Oil giant Shell follows rivals into huge loss

“2020 was an extraordinary year,” said Chief Executive Ben van Beurden. “We have taken tough but decisive actions,” he said, with Shell having already announced plans to axe up to 9,000 jobs, or more than 10 percent of its global workforce.

Published on: Friday, February 05, 2021: By AFP

LONDON: Royal Dutch Shell on Thursday became the latest oil major to reveal huge annual losses as the coronavirus pandemic slashed energy demand and prices in 2020.

Shell dived into a net loss of $21.7 billion (18.1 billion euros) last year as factories shut and planes were grounded. read more

Aberdeen job cuts loom as Shell retrenches in North Sea

By Mark Williamson  @MarkWHerald: Group Business Correspondent

ROYAL Dutch Shell has announced plans to cut around 330 jobs in its UK North Sea oil and gas business which is run from Aberdeen.

The cuts will reduce total employee numbers in the Anglo-Dutch giant’s North Sea business to around 1,000.

It is understood the bulk of the cuts will affect office-based roles in Aberdeen.

The cuts are being made under a programme initiated by Shell amid the oil price plunge that was triggered by the coronavirus crisis. read more

Shell details its layoff of hundreds at Convent site in 2021; full shutdown set for August

• BY KRISTEN MOSBRUCKER | STAFF WRITER
• DEC 28, 2020 – 10:11 AM

Shell plans to begin layoffs for nearly 700 workers in March at its Convent oil refinery, which it expects to fully shut down in August.

The Louisiana subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell, Equilon Enterprises LLC, previously had announced layoffs but has now filed an official notice with the Louisiana Workforce Commission outlining its plans. 

Shell looks to lay off all 698 workers at the refinery, 340 of whom are represented by a union, according to the letter. read more

Shell Singapore to cut 500 jobs in next three years as it downsizes Pulau Bukom operations

Ovais Subhani: NOVEMBER 10, 2020

The transition at Bukom has been planned in consultation with all the stakeholders including the Government and the trade union.

SINGAPORE – Royal Dutch Shell’s pivot away from crude oil towards a low-carbon slate of fuels will cost Singapore 500 jobs and half of the processing capacity on Pulau Bukom in the next three years. read more

Oil Majors Stuck Between A Rock And A Hard Place

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

Extracts

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

FINANCIAL TIMES

Shell slims down to shape up for the energy transition

Anjli Raval, Senior Energy Correspondent

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

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

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

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

October 12, 2017

Shell is closing its global headquarters for technology and research in Rijswijk and moving some 2,000 workers to Shell operations in The Hague and Amsterdam, broadcaster NOS said on Thursday.

The company, which said earlier this year that hundreds of jobs will go in Rijswijk and Amsterdam, claimed the move will not cost any more jobs and is unconnected to those previously-announced, NOS said.

‘We have looked at our locations in the Randstad area and decided to reduce them from four to three,’ a spokesman told the broadcaster. ‘Our headquarters are being renovated and our location in Amsterdam expanded so we will have more room there. That will be more efficient.’ read more

By Aisha Rahman: Jul. 31, 2017 6:49 PM ET

Summary

Q2 2017 saw better YoY profits. However, the same cannot be said for QoQ results, due to lower oil prices in Q2.

There were notable improvements in the cash flow position, and I expect this trend to continue on for the rest of the year.

As the company gears up to stay “resilient to market changes,” it is seeking to control its cost lines and step into the renewable energy business.

I had written an earnings preview on Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE:RDS.A) (NYSE:RDS.B) a few days before the company posted its Q2 results for the year. I decided to do a spin-off article to that in response to their earnings announcement for the quarter, and talk about the tone the company has set for the rest of the year. read more

Royal Dutch Shell Plc plans to cut more than 400 jobs in the Netherlands, mainly at its major projects and energy technology operations, as the oil giant shifts its business model in response to lower oil prices, according to an internal document seen by Reuters.

The world’s second-largest oil company by market capitalization said in a statement responding to questions from Reuters that “approximately 400 (staff) are potentially at risk of redundancy during the last quarter of 2017/first half of 2018”. read more

Emily Gosden, Energy Editor: July 31, 2017

Shell confirmed that it was restructuring its global projects and technology organisation and that about 400 people were at risk of redundancy.

The Anglo-Dutch energy group has already cut 13,000 jobs since the start of last year as it integrates former BG operations and looks to offload $30 billion of assets to pay down its debts from the acquisition.

Ben van Beurden, Shell’s chief executive, warned last week that costs needed to continue to fall as the company adopted a mindset of “lower for ever” oil prices. “We now have 13 per cent less employees than we did at the beginning of 2016. To be clear, costs must continue to go down, and stay down,” he said. read more

“There will be fewer one-of-a-kind highly complex mega-projects and proportionately more simple to medium complex projects… This heralds a more ‘commoditised’ world for project delivery,” said the document, which was given to royaldutchshellplc.com, an independent website used by Shell staff, and seen by Reuters.

By Reuters: PUBLISHED: 09:26, 31 July 2017 

By Tom Bergin

LONDON, July 31 (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell Plc plans to cut more than 400 jobs in the Netherlands, mainly at its major projects and energy technology operations, as the oil giant shifts its business model in response to lower oil prices, according to an internal document seen by Reuters.

The world’s second-largest oil company by market capitalisation said in a statement responding to questions from Reuters that “approximately 400 (staff) are potentially at risk of redundancy during the last quarter of 2017/first half of 2018”. read more

By Jillian Ambrose: 1 JUNE 2017 • 1:44PM

Royal Dutch Shell will shed a further 90 jobs from its offices in Aberdeen as it continues to whittle away at costs in the wake of a downturn in the oil market.

The Anglo-Dutch oil giant warned last year that it would make further cuts to its onshore UK workforce, most of which is based in Aberdeen, as part of a global cull.

Shell has already axed 750 jobs from its North Sea business, of which two thirds were UK jobs.

Since then Shell has sold off half its North Sea assets in a £3bn deal with private equity-backed oil company Chrysaor. read more

Chris Foote: 1 June 2017

Oil giant Shell is to cut 90 jobs at its Scottish headquarters in Aberdeen.

Shell told staff on Monday that the positions are expected to go by the end of 2017.

The firm said the move is not connected to plans to sell off £3bn of assets to North Sea rival Chrysaor.

Shell is also cutting 380 jobs in Glasgow with the closure of its offices in the city.

Steve Phimister, UK vice-president for upstream operations, said: “We intend to reduce the size of the organisation by approximately 90 onshore positions by the end of 2017.

“Offshore roles will not be impacted by this decision.

“Our aim is to ensure our organisation is appropriate to support our drive to become the most competitive and resilient oil and gas business in the UK Continental Shelf. read more

1 June 2017 

Ninety jobs are to go at oil giant Shell’s North Sea headquarters in Aberdeen.

Shell said the cuts would help it maintain competitiveness and ensure the long-term sustainability of the North Sea business.

Of the 90 posts going, half are full-time employees with the rest made up of agency staff and contractors.

The jobs are expected to go by the end of the year.

Shell’s 1,700-strong workforce in Aberdeen were told about the redundancies at meetings on Thursday morning.

No jobs will be lost offshore.

Shell announced in January it had agreed to sell $3.8bn (£2.46bn) worth of North Sea assets to oil exploration firm Chrysaor. read more

by Andreas Exarheas | Rigzone Staff | Monday, April 03, 2017

Royal Dutch Shell plc has confirmed that more than 200 workers will be cut from its Norwegian operations.

“The planned organizational adjustments entail a reduction of 75 employee positions. This will bring Norske Shell’s total number of employees from 680 to 605,” a Shell representative told Rigzone.

“We have also announced that 156 contracts with hired staff are likely to be impacted by the planned changes. Norske Shell employees will be given the opportunity to apply for selective voluntary severance packages,” the spokesperson added. read more

By AFP   |   23 January 2017   |   11:00 am

Shell Gabon’s 400 staff have returned to work, ending an 11-day walkout after a deal was reached with management over the planned sale of the business, union sources said Monday.

“Work has resumed at all sites operated by Shell Gabon,” after the government helped mediate a deal regarding workers’ compensation, said the ONEP union which had originally organised the open-ended strike.

Royal Dutch Shell, one of the two historic operators alongside French group Total, is selling its Gabon oil assets. read more

Published By: Myrna Salomon on January 6, 2017 10:52 am EST

Oil & gas companies have been in a celebratory sentiment since OPEC meeting in Vienna last year; the results of the meeting led to a wave of optimism in the global energy market. Energy majors around the world are now looking to increase their exploration and production (E&P) activities.

The past couple of years have dented financial profiles of oil & gas companies, given the low crude environment and economic slowdown. However, the latest rally in the oil prices has come as a golden opportunity for energy giants to mitigate their losses. read more

By John Donovan

Today we publish below a notification letter dated 8 December 2016 sent by a Shell HR VP to all Shell UK pensioners. 

Basically, Shell is intending to scrap the network of 45 Pensioner Liaison Representatives established over 40 years ago, who currently represent 28,000 Shell UK pensioners. Although Shell still rakes in billions of dollars in annual profits, the reason given is cost-cutting arising from the BG takeover and the low price of oil. 

The letter, pdf copy attached, is signed by a Shell HR VP Jonathan Kohn who openly admits that what is proposed is a “significant change”.  read more

Shell leaves One Shell Plaza HQ after 45 years

By Sebastian Herrera: December 7, 2016

In the coming months, roughly 3,400 Shell Oil Co. employees will be moving from the oil giant’s downtown headquarters into its Energy Corridor campus as Shell looks to eventually house all of its Houston-based employees on the west side.

The move is indicative of an energy industry downturn in Houston that has led oil companies to slash thousands of jobs and consolidate office space to meditate costs.

Shell will leave its One Shell Plaza headquarters, a 50-story skyscraper, after 45 years. read more

Allen Good: 7 December, 2016

With the BG acquisition in the books, Shell (RDSB) is embarking on the necessary steps to compete in a world of $60 a barrel oil.

Like the rest of the integrated group, Shell is working to reduce its cost base, which has become bloated during the past five years, by reducing headcount and improving its supply chain.

The integration of BG is integral to Shell’s efforts, as it holds the potential for $4.5 billion of cost-reduction synergies. Furthermore, the addition of BG’s low-cost production reduces Shell’s per-barrel operating cost, which ranked among the highest in its peer group. In total, Shell aims to reduce operating cost by 20% from 2014 levels by the end of 2016, with further reductions possible in later years. read more

Greig Cameron, Scottish Business Editor: November 17, 2016

Shell has dealt a “devastating blow” to 380 finance workers in Scotland by announcing plans to cut jobs and move functions overseas.

The decision came as official figures showed that unemployment in Scotland had dropped again — although there are concerns about the strength of the labour market.

The oil giant said it intended to close its business operations site on Bothwell Street in Glasgow over the next 15 months. The work will be transferred to lower-cost countries, with the company having offices handling business operations in the Philippines, Malaysia, Poland, India and South Africa. read more

It is amazing that these “difficult choices” are all falling at the door of the lowest paid employees of Shell and yet the vastly inefficient and “fat” middle and upper level management just seems to keep on expanding.

With such low activity levels due to the transition away from oil and gas, low oil price and smaller geographic focus of Shell one would have thought that these highly paid meeting organisers would face the chop rather than the people doing actual work.

It is sad to say but it seems BvB has truly lost the plot after such a promising start and now tries to dig himself out of his own hubris after so many poor choices prime of which is the overpaying for BG. read more

By Irina Slav – Nov 15, 2016, 10:10 AM CST

Shell has emerged as the number-one employer in the energy industry, according to a Rigzone survey among 8,400 respondents in more than 100 countries. This is the first survey of this kind since the start of the price slump.

The top 10 of the best employers in the industry, according to the survey, is occupied by Big Oil and Big Oilfield Service, with Chevron at #2, Exxon at #3, and BP at #4. Halliburton was fifth, followed by Schlumberger, Aramco, Total, Baker Hughes, and Weatherford International at #10. read more

By Emily Gosden, energy editor: 16 NOVEMBER 2016 • 1:38PM

Royal Dutch Shell is to axe 380 jobs in Glasgow as it shuts its only UK finance operations office in favour of cheaper locations in Poland, India, South Africa, Malaysia and the Philippines.

The oil giant’s announcement that it plans to close its Bothwell Street office in the city as part of its cost-cutting drive brings the total number of jobs shed from its UK operations over the past 18 months to more than 1,350.

Staff in the Glasgow office, who undertake back-office administrative tasks such as processing invoices and managing travel and expenses, face “involuntary severance” as Shell moves their work to other offices in its “global Shell Business Operations network”. read more

Wednesday 16 November 2016

Shell is to axe its Glasgow operation with the loss of 380 jobs as a new report warns of a “boom/bust” cycle in the oil industry.

The cuts are in response to the low oil price – which is already hurting the Scottish economy amid thousands of job cuts in North Sea production.

Shell said the decision to close its finance operation in Glasgow, which will take place by 2018, came about as it was taking “difficult choices” in order to remain competitive. read more

Rob Davies: Wednesday 16 November 2016

Oil giant Shell is to shift nearly 400 jobs overseas as it looks to shore up its finances against persistently low oil prices by hiring cheaper workers in the developing world.

The Anglo-Dutch supermajor told 380 staff at its finance operations in Glasgow that the office would be closed and they were facing “involuntary severance”.

FULL ARTICLE

Written by Rita Brown – 21/09/2016 7:00 am

Shell has made plans to move the bulk of its staff out of its historic Houston base.

The company informed staff that more than 3,400 workers would be relocated from its base in the Houston Central Business District to its facilities on the west side of the city.

Shell’s base, known as One Shell Plaza, was completed in 1971. At the time it was the tallest tower in the city. A spokesperson confirmed that only staff in trading will remain at site, which makes up part of the downtown Houston skyline. read more

Written by Niamh Burns – 20/09/2016 9:46 am

Oil major Shell has cut 225 positions from its operations in Norway following its takeover of BG Group.

The company said in May it would be making around 140 employees redundant with staff able to apply for severance packages.

According to reports in Norwegian media, 145 employees have lost their jobs while another 110 members of staff will also go.

A spokesman for the company said while some workers had taken voluntary redundancy, Shell would need to look at making additional job cuts. read more

REGULARLY UPDATED: Links to over 500 articles (and radio and TV broadcasts) by a host of publishers including the FT, Wall Street Journal, Reuters, Dow Jones Newswires, Bloomberg, New York Times, CNBC, etc. Plus UK House of Commons Select Committee Hansard records, information on U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission website, legal documents filed in the U.S. Courts, all containing references to the Donovan’s, their Shell related websites, or their former company, Don Marketing. Includes newspaper and magazine articles, newsletters, video clip links and interview transcripts. All in date order. In addition, there are references to our websites and/or our activities, published in over 100 books. In all, over 550 externally published references to date including articles originated by news agencies such as Reuters or Dow Jones, syndicated to a variety of individual publishers such as the New York Times or The Washington Post. Plus over 60,000 Shell related articles published on our own Shell focussed websites.  read more

Net debt increased to a record $75 billion at the end of June from $70 billion three months earlier, Shell said Thursday as it reported a slump in second-quarter earnings. Additional borrowing drove up the ratio of net debt to capital, or gearing, to 28.1 percent — more than double the year-earlier level.

“We’re close to the maximum level and it could go up still with the oil price where it is,” Chief Financial Officer Simon Henry said on a conference call. “Thirty percent is an upper limit to where we can describe our position as comfortable.” read more

THE HAGUE, Netherlands, July 28 (UPI) — Lower crude oil prices continue to present problems for the industry and Shell is now focused on retooling efforts, the chief executive officer said.

“We are making significant and lasting changes to Shell’s working practices and cost structure,” CEO Ben van Buerden said in a statement.

Shell, moving through the year after a merger with British energy company BG Group, said net income during the second quarter fell more than 70 percent to $1.18 billion. The company attributed the decline in part to some of the fiscal pressures from its $7 billion tie-up with BG Group, weak industry conditions and tougher tax regimes. read more

Jillian Ambrose: 26 JULY 2016 • 1:26PM

Around 400 North Sea oil workers have downed tools on Shell oil rigs in the sector’s first spate of industrial action in 28 years.

The 24-hour strike began at 6.30am on Tuesday alongside an ongoing refusal to work overtime and will be followed by further stoppages in the weeks to come, trade union Unite warned.

Offshore oil workers employed by Wood Group to work on Shell’s giant Brent oilfield platforms voted overwhelmingly in favour of strike action earlier this month, after talks over plans to bring in longer hours and lower pay broke down. read more

Shell to Lay Off 200 Gulf of Mexico Rig Workers

A Shell platform in the Gulf of Mexico (courtesy RDS)

By MarEx 2016-07-25 

Shell has announced plans to trim about 200 jobs from its Gulf of Mexico deepwater operations.

“We are making these changes in order to remain competitive and better position Shell’s Gulf of Mexico projects for future growth,” spokeswoman Kimberly Windon told the AP.

The cuts will affect personnel on nine facilities, and will reduce the oil major’s workforce in the region by about one quarter. Some will be transferred to other operations where openings are available. read more

By Gregory Brew – Jul 20, 2016

The world’s second largest private oil company sees a new future, and it’s not in oil.

Shell has made a concerted effort to shift the bulk of its business from oil-related projects to natural gas, LNG and renewables. Coming on the heels of its February purchase of BG Group (a $54 billion acquisition), Shell has organized a division focused solely on renewable energy. It announced new investment for its LNG facility on Curtis Island in Australia, where natural gas has enjoyed $180 billion in new capital. It has emerged as a stronger voice on global climate change than its competitor ExxonMobil and the company’s website proposes a number of “Shell Scenarios” that could allow for a growing energy market while creating less CO2. read more

Wayne Duggan: 20 July 2016

A number of British stocks have been hit hard since the referendum vote to leave the EU, but Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A, RDS.B) is not one of them. Shares are now up 0.3% since the Brexit vote after initially falling more than 8% during the knee-jerk market sell-off.

With the possibility that the Brexit could severely impact British GDP growth in coming years, RDS.B offers a unique opportunity to invest in a company within a sector that is in a global upswing, a company that has significant international exposure and a company that is committed to maintaining the single largest dividend payment in the MSCI World Index. read more

by Tsveta Zikolova: Wednesday, 13 Jul 2016, 14:09 BST

Standard & Poor’s has trimmed its rating on Royal Dutch Shell (LON:RDSA), the Financial Times has reported. The move has been prompted by the group’s £35-billion takeover of former smaller London-listed peer BG Group completed earlier this year.

Shell’s share price has been little changed in today’s session, having lost 0.07 percent to stand at 2,106.00p as of 13:25 BST. The shares are marginally underperforming the broader London market, with the benchmark FTSE 100 index having inched 0.12 percent higher to 6,688.62 points. Shell’s shares have gained nearly 16 percent over the past year, and are up just under 38 percent in the year-to-date. read more

Tom Bergin

(Adds employee reaction, website link)

LONDON, July 7 (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell has changed its redundancy terms so it can claim tax refunds that some UK workers would otherwise have been able to claim on redundancy payments, internal documents seen by Reuters show.

The move comes as the Hague-based oil giant is slashing 5,000 jobs this year following the collapse in oil prices and its merger with smaller UK rival BG Group.

The UK government allows employees who have worked part of their career overseas to reclaim some, or in some cases all, of the tax due on severance payments. read more

Royal Dutch Shell has changed its redundancy terms so it can claim tax refunds that some UK workers would otherwise have been able to claim on redundancy payments, internal documents seen by Reuters show. Copies of one presentation have been published on Shell protest site: http://royaldutchshellgroup.com/

By REUTERS: PUBLISHED: 17:30, 8 July 2016

By Tom Bergin

LONDON, July 7 (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell has changed its redundancy terms so it can claim tax refunds that some UK workers would otherwise have been able to claim on redundancy payments, internal documents seen by Reuters show.

The move comes as the Hague-based oil giant is slashing 5,000 jobs this year following the collapse in oil prices and its merger with smaller UK rival BG Group.

The UK government allows employees who have worked part of their career overseas to reclaim some, or in some cases all, of the tax due on severance payments. read more

Written by Mark Lammey – 08/07/2016 11:33 am

Shell (LON: RDSB) will scoop up the tax breaks on redundancy payments that had been available to departing workers, a news report said yesterday.

So-called foreign service relief allows UK workers who have spent parts of their careers abroad to reclaim some of the tax due on severance pay, but Shell has moved to claim the money instead, Reuters reported.

According to the report, which cites internal documents from Shell, the company introduced the policy on April 1. read more

By John Donovan

Shell has resorted to taking tax breaks intended for redundant employees in order to help maintain its dividend and ensure that senior managers involved in the BG merger vanity project keep THEIR jobs.

Employees in the UK are taxed on redundancy payments over £30k.  However, HMRC provides an exemption for employees who have worked abroad allowing them to reclaim some or all of the tax.  Despite the fact that Shell UK redundancy terms have deteriorated over recent years and are now significantly less generous than their Dutch colleagues receive, Shell UK has decided that it is entitled to the overseas employment tax breaks not the employee. read more

By Irina Slav – Jul 05, 2016, 9:02 AM CDT

Shell may have to cut more jobs after laying off 12,500 people over the past year, CEO Ben van Beurden told The Telegraph. The new cuts would be prompted by a “continuous improvement drive,” he added.

Elaborating on what this drive would imply, Van Beurden noted jobs are becoming unnecessary as business operations get shut down, or positions being moved to another part of the world, or becoming redundant because of the drive for enhanced business efficiency. read more

Oil giant Royal Dutch Shell has warned over the possibility of further job cuts.

The risk of more job losses is a result of uncertainty caused by the UK’s vote to quit the European Union, City A.M. understands.

Since last year Shell has slashed 12,500 jobs following the fall in oil prices and its tie-up with rival BG.

At the time of Shell’s initial takeover bid for BG Group last year it had 93,000 employees. Meanwhile, BG Group’s staff numbered around 5,000.

The deal came amid a collapse in oil prices, which fell from over $115 per barrel in the summer of 2014 to as low as $27 in February this year. read more

Written by Mark Lammey – 03/07/2016 3:17 pm

The boss at Royal Dutch Shell (LON: RDSB) has reportedly said further job losses could “absolutely” take place at the company.

Shell chief executive Ben van Beurden said in an interview with the Sunday Telegraph cuts were always a possibility in the absence of large deals being struck.

Shell is axing about 12,500 roles this year due to a combination of low oil prices and its takeover of BG Group.

In May, the firm said the headcount for its North Sea operations would drop by 475 to 1,700 as part of the reductions. read more

Friday, 1 July 2016

Royal Dutch Shell’s chief executive has told the BBC he is taking “a good look” at the company’s North Sea assets, in the light of weak oil prices.

Ben van Beurden said that some older fields might be sold and others decommissioned.

He also said the company’s dividend payout was “safe and secure”, despite tough conditions for oil companies.

With an annual payout of $15bn (£11bn), Shell is the biggest payer of dividends among UK companies. read more

MARK WILLIAMSON: 1 JULY 2016

ROYAL Dutch Shell has highlighted uncertainty caused by the Brexit vote but said it wants Scotland to remain part of the UK.

Chief executive Ben van Beurden made clear the oil and gas giant’s unease at the shock outcome of last Thursday’s vote, which he said had posed a risk to economies across Europe.

“The outcome of the EU referendum has created uncertainty. It’s crucial that the European governments keep a steady hand on the tiller of the economy in these unprecedented, unpredictable circumstances,” the Dutch executive told a conference in London. read more

By Sam Richards , [email protected]

MARTINEZ — Two published reports Friday say the Shell Martinez Refinery is up for sale, prompted by what are expected to be crude oil prices rising faster than gas prices at the pump.

The reports, one of them from the international news agency Reuters, say the Netherlands-based global energy company Royal Dutch Shell is looking to shed some of its smaller, less profitable refineries ahead of the anticipated price hike for crude.

The Reuters story said Shell and at least three other major oil companies, including San Ramon-based Chevron, have seen dropping profit margins from their refining operations since a peak in 2015 and want to shed some lower-profit operations before crude oil prices rise much further from recent low levels. read more

Friday 10 June 2016

LONDON (Reuters) – As many as 120,000 oil workers will have lost their jobs in Britain by the end of the year compared to mid-2014 when oil prices started declining and unleashed sector-wide cost cuts, the industry’s lobby group said on Friday.

Britain’s oil industry and indirectly related jobs like supply chain and services are estimated to fall to 330,000 by the end of the year, down from 450,000 in 2014, Oil and Gas UK said in a report.

Major British oil industry employers like Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L), BP (BP.L) and Chevron (CVX.N) have all announced substantial job cuts in order to rein in costs as revenues have been hit hard by weak oil prices. read more

By DAVID SHAND: PUBLISHED: 00:03, Wed, Jun 8, 2016

The company set out its plans to create a “world class investment case” for shareholders following its £35billion takeover of fellow FTSE 100 oil and gas giant BG Group, which will include more asset sales and cost-cutting.

In its presentation to investors, Shell said it would squeeze an extra $1billion (£690million) in savings from the BG deal from an earlier $3.5billion forecast.

It aims to sell 10 per cent of its oil and gas production by exiting operations in up to 10 countries. read more

By PAUL J. DAVIES: June 7, 2016 11:48 a.m. ET

For Royal Dutch Shell , austerity is tricky. The Anglo-Dutch oil and gas group is doing almost everything it can to make its finances work. The trouble for investors is that it still may not be enough.

Shell has found more cost savings more quickly from its takeover of BG Group and is slashing its investment plans back to almost the minimum needed to keep producing. But without a recovery in oil and gas prices it will struggle to balance its long-term prospects with near-term promises. read more