APRIL 26, 2019 / 11:29 PM 

YENAGOA, Nigeria (Reuters) – Two Royal Dutch Shell oil workers were kidnapped, and their police escorts killed, in Nigeria’s restive Delta region, a police spokesman said on Friday.

The workers were in Rivers State, returning from an official trip to Bayelsa state, when they were attacked.

“The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC) regrets to confirm the attack on its staff and government security escort at Rumuji, Rivers State, on the East/West road on Thursday, April 25, 2019 around 16:00 hours,” an SPDC spokesman said. read more

by Allister Thomas: 26/04/2019, 11:49 amUpdated: 26/04/2019, 11:52 am

A new report alleges that Shell and Eni benefited ‘at the expense’ of the Nigerian people in a generous military-style contact in 2011.

Analysis from non-profit watchdog Global Witness suggests the firms signed a “Sole Risk” contract, which gave away Nigeria’s right to its share of the oil produced in the $1.1bn deal.

Court cases are underway into allegations of bribery in the deal for the OPL 245 license, which holds one of the country’s largest oil fields. read more

APRIL 25, 2019 / 10:44 PM

AMSTERDAM/LONDON (Reuters) – Dutch trade unions and oil major Royal Dutch Shell have agreed to end a wage dispute which has hit production at the company’s Pernis oil refinery and Moerdijk chemical plants in the Netherlands in recent weeks.

CNV union spokesman Piet Verburg said unions on Friday will advise employees at Europe’s largest oil refinery and the chemical plants to end their strikes, which started on April 8.

“Shell has offered an improved and ultimate proposal for the Collective Labour Agreement (CLA) for Pernis and Moerdijk to the unions,” a Shell spokesman said late on Thursday. read more

APRIL 24, 2019 / 3:16 PM

(Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell’s U.S. unit said on Wednesday that it had made one of its biggest oil discoveries in the Blacktip deepwater well in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.

Blacktip, operated by Shell and co-owned by U.S. oil giant Chevron Corp, Equinor ASA and Repsol, is the company’s second material discovery in the Perdido Corridor, Shell’s Upstream Director Andy Brown said.

Blacktip was discovered in the Alaminos Canyon, about 30 miles from the Perdido platform and discovery at Whale, a deepwater well operated by Shell and co-owned by Chevron. read more

Ron Bousso: APRIL 24, 2019

LONDON (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell is in talks to buy BP’s stake in the Shearwater oil and gas field in the British North Sea for around $250 million, three industry sources told Reuters. Shell, the field’s operator, announced plans last year to expand a gas hub around Shearwater, including the construction of a new pipeline.

Shell has a 28 percent stake in Shearwater, BP holds 27.5 percent and Exxon Mobil has the remaining 44.5 percent. read more

DUBAI, April 21 (Reuters) – Saudi Aramco will acquire Royal Dutch Shell’s 50 percent stake in their Saudi refining joint venture SASREF for $631 million, the two companies said on Sunday.

The purchase, which is part of Aramco’s strategy to expand its downstream operations, will be completed later this year, they said in a joint statement.

Saudi Aramco Shell Refinery Co (SASREF), based in Jubail Industrial City in Saudi Arabia, has a crude oil refining capacity of 305,000 barrels per day (bpd). read more

AMSTERDAM, April 16 (Reuters) – Dutch trade union workers decided on Tuesday to extend strike action at Royal Dutch Shell’s Pernis refinery that they said will limit production to 65 percent of capacity, union spokesman Egbert Schellenberg said.

Schellenberg, spokesman for the FNV union, said that in addition to the action at the 404,000 barrel a day Pernis, Europe’s largest refinery, the strike will continue to prevent maintenance at Shell’s Moerdijk facility.

(Reporting by Bart Meijer; Writing by Anthony Deutsch; editing by David Evans) read more

APRIL 17, 2019 / 12:46 PM

DUBAI, April 17 (Reuters) – Saudi Aramco plans to buy Royal Dutch Shell’s 50 percent stake in Saudi refining complex SASREF, a joint venture between the firms, two sources said on Wednesday.

One of the sources said an agreement has been reached between Aramco and Shell.

Aramco and Shell declined to comment.

Saudi Aramco Shell Refinery Co (SASREF), based in Jubail Industrial City in Saudi Arabia, has a crude oil refining capacity of 305,000 barrels per day (bpd). read more

Strikes impact Shell’s Pernis oil refinery but extent unclear

Ahmad Ghaddar

Shell said earlier in the day that the unit had been shut. It later clarified that it had only repeated what the unions had said and would not comment on the status of the refinery.

The refinery, near Rotterdam, has the capacity to process 404,000 barrels per day of oil.

The CNV union also said strike action had disrupted planned maintenance at the adjacent Moerdijk petrochemical site.

A Shell spokeswoman said striking workers were trying to disrupt planned maintenance on the Moerdijk Lower Olefins (MLO) unit. read more

Explosion at Shell’s Scotford refinery

April 15, 201911:49 AM Reuters

Emergency crews responded to an explosion and fire at Shell’s Scotford refinery in Alberta on Monday, a company spokeswoman said. There were no reported injuries.

The Scotford facility houses a 100,000 barrel-per-day refinery and a 255,000 bpd oil sands upgrader.

Local media reported flames and a large plume of black smoke coming from the refinery.

Shell spokeswoman Tara Lemay said the fire broke out around 8:45 a.m. local time and employees were being moved away from the incident as a safety precaution. Roadblocks have been set up at the entrances to the Scotford site and on roads nearby. read more

By Clyde Hughes: APRIL 16, 2019

April 16 (UPI) — Environmental protesters blocked several famous landmarks in London Tuesday, demanding that legislators take immediate action to fight climate change.

Demonstrators who call the protests an Extinction Rebellionblocked the Waterloo Bridge, Marble Arch, Parliament Square and the Oxford Circus on Monday. More protesters returned Tuesday morning after police started making arrests.

Authorities said they have arrested more than 100 of the protesters. read more

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – The chief executive of Shell’s Dutch business said on Thursday she is willing to attend a parliamentary panel on tax avoidance by multinational companies, but she will not discuss Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s tax filings.

Marjan van Loon had initially declined the invitation, saying it made more sense for the Netherlands’ business association to represent all taxpaying companies.

She then said she would attend the April 18 meeting after Dutch lawmakers insisted that a Shell representative should be present. read more

APRIL 11, 2019 / 8:55 AM /

(Adds comment from Delek CEO, details on Caesar Tonga field, industry background)

April 11 (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell has agreed to sell its stake in the Caesar Tonga field in the Gulf of Mexico for $965 million in cash to a subsidiary of Israel’s energy conglomerate Delek Group.

Company unit Shell Offshore will sell its 22.45 percent non-operated interest in a deal, which is likely to close by the end of the third quarter of 2019, Shell said in a statement. read more

April 10, 2019: 12:58PM

ST PETERSBURG, Russia (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell has decided to exit the Baltic liquefied natural gas (LNG) project led by Russian state gas giant Gazprom in the Leningrad region, the chairman of Shell’s Russian unit said on Wednesday.

Shell, which has a long history of energy cooperation with Russia, said earlier on Wednesday it was studying the possible implications of a recent decision by Gazprom to move toward the full integration of its Baltic LNG and gas processing plants. read more

Shell halfway through Norco, Louisiana gasoline unit overhaul – sources

APRIL 10, 2019

HOUSTON (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell Plc is about halfway through a planned overhaul of the gasoline-producing Residual Catalytic Cracking Unit (RCCU) at its 218,200 barrel-per-day (bpd) Norco, Louisiana refinery, said sources familiar with plant operations.

An overhaul of the 14,200 bpd Alkylation Unit also under way is expected to finish in about two weeks, the sources said on Tuesday.

Shell spokesman Ray Fisher declined to comment.

Work on the 112,000 bpd RCCU should finish in about a month if no problems develop, said the sources. They declined to be identified as they were not authorised to speak with media. read more

Japan’s JERA says it signed an agreement with a Mitsubishi unit to buy as much as 1.2M mt/year of liquefied natural gas from the Royal Dutch Shell-led (RDS.A -0.6%) LNG Canada project.

The heads of agreement is for ~15 years starting from April 2024, says JERA, a joint venture between Tokyo Electric Power (OTCPK:TKECF) and Chubu Electric Power (OTC:CHUEF) and the world’s top buyer of liquefied natural gas.

Buyers from the project so far include trading house Vitol as well as Asian utilities such as Tokyo Gas, Toho Gas and Korea Gas. read more

APRIL 7, 2019

LONDON (Reuters) – An activist group said it has withdrawn a shareholder resolution calling on Royal Dutch Shell to change its climate policy after the oil and gas company reached a broad agreement with investors on the issue.

The Anglo-Dutch energy company drew rare praise from investors and environmental activists in December when it set out plans to introduce industry-leading targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and link them to executive pay.

Nevertheless, Dutch activist group Follow This tabled several days later a resolution urging Shell to drastically reduce its spending on fossil fuel. read more

FILE PHOTO: The logo of Royal Dutch Shell is seen at a petrol station in Sint-Pieters-Leeuw, Belgium January 30, 2019. REUTERS/Yves Herman/File Photo

APRIL 8, 2019

LONDON (Reuters) – Oil giant Royal Dutch Shell will launch a program allowing customers at its petrol stations in the Netherlands to offset their carbon emissions by buying credits to support environmental projects, the group said on Monday.

Shell plans to invest $300 million over the next three years on the program, it said. read more

Chen Aizhu

China is already in the initial stages of developing its vast shale gas resources, with production last year making up just 6 percent of total gas output after more than a decade of work. China’s shale oil is at an even more basic phase due to challenging geology and hefty development costs, experts said.

Shale oil makes up less than 1 percent of China’s crude output after several years of development, according to Angus Rodger, research director of Asia-Pacific upstream at Wood Mackenzie. read more

April 8, 2019

LONDON, April 8 (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell confirmed labour strikes started on Monday at its 404,000 barrel per day Pernis oil refinery in the Netherlands and that production would be affected.

“There will be impact on production but at this point we can’t say exactly what the exact impact will be because we don’t know yet,” a spokeswoman said.

“We are taking it day by day, we will have another technical meeting with the unions this afternoon, and we will take it from there,” she added. read more

LONDON, April 5 (Reuters) –

* Royal Dutch Shell expects planned strikes at its 404,000 barrel per day Dutch Pernis oil refinery to go ahead as planned on Monday, according to a spokeswoman.

* Shell currently has no estimate on the extent to which the strike might impact production, she added.

* The strike, which comes after unions demanded higher wages, will also impact Shell’s Moerdijk chemical plant.

(Reporting By Shadia Nasralla; Editing by Susan Fenton)

SOURCE

APRIL 5, 2019

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – Environmentalist and human rights groups said on Friday they had started a lawsuit against Royal Dutch Shell in the Netherlands to force the energy firm to cut its reliance on fossil fuels.

The groups, including Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth Netherlands, handed over a court summons to Shell at its headquarters in The Hague, demanding it stop extracting oil and gas and cut its greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2050.

“Shell spends billions on oil and gas exploration each year, with current plans to invest just 5 percent of its budget in sustainable energy and 95 percent in exploiting fossil fuels,” the groups said. read more

THE HAGUE, Netherlands — Climate activists are planning to deliver a court summons to Shell in a court case aimed at forcing the energy giant to do more to rein in carbon emissions.

The summons is being delivered to Shell’s headquarters in The Hague on Friday afternoon.

The move comes a year after the Dutch branch of Friends of the Earth sent a letter to Shell’s CEO Ben van Beurden accusing the company of “breaching its legal duty of care” by causing climate damage across the globe. read more

April 5, 2019

Environmental activists take Shell to court on Friday to try to stop the Anglo Dutch oil giant drilling for gas and oil, and to ensure it meets climate change targets.

Some 17,000 people and six organisations have signed up to Milieudefensie’s call for co-defendants in the case, which the green group hopes will lead to a judge ‘forcing Shell to stop being a major cause of climate change.’

The 2015 Paris agreement on climate change included a commitment to leave oil, gas and coal in the grounds as much as possible, the lobby group says. ‘These three fuels are major causes of global warning and this is why we have to stop our dependence on them as soon as possible. ‘ read more

by Josh Siegel: April 04, 2019 12:00 AM

Shell’s move to leave a trade group because of its climate change position is being met with skepticism from fossil fuel critics and energy producers alike, because Shell remains in other groups that oppose policies to address climate change.

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., perhaps the harshest critic of the oil and gas industry, said that Shell’s decision to leave American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers “begs the question as to how Shell justifies continued membership in the much larger lobbying behemoths that spend millions opposing the climate action Shell claims to support.” read more

By Ivana Kottasová, CNN Business: Updated 1615 GMT (0015 HKT) April 2, 2019

London (CNN Business)Royal Dutch Shell says it’s quitting a major US oil lobby because it disagrees with the group’s policies on climate change.

The energy company said Tuesday that it would not renew its membership in the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers lobby next year because of “material misalignment.”

Shell (RDSA) CEO Ben Van Beurden wrote in a report that it was important to ensure “that the industry associations we belong to do not undermine our support for the Paris Agreement.” read more

Oil giant Shell received a £113 million tax refund from the UK Government in 2018.

by David McPhee:  02/04/2019

Shell said the payment was “primarily related” to decommissioning work carried out by its upstream business.

Oil companies build up credits on the taxes they pay during the production life of a field.

They can then use those credits to offset decommissioning costs once the well runs dry.

The Anglo-Dutch firm published the figure in its latest Payments to Governments report, which covers the 34 countries where Shell has upstream operations.

Last year, Shell paid about £50 billion to governments. It stumped up £7.75bn in income taxes and £4.45bn in government royalties. read more

The liquefied natural gas arm of oil giant Shell has become the first customer at NextDecade’s proposed $15 billion Rio Grande LNG export terminal at the Port of Brownsville.

NextDecade announced the 20-year sale and purchase agreement at the LNG2019 conference in Shanghai on Monday night.

Under the deal, Shell will buy 2 million metric tons of LNG per year from the proposed Brownsville facility starting in 2023.

“We are honored to have Shell as the first foundation customer of our Rio Grande LNG project,” NextDecade CEO Matt Schatzman said in a statement. “Shell is not only the largest portfolio LNG company in the world, Shell is also a recognized pioneer in the global LNG business.” read more

LONDON, April 2 (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell last year experienced a sharp rise in the number of oil spills caused by pipeline theft in Nigeria, which the company said were the result of larger output and higher oil prices.

The number of spills caused by sabotage and theft in the Niger delta rose last year to 111 from 62 in 2017, the Anglo-Dutch company said in its annual sustainability report.

The volume of oil spilt as a result rose to 1,600 tonnes, or roughly 12,000 barrels, from 1,400 tonnes the previous year. read more

Ron Bousso: 2 April 2019

* Shell to leave AFPM in 2020 over climate “misalignment”

* Shell releases first report on links with industry groups

* Investor welcomes report as “industry first”

LONDON, April 2 (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell Plc on Tuesday became the first major oil and gas company to announce plans to leave a leading U.S. refining lobby due to disagreement on climate policies, citing its support for the goals of the Paris climate agreement.

In its first review of its association with 19 key industry groups, Shell said it had found “material misalignment” over climate policy with the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM) and would quit the body in 2020. read more

Written by David McPhee – 01/04/2019 12:46 pm

Oil giant Shell has emerged as the world’s “most valuable” oil and gas brand, according to a global brand consultancy group.

Brand valuation and strategy consultancy firm Brand Finance claim Shell has experienced a 7% boost in its brand value in 2019.

It also places the firm as the 26th most valuable across all industries.

Brand Finance value Shell at £32 billion as a consequence of the 7% increase.

Chinese oil and gas firms PetroChina and Sinopec took second and third place with a value of £27bn and £22bn, respectively.

French oil giant Total, UK firm BP and US firm Chevron came in at fourth, fifth and sixth place. read more