Shell to axe refining plants and focus on dividends and debt reduction

Philip Whiterow: 07:31 Thu 29 Oct 2020

Royal Dutch Shell PLC (LON:RDSB) has unveiled a huge restructuring of its refining and chemical operations as part of a strategic overhaul that places dividends at its centre.

The Anglo-Dutch giant said its fourteen refining sites will be reduced to six integrated chemical parks, with a switch in focus to performance chemicals and recycled feedstocks.

Shell’s marketing arm will also be strengthened with the development of the integrated power business and hydrogen and biofuels. read more

Published on: Sunday, October 25, 2020

SHELL announced on Oct 15, 2020 that the Plaza Shell Office in Kota Kinabalu will be closed with a relocation of all Sabah staff to Miri new Headquarters in 2021.

The Kota Kinabalu office was set up in November 2015 with promises of Shell’s significance presence, strategic partnership and offer of measurable progress for Sabah. This change of commitments, a sad truth on change of event draws much reservation, suspicion and unveils unprecedented break of promises from Shell to Sabah, its people and communities. read more

OPL 245: Nigeria hires London-based firm to lead dispute with Eni

Nigeria has hired the services of Franklin Wyatt, a London-based consultancy company, to provide legal advice in a dispute with Eni, an Italian oil and gas company.

Franklin Wyatt, according to information on its website, specialises in dispute consultancy by providing advise beyond legal perspectives.

There is an age-long dispute between Eni and Nigeria over oil prospecting licence (OPL) 245 deal.

The oil deal dates back to 2011, when Shell and Eni acquired the massively rich OPL 245 for over $1.3 billion — paying $1.1 billion to take over 100 percent of Malabu’s interest and $210 million to the federal government as signature bonus. read more

Surprise package Shell eyes Post Office broadband deal

By Mark Kleinman, City editor: Thursday 22 October 2020 15:48, UK

Shell is vying with Sky and TalkTalk to buy the Post Office’s broadband and telecoms customer base, Sky News learns.

Shell, the FTSE-100 oil behemoth, is among the bidders vying to gain control of the Post Office’s telecoms arm in a deal that would transform the size of its broadband customer base.

Sky News has learnt that Shell, which took control of the retail energy and broadband supplier First Utility in 2018, is one of three remaining bidders for the Post Office business. read more

Shell hires Orsted’s Brostrom to lead global renewables unit

By Reuters Staff: October 23, 2020 read more

The Big Oil Side Hustle: Where ‘Renewable’ Money Is Really Going

By Alex Kimani – Oct 20, 2020, 6:00 PM CDT

In 2016, Shell set an ambitious goal to invest $4bn to $6bn in clean energy projects by 2020, though the Guardian recently reported that it was unlikely to meet that target. So, why is Big Oil still dragging its feet…

Every time an oil and gas major announces a major foray into renewable energy, the skeptics come out like clockwork and lambast the sector for merely trying to burnish its green credentials. read more

Nigeria Repays Dues To Oil Majors

By Tsvetana Paraskova – Oct 20, 2020, 12:30 PM CDT

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has repaid most of the arrears it owes to international oil companies for joint venture operating expenses, recently repaying US$3 billion to Exxon and Shell, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday, citing a statement from the Nigerian state oil firm.

NNPC works in joint ventures with the major international oil producers in Nigeria, including ExxonMobil, Chevron, Shell, Total, and Eni. However, the stretched finances of the Nigerian company has led to arrears in its payments for contributions to the operating expenses of those joint ventures. read more

Oil Majors Stuck Between A Rock And A Hard Place

By Andreas De Vries – Oct 18, 2020, 6:00 PM CDT

Extracts

The past few years have been historic for as far as crude oil forecasts are concerned. Back in 2015 the view that crude oil demand could peak during the 2020s or 2030s was still met with disbelief (and some ridicule…). Economic growth had been pushing crude oil demand up ever year for decades already, so why would things become different, so the reasoning went. Today, however, essentially all major energy forecasters, including BP, Shell, Total, DNV-GL, the IEA and even OPEC, have come round and acknowledge Peak Oil Demand as a realistic possibility. read more

Shell takes Sarnia Manufacturing Centre off the market

By Melanie Irwin October 15, 2020 1:44pm

Shell Canada is no longer actively pursuing the sale of its Sarnia Manufacturing Centre.

Media Relations Manager Tara Lemay made the announcement in a news release Thursday.

“We have decided to stop actively marketing the Sarnia Manufacturing Centre and its associated infrastructure which includes the refinery, chemicals plant, Sarnia and Hamilton Distribution terminals and Shell’s 45 per cent interest in Sun-Canadian Pipeline” said Lemay. “Shell will continue to operate these assets while maintaining our marketing presence in Ontario and continuing to honour branded supply and wholesale agreements.” read more

Gas company NAM to cut hundreds of jobs as prices drop and production is squeezed

October 15, 2020

Dutch gas company NAM is cutting its workforce by hundreds of jobs as gas prices fall and production is cut back.

Over the next six months, 200 to 300 of the permanent workforce of 1,300 will be able to take advantage of a voluntary redundancy scheme and a further 300 contract workers will be let go, regional paper Dagblad van het Noorden said.

Director Johan Atema told the paper that the company had been hit by falling gas prices. ‘We are supplying almost as much gas as last year, but our income has halved,’ he said. ‘Then you are talking about a crisis situation.’ read more

Workers removed from North Sea platform after colleague tests positive for Covid-19

by Hamish Penman:13/10/2020, 11:55 am

More than a dozen workers have been removed from a North Sea platform after a colleague tested positive for Covid-19.

Energy giant Shell confirmed that a crew member, who was demobilised from the Nelson platform on Friday, subsequently tested positive for the virus.

Contact tracing then found another 14 people had come into close contact with the individual, who were all removed from the installation on Sunday as a precaution. read more

Shell says Pennsylvania ethane cracker about 70% complete

By Reuters Staff: October 9, 2020

Oct 9 (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell Plc said on Friday its multibillion-dollar petrochemical complex near Pittsburgh was about 70% complete and remains on track to enter service in the early 2020s.

After temporarily suspending construction activities on the ethane cracker in March to limit the spread of coronavirus, Shell said it has been re-introducing workers at a measured pace – bringing the total number of workers on site to about 6,500. read more

TIMELINE-Twists and turns in Russia’s Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline to Germany

By Reuters Staff: OCTOBER 7, 2020

Oct 7 (Reuters) – Poland has fined Russia’s Gazprom more than $7.6 billion for building the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline without Warsaw’s approval, its watchdog said on Wednesday.

Russia’s bid to double its gas export capacity across the Baltic Sea has prompted opposition, including U.S. sanctions, stalling completion of the $11 billion pipeline.

In addition to Europe’s increased reliance on Russian gas, opponents are wary of Moscow’s motives as the pipeline will allow it to curb gas transit via Ukraine, cutting off a source of revenue for Kiev. read more

Shell adopts new commercialisation and generation structure in Brazil

October 7 (Renewables Now) – Oil and gas major Royal Dutch Shell Plc (AMS:RDSA) has adopted a new structure in Commercialisation and Electric Generation in Brazil.

Shell Brasil will follow a business strategy that focuses on the generation and storage of renewable energies and natural gas, as well as on the commercialisation and optimisation, and sales to end consumers of company-branded integrated energy solutions. The director of New Energies of Shell Brasil, Guilherme Perdigao Nascimento, will lead this business. read more

Shell backs hydrogen for shipping’s decarbonization

• Author Britt Russell-Webster     Jeffrey McDonald     Piers De Wilde 
• Editor Jonathan Loades-Carter 
• 02 Oct 2020

London — Energy group Shell has revealed plans to back hydrogen fuel cells on the road to shipping’s 2050 decarbonization goals, tagging LNG bunkers as the bridging fuel between that and conventional oil-based bunker fuels.

“We believe liquid hydrogen to be advantaged over other potential zero-emissions fuels for shipping, therefore giving a higher likelihood of success,” it said in its latest report, ‘Decarbonising Shipping: Setting Shell’s Course.’ read more

LNG Canada construction delay creates cost uncertainty, clouds world supply

Corey Paul: 2 Oct, 2020

Two years after a Royal Dutch Shell PLC-led consortium gave the commercial go-ahead for the massive LNG Canada export terminal in British Columbia — dubbed the single largest private sector investment in Canadian history — construction delays have clouded the LNG supply picture and raised the prospect of cost overruns.

The project was likely about four months behind schedule in February because of factors that included delays in engineering and making equipment for the terminal off-site, according to analysts at the investment research firm Webber Research & Advisory. Now the project is probably around six months behind, which is enough to suggest the potential for significant cost overruns and pressure on a planned expansion, the firm said. read more

Big Oil’s $110 billion asset sale target could prove big ask

By Ron Bousso: October 1, 2020

LONDON (Reuters) – Leading energy companies are hoping to sell dozens of oil and gas fields and refineries worth more than $110 billion to curb both their ballooning debt and their carbon footprints.

But with the outlook for oil and gas prices uncertain because of the coronavirus pandemic and a shift to cleaner energy, finding buyers and striking deals might prove tricky.

“This is not a very good time to sell assets,” Total CEO Patrick Pouyanne said while presenting the French giant’s strategy to switch to renewables on Wednesday. read more

FINANCIAL TIMES

Shell slims down to shape up for the energy transition

Anjli Raval, Senior Energy Correspondent

…the Anglo-Dutch group has been forced into previously unthinkable moves, change and scrutiny of its capital allocation plans mount, is scrambling to come up with an updated plan. In the meantime, it is cutting costs and streamlining.

On Wednesday it offered a glimpse into Project Reshape, its organisational restructuring in which up to 9,000 jobs will be cut from its 83,000-strong workforce to save $2.5bn a year.

All Shell is thinking about is how do we maintain our position as a market leader in every sense — from climate action to staying competitive in the oil and gas space,”one company insider said. “The fear is that we go from being a leader to a laggard. read more