Shell targets lower methane emissions from oil and gas operations

Methane is released into the atmosphere mostly from the burning of excess gas, known as flaring, as well as through leaks in gas infrastructure such as wells, pumps and pipelines.

The gas has a bigger greenhouse impact than carbon dioxide, even though the oil and gas industry produces less methane and the gas also has a shorter lifetime.

The methane target will be measured against a baseline leak rate, which is currently estimated at range from 0.01 percent to 0.8 percent across the company’s oil and gas assets, it said. read more

Ben Marlow, executive business editor: 9 SEPTEMBER 2018 • 8:39PM

Like a pair of mysterious soothsayers, Maarten Wetselaar and John Abbott are peering into the future. The world they see is almost unrecognisable from the one we inhabit today, and yet it is only just around the corner.

In the west, the petrol car has become obsolete. Lorries are powered by liquid natural gas. Freight liners criss-cross the oceans fuelled by hydrogen. Solar and wind provide the energy to our homes.

And the petrol station has been reimagined as an unlikely retail hotspot where people routinely gather to do their food shopping, pick up parcels, and sip artisan coffee. A convoy of vehicles are being rebooted at one of many charging points on the forecourt. read more

‘A museum dedicated to science education should not be helping promote any company that is actively exacerbating this planetary emergency until they show a serious proactive drive to switch to renewables’

• Josh Gabbatiss Science Correspondent
• @josh_gabbatiss

Tens of thousands of people have urged the Manchester Museum of Science and Industry to drop Shell as a sponsor from an upcoming event.

The announcement that the museum’s new exhibition, “Electricity: the spark of life”, would be supported by the oil giant sparked controversy among local groups.

Specifically, they have highlighted the role that fossil fuels play in driving global climate change and the role that oil companies have played in the phenomenon.

A petition with over 57,000 signatures has been handed to the museum as the Manchester Science Festival, which includes the new exhibition. read more

By atlanticenergy August 10, 2018 Green Energy

The world as we know it is not in great condition. Polar ice caps are melting and thus causing higher sea levels, temperatures are increasing, drought is on the rise, weather conditions have become very unstable and unpredictable, and there are many more changes taking place that we will get into as we go through this article.

Most people would argue that this is due to humanity’s major dependence on fossil fuels to produce energy; those being coal, oil, natural gas, and so on. But is there really a viable solution to this? Is there a clear winner in the solar vs coal debate? We think there is but it doesn’t come without its costs.  read more

Shell aims to establish a network of hydrogen filling stations in the Netherlands and expects to roll out four stations by 2020—two in Amsterdam, one in The Hague, and one in Pesse.

Last update: August 24, 2018
Author: PetrolPlaza Correspondent Daniel Infante Tuaño

The oil giant wants to play an active role in the Dutch energy transition and is also working on establishing a network of fast charging stations for electric vehicles, reports Gasworld.

To roll out the hydrogen stations, Shell is availing of a government scheme called the Demonstration Regulation for Climate Technologies and Innovations in Transport (DKTI Transport) of the Netherlands Enterprise Agency, which offers subsidies to low emission transport solutions.

In addition, Shell’s hydrogen stations are part of the extensive hydrogen project H2Benelux, a project co-financed by the ‘Connecting Europe Facility’ of the European Union. read more

By Zheng Xin | China Daily | Updated: 2018-08-23 09:12

Global energy giant Royal Dutch Shell Plc has announced plans to triple the number of gas stations it has in China to 3,500 by 2025, in response to the recent lifting of restrictions on foreign investment in the sector.

“Shell is already the leading international oil retailer in China, running 1,300 sites via strategic joint ventures and two wholly owned companies, and we aspire to triple the size of our network by 2025,” said John Abbott, downstream director, Royal Dutch Shell. read more

REUTERS STAFF: AUGUST 22, 2018

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell’s (RDSa.AS) Brazil chief said on Wednesday that the company is evaluating the assets of Centrais Eletricas Brasileiras SA’s (ELET6.SA) that are being put up for sale as part of the state-owned utility’s debt reduction and privatization plans. Andre Araujo also told reporters that the company was considering participating in an upcoming Brazilian government auction for projects in the wind energy sector. read more

Shell, which has its headquarters in the Netherlands, does business in more than 70 countries:TORU HANAI/REUTERS

Emily Gosden, Energy Editor: 27 July 2018

Royal Dutch Shell launched a long-awaited $25 billion share buyback plan as it sought to shrug off disappointing second-quarter results.

The Anglo-Dutch energy group insisted it had had a “very good quarter” as profits excluding exceptional items rose to $4.7 billion, up from $3.6 billion a year earlier, aided by higher oil and gas prices.

The result was significantly below analysts’ expectations of almost $6 billion, however, because of factors including foreign exchange effects and rising operating costs. read more

By Zoltan Ban: 20 July 2018

Summary

By Bobby Magill: July 20, 2018

If Royal Dutch Shell Plc wins a federal lease to build an offshore wind farm in New England this fall, the company will be the first oil major with experience drilling in U.S. waters to enter the fledgling domestic offshore wind market.

Shell’s interest in U.S. offshore wind development is seen within the industry as marking a shift toward the mainstream of the domestic energy sector, as offshore wind strengthens ties with the oil industry while harnessing one of the nation’s largest untapped sources of carbon-free electricity. read more

8 JULY 2018 • 7:00PM

The Church of England is to withdraw funds from polluting firms that fail to tackle climate change.

Companies including Shell and BP could face disinvestment from the church within five years if they do not fall in line with strict environmental measures.

Its General Synod, meeting this weekend in York, voted to bring in the timetable to put more pressure on companies which fail to meet the aims of the Paris climate accords.

The church pulled £12m in funds out of assets such as coal and tar sands oil following another Synod vote in 2015, but is still an investor in major fossil fuels companies.

The church’s pension fund, worth £2bn, is understood to be in deficit, but a spokesman said it was on track to remove it.

The decision came after the church was slammed by one of its bishops for failing to move with sufficient urgency. read more

Millennials fight back against Shell’s attempt to woo them at ‘Make the Future’ festival

Climate activists staged an anti-greenwash dodgeball game outside Shell’s Make the Future festival at the Olympic Park, London, yesterday.

They also invited young people to take photos with a poster pledging they wouldn’t not work for Shell while the company continues to invest in fossil fuels.

Shell’s Olympic Park event is part of an international PR push under the banner of Make the Future banner, aimed at convincing young people that the oil industry is a desirable employer.

Shale oil read more

Ben van Beurden, chief executive of Royal Dutch Shell, said governments need to lead if the world is to meet the goals of the Paris climate agreement: TIMES NEWSPAPERS LTD

Emily Gosden, Energy Editor: July 6 2018

The boss of Royal Dutch Shell has said it is easier to make progress on climate change in countries such as China than in “noisy democracies” such as Britain.

Ben van Beurden, chief executive, complained yesterday that the world was spending too much time and effort arguing about how to tackle global warming instead of taking action.

“In places like China it works very well, governments work very gratefully with us and adopt really incredibly pragmatic and powerful policies, sensible, etc. Here, there are more participants in the debate, let me put it that way,” Mr Van Beurden said. read more

Emily Gosden: July 6, 2018

Royal Dutch Shell would be “foolhardy” to adopt firm targets for cutting its carbon emissions because it would open itself up to lawsuits, the company’s boss has said.

The energy group has set an “ambition” to halve the carbon footprint of its energy products by 2050, which it says would put it in line with the Paris climate goals, but has resisted calls for binding commitments.

Ben van Beurden, Shell chief executive, said that the group did not want to “put ourselves at the mercy of a legal challenge”. read more

Shell CEO Van Beurden says UK should move 2040 car ban forward

Chief executive of Shell, Ben Van Beurden, has reportedly said today that he believes the 2040 UK ban on petroleum and diesel car sales should be brought forward.

Written by David McPhee – 05/07/2018 4:16 pm

In response to a question from an audience member at the Powering Progress Together event in London, Mr Van Beurden reportedly said that while “everyone was going to have to move quickly, the UK ought to move more quickly than most” and that it was “sensible” that the government move the 2040 target forward.

Mr Van Beurden was speaking at the event on the eve of the company’s Shell Eco Marathon to outline his firm’s commitment to a “cleaner future, transport and beyond”. read more

Shell CEO says ‘foolhardy’ to set carbon reduction targets

Ron Bousso: JULY 5, 2018

LONDON (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell’s boss said it would be “foolhardy” for the oil and gas producer to set hard targets to reduce carbon emissions as it risked exposing the energy giant to legal challenges.

The energy industry has struggled in recent years to find a clear path to secure its role as the world shifts from fossil fuels in order to meet the 2015 Paris climate agreement goals.

Shell Chief Executive Officer Ben van Beurden last year set out ambitions last year to halve its carbon emissions by 2050, far exceeding rivals. But the Dutch CEO resisted calls by activists and some investors to set binding targets. read more

By Vanand Meliksetian – Jul 03, 2018, 3:00 PM CDT

The Netherlands has been the source of cheap energy for northwest Europe for the past decades. The discovery of the Groningen gas field, the 9th largest in the world, provided a reliable source of energy in a period when the oil market was rocked by embargos due to the Yom Kippur War in 1973. The future of the Dutch gas sector, however, looks bleak due to two important developments in 2018: a political decision to reduce production with a timeline to stop entirely until 2030 and a new climate agreement. The Netherlands is preparing to make major changes regarding the role of gas in people’s lives. read more

Big Oil, Utilities are Lining Up for an Electric Vehicle War

By Kelly Gilblom and Anna Hirtenstein: 2 July 2018, 05:00 BST

• BP and Shell have bought electric-car charging companies
• Power utilities are boosting sales to homes, chargers on roads

A red-hot electric vehicle market has triggered a face-off between Big Oil and utilities.

Oil majors, who’ve sold fossil fuels to cars for a century, are now moving into an electricity sector that’s preparing for exponential growth. The problem is that utilities, the primary power suppliers for a century, have the same idea.

BP Plc predicts electric vehicle sales will surge by an eye-watering 8,800 percent between 2017 and 2040, making it an attractive business for oil companies as demand for gasoline and diesel are forecast to slow. Big Oil will have to battle the traditional utilities for charging at people’s homes, on the road and even offices of green-car owners. read more

Shell-Partners consortium ready to build Dutch offshore wind farm

Reuters Staff: JUNE 28, 2018

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – A consortium led by Swiss investor Partners Group and Royal Dutch Shell said it has secured financing for the building of a 1.3 billion euros ($1.5 billion) wind farm in the Dutch part of the North Sea.

Shell and consortium partners Eneco, Van Oord and Mitsubishi/DGE were awarded the “Borssele 3 and 4” project in December 2016, at what at the time was the Netherlands’ lowest-ever strike price of 54.50 euro cents per megawatt-hour.

Building of the wind farm, which will have the capacity to power around 825,000 households, will start in the fourth quarter of 2019, with production expected to begin in 2021. read more

Shell joins UK offshore wind partnership group

Shell Global Solutions International BV has today joined the Offshore Wind Accelerator (OWA), the Carbon Trust’s collaborative research, development and demonstration programme.

Written by David McPhee – 21/06/2018 10:50 am

The oil giant joins existing partners EnBW, E.ON, Equinor, Innogy SE, Orsted, ScottishPower Renewables/Iberdrola, SSE Renewables and Vattenfall Wind Power on the OWA roster.

Set up in 2008, the Carbon Trust’s OWA programme is primarily structured around five research areas: Access Systems; Cable Installation, Electrical Systems; Wake Effects and Wind Resource; and Foundations.

Dorine Bosman, VP Wind Development at Shell, said: “The Carbon Trust’s Offshore Wind Accelerator is a good example of the collaboration required between public and private sectors. The research and development programme will be key to delivering technical, commercial and financial innovations for large scale and sustainable offshore wind opportunities in the future.” read more

LONDON, June 11, 2018 /PRNewswire/ —

Orbit Energy Ltd, an exciting new entrant to the Great Britain (GB) electricity and gas market, has agreed to an exclusive five-year deal with Shell Energy Europe Ltd for the supply of its power, gas and environmental products.

This agreement allows Orbit Energy to hedge its commodity risk and secure competitive energy prices for its customers, enabling accelerated growth in 2018.

“Adding Shell Energy Europe as our strategic trading partner allows us to provide stable prices and peace of mind to our customers from day one. This partnership is a critical milestone, one that will support sustainable growth through continuity of supply for all Orbit Energy customers”; said Tim Szakacs, Co-founder and CEO, Orbit Energy. read more

Seven out of eight of the Netherland’s largest insurance companies snubbed Shell’s climate ambition by abstaining or voting with a fringe group’s resolution.

Written by David McPhee – 02/06/2018 6:00 am

Only one insurer, Allianz, voted against the resolution put forward by shareholder activist group, Follow This, who are calling for Shell to align its targets with the Paris Climate Agreement at its most recent AGM.

The three insurers based in the Netherland’s who voted for the resolution, Vivat, NN and Aegon, represent more than £850 million in investment.

APG, Achmea IM and Achmea Own abstained from the vote, Allianz rejected the resolution, while ASR closed Shell of investments for sustainability reasons. read more

Pope Francis, who wrote a major document on protection of the environment from global warming in 2015, is expected to address the group on the last day of the June 8-9 conference.

The conference, organized by Notre Dame University in the United States, is expected to be attended by the heads or senior executives of companies including ExxonMobil, Eni, BP, Royal Dutch Shell and Pemex, the source said.

The oil and gas industry has come under increasing pressure from investors and activists to play a bigger role in reducing the emissions of greenhouse gasses in order to meet goals set out in a 2015 climate agreement signed in Paris. read more

By Mathew Carr, 1 June 2018

Royal Dutch Shell Plc is attempting to market some of its natural gas as clean energy, packaging it with credits for eco-friendly projects that offset pollution coming from the fuel.

The oil giant is offering business customers in Europe a combination of gas and certificates that show emissions are offset with financing for carbon-reduction projects. It’s testing markets in Germany, Italy, Spain and Britain to gauge demand for what credits to use, according to David Wells, head of Shell Energy Europe. read more

Reuters Staff: Tuesday 29 May 2018

LONDON (Reuters) – Friends of the Earth plans to file a lawsuit against Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L), accusing the oil company of failing to act on climate change, the environmental activist group said on Tuesday.

Shell has set out “ambitions” to halve carbon emissions by 2050 and expand in renewables, but the Anglo-Dutch company has come under pressure from investors and activists to reduce its carbon footprint and comply with the 2015 international Paris climate agreement. read more

Vera Eckert

Shell Ventures, a unit of the Anglo-Dutch oil major that has been boosting its investments in solar and other renewables, was a lead investor in the latest funding round, sonnen Chief executive Christoph Ostermann told Reuters.

“With this money, we can get started on important investment plans, especially in the United States and Australia,” he said, adding that existing shareholders also contributed extra cash.

“We also want to invest in broadening our sonnen community and our virtual power plant (VPP), and expand our offering of grid-related services,” the sonnen CEO said, adding that the firm aimed to turn a profit in Germany in two years. read more

Photographer: Andrey Rudakov/Bloomberg

Kelly Gilblom: 22 May 2018, 14:48 BST

Royal Dutch Shell Plc has seen off the two most debated issues at its shareholder meeting — the boss’s pay and responsibility in tackling climate change. But not without a degree of drama.

The company won the backing of about 94 percent of shareholders to not set specific emission-reduction targets, with Chief Executive Officer Ben van Beurden saying it is taking “leadership” on the issue. However, while almost 75 percent of investors also approved the remuneration report, it faced stiffer resistance after an influential advisory firm asked them to reject the package. read more

Ron Bousso: MAY 22, 2018

THE HAGUE (Reuters) – Top investors in Royal Dutch Shell on Tuesday stepped up pressure on the oil and gas giant to commit to hard targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to battle climate change.

Shell has set out “ambitions” to halve carbon emissions by 2050 and expand in renewables energy, which Chief Executive Officer Ben van Beurden said were ground breaking for the oil industry.

To view a graphic on Shell emissions, click: reut.rs/2Iya7Hf

“Nobody else comes close, it is seriously ambitious,” van Beurden said of Shell’s plan at the company’s annual general meeting in The Hague. read more

Jillian Ambrose, energy editor: 20 MAY 2018 • 7:30PM

Britain’s largest shareholder advisory groups have called on investors in Royal Dutch Shell to reject growing demands for the oil giant to take full responsibility for its impact on the environment.

Shell faces a binding shareholder vote tomorrow to decide whether to adopt rigorous accountability standards to bring its operations into line with the Paris climate agreement. Glass Lewis and ISS have urged shareholders to reject the “unduly burdensome” and “problematic” proposal. read more

Shell closed a deal to buy First Utility, a British energy company that owns neither power plants nor gas pipelines, in March. CreditTom Jamieson for The New York Times

By Stanley Reed

May 15, 2018

COVENTRY, England — There seems to be little about the scrappy energy company in central England that would appeal to Royal Dutch Shell, the button-down oil giant.

The little company, First Utility, is an upstart challenger. It offers friendly customer service, and low prices on electricity and natural gas. But it doesn’t own any power plants or gas pipelines; First Utility is a virtual energy company — the product of technological advancement and deregulation. read more

By Mark Chediak: 9 May 2018, 05:00 BST

Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s corporate venture arm and GXP Investments led a $7.6 million investment in energy storage startup Axiom Energy to expand its service to grocery stores and cold-storage facilities. 
 
The round also included WorldQuant Ventures LLC, SV Tech Ventures and Meson Capital Partners LLC, according to a statement from the Richmond, California-based startup. 
 
Axiom’s refrigeration battery freezes tanks of salt water at night when electricity costs are low and then provides cooling services during the day when power prices are high. The company says it can reduce peak energy demand by as much as 40 percent. read more

Church of England funds back AGM resolution calling for more aggressive targets

Andrew Ward and Leslie Hook in London: 4 May 2018

Investors with £28bn of assets under management, including pension funds of the Church of England and the UK Environment Agency, have declared support for a shareholder resolution that would force Royal Dutch Shell to adopt tougher targets for reducing carbon emissions. Shell’s board has urged shareholders to reject the resolution… FULL FT ARTICLE read more

Sinead Lynch, UK country chair for Shell, said yesterday that the oil giant knows that it “needs to change” in the coming energy transition, and “that is what Shell is going to do”.

Written by David McPhee – 03/05/2018

As part of a panel at the All-Energy conference in Glasgow, Ms Lynch said that Shell was part of a movement within the industry which was recognising the energy transition and that Shell was “beginning that change”.

She said: “Shell has a deep history and deep roots across Scotland, in our upstream business where we have been investing in and producing from the North Sea for 50 years. But also in our downstream business where we have been producing a number of downstream products to our customers here for almost a 100 years, and that’s a range of products that’s beginning to change. read more

Tristan R. Brown: April 30, 2018

Summary

• Royal Dutch Shell’s latest Energy Transition Report contains a demand outlook for oil and gas that is quite conservative compared to its industry peers.
• The company’s demand outlook is higher than what will likely be possible if the Paris Climate Agreement’s emissions targets are to be achieved, however.
• Almost 90% of respondents in a recent survey of major asset managers believe that climate risks will have a “significant” impact on oil and gas company valuations in the near-term.

The release of two separate reports in as many weeks on how integrated oil and gas producers will manage an anticipated transition toward low-carbon energy is likely to leave investors in Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A)(RDS.B) with some questions. The company released its new Energy Transition Report earlier this month, and the final product presents its strategy for maintaining its operations even as the world’s major economies (with the exception of the U.S.) work to meet their greenhouse gas emission reduction targets under the Paris Climate Agreement. The report’s relatively phlegmatic conclusion stands in stark contrast to the results of an annual survey by the UK Sustainable Investment and Finance Association that identified strong concern from asset managers on the same count. read more

Shell reported underlying profits of $16 billion last yearDANIEL KALISZ/GETTY IMAGES

Emily Gosden, Energy Editor: April 23 2018

Royal Dutch Shell is expected to report its strongest quarterly results since 2014 this week.

Boosted by the rebound in oil prices, the Anglo-Dutch energy company is expected to announce underlying profits of $5.3 billion for the three months up to March, compared with $3.8 billion in the same period last year.

Such a result would be the first time that profits have topped $5 billion since the third quarter of 2014, when crude prices were just beginning to fall below $100 a barrel. read more

The world’s biggest oil companies, for long typecast as villains of climate change, are seeking to reinvent themselves as environmental pioneers.

“We’re not going to be sitting back and say let’s see what society does and we’ll follow that,” said Ben van Beurden, chief executive officer of Royal Dutch Shell Plc. “We’re more than prepared to be assertive and lean forward and say: ‘This is what it takes.”’

Irked by a shareholder resolution that would force Europe’s largest oil company to create specific emissions targets, the CEO took the unusual step of engaging with five reporters on Monday about Shell’s vision for a decarbonized world. Not only is Shell implementing its own, much stronger, measures to manage the energy transition, according to Van Beurden, but it can also drag the rest of the world along with it. read more

Tristan R. Brown: Apr. 16, 2018 12:44 PM ET

Summary

• A Netherlands environmental NGO has threatened to bring yet another climate change lawsuit against Royal Dutch Shell if it does not fundamentally change its business operations.
• While multinational corporations are constantly being threatened with legal action, this specific one is unique.
• It has the hallmarks of recent climate lawsuits against Shell in the U.S., but would be based in a court system that has mandated stricter climate policy before.

Can non-shareholder private entities force oil and gas companies to accept lower returns on capital? Investors in Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A) (RDS.B) will receive an answer to this question if an environmental NGO moves forward with a threatened lawsuit in the Netherlands that would require the company to do exactly that.

Notably, Shell recently committed to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 50% through 2050 via billions of dollars of investments in renewable energy capacity. The NGO in question, Friends of the Earth Netherlands (aka Milieudefensie), deems this effort insufficient and insists that the company must abandon its oil and gas reserves and be “net zero” (i.e., no net emissions of greenhouse gases) by that date instead. While Shell’s investors largely shrugged off the threat (see figure), if they even noticed it at all, the development represents the opening of a new front in the lawsuits being waged by U.S. municipalities against the company and its Big Oil competitors. read more

Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A, RDS.B) urges shareholders to oppose a resolutionfrom activist investors that would hold the company to firm targets for cutting carbon emissions, even as it reiterates its commitment to fighting climate change.

Climate activist Follow This is offering a resolution for Shell’s May 22 annual general meeting urging the company to set more aggressive targets aligned with the Paris climate deal goal of limiting global warming to “well below” 2 degrees Celsius.

“We will not be tied to an approach that potentially moves too quickly or too slowly to this transition,” says CEO Ben van Beurden. “If society finds a way to go faster, we will go faster… but we cannot do it single-handedly.” read more

Chief Executive Officer Ben van Beurden has the same message for activists seeking to bind Royal Dutch Shell Plc to deep emissions cuts, and investors concerned about the merits of shifting away from oil and gas: Trust me.

He advised shareholders on Monday to reject a resolution from climate group Follow This that would set clear targets for the company’s greenhouse-gas emissions, more specific than its current broad “ambition.” He also reiterated his intention for Shell to make most of its money from clean energy in 20 years, such as renewables, hydrogen or carbon capture in 20 years.  read more

Ron Bousso

LONDON (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell defended its ambition to cut carbon emissions on Monday, urging investors to oppose a shareholder resolution arguing that the oil and gas giant is not doing enough to meet international targets to tackle climate change.

The Anglo-Dutch company, like many of its peers, has faced growing investor pressure to address the need to reduce fossil fuel burning, forcing it to seek a delicate balance with a need to secure growing returns from its traditional business. read more

Photo: Michael Macor, Staff / The Chronicle

By Jordan Blum: April 13, 2018 Updated: April 13, 2018 8:19am

What did you know and when did you know it? Those are the questions increasingly directed at Big Oil as concerns about global warming, rising sea levels and climate change grow.

For a few years now, Exxon Mobil has faced a bombardment of allegations — which the Texas oil company denies — that it knew about climate change related to fossil fuels in the 1970s and buried the evidence. State investigations in New York and Massachusetts continue to focus on whether Exxon Mobil misled the public and the company’s investors. read more

Current oil reserves are only part of the equation for assessing future risks.

The 92220 Evening Star was the last steam locomotive built by British Rail, back in 1960. It was retired only five years later, as diesel and electrification consigned the age of steam to history.

Building an engine and using it for only five years is a great way to waste investment. Which is why there’s a raging debate today about stranded assets in the fossil-fuels business. Given the planet’s diminishing capacity to absorb greenhouse gases without potentially catastrophic environmental effects, there is an implied cap on how much more oil, gas and coal can be used (absent some major breakthrough in carbon-capture technology). And, as happened with the Evening Star, rival ways to power transportation threaten to overturn the internal combustion engine’s dominance. So producers increasingly face questions about whether some of their oil and gas reserves will ever actually be produced — with obvious implications for their stocks. read more

FILE PHOTO: Electric car chargers are seen at the Holloway Road Shell station where Shell is launching its first fast electric vehicle charging station in London, Britain October 18, 2017. REUTERS/Mary Turner/File Photo

Shell has one of the lowest reserves life ratio among its peers and last year it saw reserves plunging to new lows after divesting a large number of assets.

The major now sits on 12.2 billion barrels of oil equivalent, down from 13.2 billion at the end of 2016, and enough to sustain the current annual production of 1.383 billion barrels for less than nine years. read more

Oil giant Shell said today that it will continue to “sell the oil and gas that society needs” but is also positioning itself to transition further into low-carbon energy when it “makes commercial sense”.

Shell’s Energy Transition Report outlines the firm’s continued commitment to oil exploration while setting out its strategy for the future changes in the energy sector.

The oil company said that it estimates that 80% of its current proven oil reserves “will be produced” by 2030, and only expects to see 20% production after that time.

In today’s report, Shell said outlined that it will look to invest up to £3.5billion in conventional oil and gas and the same amount again in oil products, while also investing up to £1.4billion in new renewable energies. read more

By Daniel J. Graeber  |  April 12, 2018

April 12 (UPI) — A transition to a cleaner economy is underway as evidenced by a rate of decline in global oil demand, but it’s a long journey, Royal Dutch Shell said Thursday.

The Dutch supermajor has committed to reducing its carbon footprint in half by 2050 and said it would invest about $2 billion per year on alternative energy solutions until the end of the decade. CEO Ben van Beurden said that Shell would play its part in meeting global energy demand with cleaner options. read more

Shell Oman has opened the first solar-powered service station in the Sultanate of Oman in Mukhaizna, Al Wusta Governorate.

FULL ARTICLE

Michael Lynch , CONTRIBUTOR: APR 3, 2018

Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own.

The internet is going gaga over Royal Dutch Shell’s new “Sky” scenario, which discusses the impact on the energy industry of efforts to limit climate change.  Many treat the existence of such a scenario developed by a major oil company as evidence that a) an important oil industry player expects this to happen, b) projections of a severe climate policy future are validated.

Writing as an aged methane emission, this is not really new.  In the 1990s, Shell was cited by many environmental advocates for appearing to have sided with them.  As Curtis and Romm said in 1996, “Imagine another world in which fossil-fuel use had begun a slow, steady decline; more than a third of the market for new electricity generation was supplied from renewable sources; the renewables industry had annual sales of $150 billion; and the fastest-growing new source of power was solar energy. An environmentalist’s fantasy, right? No, that’s one of two planning scenarios for three to four decades from now, developed by Royal Dutch/Shell Group, the world’s most profitable oil company, which is widely viewed as a bench mark for strategic planning.”  read more

Shell CEO Ben van Beurden

By Chris Mooney and Steven Mufson March 26, 2018

Royal Dutch Shell on Monday outlined a scenario in which, by 2070, we would be using far less of the company’s own product — oil — as cars become electric, a massive carbon storage industry develops, and transportation begins a shift toward a reliance on hydrogen as an energy carrier.

The company’s Sky scenario was designed to imagine a world that complies with the goals of the Paris climate agreement, managing to hold the planet’s warming to “well below” a rise of 2 degrees Celsius, or 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit, above preindustrial levels. Shell has said that it supports the Paris agreement. read more