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Shell is said to evaluate sale of holdings in largest U.S. oil field valued at as much as $10B
Jun. 13, 2021 7:19 PM ET Royal Dutch Shell plc (RDS.A), RDS.BBy: Josh Fineman, SA News Editor
Shale Oil
Shell is said to evaluate sale of holdings in largest U.S. oil field valued at as much as $10B
Shell avoids loss with strong trading, wipes $17 billion off assets
Shell avoids loss with strong trading, wipes $17 billion off assets
Ron Bousso, Shadia Nasralla: JULY 30, 2020LONDON (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L) avoided its first quarterly loss in recent history, helped by a booming trading business, but announced nearly $17 billion in impairment charges reflecting a pessimistic outlook for oil and gas prices.
Shell had warned last month it was set to slash the value of its oil and gas assets by up to $22 billion as the coronavirus crisis hollowed out energy demand.
“Shell has delivered resilient cash flow in a remarkably challenging environment,” CEO Ben van Beurden said in a statement on Thursday.
Shell boosts crude output in top U.S. shale field to 250,000 bpd
FEBRUARY 5, 2020
(Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell, which plans billions of dollars in spending on shale drilling projects, boosted output in the top U.S. shale field to 250,000 barrels per day in December, the company’s Permian Basin head said on Wednesday.
Shell plans to spend about $3 billion per year for the next five years on shale projects, said Amir Gerges, vice president of Permian assets for Shell, at the Argus Americas Crude Summit in Houston. Its Permian Basin production rose more than 100,000 barrels per day in the last year.
Shell not ‘desperate’ to grow US shale despite Anadarko sale: CFO
London — Shell is keen to grow its US shale oil portfolio but does not feel pressured to chase new acquisitions, as Occidental and Chevron battle for control of Anadarko’s Permian-rich upstream assets, Shell Chief Financial Officer Jessica Uhl said Thursday.
Shell doesn’t “need” to do a US shale deal as it already has a strong US portfolio of shale and tight oil, which has further room for volume growth, Uhl said.
“We have significant growth capacity in our existing position and, in that sense, we are not desperate. We don’t need to find new shale exposure … but we like the business,” Uhl told analysts on an earnings call.
Shell enters China’s shale oil scene with joint study with Sinopec
Chen Aizhu: APRIL 8, 2019
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell has entered China’s shale oil sector, signing an agreement with state-owned Sinopec to study an East China block, part of the nation’s early efforts to unlock the potentially massive unconventional resource.
China is already in the initial stages of developing its vast shale gas resources, with production last year making up just 6 percent of total gas output after more than a decade of work. China’s shale oil is at an even more basic phase due to challenging geology and hefty development costs, experts said.
Shale oil makes up less than 1 percent of China’s crude output after several years of development, according to Angus Rodger, research director of Asia-Pacific upstream at Wood Mackenzie.
Shell Argentina invests to increase shale output after selling downstream assets
Dec. 27 (UPI) — Shell Argentina, which two months ago sold a refinery and fuel stations, said Thursday it will move to develop unconventional oil fields in the Vaca Muerta basin, aiming at 70,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day by 2025.
The decision includes developing the Sierras Blancas, Cruz de Lorena and Coiron Amargo southwest blocks, the company told UPI in a statement sent by email on Thursday.
“Vaca Muerta makes up an important part of our global shale portfolio and we see substantial long-term growth potential there,” said Andy Brown, Shell Global Upstream Director.
Shell taps its deepwater legacy to fund its future
Anglo-Dutch oil major banks on Gulf of Mexico to help navigate energy transition
Shell comments on deepwater vs. shale
Growing oil and gas production from shale fields will act as a “good balance” for deepwater projects, the new head of Royal Dutch Shell’s (RDS.A, RDS.B) U.S. business, Gretchen Watkins, said in her first interview since joining the Anglo-Dutch major in May.Shell sells off downstream assets in Argentina
By Staff reporter3 October 2018
Shell has decided to focus its Argentine business on drilling for oil and gas in the country’s huge Vaca Muerta shale play and has sold off its downstream assets in Argentina to pay for it.
The assets, which include service stations and asphalt production, were sold to Brazil’s Raizen for $916 million.
SOURCEShell May Be Rediscovering Its Swagger in Texas Shale Oil Country
By Kelly Gilblom: 18 June 2018, 05:00 BST
Shale oil hasn’t always been Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s best friend, but they’re working on the relationship.
Shell is said to have bid, with partner Blackstone Group LP, on a portfolio of U.S. shale assets BHP Billiton Ltd. wants to sell for about $10 billion. If it wins, the Anglo-Dutch oil major could exceed its goal of doubling its American onshore output, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co.
That would boost the unit’s free cash flow — currently on track to grow by $2 billion by 2025 — and turn around a shale portfolio that is currently “mid-lower ranked,” analysts from the bank including Christyan Malek said in a report.
Shell holds tight to shale basin in Argentina
The Dutch supermajor is selling off everything from its retail stations to a refinery in Argentina, but won’t give up its stake on the Vaca Muerta shale.
By Daniel J. Graeber: April 24, 2018
April 24 (UPI) — The Vaca Muerta shale formation in Argentina has substantial growth potential remaining, Shell said Tuesday after it unloaded its downstream business.
For close to $1 billion in cash, Royal Dutch Shell said it was selling off everything from its retail service stations to its refinery in Buenos Aires to Raízen, the third largest energy company in Brazil. After the close, Shell will still have a footprint in the downstream, or refinery side, of the energy sector in Argentina.
U.S. judge to question Big Oil on climate change
David Levine: 21 MARCH 2018
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Five of the world’s biggest energy producers will be questioned by a federal judge on Wednesday about climate change science, part of a lawsuit that accuses the companies of misleading the public for years about their role in global warming.
The cities of San Francisco and Oakland, California sued Chevron Corp (CVX.N), Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N), ConocoPhillips (COP.N), Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSa.L), and BP PLC (BP.L) last year, seeking an abatement fund to help the cities address flooding they say is a result of climate change.
Shell in bid for BHP’s US shale assets
Emily Gosden, Energy Editor: March 9, 2018
Royal Dutch Shell is working with the private equity firm Blackstone Group on a $10 billion (£7.2 billion) bid for BHP Billiton’s US shale assets.
The Anglo-Dutch oil group first expressed interest in the assets, some of which neighbour its own existing shale fields in the Permian basin, last month.
It has now teamed up with the private equity giant to work on a joint offer, Sky News reported last night. Shell and Blackstone both declined to comment.
Shell’s U.S. shale output plans prioritize oil over natgas
Ron Bousso. Ernest Scheyder: 8 March 2018
HOUSTON (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSa.L) is focused on increasing its U.S. shale operation’s oil production while slowing investment in lower-margin natural gas, an executive said on Thursday.
The Anglo-Dutch company aims to boost its overall shale production by 200,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d) to 500,000 boe/d between 2017 and 2020, mostly in the United States with some production in Argentina.
Although the shale business has yet to generate a profit, it is expected to do so next year, Greg Guidry, who heads Shell’s shale operations, told Reuters on the sidelines of the CERAWeek energy conference in Houston.
Shell, like Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N) and Chevron Corp (CVX.N), aims to make shale production a driver of growth in the next decade. But today most of its output is natural gas, where profit margins are lower.
As a result, around 85 percent of Shell’s shale budget for at least the next two years will go toward new oil resources, particularly in the Permian oilfield of West Texas and Canada’s Duvernay Basin, Guidry said.
Shell and Blackstone join forces to fuel $10bn BHP shale bid
By Mark Kleinman, City Editor
Shell, the FTSE 100 oil behemoth, is plotting a $10bn (£7.3bn) joint takeover bid for the American shale division of BHP, the world’s biggest miner.
Sky News has learnt that Shell and Blackstone, the private equity firm, have agreed to work together on an offer for the assets, which were put up for sale last summer by BHP amid pressure from an activist investor.
A joint offer from Shell and Blackstone would be only one of several credible proposals that BHP is expecting to receive for the US shale operations, according to banking sources.
Houston outlook bright with U.S. shale set to dominate global growth for years
Forecasters at Royal Dutch Shell, the Anglo-Dutch oil major, have predicted that global oil demand could peak within a decade as electric cars and other clean energy technologies gain larger market shares.
March 5, 2018 Updated: March 5, 2018 8:42pm
Houston’s energy industry, which drives the local economy, has much brighter days ahead as global oil demand climbs, shale production booms and U.S. crude grabs larger shares of global markets, according to forecasts, industry officials and analysts.
The United States is already pumping oil at record levels above 10 million barrels a day, surpassing Saudi Arabia, and may take over from Russia as the world’s production leader by the end of 2018. Over the next five years, daily U.S. production is expected to climb 3.5 million barrels, or 35 percent, to more than 13 million barrels, according to a forecast by the International Energy Agency, which monitors the global oil industry.
Shell Takes Major Steps Toward Energy Diversification
By David Messler – Mar 05, 2018, 12:00 PM CST
Shell has spent the last three years reinventing itself for the energy future it sees in the coming decades. A few years back, Shell was a company struggling to find its footing. Exploration success was declining, as was daily liquids production. From the graph below you can see that the lack of success in exploration was starting to equate to reduced production. An oil company’s life can be measured in production, and they were not replacing the oil being produced.
In the deepwater versus shale oil contest, Shell backs both
Shell’s deepwater production in Brazil, Nigeria, the Gulf of Mexico is much bigger and more profitable, but the firm sees the nimble, fast-returns U.S. onshore shale as an engine for growth.
“We can see strong (shale) production growth, strong cash surpluses that gives us a balance in our portfolio where you can ramp investment up and down, you can moderate that, very unlike deepwater which is quite chunky,” Andy Brown told Reuters in an interview on the sidelines of the IP Week conference.
Argentina Is On The Cusp Of A Shale Boom
…oil majors such as Royal Dutch Shell and ExxonMobil are rushing to scoop up the best acreage…
By Matthew Smith – Feb 15, 2018, 5:00 PM CST
The end of the Peronist hold on Argentine politics and rise of pro-business president Mauricio Macri has heralded in a new age for what was long regarded as one of the most economically unstable nations in Latin America.
The former Buenos Aires mayor and businessman won the presidency in 2015, ousting his mercurial populist Peronist predecessor Cristina Fernández de Kirchner. Since coming to power, Macri has worked to restructure a shattered economy ruined by decades of market warping tariffs and subsidies, protectionism, heavy handed regulation, rampant inflation and unsustainable fiscal policies.
Canadian shale boom triggers quakes in Alberta town as frackers rush to drill new wells
Communities like Fox Creek, Alberta, are feeling the economic benefits of the shale boom, along with fracking-linked earthquakes.
Drilling has been so intense near Fox Creek, Alberta that it’s been linked to a series of earthquakes.
Bloomberg News: Robert Tuttle: February 9, 2018: 12:59 PM ESTIn the Western Alberta town of Fox Creek, roughnecks shuffle through hotel lobbies, freight trucks choke slushy streets and, every once in a while, tremors shake the earth.
Welcome to Canada’s biggest shale boom. Chevron Corp., Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Encana Corp., Murphy Oil Corp. and XTO Energy Inc. are among those flocking to Fox Creek to stake their claim in the oil-rich Duvernay shale formation.
Here, the prize is condensate, an ultra-light oil that’s perfect for diluting the heavy tar-sands crude for which Alberta is known. More locally produced diluent would be a plus for Canadian companies that now depend on the U.S. — and for communities like Fox Creek that are feeling the economic benefits along with fracking-linked earthquakes. More of both may be in the offing as drillers flock in Chevron’s wake into the Duvernay region.
Why Canada is the next frontier for shale oil
FILE PHOTO: Four rigs drill at the Super Pad in Seven Generations Energy’s Kakwa River Project in northwest Alberta, Canada in a photo provided January 19, 2018. Seven Generations Energy Ltd/Handout via REUTERS
Nia Williams: 29 JAN 2018
CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) – The revolution in U.S. shale oil has battered Canada’s energy industry in recent years, ending two decades of rapid expansion and job creation in the nation’s vast oil sands.
Now Canada is looking to its own shale fields to repair the economic damage.
Canadian producers and global oil majors are increasingly exploring the Duvernay and Montney formations, which they say could rival the most prolific U.S. shale fields.
Canada is the first country outside the United States to see large-scale development of shale resources, which already account for 8 percent of total Canadian oil output. China, Russia and Argentina also have ample shale reserves but have yet to overcome the obstacles to full commercial development.
Oil Boom Gives the U.S. a New Edge in Energy and Diplomacy
A pump jack in a Permian Basin oil field in West Texas. The area has been a focus of the shale drilling boom. Credit Spencer Platt/Getty Images North America
HOUSTON — A substantial rise in oil prices in recent months has led to a resurgence in American oil production, enabling the country to challenge the dominance of Saudi Arabia and dampen price pressures at the pump.
The success has come in the face of efforts by Saudi Arabia and its oil allies to undercut the shale drilling spree in the United States. Those strategies backfired and ultimately ended up benefiting the oil industry.
Overcoming three years of slumping prices proved the resiliency of the shale boom. Energy companies and their financial backers were able to weather market turmoil — and the maneuvers of the global oil cartel — by adjusting exploration and extraction techniques.
U.S. oil industry set to break record, upend global trade
Liz Hampton: 16 JAN 2018
HOUSTON (Reuters) – Surging shale production is poised to push U.S. oil output to more than 10 million barrels per day – toppling a record set in 1970 and crossing a threshold few could have imagined even a decade ago.
And this new record, expected within days, likely won’t last long. The U.S. government forecasts that the nation’s production will climb to 11 million barrels a day by late 2019, a level that would rival Russia, the world’s top producer.
Shell is fully committed to oil and gas from shale says Financieele Dagblad
Printed below is an English translation of an article published by the Dutch equivalent of the Financial Times, Financieele Dagblad under the headline “Shell is fully committed to oil and gas from shale“.
• Energy Editor
Shale gas and shale oil may then have a negative sound in Europe and hardly play a role, governments in the US, Canada, China and Argentina do see a lot of it. Shell hopes to benefit from this favorable investment climate in the coming years, especially now that the company has drastically reduced the costs of extracting shale gas and oil in recent years.
Shell share price: Group’s future growth to depend on shale
Oil major’s disposals continue with stake in Dutch wind farm
by Tsveta Zikolova: Monday, 08 Jan 2018, 08:58 GMT
The growth of Royal Dutch Shell’s (LON:RDSA) oil and gas operations in the next decade will depend on shale production, the company’s chief executive has told the Financial Times. In a separate development, Reuters reports that the energy major has inked a deal to offload a stake in a Dutch wind farm.
Shell’s share price has been little changed this morning, having inched 0.04 percent lower to 2,529.00p as of 08:24 GMT. The group’s shares are marginally outperforming the broader UK market, with the benchmark FTSE 100 index currently standing 0.15 percent lower at 7,712.82 points.
Shell Chief Van Beurden Favours Shale For Future Growth – FT
Mon, 8th Jan 2018 07:34
LONDON (Alliance News) – Royal Dutch Shell PLC Chief Executive Ben van Beurden said the company’s growth in the next decade will depend on shale production, the Financial Times reported Sunday.
According to the newspaper, van Beurden sees “chemicals, electricity and biofuels as key sectors for Shell’s long-term future”. Depending on the price of oil in the 2020s, the CEO said, the oil major would probably want to continue investing in shale “because we will really want to grow this business quite quickly”.
Van Beurden said Shell has been working hard in the past few years to reduce shale production costs, and with “a little bit of help from the oil price going up, we now see that we can significantly accelerate investment into this opportunity”.
Shell looks to shale production for rapid growth
Ed Crooks in New York: Sunday 7 Jan 2018
The growth of Royal Dutch Shell’s oil and gas operations in the next decade will depend on shale production, its chief executive has said, in the latest sign of western energy groups pinning their hopes for expansion on those “unconventional” resources. Ben van Beurden told the Financial Times that he saw chemicals, electricity and biofuels as key sectors for Shell’s long-term future… FULL FT ARTICLE
All That New Shale Oil May Not Be Enough as Big Discoveries Drop
Three years after causing an oil-price crash, the shale boom may not be enough to meet rising global demand because the industry has cut back so sharply on higher-risk mega-projects.
Discoveries of new reserves this year were the fewest on record and replaced just 11 percent of what was produced, according to a Dec. 21 report by consultant Rystad Energy. While shale wells are creating a glut now, without more investment in bigger, conventional supply, the world may see output deficits as soon as 2019, according to Canadian producer Suncor Energy Inc.
Pressured for profit, oil majors bet big on shale technology
Shell, in an initiative called “iShale,” has marshaled technology from a dozen oilfield suppliers, including devices from subsea specialist TechnipFMC Plc that separate fracking sand from oil and well-control software from Emerson Electric Co, to bring more automation and data analysis to shale operations.
Ernest Scheyder: NOVEMBER 28, 2017
HOUSTON (Reuters) – Shale oil engineer Oscar Portillo spends his days drilling as many as five wells at once – without ever setting foot on a rig.
Chevron starts LNG output at Australia’s Wheatstone, first cargo expected in weeks
OCTOBER 9, 2017
* Wheatstone had been due to start shipping in mid-2017
* First cargo expected in “coming weeks”
* Wheatstone LNG will produce 8.9 million tpy at full capacity (Adds trader, Woodside comments, chart, factbox in related content section)
By Sonali Paul
MELBOURNE, Oct 9 (Reuters) – Chevron Corp said on Monday it has started producing liquefied natural gas (LNG) at its Wheatstone project in Australia, slightly later than expected, and plans to ship its first cargo soon.
Exclusive: Shell’s CEO – Oil slide is “biggest blessing”
“There were a few mishaps in BG that really hammered their share price and we saw them coming into this funny situation where the share price came down, but we could only see the value go up so we needed to take a hardened look at it again,” Mr van Beurden said. “And then while we were looking at it the oil price started crashing, which actually opened the window even further.”
Energy editor Rita Brown heads to the Hague to hear exclusively how Shell’s chief executive has viewed the last three years since the oil price crash
Written by Rita Brown –
Ben van Beurden’s rise to the top coincided with the oil price riding the crest of a wave.
But for a man who assumed Shell’s chief executive role just months before it all came crashing down, he sums up the last three years as “a blessing”.
“Less than a year into my new role, the oil price started going down and it’s been quite a journey, but if I look back on it I think this is probably the biggest blessing that I’ve had,” he said.
“It has done two things. First of all it provided a tremendous amount of focus on the things that needed doing. I mean, there’s nothing like a crisis to focus on cost efficiency.
Shale drillers show few signs of slowing as profits expand
Shale drillers show few signs of slowing as profits expand
The optimism from the U.S. shale fields followed quarterly reports last week that showed major international producers including Exxon Mobil Corp. and Royal Dutch Shell Plc are also learning to make money at $50 a barrel…
Alex Nussbaum and Joe Carroll, Bloomberg: Published 6:46 am, Wednesday, August 2, 2017
The shale surge that’s tied down global oil prices shows no signs of abating, as four of the biggest U.S. drillers said they’re not backing away from lofty production targets for 2017.
In second-quarter earnings reports, EOG Resources Inc., Devon Energy Corp., Newfield Exploration Co. and Diamondback Energy Inc. all outlined goals on Tuesday that would help push U.S. output toward a record 10 million barrels a day next year. Even Pioneer Natural Resources Co., which trimmed the top end of its forecast due to delays in the Permian shale basin, still expects to increase oil and natural gas volumes by 16 percent at year’s end.
U.S. Shale Just Triggered A Chemical Industry Renaissance
By Tsvetana Paraskova – Jul 03, 2017, 5:00 PM CDT
The shale revolution in the U.S. has led to a boom in domestic natural gas production, to the point that America is expected to become a net exporter of natural gas on an average annual basis by 2018.
Abundant gas at home has also led to a renaissance in the petrochemical industry in the U.S., which had suffered a downturn in 2008 and 2009. But then came the shale revolution, and chemical companies in the U.S. now use the affordable ethane—a natural gas liquid derived from shale gas—as a feedstock.
In Disaster’s Wake, BP Doubles Down on Deepwater Despite Surging Shale
Majors including Exxon Mobil Corp, Chevron Corp and Royal Dutch Shell have maintained Gulf operations but focused expansions on U.S. shale.
THUNDER HORSE OIL PLATFORM, Gulf of Mexico — About 300 BP workers commute 150 miles here by helicopter, from the Louisiana coast to a deep-sea drilling platform that can produce more oil in a day than a West Texas rig can pump in a year.
On the deck of Thunder Horse, they work two-week shifts, drink seawater from a desalination plant, and eat ribs and chicken ferried in by boat. On the ocean floor, robots provide remote eyes and arms as drills extract up to 265,000 barrels per day.
Shell-BG Merger Benefits Becoming More Clear
Zoltan Ban: May 8, 2017
When I decided to position for a coming oil price recovery towards the end of 2015, I decided on buying Shell (NYSE:RDS.A), alongside Suncor (NYSE:SU) and Chevron (NYSE:CVX). My investment strategy always has a longer term horizon, therefore Shell was an obvious choice, given the very generous dividend. When deciding to hold a stock for a number of years, it really makes a difference, as long as the dividend is sustainable, of course.
There were other factors which I saw as positive long term prospects that makes Shell stock worth holding on to for a while. Shell’s leadership in the LNG sector, in large part thanks to the BG deal is one of the things that attracted me to the stock. As I stated many times before, I believe that natural gas will eventually become the number one energy source on the planet and as such it will have to become more flexible in terms of delivery. LNG shipments will most likely become a globally strategic industry, which is likely to grow a lot in coming years and decades.
US crude plunges 4.8% to $45.52, posting worst close in more than five months
4 MAY 2017
Oil prices collapsed on Thursday to their lowest since late November as investor worries about the world’s stubbornly persistent glut of crude erased most of the gains that followed last year’s OPEC’s output cut.
The slide worsened after OPEC delegates downplayed the chance that their group and other producing countries would deepen their output cuts when they meet on May 25. They did say current output cuts were likely to be extended.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures ended trading down $2.30, or 4.8 percent, at $45.52 a barrel. Brent crude oil futures were down $2.53, or 5 percent, at $48.26 a barrel by 2:53 p.m. (1853 GMT).
Strong oil earnings fail to ease fears over crude slide
by: Andrew Ward and Anjli Raval in London
Royal Dutch Shell on Thursday rounded off the strongest set of quarterly results from “big oil” for over two years, even as a fresh slide in crude prices raised doubts over the sustainability of recovery from one of the deepest downturns in industry history. Brent crude fell below $50 per barrel on Thursday to its lowest level since November as confidence in Opec’s ability to overpower a resurgent US shale industry and ease a global oil surplus faded.
Shell opens treatment plant in Argentina shale play
Royal Dutch Shell PLC inaugurated on Tuesday a treatment plant for shale oil and gas in Argentina’s Vaca Muerta shale play, one of the world’s largest.
The plant, announced in 2014, has a capacity to process up to 10,000 barrels per day from the Sierras Blancas, Cruz de Lorena and Coiron Amargo Sur Oeste blocks operated by Shell, the company said in a statement.
“(The plant) receives output from the wells of these blocks, processing the oil and gas to leave it ready for commercialization,” the statement said.
OPEC Has To Extend Cuts – Shell Will Benefit Strongly From The Action
Gary Bourgeault: 28 March 2017
One of the best things to happen to the U.S. shale industry was the plunge in the price of oil. It caused creative companies with good management to aggressively pursue ways of slashing costs, while at the same time improving productivity.
A number of the pure plays like EOG Resources (NYSE:EOG) have been able to significantly improve efficiencies, to the point EOG can generate a 30 percent return when oil is at $40 per barrel. Lately, major producer Royal Dutch Shell plc (NYSE:RDS.A) (NYSE:RDS.B) has taken a larger position in shale, and says new wells in its Permian holdings can generate a profit at $20 per barrel. Overall, it can make money when oil is at $40 in the Permian.
Shell and Anadarko mull clean break from Permian venture -executive
By REUTERS: PUBLISHED: 06:03, 27 March 2017
By Ron Bousso and Ernest Scheyder
LONDON/HOUSTON, March 27 (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Anadarko Petroleum Corp may let a 10-year joint venture in the oil-rich Permian Basin of Texas expire and split their properties, hoping to speed up development, according to a senior Shell executive.
The divorce and re-parceling of acreage would let each company drill and develop new wells at its own pace in the Permian, which has become the U.S. oil industry’s hottest development area for its low operating costs as crude prices hover under $50 per barrel.
Oil is going down but Royal Dutch Shell plc is on the up
Harvey Jones | Thursday, 23rd March, 2017
Brent crude is now only a splash above $50. West Texas Intermediate has dripped to around $48. Predictions that oil would hit $60 or $70 on last year’s OPEC and non-OPEC production cuts have been shown to be desperately optimistic, and oil looks a tough play right now.
Straight to Shell
The share price of Anglo-Dutch major Royal Dutch Shell (LSE: RDSB) flew upwards in the wake of the OPEC deal, hitting a 52-week high of 2,390p in early December. After management’s campaign of cost-cutting, non-core disposals and capex slashing, analysts reckoned it could break even at around $55-60, which would help to sustain its proud record of never having cut its dividend since the war.
Shell accelerates plan to boost U.S. shale output -exec
* Shell to boost shale output by 140,000 bpoed by 2020
* Shell shale output profitable at average oil price $40/bbl
* Argentina shale development decision in 18 months
By Ron Bousso and Ernest Scheyder HOUSTON, March 7 (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell is ramping its North American shale output earlier than planned to lock in quick returns from what has become one of its most profitable businesses, the head of Shell’s unconventional energy business said. The Anglo-Dutch company plans to make shale oil and gas in the United States, Canada and Argentina a key engine of growth in the next decade, targeting output of around 500,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd), Greg Guidry told Reuters in an interview.A drive to cut the cost of producing oil and gas from U.S. shale deposits has proven so effective that Shell has accelerated development plans, Guidry said on the sidelines of the CERAWeek industry conference in Houston.
It aims to boost output by 140,000 boepd over the next three years in the Permian basin in West Texas and the Duvernay region in Canada, said Guidry, an executive vice president.
YPF, Shell sign deal for Vaca Muerta pilot project
Argentina’s state-run oil company YPF SA said it reached a preliminary deal with Royal Dutch Shell Plc on Thursday to develop oil and gas assets in the Vaca Muerta shale field, involving a $300 million investment from Shell.
Both companies will take a 50 percent stake in the Bajada de Añelo field to develop a pilot program, which will be operated by Shell, YPF said in a statement. The agreement is subject to approval by provincial authorities, and Shell’s investment will come in two phases, YPF said.
Shell eyes investments in Alberta’s shale plays as oilsands turn into ‘cash engine, not a growth engine’
Jesse Snyder | February 2, 2017 7:49 PM ET
Royal Dutch Shell Plc said Thursday it will reduce capital expenditures in 2017 for the third straight year, while also outlining plans to boost production at one of its light oil assets in southern Alberta.
During a quarterly conference call with analysts, the Netherlands-based company laid out plans to invest in its liquids-rich Fox Creek, Alta., assets as part of a broader US$2-to- $3-billion strategy targeting its highest-return shale plays.
Shell nears deals to sell $5 bln of assets -CFO
By Karolin Schaps and Ron Bousso | LONDON
Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L) is close to selling assets totaling $5 billion to cut debt following its acquisition of BG Group, the oil major said on Thursday as it reported its lowest full-year earnings in more than a decade.
Dealmaking in the oil and gas sector has been muted for more than two years due to collapsing oil prices, but as crude prices recover buyers and sellers are starting to agree on price tags.
For Shell, disposals of $3 billion in the fourth quarter helped shave $4.5 billion off its net debt and increase cashflow by 8 percent in the last three months of the year, Europe’s largest oil and gas company said.
OPEC, U.S. begin ‘cat and mouse’ oil game as producers pounce on hedges
By Amanda Cooper and Catherine Ngai | LONDON/NEW YORK
As far as one of the world’s biggest commodities traders, Glencore’s chief Ivan Glasenberg, is concerned, the oil market will be at the mercy of “a cat and mouse game” between OPEC and its U.S. shale rivals in the coming year.
A 16 percent price rally over the past week has delivered U.S. frackers a golden opportunity to hedge – or sell forward – their production for 2017 and beyond, to shore up their coffers against possible future price falls.
Leaner and meaner: U.S. shale greater threat to OPEC after oil price war
By Catherine Ngai and Ernest Scheyder
NEW YORK/HOUSTON In a corner of the prolific Bakken shale play in North Dakota, oil companies can now pump crude at a price almost as low as that enjoyed by OPEC giants Iran and Iraq.
Until a few years ago it was unprofitable to produce oil from shale in the United States. The steep slide in costs could encourage more U.S. shale output if OPEC members cut supplies, undermining the producer group’s ability to boost prices. OPEC ministers meet Wednesday to weigh output cuts to end a two-year glut that has pressured global oil prices.
Shell CEO expects no valuation hit from climate accord
Royal Dutch Shell expects to pump out all the fossil fuel reserves listed on its balance sheet, its chief executive said, dismissing concerns that production limits in the wake of the Paris climate accord could hit the energy giant’s valuation.
In an interview with Dutch newspaper Het Financieele Dagblad, Ben van Beurden said the issue of “stranded” reserves – deposits in the ground that cannot be used because of carbon emissions limitations – would have no impact on balance sheets.
Confidence in enlarged Shell-BG entity
The week ahead in business and finance
By Tara Cunningham, business reporter: 30 OCTOBER 2016 • 11:41PM
Third Quarter Results: Tuesday, November 1
Confidence in enlarged Shell-BG entity was rattled after a very disappointing set of second quarter results, when it missed consensus forecasts by 52pc. Ahead of Tuesday’s interim results, analysts at UBS warned: “We don’t think it is reasonable to expect a significant uptick in earnings”.
Even though Royal Dutch Shell has a track-record of “volatile” quarters across the year, the bank highlighted that management have already been “quite explicit” in indicating that 2016 is likely to be “quite messy”.
Shell divests non-core shale acreage in Western Canada for total consideration of US$1 billion
Oct 20, 2016, 17:26 ET
CALGARY, Oct. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ – Royal Dutch Shell plc, through its affiliate Shell Canada Energy (“Shell”) today announced it has agreed to sell approximately 206,000 net acres of non-core oil and gas properties in Western Canada to Tourmaline Oil Corp. for a total consideration of approximately $1,037 million (C$1,369 million). The consideration is comprised of $758 million in cash and Tourmaline shares valued at $279 million. Subject to regulatory approvals the transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2016.
Royal Dutch Shell conspired directly with Hitler, financed the Nazi Party, was anti-Semitic and sold out its own Dutch Jewish employees to the Nazis. Shell had a close relationship with the Nazis during and after the reign of Sir Henri Deterding, an ardent Nazi, and the founder and decades long leader of the Royal Dutch Shell Group. His burial ceremony, which had all the trappings of a state funeral, was held at his private estate in Mecklenburg, Germany. The spectacle (photographs below) included a funeral procession led by a horse drawn funeral hearse with senior Nazis officials and senior Royal Dutch Shell directors in attendance, Nazi salutes at the graveside, swastika banners on display and wreaths and personal tributes from Adolf Hitler and Reichsmarschall, Hermann Goring. Deterding was an honored associate and supporter of Hitler and a personal friend of Goring.
Deterding was the guest of Hitler during a four day summit meeting at Berchtesgaden. Sir Henri and Hitler both had ambitions on Russian oil fields. Only an honored personal guest would be rewarded with a private four day meeting at Hitler’s mountain top retreat.
IN JULY 2007, MR BILL CAMPBELL (ABOVE, A RETIRED GROUP AUDITOR OF SHELL INTERNATIONAL SENT AN EMAIL TO EVERY UK MP AND MEMBER OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS: 
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A head-cut image of Alfred Donovan (now deceased) appears courtesy of The Wall Street Journal.
