solar company, Shell has made another solar move, closing a power supply deal with British Solar Renewables. Shell Energy Europe, the regional marketing and trading unit of the supermajor, will receive the whole output of the Bradenstoke solar power plant—the second-largest in Britain—for a period of five years.

Bradenstoke has a peak capacity of 69.8 MW and produces an average of 65 GWh annually. The size of the deal was not disclosed. read more

By Jared Stonesifer: Posted Jan 17, 2018 at 2:00 PMUpdated Jan 17, 2018 at 2:02 PM

POTTER TWP. — Construction on Shell Chemicals’ ethane cracker plant is ahead of schedule, with more than 1,800 workers currently on site, according to a local building trades official.

Mike McDonald, president of the Beaver County Building and Construction Trades Council, said he met with Shell officials recently to discuss the progress on the $6 billion cracker plant in Potter Township. read more

Reuters Staff: JAN 18, 2018

LONDON (Reuters) – Shell Energy Europe and British Solar Renewables (BSR) have agreed on a five-year supply deal for power generated from Britain’s second-largest solar power plant in Bradenstoke, BSR said in a statement.

The plant consists of 269,000 panels and has a 69.8 megawatt peak capacity. On an annual basis, it generates approximately 65 gigawatt-hours of solar energy, saving over 21,000 tonnes of CO2 a year, BSR said.

Shell Energy Europe, an energy marketing and trading division of Royal Dutch Shell, is present in 14 European power markets, which includes the offtake of renewable power from wind farms and solar parks in Britain and Europe. read more

BY RICHARD A. EPSTEIN ON 1/17/18 AT 9:30 AM

New York City and a number of California municipalities, including San Francisco and Oakland, have filed lawsuits against five major oil companies—BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Exxon Mobil, and Royal Dutch Shell—for contributing to the increased risk of global warming.

These complaints cite recent scientific reports that project that sea levels will rise from 0.2 meters to 2.0 meters (or 0.66 to 6.6 feet) by 2100, with a major loss of land surface area and serious climate disruptions. read more

Royal Dutch Shell Plc and BP Plc agreed annual deals to buy Libyan crude, underscoring how the North African country’s recovering production and improving security are enticing some of the world’s largest oil companies.

Shell’s deal with Libya’s National Oil Corp. was the first of its kind since 2013 and Europe’s biggest oil company will load its first cargo under the contract within days, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified because they’re not authorized to talk to the media. BP, which didn’t have a term deal in 2017, also reached an agreement for this year, the people said. read more

After Carillion how many firms can the pensions lifeboat rescue? 

The Pension Protection Fund can absorb the firm’s liabilities but the spotlight is now on others with big pension deficits

The companies with the biggest deficits, according to a report last year from pension consultants LCP, are Royal Dutch Shell, BP, BT and BAE Systems. The four FTSE 100 companies each had a deficit of more than £6bn in 2016.

Rupert Jones:Tue 16 Jan 2018 18.00 GMT Last modified on Wed 17 Jan 2018 10.44 GMT

The sprawling construction and outsourcing firm had a pension deficit of £580m but is now likely to rise to at least £800m because it no longer has a solvent business standing alongside it. The company’s crash into liquidation has thrown the spotlight on other firms with huge pension scheme deficits such as IAG, BTand BAE.

It has also raised questions about how many more big company failures the Pension Protection Fund (PPF) can absorb, and why companies with big deficits are allowed to pump out bumper dividend payouts to shareholders. read more

The UK’s workplace safety watchdog has reprimanded Shell following a gas leak on the Brent Bravo platform in November.

Written by Mark Lammey – 17/01/2018 11:38 am

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) said Shell has failed to “prevent the uncontrolled release of flammable or explosive substances”.

Its inspector accused the oil major of failing to ensure valves on the rig were kept in “efficient working order and in good repair”.

Shell has been given until March 8 to comply with the improvement notice.

A spokesman for Shell UK said: “Shell UK can confirm that we were issued with an HSE improvement notice on 8^th December 2017 in relation to a small hydrocarbon release on our Brent Bravo platform in the North Sea. read more

By Sarah Kent and Benoit Faucon Published January 16, 2018: Dow Jones Newswires

LONDON — Royal Dutch Shell PLC is giving up on its last oil fields in Iraq, leaving the world’s second-biggest oil company with a dwindling footprint in the Middle East — a region it helped build into a petroleum powerhouse.

Shell said Monday it is selling for an undisclosed amount a stake in the West Qurna 1 oil field in Iraq to Japan’s Itochu Corp., the latest step in a gradual retreat from the region. The company is also expected to give up its holding in Iraq’s Majnoon oil field later this year, though it will retain its natural-gas interests in the country. read more

Liz Hampton: 16 JAN 2018

HOUSTON (Reuters) – Surging shale production is poised to push U.S. oil output to more than 10 million barrels per day – toppling a record set in 1970 and crossing a threshold few could have imagined even a decade ago.

And this new record, expected within days, likely won’t last long. The U.S. government forecasts that the nation’s production will climb to 11 million barrels a day by late 2019, a level that would rival Russia, the world’s top producer. read more