Shell’s Board Sued by Institutional Investors Over Lack of Climate Ambition

Shell Plc’s board faces a new front in climate litigation as a group of frustrated shareholders sue the oil giant’s directors in the UK.

Bloomberg News: Katharine Gemmell and William Mathis Published Feb 08, 2023

(Bloomberg) — Shell Plc’s board faces a new front in climate litigation as a group of frustrated shareholders sue the oil giant’s directors in the UK.

Two years after a Dutch court ordered Shell to slash its emissions, the group of investors are filing the first lawsuit of its kind against 11 members of the board, accusing them of failing to manage the company’s climate risks. read more

Report: Output from Shell’s Prelude FLNG Shut Again

BY Bartolomej Tomic, managing editor of Offshore Engineer.

December 22, 2022

Shell has stopped production at its Prelude floating LNG plant off Western Australia after a fire.

A Shell spokesperson told Reuters on Thursday that the fire at the giant FLNG unit “was rapidly extinguished.”

The 488-meter-long, Shell-operated, Prelude FLNG unit forms part of an offshore development that produces natural gas from the remote namesake field, located approximately 475 km north-northeast of Broome in Western Australia. The Prelude is the world’s largest FLNG unit. read more

Bloomberg

Shell’s UK Unit Got £1.2 Billion This Year to Weather Energy Crisis

William Mathis, Bloomberg News: 8 Dec 2022

(Bloomberg) — Shell Plc gave its British retail energy arm roughly £1.2 billion ($1.5 billion) of financial backing this year to survive wild swings in natural gas and power prices.

UK energy retailers have been under extreme stress for more than a year as a supply crunch drove wholesale prices to record highs. Dozens failed in 2021 as costs soared and regulations prevented them from raising tariffs. Those that survived incurred hefty expenses taking on the customers of collapsed rivals. read more

Shell Buys Nature Energy in $2 Billion Push Into Biogas

Shell Plc will buy Nature Energy Biogas A/S from hedge fund Davidson Kempner Capital Management for nearly $2 billion as the oil major expands its transition from fossil fuels.

Bloomberg News: William Mathis:

Publishing date: Nov 28, 2022

(Bloomberg) — Shell Plc will buy Nature Energy Biogas A/S from hedge fund Davidson Kempner Capital Management for nearly $2 billion as the oil major expands its transition from fossil fuels.

Biogas is chemically the same as conventional natural gas, but is made from decomposing organic material like agricultural waste. It’s a platform primed for growth, with the US, through the Inflation Reduction Act, and the European Union both identifying the renewable fuel as a way to boost energy supplies and cut emissions in the coming years. read more

Bloomberg

Shell Seeks Acquisitions to Bolster Australia Power Presence

James Fernyhough: Thu, November 3, 2022 at 1:21 AM

(Bloomberg) — Shell Plc is targeting acquisitions in Australia in its bid to become an integrated energy provider.

The London-based oil major is looking for a “step change” in its Australian presence from electricity generation to retail, including building up “significant battery positions,” Greg Joiner, chief executive officer of Shell Energy Australia, said in an interview.

Shell, which last week reported its second-highest earnings on record, is one of Australia’s biggest liquefied natural gas exporters, but is seeking to diversify away from fossil fuels and become the world’s biggest power company. The company has already made a string of acquisitions in Australia in recent years, including generation company ERM Power Ltd., retailer Powershop, and a stake in windfarm developer WestWind Energy Development Pty. read more

Bloomberg UK

Shell Permits Probed Over Loss of $200 Million in Nigeria

• Motion argues state lost revenue through 30-year licenses
• Investigation targets joint venture operated by Shell

By William Clowes: 23 June 2022, 13:04 BST

Nigeria’s Senate will investigate Shell Plc’s historic license renewals in the West African state to determine whether they were extended unlawfully and cost the government up to $200 million.

Senate President Ahmad Lawan formed a committee on Wednesday to probe the oil major’s permits that expired in 1989 and 2019, according to a statement emailed by his spokesman. The decision followed a motion submitted by Senator George Sekibo who said the duration of the licenses should have been 20 years rather than 30 years under Nigerian law.
A spokesman for Shell didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. read more

Bloomberg

Shell seeks permits to build offshore wind farms along Brazil’s coast

Shell plans to sell electricity from the wind farms to the country’s hydrogen industry

Published:  March 19, 2022 14:21 Bloomberg

London: Energy giant Shell is seeking environmental permits to develop its first offshore wind farms along the coast of Brazil as the company pushes to speed its transition away from fossil fuels.

The London-based oil major proposes to build six projects with a combined capacity of 17 gigawatts, which would rival the output of 15 nuclear reactors. It applied for permits earlier this week with the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources, according to Gabriela Oliveira, Shell’s head of renewable energy generation in Brazil. read more

Bloomberg

Shell Officially Drops ‘Royal Dutch’ From Name After Relocation

By Laura Hurst: 21 January 2022, 17:28 GMT

Shell Plc has dropped “Royal Dutch” from its name, part of a major overhaul of its legal and tax structure announced in December.

The energy giant officially changed its name on Friday, according to a statement, following earlier approvals from its shareholders and board of directors.

Shell’s overhaul involves integrating its dual-share structure into a single line of shares and relocating its headquarters to London. The changes will only involve about a dozen executives – including Chief Executive Officer Ben van Beurden and Chief Financial Officer Jessica Uhl — moving to the U.K. capital. read more

Shell Taps Cow Dung to Power German Trucks, Cut CO2

by Bloomberg:  Rachel Graham: Wednesday, December 15, 2021

Trucks in Germany could soon be running on fuel that’s made partly from manure at one of Europe’s biggest oil refineries.

Royal Dutch Shell Plc is aiming to produce liquefied natural gas with a bio-component for use in heavy vehicles within about two years. Trucks using the fuel can travel for 1,500 kilometers without refilling, according to Shell, which will make the new product at Rheinland, the biggest oil-processing complex in Germany. read more

Bloomberg

Shell CEO Says Company Will Appeal Climate Ruling

by Bloomberg| Laura Hurst & Diederik Baazil | Wednesday, July 21, 2021

(Bloomberg) — Royal Dutch Shell Plc said it will appeal a ruling by a Dutch court which ordered it to cut its carbon emissions by 45% over the next decade.

Shell has said it will speed up its energy transition plans in response to the order, but is looking to overturn it so it can stick to its own climate timetable. After intense pressure from investors, the May 26 ruling showed companies’ hands may increasingly be forced by courts, and result in far-reaching implications for the global energy industry. read more

Bloomberg

Shell to Boost Shareholder Returns as Business Gets Stronger

By Laura Hurst: 7 July 2021, 07:15 BST Updated on 7 July 2021, 08:08 BST

• Energy giant will distribute 20-30% of operational cash flow
• Company to further reduce its net debt, keep lid on capex

Royal Dutch Shell Plc will boost returns to investors later this month, while still paying down debt, as its core businesses get stronger due to a recovery in energy demand and rising prices.

The Anglo-Dutch giant will raise total distributions to shareholders to between 20% and 30% of cash flow from its operations, starting when it announces second-quarter results on July 29, the company said in a statement on Wednesday. It didn’t specify whether they would take the form of dividends or share buybacks. read more

Shell Green Plans Under Scrutiny as Holders Seek More Action

Laura Hurst: Tue, May 18, 2021, 4:21 PM

(Bloomberg) — Royal Dutch Shell Plc has been under increasing pressure from investors to slash emissions and pivot toward cleaner energy, and the tension was on show at its shareholder meeting on Tuesday.

The company’s long-term energy transition plan, laid out to investors for the first time, received overwhelming support, but a competing resolution asking for stricter targets also garnered more votes than ever. Adding to the tension, shareholders were meeting as the International Energy Agency warned that all new oil and gas developments need to stop immediately for climate targets to be met. read more

The World Still Needs Hundreds Of Billions Of Barrels Of Oil

By Haley Zaremba – Apr 14, 2021, 2:00 PM CDT

Has peak oil demand already come and gone? That’s an exceptionally hard question to answer. There are some experts that say unequivocally, yes. They claim that peak oil is already upon us, thanks to the crushing blow that the Covid-19 pandemic dealt to global oil demand as well as the ever-escalating worldwide transition toward clean energy. But there are just as many who say that the world’s thirst for oil still has a long way to go before we hear its swan song. read more

Oil Giants Win Climate Suit as Judges Push For Political Fix

Chevron Corp., Royal Dutch Shell Plc and ConocoPhillips were also sued in the case.

The Friday ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals in New York is a setback for those trying to use the courts to hold the industry responsible for costs associated with rising seas and other consequences of a warming planet.

Chevron Corp., Royal Dutch Shell Plc and ConocoPhillips were also sued in the case.

The court said global warming “is a uniquely international concern” that requires the federal government to step in rather than judges. Only the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has the authority to regulate domestic greenhouse gas emissions, the unanimous three-judge panel held. read more

Nigerians Can Sue Shell in U.K. Over Spills, Top Court Says

(Bloomberg) — Thousands of Nigerians can sue Royal Dutch Shell Plc in London over environmental damage in the West African nation, the U.K.’s top court said.

The Supreme Court on Friday reversed two earlier rulings that blocked the case from being heard in England. The decision could pave the way for similar claims from the developing world against British companies.

Force Rethink?

The decision may force other U.K. multinationals to rethink how they operate abroad, says lawyer Rick Munro. read more

Shell May Re-evaluate Oil Operations Onshore Nigeria

By Charles Kennedy – Feb 05, 2021, 1:30 PM CST

Persistent issues with theft and sabotage in the Niger Delta could prompt Shell to take a hard look at its operations onshore Nigeria, the supermajor’s chief executive Ben van Beurden said this week.

“Our onshore oil position, despite all the efforts we put in against theft and sabotage, is under challenge,” van Beurden told reporters, as carried by Reuters, after Shell reported another set of weak Big Oil results affected by the pandemic. read more

Shell Is Back in Court for Nigeria Oil Spills Liability Ruling

(Bloomberg) — Royal Dutch Shell Plc faces the latest ruling in a long-running legal dispute with Nigerian farmers who say the energy giant is responsible for oil leaks that have polluted their villages.

The case is the first in which a company and its foreign subsidiary have been tried in the Netherlands for allegedly breaching duty of care abroad, and it could have far-reaching implications for future suits brought against oil firms. read more

World’s top oil trader retiring from Shell

Javier Blas and Laura Hurst, Bloomberg News: 9 Dec 2020

Royal Dutch Shell Plc is shaking up its mighty in-house trading unit, with the retirement of Mark Quartermain as head of crude — a job widely seen as the most powerful in the global oil-trading industry.

The Anglo-Dutch oil major used the reshuffle to promote at least three women to top positions in trading, a rarity for an industry still dominated by men.

Quartermain will retire in the summer of 2021, less than four years after taking the job, having led the team through one of the most turbulent and profitable periods in history. He will be replaced by Stacie Pitts, who becomes the most influential woman in the oil-trading business. read more

Bloomberg: Shell Wants Biden to Reverse Methane Emissions Rollback

David Wethe: Tue, November 10, 2020, 9:08 PM GMT

(Bloomberg) — Royal Dutch Shell Plc will push for the reversal of President Donald Trump’s rollback of methane emissions rules and the introduction of carbon pricing when Joe Biden moves into the White House next year.

“Some of the regulatory rollbacks that we’ve seen under the current administration haven’t actually benefited our industry,” Shell U.S. President Gretchen Watkins said Tuesday on a webcast hosted by the Greater Houston Partnership. 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

Shell Plans to Divest Oil Drilling Rights off North Alaska Coast

Shell Oil is planning to divest — not drill — an oil prospect in shallow state waters off Alaska’s northern coast, despite a recent filing with regulators, spokesman Curtis Smith said.

Shell Offshore Inc. had asked state regulators to combine 18 shallow-water leases and create the West Harrison Bay Unit “in order to pursue a commercial agreement with an alternative operator,” Smith said by email

“Shell has no intention to operate these leases, which were originally purchased in 2012 and are due to expire in 2022” read more

Big Oil’s Most Profitable Business Is No Longer Oil

By Haley Zaremba – Aug 06, 2020, 4:00 PM CDT

It’s been a rough year for oil, to say that least. And the worst isn’t over yet. Even though oil demand, and therefore oil prices, have been slowly recovering, that upward trajectory is now running out of steam and we’re headed toward a slump amidst what will almost certainly be a yearslong recession in the wake of the economic fallout from the devastating spread of the novel coronavirus. read more

Big Oil’s Long Bet on Hydrogen Offers a Climate Lifeline

(Bloomberg) — On particularly cold winter days, the vast majority of the U.K.’s energy comes from burning natural gas. That arrangement will have to change radically–and soon–if the country is to hit its legally mandated target of net-zero emissions by 2050. As other countries adopt similar targets to align with the Paris climate agreement, they too will have to find an alternative to natural gas. That leaves fossil fuel companies with a ticking clock.

Hydrogen burns cleanly, leaving only water behind. That’s made it an attractive alternative fuel source–not just for governments looking to satisfy climate mandates, but also for oil companies trying to ensure their continued relevance. Oil-and-gas majors such as Shell, Equinor, and BP have spent tens of millions of dollars on pilot projects. Now in the face of record-low oil prices, frozen international travel, and growing shareholder unease over greenhouse gas emissions, investing in hydrogen has taken on a new urgency. read more

Electric Car Charging Stations Are Finally About to Take Off

(Bloomberg) — The electric vehicle sector has been stuck for years with a chicken-and-egg problem. Until there were extensive networks of public charging stations, a critical mass of people would never feel comfortable driving EVs–but until a critical mass of people were driving EVs, there was no sense in investing in extensive networks of public charging stations.

It may be the coronavirus pandemic that finally breaks the stalemate. BloombergNEF’s latest Long-Term Electric Vehicle Outlook predicts that EVs sales will experience a smaller dip than traditional auto sales as a result of the broader economic squeeze, and that they’ll bounce back more quickly once the market recovers. EVs and the infrastructure needed to charge them have also been a part of many of the stimulus packages announced by European and Asian governments. Just in the past few weeks, Germany included chargers in its €2.5 billion proposed economic package, and the European Union announced that it’s aiming to have 1 million public chargers by 2025, from fewer than 200,000 today. read more

Oil Spill Clean-Ups in Nigeria Lack Progress, Groups Say

William Clowes: Bloomberg: June 17, 2020

(Bloomberg) –Nigeria and Royal Dutch Shell Plc have failed to implement most recommendations made by the United Nations to clean up oil pollution in the Niger River delta, according to a new report.

The UN Environment Programme in 2011 proposed the creation of a $1 billion fund to repair the damage done by decades of crude spills in the Ogoniland area in southeastern Nigeria. However, progress has been poor and the little work that has been done is sub-standard, advocacy groups including Amnesty International said Thursday. read more

Bloomberg News: Jacqueline Poh: May 29, 2020: 10:51 AM EDT

Bloomberg) — Oil and gas companies worldwide have raised $171 billion of debt from the loan and bond markets since March after the coronavirus pandemic hit demand for fuel.

The $171 billion tally is equivalent to the volume of bonds sold for the industry in the whole year of 2019. The debt pile is set to grow further with almost $120 billion of borrowings due by the end of the year that will need to be either repaid or refinanced. Of that amount, $43 billion is in bonds and $76 billion in loans. read more

Shell Offers Staff Voluntary Severance Pay

By Julianne Geiger – May 21, 2020, 5:30 PM CDT

As the price of a Brent barrel is trading at nearly half of what it was at the beginning of the year, Royal Dutch Shell Plc (NYSE: RDS.A) is planning on offering some staff voluntary severance, according to Bloomberg sources.

In a note to its staff, Shell CEO Ben van Beurden said that the Dutch oil major was working to become leaner and more resilient, according to the Bloomberg sources who saw the correspondence. read more

Big Oil Earnings Battered By Virus, But Worst is Yet to Come

Laura Hurst: May 11 2020, 4:31 AM

EXTRACTS

(Bloomberg) — Big Oil emerged from first-quarter earnings battered and bruised, but things are only going to get uglier.

Major oil and gas producers from Norway to the U.S. saw profit plunge in the opening three months of the year. Exxon Mobil Corp. reported its first loss in over 30 years, Royal Dutch Shell Plc cut its dividend for the first time since the Second World War.

Big Oil’s generous dividends have long been its main attraction to investors. But thanks to Shell Chief Executive Officer Ben van Beurden they are no longer sacrosanct, after he slashed his company’s payout by two thirds. read more

By Nick Cunningham – May 04, 2020, 5:00 PM CDT

Exxon posted its first quarterly loss in more than 30 years. But even as debt mounts and questions arise about peak oil demand, the oil supermajor nevertheless vowed to protect its dividend while also aiming to grow indefinitely into the future. Exxon lost $610 million in the first quarter, down from a profit of $2.4 billion a year earlier. Worse, the period only included a few weeks of oil prices at catastrophically low levels. As a result, the second quarter is bound to lead dramatically worse numbers. read more

Bloomberg News: Javier Blas: April 26, 2020

(Bloomberg) — Negative oil prices, ships dawdling at sea with unwanted cargoes, and traders getting creative about where to stash oil. The next chapter in the oil crisis is now inevitable: great swathes of the petroleum industry are about to start shutting down.

The economic impact of the coronavirus has ripped through the oil industry in dramatic phases. First it destroyed demand as lockdowns shut factories and kept drivers at home. Then storage started filling up and traders resorted to ocean-going tankers to store crude in the hope of better prices ahead. read more

Royal Dutch Shell Plc plans to eliminate all net emissions from its own operations and the bulk of greenhouse gases from fuel it sells to customers by 2050.

The energy giant is following in the footsteps of its peers BP Plc and Repsol SA, which have already set similar targets. Shell’s move indicates that, despite the turmoil caused in the industry by the coronavirus, major oil and gas companies aren’t abandoning the transition to cleaner energy. read more

Bloomberg News: Laura Hurst: April 7, 2020(Bloomberg)

— Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s greenhouse gas emissions edged lower last year due to asset sales, while the amount of natural gas burned off wastefully from its facilities — known as flaring — increased.

Shell’s direct emissions fell to 70 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2019 from 71 million a year earlier, it said Tuesday in a report. That’s the lowest since 2016.

“The main reasons for the decrease were divestments (for example, in Argentina, Canada, Iraq, Malaysia, Norway and the U.K.),” the report said. “These decreases were partly offset by the startup of the Prelude floating liquefied natural gas facility in Australia.” read more

Hopes that Canada could turn into a gas export powerhouse seem to be waning fast.

The current climate for energy investments in the country and the global market for liquefied natural gas are a far cry from October 2018, when a Royal Dutch Shell Plc-led group announced plans to build a massive LNG terminal on British Columbia’s coast and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau hailed the project as “a vote of confidence” in Canada.

The latest sign of disenchantment came this week as a C$9 billion ($6.7 billion) LNG project in Quebec lost a large potential investor, which the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. identified as Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. That follows announcements last year that Chevron Corp. is planning to sell its 50% stake in an LNG project in British Columbia, and its partner in the venture is seeking to trim its stake as well. read more

Oil majors including Exxon Mobil Corp. and Royal Dutch Shell Plc are facing uphill battles to convince U.S. courts to enforce multi-billion dollar arbitration awards they secured against Nigeria’s state oil company.

The companies accused the Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. of taking more crude than it was entitled to under four deals that were signed in 1993 to incentivise them to develop deep offshore blocks. Those projects today account for about 30% of the country’s 2 million barrels of daily output. read more

Royal Dutch Shell Plc is pushing ahead on its massive deep-water drilling plan in Mexico, even as it doesn’t foresee production starting under the current government.

The global oil major plans to drill four wells this year, and a similar amount next year, said Alberto de La Fuente, Shell’s Mexico country chief. It’s part of a drilling campaign that will include 10 to 13 wells and cost from $800 million to $2.4 billion.

Shell has a major position in Mexico’s deep-waters at a time when access is hard to come by. Mexico’s new government under Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, also known as AMLO, has promised to reverse the neoliberal policies of his predecessor and has canceled further auctions and joint-venture opportunities with state owned Petroleos Mexicanos. read more

BP Plc and Royal Dutch Shell Plc are exploring adding more ethanol in gasoline in top corn state Iowa to take advantage of how cheap the biofuel has become.

The oil majors are gauging driver interest at a small number of stations in 15% ethanol blends, up from the current state standard of 10%, after the Trump administration in May allowed an increase nationwide.

Adding more ethanol to gasoline may help Midwest farmers who have been struggling to find markets for corn after biofuels demand plateaued last year. Ethanol futures slumped to the lowest in more than a decade in 2019, making it unprofitable to make the biofuel that accounts for about a third of demand for the U.S. corn crop. But cheap ethanol won’t save drivers much money: At current prices, filling up a Ford-F150 would only cost about a quarter less. read more

Bloomberg News: China LNG Force Majeure Rejected (6:29 p.m. HK) read more

Royal Dutch Shell Plc will build its first large-scale solar farm as part of its plan to expand into power generation.

Shell, which has set itself a goal to become the world’s top electricity producer by 2030, expects to complete the plant in Queensland, Australia, early next year. The facility will indirectly supply the company’s QGC liquefied natural gas export facility, reducing that project’s carbon footprint.

“Solar is one of the building blocks of Shell’s power strategy,” said Greg Joiner, Vice-President for Shell Energy in Australia. “We are increasingly incorporating renewable energy into customer offers, as we have done here for QGC.” read more

Nord Stream 2 Pins Hope on Germany to Clear EU Gas Rule Hurdle

Brian Parkin: Jan 21 2020, 9:30 AM

(Bloomberg) — Nord Stream 2 expects regulators to decide by May whether its contested natural gas pipeline linking Germany to Russia will be able to operate as planned.

Already suffering U.S. sanctions, the project led by Gazprom PJSC is pinning its hopes on Germany’s Bnetza regulator to help it clear hurdles erected by European Union competition authorities.

The consortium is being financed by Royal Dutch Shell Plc; Uniper SE and Wintershall AG in Germany; France’s Engie SA; and Austria’s OMV AG. read more

By Brian Eckhouse: 12 December 2019, 19:00 GMT

A Royal Dutch Shell Plc-backed solar developer commissioned a solar project in Georgia that will help power a Facebook Inc. data center.

Silicon Ranch Corp.’s 102.5-megawatt plant in Early County is Facebook’s first solar project in Georgia, and was developed as part of an agreement with local utility Walton Electric Membership Corp. It uses Hanwha Q Cells Co. modules that were produced at the manufacturer’s new factory in the state.

Walton Electric recently signed a deal with Silicon Ranch for another solar project in the state that will power the Facebook data center. The 107-megawatt facility in Denton is expected to be commissioned in 2021. Facebook has signed almost 950 megawatts of clean power-supply agreements this year, the third-most globally among corporations, according to BloombergNEF. read more

Extracts

(Bloomberg) — A slowdown in gas demand growth in China, the driver of global use over the past two years, is expected to slacken further, adding to investor concern as supply continues to build.

Consumption in 2021-2025 will grow at a slower pace than it has in the current five-year period, a researcher at China’s economic planning department said at the BloombergNEF summit in Shanghai on Wednesday. Furthermore, a weaker economy and rising imports via pipeline could shrink the share of liquefied natural gas in the overall Chinese market, according to gas utility ENN Energy Holdings Ltd. read more

Javier Blas and Alaric Nightingale, Bloomberg News: 15 Nov 2019

Royal Dutch Shell Plc has made US$1 billion from trading fuel oil this year, making it one of the standout winners from rules designed to make the shipping industry greener.
Shell said last month that it made substantial money in fuel-oil trading in the third quarter, but the company didn’t disclose the size of the profits. Shell traders celebrated hitting the $1 billion mark so far, likely the biggest by any one company in fuel oil this year, by ringing a bell on the company’s trading floor in London earlier this month, people familiar with the matter said. read more

By Kevin Orland: 14 November 2019, 12:00 GMT Updated on 14 November 2019, 16:38 GMT

*Shell Canada head Crothers points to LNG project, gas stations

*Company has no plans to divest remaining oil-sands stake

Royal Dutch Shell Plc is reassuring investors, workers, and anyone else who will listen that it’s the international oil major that’s staying in Canada as others pull up stakes.

Shell’s future in the country is largely as a natural gas producer and exporter focused on the $30 billion LNG Canada project, though the company is also committed to its local chemicals and retail businesses, Shell Canada head Michael Crothers said in an interview. read more

Bloomberg: Shell and EDP to Build Massachusetts’ Second Offshore Wind Farm

Christopher Martin: Bloomberg News Oct. 31, 2019, 7:01 PM

*Partners are planning to complete 804-megawatt project in 2025

*Mayflower wind farm will be about 20 miles south of Nantucket

Massachusetts picked a venture of Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Energias de Portugal SA to build the state’s second offshore wind farm.

The 804-megawatt Mayflower wind farm will be built about 20 miles (32 kilometers) south of the island of Nantucket and completed in 2025, according to a statement late Wednesday.

The other Massachusetts project, Vineyard Wind, is expected to become the first major offshore U.S. wind farm with 800 megawatts of capacity. That’s planned for completion in 2022.

It’s being developed by Iberdrola SA’s Avangrid utility and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, and was delayed in August for an additional… read more

Bloomberg News

(Bloomberg) — Slumping energy prices, sluggish global demand and shrinking chemical margins are weighing on the oil industry as its biggest names prepare to announce quarterly results to investors demanding ever-higher payouts.

The so-called supermajors — Exxon Mobil Corp., Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Chevron Corp., Total SA and BP Plc — are expected to disclose a 42% plunge in third-quarter earnings, on average, when they post results this week. That drop-off is too steep to blame on the 18% decline in crude oil prices, which means executives will have some explaining to do. read more

Shell Takes 20% Stake in Indian Solar Firm Orb Energy

(Bloomberg) — A Royal Dutch Shell Plc division took a 20% stake in Indian solar firm Orb Energy Pvt Ltd. as part of a drive to deliver a reliable source of electricity to 100 million people in the developing world by 2030.

Orb Energy, based in Bengaluru, south India, provides credit to small and medium sized firms to invest in solar panel systems. Founded in 2006, Orb Energy has sold over 160,000 solar systems in India with a total capacity of 75 megawatts.

“This is a vital and growing sector, with great potential to contribute to the country’s renewable energy ambitions,” Brian Davis, vice president in the Shell Energy Solutions division said in a statement. read more

Bloomberg: Kazakhstan Seeking Additional $1B From Shell, Eni

Bloomberg) — Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Eni SpA and their partners in the Karachaganak oil and gas venture may be required to pay an additional $1 billion to settle a dispute with Kazakhstan over revenue sharing, said people familiar with the matter.

The claim from the Central Asian nation’s government comes on top of last year’s similar-sized settlement from the Karachaganak partners. Kazakhstan has a history of disputes with international investors over revenue, taxes and cost-sharing at its energy projects. read more

By Timothy Abington and Kelly Gilblom: 4 September 2019, 07:00 BST: Updated on 4 September 2019, 11:11 BST

*European majors close many more deals than their U.S. rivals

*Digital and efficiency technologies become popular targets

Major oil companies are poised to do a record number of clean-energy deals this year, with Royal Dutch Shell Plc leading a group of European companies that are well ahead of their U.S. rivals.

The data compiled by BloombergNEF underscore the quickening pace of the transition to low-carbon energy among the world’s largest fossil fuel producers, and the scale of the trans-Atlantic divide. European majors closed seven times as many deals with renewable-electricity and storage companies as their U.S. counterparts since 2010. read more

Bloomberg: Shell Profit Misses as Slowing Economy Hurts Gas, Chemicals

By Kelly Gilblom: 1 August 2019, 07:15 BST Updated on 1 August 2019, 08:14 BST

Cash flow rises, but integrated gas adjusted profit falls 25%

Shell CEO says macroeconomic conditions were challenging

Royal Dutch Shell Plc got caught into the same earnings trap as many of its peers, reporting second-quarter earnings that fell well short of expectations as the slowing global economy hit everything from natural gas to chemicals.

Profit in Shell’s integrated gas division was down by 25%, but earnings were lower across all of its businesses, including upstream oil and gas production, and refining and chemicals.

“We’ve seen some very severe macroeconomic headwinds — probably most pronounced in our downstream business where we saw some weaker refining margins — but especially a much weaker trading environment for petrochemicals,” Chief Executive Officer Ben Van Beurden said in a Bloomberg TV interview on Thursday. “In our upstream, we’ve seen headwinds particularly in North American gas.” read more

Bloomberg: Oil Giants Note — Nigeria Now Has a Chance to Open Its Fields

By Dulue Mbachu and Tope Alake: 16 July 2019, 05:00 BST

*Buhari’s parliamentary control could speed passage of reforms

*Oil majors want favorable fiscal terms to explore deep waters

Investors’ 11-year wait for the Nigerian government to open up Africa’s biggest crude industry may be over.

An overhaul of oil policy that’s been in the works for more than a decade is among a raft of laws President Muhammadu Buhari could steer through parliament in his second term to help drive investment in the oil-dependent economy. The delays cost an estimated $15 billion a year in lost funding for the industry over the past decade, according to the Petroleum Ministry. read more