January 10, 2018, 10:06:00 AM EDT By Zacks Equity Research
Integrated oil and gas company , Royal Dutch Shell plc RDS.A recently agreed to divest its coal gasification technology business and patent portfolio for liquids gasification to Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. APD , an industrial gas provider. The financial terms of the deal, which will close in the upcoming months, are yet to be disclosed.
The technology being sold is clean, efficient and reliable and is used to convert low-value refinery residues and asphaltenes into synthesis gas or syngas. Moreover, Shell also established a strategic alliance with Air Products with the target to render solutions to the liquids gasification market. The solution range incorporates engineering, procurement, construction activities, plant operations and technology licensing.
As far as Air Products is concerned, the deal will enable it to increase its capacity to generate syngas for the ongoing and future projects in hand. The company has plans to develop a coal-to-syngas production facility of $3.5 billion in Yulin City of Shaanxi Province in China. Moreover, Air Products created a joint venture in September 2017 with a Chinese coal mining company to supply syngas for 20 years.
What Led to the Move?
The divestment is in line with Shell’s strategy to get rid of debt stemming from its $50 billion acquisition of BG Group. The move will also help the company to upgrade and streamline its portfolio.
Notably, the company has already divested more than $23 billion worth of its assets as part of its plan to divest assets worth $30 billion in the 2016-2018 time period. Additionally, Shell intends to divest more than $10 billion worth of assets in the 2019-2020 time period. We would like to remind investors that as of Sep 30, 2017, Shell had around $80 billion in long-term debt. Its debt-to-capital ratio was 25.4%, which the company intends to reduce to 20% with the help of its divestment programs and operational efficiency.
About Shell
Headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands, Shell explores for and extracts crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids. The company transports oil and gas, converts natural gas to liquids to produce and market fuels and other products. It also extracts bitumen from mined oil sands and turns it into synthetic crude oil. Shell also generates electricity from the wind. The company divides its operations into four major segments: Upstream, Downstream, Corporate and Integrated Gas.
For the first nine months of 2017, the Anglo-Dutch company generated an impressive $15 billion in free cash flows, the most by any supermajor. Moreover, Shell was comfortably able to cover its payouts with cash from operations – something investors really want right now.
In addition, Shell’s stock has gained 26.5% in the last year, substantially outperforming the 12.5% rise of the industry it belongs to.
This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.
Royal Dutch Shell conspired directly with Hitler, financed the Nazi Party, was anti-Semitic and sold out its own Dutch Jewish employees to the Nazis. Shell had a close relationship with the Nazis during and after the reign of Sir Henri Deterding, an ardent Nazi, and the founder and decades long leader of the Royal Dutch Shell Group. His burial ceremony, which had all the trappings of a state funeral, was held at his private estate in Mecklenburg, Germany. The spectacle (photographs below) included a funeral procession led by a horse drawn funeral hearse with senior Nazis officials and senior Royal Dutch Shell directors in attendance, Nazi salutes at the graveside, swastika banners on display and wreaths and personal tributes from Adolf Hitler and Reichsmarschall, Hermann Goring. Deterding was an honored associate and supporter of Hitler and a personal friend of Goring.
Deterding was the guest of Hitler during a four day summit meeting at Berchtesgaden. Sir Henri and Hitler both had ambitions on Russian oil fields. Only an honored personal guest would be rewarded with a private four day meeting at Hitler’s mountain top retreat.
IN JULY 2007, MR BILL CAMPBELL (ABOVE, A RETIRED GROUP AUDITOR OF SHELL INTERNATIONAL SENT AN EMAIL TO EVERY UK MP AND MEMBER OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS: 
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A head-cut image of Alfred Donovan (now deceased) appears courtesy of The Wall Street Journal.
