The Guardian

Shell may have to abandon £3bn stake in Russian gas plant

Kremlin sets up new firm to own Sakhalin-2 plant, with stakeholders given a month to sign up or they could lose money

Alex Lawson Energy correspondent: Fri 1 Jul 2022: 12.50 BST

Shell could be forced to abandon a £3bn investment in a huge Russian gas plant after Vladimir Putin threatened to seize the rights to the project.

The Kremlin has said it plans to transfer the rights to the Sakhalin-2 plant in the far east of Russia to a new Russian company, citing economic security and national interests. read more

The Guardian

Russia cuts gas supplies to Netherlands and firms in Denmark and Germany

Gazprom raises stakes in sanctions war after EU move to embargo most Russian oil imports and companies miss deadline to pay in roubles

Joanna Partridge: Tue 31 May 2022 19.25 BST

Russia has further cut off gas supplies to Europe, after state energy giant Gazprom turned off the taps to a top Dutch trader and halted flows to some companies in Denmark and Germany.

It later said it would also cut off gas flows to the Danish energy firm Ørsted and to Shell Energy for its contract to supply gas to Germany, after both companies failed to make payments in roubles. read more

CNBC

Energy giant Shell to end partnership with Russia’s Gazprom as Ukraine conflict intensifies

• Shell said it’s selling a 27.5% stake in Sakhalin-II, an integrated oil and gas project located on the Sakhalin island in Russia, as well as a 50% interest in Salym Petroleum Development N.V.
• “We are shocked by the loss of life in Ukraine, which we deplore, resulting from a senseless act of military aggression which threatens European security,” Shell CEO Ben van Beurden said in a statement.
• The company said that it had about $3 billion in “noncurrent assets” through its Gazprom ventures at the end of 2021.

Shell said Monday it is ending an “equity partnership” with Gazprom, a Russian state-owned energy company, as the Russia-Ukraine conflict continues.

Shell said it’s selling a 27.5% stake in Sakhalin-II, an integrated oil and gas project located on the Sakhalin island in Russia, as well as a 50% interest in Salym Petroleum Development N.V., “a joint venture with Gazprom Neft that is developing the Salym fields in the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous District of western Siberia.” The company also said it’s ending its involvement in the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project. read more

Seeking Alpha

Nord Stream 2’s completion a ‘fait accompli,’ Blinken tells House panel

Jun. 07, 2021 2:25 PM ETBASFY, ENGIY…By: Carl Surran, SA News Editor

FILE PHOTO: Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) meets with Ben van Beurden, CEO of Royal Dutch Shell company, in Moscow, Russia June 21, 2017. REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin/File Photo

JULY 18, 2019

ST PETERSBURG (Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet Royal Dutch Shell Chief Executive Ben van Beurden in St Petersburg later on Thursday, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said.

Ushakov did not say what the two men would talk about. read more

Shell CEO Ben van Beurden subservient bow to Putin: Good Friday 18 April 2014

Source:sputniknews.com Published: 2019/3/19 18:16:45

Russia could become the largest natural gas producer in the world, Ben van Beurden, the CEO of Shell, wrote in an article for RIA Novosti.

“The world needs more natural gas to meet rising energy demand, to complement renewables and to replace coal in power generation. And the opportunity for Russia is huge. It is already the world’s largest exporter of natural gas and it enjoys the world’s largest commercial gas reserves. It is the second largest producer of natural gas. It could be the largest,” van Beurden said. read more

Russia can become the world’s top natural gas producer – Shell CEO

Published time: 15 March 2019

The top executive says that rapidly increasing demand for natural gas has occurred due to the worldwide trend aimed at forcing out coal from power generation and the widening opportunity of available renewable energy sources.

“Russia’s chances in the field are huge,” van Beurden wrote in an article for RIA Novosti, stressing that the country is the world’s largest exporter of natural gas.

“It is the second largest producer of natural gas. It could be the largest,” he said. read more

Royal Dutch Shell Plc Chief Executive Officer Ben van Beurden

By Elena Mazneva , Dina Khrennikova , and Jack Farchy

4 October 2018, 00:01 BST

• Pouyanne responds to Shell investment in Canadian LNG project
• Russia is now largest source of Total’s oil and gas output

Two oil company bosses shared a stage with one of the most powerful men in the market, and all they wanted to do was brag about natural gas.

Royal Dutch Shell Plc Chief Executive Officer Ben van Beurden hailed his $31 billion liquefied natural gas venture in Canada, the biggest new project since 2013. Very nice, but not as competitive as low-cost Russian supplies, said Total SA boss Patrick Pouyanne. read more

By Reuters• last updated: 02/10/2018

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet Royal Dutch Shell Chief Executive Ben van Beurden in Moscow this week, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters on Tuesday.

Ushakov said Putin and the Shell boss will discuss the Sakhalin-2 liquefied natural gas (LNG) project on Russia’s Pacific coast, where Shell is a minority shareholder, and a plan to build an LNG plant on Russia’s Baltic coast. Shell and Russian gas giant Gazprom last year signed a memorandum of understanding to work together on the plant. read more

Russia’s Gazprom PJSC owns the project, with Royal Dutch Shell Plc and four other investors including Germany’s Uniper SE and Wintershall AG providing half of the 9.5 billion-euro ($11 billion) in cost.

By Elena Mazneva and Anna Shiryaevskaya | Bloomberg
August 27 at 12:00 AM

A planned new natural-gas pipeline into Europe from Russia is shaking up geopolitics. Nord Stream 2, as it’s called, worries leaders in Eastern Europe, has stirred the ire of U.S. President Donald Trump and has put German Chancellor Angela Merkel on the hot seat.

1. What is Nord Stream 2?

It’s a planned new 1,230-kilometer (764-mile) undersea pipeline that will carry natural gas from fields in Russia to the EU network at Germany’s Baltic coast. It will double the capacity of an existing undersea route — the original Nord Stream — that opened in 2011. Russia’s Gazprom PJSC owns the project, with Royal Dutch Shell Plc and four other investors including Germany’s Uniper SE and Wintershall AG providing half of the 9.5 billion-euro ($11 billion) in cost. read more

By Elena Mazneva and Laurence Arnold: 11 July 2018

A planned natural-gas pipeline, Nord Stream 2, is the latest point of friction between U.S. President Donald Trump and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. At a summit meeting of North Atlantic Treaty Organization members, Trump said the pipeline risks making Germany “a captive of Russia.” He’s not the first American leader to criticize the pipeline project, and the U.S. isn’t alone in its disapproval.

1. What is Nord Stream 2?

It’s a planned new 1,230 kilometer (764-mile) undersea pipeline that will carry natural gas from fields in Russia to the EU network at Germany’s Baltic coast. It will double the capacity of an existing undersea route and cut Russia’s reliance on gas transit through Ukraine. (Russia has been locked in conflict with Ukraine since 2014, when a pro-Russian president there was forced from power and Russia seized the country’s Crimean Peninsula.) Russia’s Gazprom PJSC is overseeing the project with funding from five investors including Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Engie SA, which are providing half of the 9.5 billion-euro ($10.3 billion) in cost. read more

…the EU may protect the companies financing Nord Stream 2. Those include Royal Dutch Shell Plc…

By William Wilkes and Ewa Krukowska
4 June 2018, 05:00 BST

As Donald Trump’s trade policy risk worsening economic conflict with Europe Union, Russia’s Vladimir Putin is strengthening ties with the region.

Putin will mark 50 years of gas exports to Europe at an event in Vienna on Tuesday. A controversial 9.5 billion-euro ($11 billion) pipeline to feed more supplies from Siberia directly into Germany is progressing despite a U.S. sanctions threat. And Moscow-based Gazprom PJSC last month settled a seven-year-old pricing dispute with the European Union, enabling it to expand its market share. read more

Robin Pagnamenta, Deputy Business Editor: May 23, 2018

The chief executives of some of the biggest British-listed companies are set to travel to Russia this week for a business forum hosted by President Putin, despite simmering tensions over visas and US sanctions against the country.

The oil bosses Bob Dudley, of BP, and Ben van Beurden, of Royal Dutch Shell, are scheduled to speak at the St Petersburg Economic Forum on Friday. Ivan Glasenberg, chief executive of Glencore, the mining and commodities group, and Xavier Rolet, former chief executive of the London Stock Exchange, are also due to take part. read more

Robin Pagnamenta, Deputy Business Editor: April 2, 2018

Some of Britain’s biggest companies have been urged to boycott Russia’s main annual business summit in St Petersburg next month, amid growing political tensions triggered by the poisoning of Sergei Skripal and his daughter.

Bob Dudley, BP’s chief executive; Ben van Beurden, the chief executive of Royal Dutch Shell; and a number of other UK executives attended the St Petersburg International Economic Forum last year.

The event, hosted by President Putin, is due to be held this year on May 24-26, three weeks before the country hosts the football World Cup. read more

President Putin: Photo Credit: Kremlin.ru

Russian Publisher Sputnik International: Sputnik HQ is located in Moscow: 13:02 04.03.2018(updated 04.03.2018)

When cold weather strikes, Europe seems to come to an understanding that Russian energy deliveries to the continent carry a purely economic significance, not a political one.

Deliveries of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Yamal in Siberia are set to arrive in the UK this week as the island nation struggles to dig out from Storm Emma, the Financial Times reported.

The LNG will be delivered to the UK by Royal Dutch Shell, two sources familiar with the shipment have said. The gas will be picked up this weekend, and delivered to an LNG terminal in Milford Haven, Wales, where it will be regasified and pumped into the UK network by March 6. read more

BY SAHARA REPORTERS, NEW YORK OCT 15, 2017

The Malabu oil scandal, which began in 1998 under the military regime of the late General Sani Abacha, had the quartet of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, General Aliyu Mohammed Gusau a former National Security Adviser; Mr. Dan Etete, former Petroleum Resources Minister; Russian President Putin and House of Representatives member, Umar Bature as lead actors at various stages.

The transaction, which birthed the scandal, began when the Abacha regime decided to encourage indigenous participation in the upstream sector of the oil and gas industry. The regime allocated oil blocks to Nigerian companies at a reduced cost of $20 million per block. read more

Áine Ryan: 18 July 2017

IT was always about ‘sovereignty’ for retired teacher and one of the Rossport Five, Vincent McGrath. So last week’s news that Shell is in the process of selling the controversial Corrib Gas project reminded him of the lines from the War of Independence poem, Shanagolden:
“These hills are at peace again, the Saxon stranger gone.”

Speaking to The Mayo News yesterday (Monday), Mr McGrath, who with four other local men spent 94 days in jail in 2005 for flouting an injunction allowing Shell onto their lands, said: “For me it was always about sovereignty and the health and safety of our community and our Government ceded this to Shell and thus failed in their primary duty to protect their citizens in Erris.” read more

Comment from Bill Campbell on the Energy Voice Article: Shell stresses importance of stable regulatory environment post-Trump victory

Under Trump, with the senate and congress to support him, we can look forward soon to significant deregulation in the US effecting positively onshore fracking, tar sands development, offshore Deepwater in the Gulf and a boost perhaps to Alaska drilling. One assumes the Keystone pipeline will go ahead and perhaps pipelines running from central US to East Coast for new LNG Plants to supply a Europe hedging its bets over Russian gas availability with Europe’s ongoing problems with Putin, sanctions etc. A significant increase in US output, leading to increase in global supply over demand could dampen oil price. Shell seems to have divested assets recently in the US in some of these areas to offset BG takeover costs so uncertain whether Trumpworld will be good or bad for Shell. read more

EBOOK BY JOHN DONOVAN: SIR HENRI DETERDING AND THE NAZI HISTORY OF ROYAL DUTCH SHELL

Chapter 1: The best historians Shell could buy

Shell commissioned a group of eminent “independent” historians (above) mostly Dutch, to author a history of Royal Dutch Shell to mark the Group’s centenary in 2007.  The introduction in Volume 1 pledged independent research and “a proper and even-handed assessment of Deterding.” Something went amiss because the “history,” as published in regard to his dealings with Hitler, is simply untrue.

On 24 May 2015, a light-hearted story in the Prufrock column of The Sunday Times posed the question: “ARE corporate histories the new harbingers of doom?”  It cited the release of corporate histories of two multinational banks that proved embarrassing to the banks due to unforeseen developments. read more

By Royston Wild: The Motley Fool: Friday, 2 September, 2016

Investor appetite for the oil segment has taken a knock in recent weeks as fears of a prolonged supply glut have weighed.

British majors Royal Dutch Shell(LSE: RDSB) and BP(LSE: BP) have seen their share prices slip 10% and 7% respectively during the past six weeks, for example. And I believe a sharper retracement could be just around the corner.

Stocks keep surging

Broker predictions that the oil market is set to balance later this year are being put under increased scrutiny as already-plentiful stockpiles continue to build. read more

ST PETERSBURG, RUSSIA | BY DENIS PINCHUK AND DMITRY ZHDANNIKOV: Mon Jun 20, 2016 8:29am EDT

Russia’s state-controlled gas giant Gazprom (GAZP.MM) could gain control over some of the assets that Shell (RDSa.L) acquired earlier this year from BG group, a senior Gazprom executive said in an interview.

Gazprom’s Deputy Chief Executive Alexander Medvedev said the BG holdings could be included in an asset swap deal between Gazprom and Shell that was announced last year. He did not say what the BG holdings were or where they were located. read more

Shell CEO Ben van Beurden bows to Russian President Putin at the Kremlin: April 2014

Thu Jun 16, 2016

ST PETERSBURG, Russia, June 16 (Reuters) – Energy major Shell and Russia’s gas major Gazprom will jointly invest $13 billion in three projects in Russia, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said on Thursday.

Novak said that Shell would take part in the development of Gazprom’s Yuzhno-Kirinskoye gas field offshore Russia’s Sakhalin island in the Pacific.

The two companies will also jointly invest in the Baltic Sea Liquefied Natural Gas plant and in the Sakhalin-2 LNG plant expansion. read more

Shell CEO Ben van Beurden bows to President Putin

Thu Jun 16, 2016 8:11am EDT

Gazprom and Shell signed on Thursday a memorandum of understanding on construction of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant on the Russian coast of the Baltic Sea.

The memorandum says the companies will look into possibilities of building the LNG plant in the port of Ust-Luga with an annual capacity of 10 million tonnes.

Gazprom and Shell are already partners in Russia’s only LNG plant on the Pacific island of Sakhalin which has a capacity of 10 million tonnes per year. read more

16 June 2016 

Russia’s Gazprom and Anglo-Dutch energy major Shell have inked a letter of understanding to begin a liquefied natural gas project at the Russian port of Ust-Luga on the Baltic Sea.

CEOs Aleksey Miller and Ben van Beurden signed the agreement at the 20th International Economic Forum in St. Petersburg.

The project aims to diversify Gazprom’s LNG sales operations and to boost its LNG portfolio.

The enterprise will reportedly include a two-train LNG plant as well as a pipeline connected to the Gazprom network. The Baltic LNG Plant will have a capacity of about 10 million tons of gas annually with an option to expand to 15 million tons. The new plant will start operating in December 2021. read more

Thu Jun 16, 2016 11:29am GMT

ST PETERSBURG, Russia, June 16 (Reuters) – President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday Royal Dutch Shell was a long-term and reliable partner for Russia.

Putin, who is attending the annual St Petersburg International Economic Forum, made his remarks after Shell CEO Ben van Beurden asked the Russian leader to help support the company’s Russian business.

Van Beurden said Shell had made a lot of progress in its Sakhalin-2 LNG project with Russian gas giant Gazprom. read more

Tue Jun 14, 2016 1:32pm GMT

MOSCOW, June 14 (Reuters) – Russian gas giant Gazprom and oil major Shell will sign a deal on a planned Baltic liquefied natural gas (LNG) project on the sidelines of a forum in St. Petersburg later this week, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters on Tuesday.

He said the deal will be signed in the presence of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who will meet Shell’s Chief Executive Ben van Beurden at the forum.

Gazprom plans to build the plant, which may produce up to 20 million tonnes of LNG per year, by December 2021. read more

Extracts from an article by Kyle Mizokami published by THE WEEK: 29 MARCH 2016

Russia is staking its claim to the Arctic and is being more than a little unreasonable about it. In 2007 Russian robotic submarines planted the national flag under the North Pole. Russia claims the North Pole on the grounds that the Lomonosov Ridge, an extension of Russia’s continental shelf territory, passes underneath the pole.

Russia is preparing to back its claims up, too: As of 2015, it had established six new bases north of the Arctic Circle, including 16 deepwater ports and 13 airfields. Russia has deployed advanced S-400 long-range surface-to-air missiles, as well as “Bastion” supersonic anti-ship missiles, to protect Arctic bases. The vastness of the Arctic means these weapons don’t threaten other countries, but they do create fortified bases that will allow Russia to springboard ships, planes, and Arctic-trained troops into contested territory. read more

“TEXVETTE”

Looks like Marvin Odum was stripped of key responsibilities and placed in a lame Role. Ironically he will have to clean up the messes he left in Alaska and Unconventionals. A bit of Karma, but he should no longer be on the payroll after all his major mistakes.

“OUTSIDER”

The merger of Shell T&T and Royal Dutch in 2004 resulted in a major loss to the UK exchequer, as the taxes previously paid by Shell T&T went to the Dutch government instead. Presumably the taxes previously paid by BG will now go to the Dutch government too? read more

Russia has abandoned hopes for a lasting recovery in oil prices, bracing for a new era of abundant crude as US shale production transforms the global energy market.

President Vladimir Putin answers questions during an interview for Russian television

Ambrose Evans-Pritchard: 14 Oct 2015

The Kremlin has launched a radical shift in strategy, rationing funds for the once-sacrosanct oil and gas industry and relying instead on a revival of manufacturing and farming, driven by a much more competitive rouble.

“We have to have prudent forecasts. Our budget is based very conservative assumptions of oil at around $50 a barrel,” said Vladimir Putin, the Russian president. read more

Neil Hall / Reuters: 6 Oct 2015

Royal Dutch Shell’s business ties remain strong in Russia and there’s no lack of investment opportunities in the country despite sanctions, said Shell CEO Ben Van Beurden.

“Our interests in Russia stay significant… Sanctions do not mean absence of investment opportunities. We have a very effective and strategic cooperation with Gazprom in different areas… This is still in power. I want to stress that sanctions don’t mean lack of investment opportunities,” he told the Oil & Money conference on Tuesday. read more

The Transocean Polar Pioneer sits in the Chukchi Sea on Aug. 5, 2015

Paul Fuhs: September 2, 2015

A lot has been said by many people about Shell’s Arctic drilling program but I have yet to see a real analysis of what it would mean for Alaska and our people.

Some have said: “Well, it is in federal waters so we won’t get anything out of it.” I just don’t believe that is true. Here are some of the direct benefits we will receive if Shell is successful in their endeavors.

The current throughput of the trans-Alaska oil pipeline is about 400,000 barrels a day and declining by about 5 percent a year. It has been estimated that below 200,000 barrels a day the pipeline will not be able to operate. A study by the Idaho National Energy Lab estimates that if this were to occur, we would strand at least 1 billion barrels of oil on the North Slope. read more

Sources: American Association of Petroleum Geologists, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, IBRU at Durham University, Bordermap Consulting, KlimaCampus Integrated Climate Data Center, U.S. Geological Survey: By The New York Times

By STEVEN LEE MYERSAUG. 29, 2015

ABOARD COAST GUARD CUTTER ALEX HALEY, in the Chukchi Sea — With warming seas creating new opportunities at the top of the world, nations are scrambling over the Arctic — its territorial waters, transit routes and especially its natural resources — in a rivalry some already call a new Cold War. read more

By John Donovan

Royal Dutch Shell CEO Ben van Beurden claims that he has been on a personal journey in relation to authorising Shell’s latest Arctic gamble.

All due credit for the courage needed to take such a huge risk. The same applies to Shell’s takeover of the BG Group and the alliance with the corrupt and murderous Putin regime. All could go terribly wrong.

With regards to economics, the price of oil is an important factor in all three ventures. Shell has now admitted that oil prices are likely to remain low for some time.  read more

MOSCOW | BY DENIS PINCHUK AND KATYA GOLUBKOVA: Mon 10 August 2015

Royal Dutch Shell’s (RDSa.L) plans to build a strategic alliance with Russia’s Gazprom (GAZP.MM) could be in jeopardy after the United States added one of Gazprom’s biggest gas fields to its list of Russian sanctions on Friday.

Shell and Gazprom signed an agreement in June to develop a strategic alliance in the gas sector, ranging from upstream – exploration and production – to sales, including possible asset swaps. read more

By ANDREW E. KRAMER AUG. 4, 2015

MOSCOW — Russia formally staked a claim on Tuesday to a vast area of the Arctic Ocean, including the North Pole.

If the United Nations committee that arbitrates sea boundaries accepts Russia’s claim, the waters will be subject to Moscow’s oversight on economic matters, including fishing and oil and gas drilling, though Russia will not have full sovereignty.

Under a 1982 United Nations convention, the Law of the Sea, a nation may claim an exclusive economic zone over the continental shelf abutting its shores. If the shelf extends far out to sea, so can the boundaries of the zone. The claim Russia lodged on Tuesday contends that the shelf extends far north of the Eurasian land mass, out under the planet’s northern ice cap. read more

by Rakteem Katakey: August 3, 2015: BLOOMBERG.COM

Royal Dutch Shell Plc will swap a stake in one of its international energy assets for part of Gazprom PJSC’s Sakhalin-3 project as Europe’s biggest oil company extends ties with Russia.

The companies are discussing which asset would be offered to Gazprom, Shell Chief Executive Officer Ben Van Beurden said last week in London. For Shell, the prize is greater involvement in the world’s biggest gas reserves.

“Russia sits on 25 percent of the world’s gas reserves and is very, very close to markets that we are very familiar with,” Van Beurden said July 30, on the sidelines of the company’s earnings presentation. Shell is also pushing “to see how we can work with Gazprom internationally.” read more

“The Dutch have a company that everybody knows, called Royal Dutch Shell, and Russia has some projects that Shell could make lots of money from,” Koshiw says. Royal Dutch Shell is teaming up with Russian Gazprom on several projects despite Western sanction on Russia, and at the beginning of 2015 they signed a memorandum to build two new Nord Stream gas pipelines under the Baltic Sea. “Shell is the Netherlands’ number one company, so they will be very careful in attacking Putin,” Koshiw explained. “They have an important relationship with Gazprom, and that’s key.” read more

BY BOB REISS 7/6/15

It was just after Christmas 2012, and the Kulluk, a 250-foot-high, floating oil-drill rig, swung like a metronome in gale-force winds blowing through the Gulf of Alaska. The tug that had been towing the rig bobbed helplessly in 50-foot waves, her four diesel engines flooded with seawater as the rig’s skeleton crew of 18 drifted toward a barrier island. If the Kulluk hit, it might split open, spilling 143,000 gallons of diesel fuel and 12,000 gallons of hazardous fluids into the waters. read more

Charles Kennedy: Mon, 22 June 2015

Russian energy giant Gazprom is building up a global portfolio with a western oil major.

Gazprom and Royal Dutch Shell are teaming up on several energy projects that will benefit both. The two energy companies have agreed to build an expansion of the Nord Stream Pipeline, a major natural gas pipeline that travels beneath the Baltic Sea. The pipeline is a priority for Russia, which will allow it to expand its natural gas exports to Europe while also cutting out Ukraine from the mix.

Gazprom, Shell, along with E.ON and OMV – two gas importers in Western Europe – have agreed to build the $11 billion expansion of Nord Stream. read more

A Gazprom logo is displayed above its headquarters in Moscow. Gazprom is building a global strategic alliance with energy major Royal Dutch Shell that will include asset swaps and allow the Russian gas giant to penetrate new markets.

The deal with Shell is a coup for Gazprom at a time when many Western companies are reducing their exposure to Russia because of Western sanctions over Moscow’s actions in Ukraine.

Reuters/St Petersburg, Russia

Gazprom is building a global strategic alliance with energy major Royal Dutch Shell that will include asset swaps and allow the Russian gas giant to penetrate new markets, its chief executive told Reuters.

Gazprom, the world’s top gas producer, said on Thursday that Shell and its long-time gas buyers in Europe – Germany’s E.ON and Austria’s OMV – had agreed to build two new Nord Stream gas pipelines under the Baltic sea to Germany. read more

Shell Expects Russia’s Sakhalin-2 Project to be Expanded — CEO

June 3, 2015

Shell expects that the Sakhalin-2 project will be expanded, its CEO Ben van Beurden said Wednesday, writes TASS.

“This is what we will be working at, we’re very interested in developing business in Russia,” he said, adding that he will be discussing the issues related to the company’s cooperation with Russia at a meeting with Energy Minister Alexander Novak.

We’re committed to cooperation with Russia in the long-term and it’s important for us to continue dialogue with the Russian Government, he said. read more

By Andy Tully: Posted on Tue, 26 May 2015

Huge oil companies, among the largest businesses in the world, don’t excite hedge fund manager Jim Chanos because today they have to work harder and more inefficiently than ever to bring their products to market.

“[W]e’re just seeing that … these guys like Exxon and Chevron and Royal Dutch Shell are simply replacing $20 [per barrel] oil with $80 oil,” Chanos said May 24 on the PBS television program “Wall Street Week.” “So high return-on-capital businesses are becoming more mundane return-on-capital businesses.” read more

By Ron Arnold, Executive Vice President, Center for the Defense of Free Enterprise: 25 May 2015

National Security, The Seattle Oil Rig, And Greenpeace’s Dirty Money

President Obama had it all wrong in his commencement address at the United States Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut. He warned that climate change “deniers” endanger our national security – denying “undermines the readiness of our forces.”

In fact, climate change believers are the threat to our national security, such as the recently notorious Seattle mob of Greenpeace “kayaktivists” paddling around Puget Sound trying to stop Polar Pioneer, Shell Oil’s Arctic drilling rig, from making a layover at the Port of Seattle to gear up for Alaskan waters. When thwarted by the Coast Guard’s 500-foot no-approach cordon, the Greenpeace canoe crowd left the harbor and took to the streets where they blocked supplier access to the rig until city police dispersed them. read more

Shell’s Arctic voyage marks beginning of peak oil era

Anglo-Dutch company’s search for resources in the Arctic is a sign that the world is running out of options for new oil reserves

By Andrew Critchlow, Commodities editor

In his critically acclaimed 2005 book ‘Twilight in the Desert’, the prominent oil economist Matthew R. Simmons predicted that Saudi Arabia’s oil wells would soon run dry.

His argument was based on the age of the seven main fields, which the kingdom still to this day depends upon to pump the bulk of its 10m barrels per day (bpd) of crude. These fields in the main have been producing for over a generation and, despite official figures placing Saudi Arabia’s proven reserves at over 260bn barrels, Mr Simmons argued that the kingdom would struggle to increase its output to keep pace with the projected increases in the demand over the next half century marking the beginning of a period known as “peak oil”. read more

Article by Keith Findlay published 11 March 2015 by EnergyVoice.com

Extracts

Dutch communities rattled by earthquakes are upending Europe’s energy market.

Towns in the northern province of Groningen sit atop the continent’s biggest gas field, where the Dutch government says exploration by oil and gas majors Royal Dutch Shell and ExxonMobil has triggered 196 earthquakes since 2013, damaging buildings and making home sales difficult.

Lawmakers, seeking support in provincial elections next week, have responded to residents’ complaints with a proposed cut in gas production – the second since December – in the hope that less output means fewer tremors. read more

Chris Finlayson representing Shell and Alexander Medvedev, Gazprom’s Vice Chairman

By John Donovan

Royal Dutch Shell executive Chris Finlayson held a leadership position in Shell’s Sakhalin II project in Russia from September 2005 to September 2009.

The venture was described as “the Mother of all Projects” by the Financial Times.

When Finlayson joined the Sakhalin II project, Shell was the controlling stakeholder in the venture.

By the time he departed, Shell had lost its controlling stake and had become a junior partner in humiliating circumstances.

The Putin government found out that Shell had hidden information from them in a high level cover-up. As a Russian government minister, Oleg Mitvol, confirmed to the news media at the time, and more recently in a GERMAN TV documentary segment broadcast across Europe, I supplied that crucial insider information to him. I did so before the real nature of Putin had become apparent.   read more

FULL CREDIT TO THE EXPERT WHO CORRECTLY PREDICTED THE OIL PRICE CRASH

By John Donovan

In June of this year Forbes.com published an extensive prescient article by Jesse Colombo, an economic analyst, under the headline:

“9 Reasons Why Oil Prices May Be Headed For A Bust”

His prediction made 6 months ago:

“There are a growing number of reasons, however, why crude oil prices are likely to finally experience a bust in the not-too-distant future.”

Jesse Colombo correctly predicted an event of huge significance. Ask Putin or Shell’s Ben van Beurden.

Some further extracts from his brilliant article, which deserves reading in full.

While extreme aggregate trading positions can persist for quite a while, as is the case in the crude oil market for the past few years, they are still a reliable indication that a powerful market reversal is likely to occur when the proper catalyst eventually appears and sends speculators heading for the exits. So far, no bearish catalyst has presented itself in the crude oil market, but the other points that I’ve listed in this piece may combine to form a perfect storm that finally causes the oil market to crack. read more

Royal Dutch Shell’s CEO Ben Van Beurden speaks during a press conference.

MOSCOW, October 21 (RIA Novosti) – French oil and gas company Total CEO Christophe de Margerie was a larger-than-life character that was respected across the energy industry, energy group Shell CEO Ben van Beurden told RIA Novosti on Tuesday.

“I’m extremely sad to hear about the tragic loss of Christophe de Margerie. Christophe was a larger than life character, a leader respected across the energy industry and a friend,” Beurden said.

“My thoughts are with his wife and family, and his many thousands of colleagues at Total,” he added. read more

In April 2014, following the Russian Annexation of Crimea, Shell COE, Ben van Beurden, was still bowing to Putin and full of ambition for Russian oil and gas projects. 

By John Donovan

In April 2014, Royal Dutch Shell Chief Executive Ben Van Beurden claimed that the company had no plans to change its work with its Russian partners, despite the conflict in Ukraine.

His resolve seems to have crumbled following the imposition of further sanctions by the USA and Europe against the Putin regime.

A number of news articles are reporting that Shell has followed Exxon in suspending tight oil projects in Russia.

According to Reuters, “Oil major Shell has suspended development of hard-to-recover oil in Russia’s Bazhenov formation with Gazprom Neft, Interfax cited Gazprom Neft’s head as saying on Friday, after the West imposed sanctions on Russia over Ukraine.” read more