Shell dumps interest in two Norwegian fields

Shell adds $556 million toward its goal of divesting $30 billion in a streamlining effort.

By Daniel J. Graeber: June 20, 2018

June 20 (UPI) — Supermajor Royal Dutch Shell said Wednesday it sold off its entire stake in two fields in production off the Norwegian coast for $556 million.

Shell’s subsidiary in Norway sold its entire 44.56 percent interest in the Draugen field and its 12 percent in the Gjøa to Norwegian energy company OKEA.

OKEA CEO Erik Haugane in a statement on the deal said the agreement with Shell was a “high-quality acquisition.”

His company estimates it will become the 19th largest producer offshore Norway with the deal. The Shell acquisition gives it a boost in net production of about 22,000 barrels of oil equivalent. read more

Tanzanian MP Wants Shell-BG U.S.$500 Million Transaction Investigated

By Alawi Masare; 25 May 2018

Dodoma — Momba MP Mr David Silinde (Chadema) has asked the Parliament to form a special committee to investigate the transaction between Shell and BG over Tanzania’s gas blocks alleging that Shell did not pay capital gain tax.

Debating the budget of the Ministry of Energy on Friday, Mr Silinde said the company should pay the tax estimated at $500 million.

“There is a possibility that the transaction involved corruption. Hence, denies the country the revenue which could address different challenges in the energy sector,” said Mr Silinde. read more

Shell CEO Ben van Beurden

By Chris Mooney and Steven Mufson March 26, 2018

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

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

Management thinks the things it has done in recent years will set it up to deliver huge returns for shareholders.

Diversifying the business away from oil

One thing that is becoming a larger fixture of every investor conference call for Shell and other big oil companies is touting one’s alternative energy strategy. Shell is around the middle of the pack when it comes to shifting away from oil and gas, but CEO Ben van Beurden was quick to point out some of the investments the company made recently as well as the framework for its alternative investment strategy.

So we expect our capital investment in New Energies to be $1 billion to $2 billion on average per year until the end of the decade. But as it is dependent on both organic and inorganic investment opportunities, this might be a little bit more or a little bit less depending on the year. But that’s, of course, without changing the overall group capital investment budget for that year. read more

Summary

• Shell declared an income of $13.4 billion compared to $4.8 billion in 2016.
• Merger with BG was a game-changer for Shell.
• Shell has now positioned itself as an energy company that is ready to embrace new challenges.

Headquartered in the Hague, Netherlands, Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE:RDS.A) (NYSE:RDS.B) has established itself as one of the most prominent oil and gas companies in the world. Although the last few years have been tough for the energy giant, Royal Dutch Shell has now started making the right moves, which will reap benefits in near future.

In its recently published Annual report for 2017, Shell declared an income of $13.4 billion compared to $4.8 billion in 2016. Although it must be noted that high oil and natural gas prices contributed to this yearly gain, a year-on-year increase of 279% is commendable. read more

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. read more

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. read more

Shell’s oil and gas reserve life – the number of years it can sustain production at its current levels – has steadily declined in recent years despite the acquisition of BG Group

LONDON/HOUSTON (Reuters) – The gasps in the audience were clearly audible at the auction of Mexico’s oil blocks a month ago as Royal Dutch Shell’s hefty bids were announced one by one.

The Anglo-Dutch major knew something no one else did.

Six months earlier, its drilling rig had struck a giant oil reservoir, the Whale well, in the U.S. side of the Gulf of Mexico – just across the border from many of the Mexican blocks, which share a similar Paleogene-age geology.

Calculating that this significantly increased the chances of the Mexican blocks also containing treasure, Shell delayed the announcement of the discovery until the day of the auction, after bids had been submitted. read more

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. read more

David Sheppard, Energy Markets Editor

“The LNG glut — conspicuously absent isn’t it?” Royal Dutch Shell chief executive Ben Van Beurden said last week, in a rare display of public self-satisfaction from a modern energy major head. He had good reason to allow himself a moment’s celebration. Shell’s decision to buy BG Group in 2015 was, at least in part, a major bet on the future of LNG. It looks now like it should pay out far sooner than many in the industry anticipated.

FULL FT ARTICLE read more

Shell’s boss said yesterday that the North Sea is showing signs of “rejuvenation” and can provide the oil major with more room to grow.

Written by Mark Lammey – 02/02/2018 7:37 am

Doubts about Shell’s commitment to the UK were raised last year when it agreed to sell a package of assets to Chrysaor.

But last month the Anglo-Dutch energy giant announced its decision to invest in redeveloping the Penguins area, 150miles north-east of Shetland.

The project will involve the construction of Shell’s first new manned installation in the northern North Sea in almost 30 years.

Chief executive Ben van Beurden said yesterday that the Penguins decision was “important” for Shell. read more

By James Sillars, Business Reporter:1 FEB 2018

Royal Dutch Shell has reported a surge in annual profits to £8.5bn – a leap of 242% on the previous year.

The Anglo-Dutch oil major credited the performance on a recovery in oil and gas prices during a “year of transformation” within the business.

The company said: “Full-year earnings benefited mainly from higher realised oil, gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG) prices, improved refining performance and higher production from new fields, which offset the impact of field declines and divestments.” read more

Jillian Ambrose: 1 FEBRUARY 2018 • 8:13AM

Royal Dutch Shell has doubled its profits following the oil major’s worst financial year in over a decade as the oil market recovery takes hold.

The Anglo-Dutch oil giant said the “transformation” following its 2016 mega-merger with BG Group and $30bn portfolio overhaul has reopened flows of cash back into the business as oil prices soared to over $65 a barrel last year, from under $30 a barrel at its lowest point in early 2016.

Shell’s earnings on a ‘current cost of supply’ (CCS) basis, which is a standard oil industry measure, more than doubled from the previous year to reach $15.8bn (£11bn) for 2017. read more

The Anglo-Dutch company on Thursday reported a more than doubling of profit in 2017 to $16 billion, the highest since the start of the 2014 downturn as the effect of years of costs cuts and the integration of BG Group filtered through.

“We enter 2018 with continued discipline and confidence, committed to the delivery of strong returns and cash,” van Beurden said in a statement.

Shell’s shares were 1.1 percent lower at 0842 GMT, compared with a slightly positive open for the FTSE 100 index. read more

The oil-price rally worked both ways for Royal Dutch Shell Plc as improved exploration and production lifted profit to a three-year high while refining and trading fell short of expectations as margins shrank.

Crude’s surge raised adjusted profit at Europe’s largest energy company to $4.3 billion last quarter, the highest since 2014. While the bottom line was better than expected — and Shell is making as much money with oil at $60 a barrel as when it was $100 — cash flow was the weakest since 2016. read more

Jillian Ambrose: 28 JANUARY 2018 • 5:04PM

Royal Dutch Shell is set to unveil its highest earnings since the oil market collapse this week, just one year after the oil major’s lowest profits in more than a decade.

The Anglo-Dutch oil group’s efforts to overhaul its portfolio during the depths of the oil market rout are expected to be turbo-charged by the recovery in oil prices to over $65 a barrel last year, from under $30 a barrel at their lowest point in early 2016.

Analysts predict the group’s earnings on a “current cost of supply” basis will be more than $15.7bn (£11bn) for 2017 from just $3.5bn (£2.5bn) the year before. The final quarter of last year is expected to generate higher earnings than the whole of 2016 at $4.2bn (£3bn), according to analyst consensus forecasts. read more

Even in the dynamic world of business, some things always hold true: the Big Mac outsells the Whopper, Google gets more searches than Bing, and Exxon Mobil Corp. is the world’s biggest public oil company. Or perhaps not.

Royal Dutch Shell Plc is the closest it’s ever been to attaining the long-coveted prize of overtaking its American rival. While the Anglo-Dutch oil major still has some work left to snatch Exxon’s crown, Chief Executive Officer Ben van Beurden has made getting to the top his restless mission.

“At the moment we are number two and we are closing in on number one,” he said this month. “We almost have the tiger by the tail.”

That van Beurden thinks his goal is even in sight shows the risk he took in doing the industry’s biggest deal in decades is starting to pay off. Meanwhile, the strategy charted by Exxon’s former CEO Rex Tillerson has left the American major slightly adrift, according to investors.

“Ben doesn’t just talk the talk, he walks the walk now,” Richard Hulf, co-manager in Artemis Global Energy Fund, part of a London investment management group that owns both Exxon and Shell shares. “Shell’s got a bit better and Exxon is at a weak point in its cycle.”

The narrowing gap is likely to show through when both companies post earnings next week. Analysts estimate Shell will report $16 billion of profit in 2017 helped by the acquisition of BG Group Plc. Exxon is forecast to report $15.7 billion of earnings, dropping behind its European rival for the first time in at least two decades. Shell is also likely to have churned out more cash from operations than Exxon last year.

It’s the $53 billion BG deal that’s really made a difference. When oil’s crash started in the middle of 2014, just months into Van Beurden’s tenure as Shell’s boss, he saw an opportunity. BG’s oil projects in Brazil and gas in Australia were just starting up, easing uncertainty on future growth. Rumored for years to be a suitor, van Beurden finally made the move for the British company.

The deal immediately put Shell in an exclusive club with Exxon, placing it on a plane above its European rivals Total SA and BP Plc. Some use the phrase ultra-major to differentiate the industry’s big two from the pack – at least until Saudi Aramco’s giant IPO, slated for the end of this year.

It wasn’t all plain sailing. As oil prices continued to slide in 2014, many analysts thought the price tag was excessive, forcing Shell to borrow too much. Van Beurden was staking his reputation on the deal and he pressed on, seeking to create what he often calls a “world-class investment case.” The company was forced to cut costs, sell assets and rein in spending to keep borrowing under control.

Still, in the two years since the BG deal closed, Shell’s B shares in London, the most widely traded, have returned more than five times Exxon’s, reversing the performance of the previous two years and providing superior returns for shareholders.

“Strategically BG was the right deal,” said Iain Pyle, the investment director for U.K. equities at the investment unit of Standard Life Aberdeen Plc, among the largest Shell shareholders. “The only question about it at the time was the price they paid and the stress they put on the balance sheet to do the deal.”

In the start of 2015, before Shell announced the BG deal, Exxon’s market value was about $180 billion more than Shell’s and it had just reported an annual profit $10 billion higher.

Since then, Exxon has struggled to keep the business growing. Exxon’s production in the third quarter was 1.8 percent lower than a year ago while Shell’s rose 1.7 percent. The American company’s oil and gas reserves have also dropped (though this may change this year as it books reserves from a  giant discovery  off the coast of Guyana in South America.) The gap in the two companies’ market value has more than halved to about $73 billion.

Shell’s record takeover fueled speculation Exxon would snap up a big rival to maintain its world-leader status, but it’s recent deal history hasn’t been a resounding success.

The $35-billion purchase of American shale gas company XTO in 2010 came shortly before gas prices plummeted. It also struck a deal with Rosneft PJSC to explore and develop giant offshore fields in Russia in 2011, right before they became locked behind a wall of U.S. sanctions. These left its “upstream portfolio disadvantaged,” Credit Suisse said. read more

Written by Mark Lammey – 03/01/2018 12:00 pm

Energy giant Shell has been ordered to improve its safety procedures at the St Fergus plant near Peterhead.

The UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE) said the company had failed to made “adequate arrangements” to ensure that “emergency shutdown and emergency depressurisation valve actuators” were maintained in an “efficient state and effective working order”.

HSE initially gave Shell until December 21 to comply with the improvement notice, but the deadline has now been extended to February 28.

A spokeswoman for Shell said: “We can confirm that we have been issued with an improvement notice on 23^rd November 2017 in relation to the maintenance of emergency shutdown valves at our St Fergus plant in North East Scotland. read more

Jillian Ambrose: 28 NOVEMBER 2017 • 12:44PM

Royal Dutch Shell has signalled the end of the three-year oil market downturn by restarting its all-cash shareholder payouts as its cash flow begins to boom.

The oil major began paying out dividends in the form of shares in 2015, in the wake of the oil price crash and its $50bn takeover of BG Group.

But chief executive Ben van Beurden said the Anglo-Dutch group was now confident that it could call an end its scrip dividend as its cost-cutting and divestment programme pays off. read more

FILE PHOTO: Ben van Beurden, chief executive officer of Royal Dutch Shell, speaks during a news conference in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, February 15, 2016. REUTERS/Sergio Moraes /File Photo

Ron Bousso: NOVEMBER 18, 2017

LONDON (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L) will return to paying pure cash dividends and step up its investment in cleaner energy as it turns a corner after more than two years of cost cuts and disposals prompted by weak oil prices.

Shell Chief Executive Officer Ben van Beurden sought to strike a balance between reassuring investors it can increase returns in its core fossil fuel business during an “era of volatility” in oil prices while preparing to step up investments in renewables. read more

Royal Dutch Shell Malikai superlift at a deep-water project in Malaysia. The global business is in a healthier financial state than it has been recently and intends to resume cash dividends

Emily Gosden, Energy Editor: November 27, 2017

Royal Dutch Shell is expected to signal its return to paying its entire dividend in cash this week, in the latest evidence of renewed confidence in the oil industry. The Anglo-Dutch group, the biggest listed oil company in Europe, makes a proportion of its payments to investors in the form of new shares rather than cash. read more

Trade in the $90 billion market for the superchilled gas is poised to double by 2040: Photographer: Tomohiro Ohsumi/Bloomberg 

Total SA’s billion-dollar deal to buy liquefied natural gas assets from Engie SA shows how much size matters in the industry. 

After Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s takeover of BG Group Plc last year, industry consultant Wood Mackenzie Ltd. says the latest accord is evidence that the biggest energy companies with access to large volumes of diverse supplies will continue to dominate, even as commodity traders from Glencore Plc to Trafigura Group Pte are expanding.  read more

Ray Merola: Nov. 6, 2017

Summary

• Shell is enjoying a remarkably successful corporate resurgence.
• Legacy BG Group opex and capex has been absorbed entirely without a loss of combined hydrocarbon volumes.
• Cash is king.
• Debt is trending down.  The dividend is well-covered.  Returns are solid, and improving.
• I remain constructive on RDS stock.

I’ve been pounding my fist on the table for Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A) (RDS.B) for a couple of years now. It’s been that one, “fat pitch” worth waiting upon; these don’t come along very often. Since the end of 2015, ADR shares offered investors ~54% total return, or an 80% gain since the stock bottomed in January 2016.

The 3Q report included the hallmarks of recent previous quarters: linked-quarter revenue growth, continued strong cash flow, improving return-on-capital, reduced gearing, steady production, and ample dividend coverage. Details are found here. read more

Sarfaraz A. Khan: Nov. 6, 2017 12:35 PM ET

Summary

• Royal Dutch Shell has reported nearly 50% increase in profits following improvement in energy prices which fueled a turnaround of its upstream division.
• In the first three quarters of 2017, Royal Dutch Shell generated $15.42 billion of free cash flows (ex. working cap. changes), surpassing even the industry’s cash flow king Exxon Mobil.
• Oil prices have climbed to almost $61 a barrel and could stay at this level in the future, which could give a major boost to Shell’s earnings and cash flows.

Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A, RDS.B) is a well-oiled cash flow machine. In fact, it generates more free cash flows than any other oil majors, and this was evident from the latest quarterly results. The Anglo-Dutch oil giant could get even better in 2018 on the back of improvement in oil prices. The company’s shares will likely move higher while its valuation might also improve.

Latest Earnings

Royal Dutch Shell has recently released blowout quarterly results in which it posted significantly higher profits following a strong performance from its upstream, downstream and integrated gas divisions. The company reported an adjusted net profit (attributable to shareholders on a current cost of supplies (CCS) basis) of $4.1 billion, up 47% from the same quarter last year. That blew past the company-provided analysts’ estimate of $3.6 billion. The profits at the upstream segment ballooned from just $4 million a year earlier to $562 million. The profits at the downstream and integrated gas segments rose 28.4% and 37.7% to $2.67 billion and $1.28 billion respectively. read more

Royal Dutch Shell has taken Exxon Mobil’s cashflow crown, a year after completing the biggest deal in its history.

Europe’s largest energy company vaulted ahead on this closely watched indicator of financial health in the first nine months of 2017 as assets acquired from BG Group from Brazil to Australia churned out cash. For the year as a whole, Shell is on course to surpass its larger US rival on the measure for the first time in about two decades.

Shell generated $28.38 billion (€24.34bn) of cashflow from operations in the first nine months of the year, compared with $23.52 billion (€20.18bn) from Exxon. Chief executive Ben Van Beurden has already spelled out that his main long-term goal was overtaking Exxon to become the best-performing oil major. read more

Jillian Ambrose: 2 NOVEMBER 2017 • 7:58AM

Royal Dutch Shell became the latest major oil company to deliver better than expected earnings in recent months as the market recovery begins to gain traction.

The Anglo-Dutch oil giant reported $4.1bn (£3bn) in earnings for the last quarter on a current cost of supply basis, its standard measure of profitability. The sum comes in well above analyst forecasts that the group would make $3.6bn for the latest quarter.

Shell’s quarterly earnings are almost 50pc higher than in the same quarter last year, when they reached $2.8bn. read more

Ron Bousso

LONDON (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L) reported an 18 percent rise in third-quarter profit on Tuesday, lowering next year’s capital spending to the bottom of the expected range as it grapples with persistently low oil prices and weak refining margins.

The Anglo-Dutch oil major, whose acquisition of BG Group transformed it into the world’s top liquefied natural gas producer, has been under pressure from shareholders to cut annual spending to ensure it can maintain its dividend given the slow recovery in the oil prices LCOc1. read more

By Ben Marlow: 16 October 2017 – 12:04pm

If there is one subject that divides energy producers it’s the question of when oil demand will peak.

Indeed, it is such a controversial topic that some senior figures like Saudi Arabia’s Energy Minister, Khalid al-Falih, prefer not to discuss it at all.

He claims talk of peak demand is dangerous. It threatens to reduce vital investment, “compromising” energy security, al-Falih said earlier this year.

John Watson, boss of American oil giant Chevron, recently dismissed the idea of peak demand as “wishful thinking”. read more

Dutch supermajor said that it’s more than 80 percent of the way toward its divestment goals.

By Daniel J. Graeber: Oct 4, 2017

Oct. 4 (UPI) — While defending a robust spending program, Royal Dutch Shell said Wednesday it was canceling an agreement to sell off a stake of its assets in Thailand.

Subsidiaries of Shell and the Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Co. said they mutually agreed to cancel the multilmillion dollar sale of shares in Shell Integrated Gas Thailand Pte. Ltd., known also as SIGT, and Thai Energy Co Limited, or TEC.

Shell said the latter two would continue to support Thai partners in development of the Bongkot field. read more

by Andrew Ward, Energy Editor: 1 Oct 2017

Mr van Beurden, chief executive of Shell, allows himself only the briefest self-congratulation. “All the milestones, we are either ahead or on track,” he tells the Financial Times, referring to targets set at the time of the takeover. “But you are never done in this industry because everything is always in continuous decline.” The Dutchman is talking about the relentless pressure to find new resources… FULL ARTICLE

September 11, 2017, 11:40:00 AM EDT By Reuters

By Andy Critchlow

LONDON, Sept 11 (Reuters Breakingviews) – Royal Dutch Shell, looking deeply into its crystal ball, sees a future that’s still heavily dependent on oil. The Anglo-Dutch giant expects crude will continue to play a major role in global energy supply for decades, even in its less oil-friendly scenario. That optimism goes someway to justifying the billions of dollars it continues to invest in exploiting new reserves and expanding its fuel network. But it’s also a view that may place too much faith in the combustion engine – and China staying with its current strategy. read more

Earnings Forecast Focus: Sep. 5, 2017 6:49 PM ET

Summary

• Shell CEO Ben van Beurden’s “lower forever” quote was aimed at operating costs and overall company culture. It does not reflect the CEO’s oil price outlook.
• The company’s operational excellence has been nothing short of exemplary.
• Scrip dividend will be removed when gearing is down to 20% from the current 25%.
• At the current rate, it should take no more than twelve months to reduce the gearing to 20%.
• Obviously, the dividend is safe. More importantly, this is an opportunity to buy a company with excellent leadership.

Royal Dutch Shell’s (RDS.A) (RDS.B) transformation under CEO Ben van Beurden has been truly remarkable. The relatively new CEO has put his mark on the company. He has shown that Shell, under his leadership, has the ability to navigate the downturn with relative ease. Not only that, he has shown the ability to transform a company when most other companies are busy trying to survive. While I won’t be spending much time on the dividend safety, as that has been made clear over and over again, it is safe to say that the 6.6% yield is beyond safe. Investors now have the opportunity to purchase a 6.6% yield with additional capital appreciation should oil rebound. read more

Global energy giant Royal Dutch Shell hinted at how one number, over time, could change the future of the company

What Shell looks like now

There’s no question about how Royal Dutch Shell makes money. It is one of the world’s largest oil and natural gas drillers, with a large footprint in liquified natural gas. Oil and gas have been the driving force, broadly speaking, throughout all of the company’s over 100-years of existence. Investor questions generally focus on what management is doing to support and grow its core operations.

In the first half of the year that included capital spending of roughly $11.5 billion. The goal for the year is for capital spending of between $25 and $30 billion. Right now management expects to be toward the low-end of that range. That range, meanwhile, is the goal every year from now until 2020. read more

Dividend Stream: Aug 23, 2017

Summary

• Shell’s latest quarter was marked by successful cost reductions and acquisition-related synergies.
• Shell seems to be able to meet its cash flow obligations without much trouble.
• I recommend Shell for income investors, but with a few caveats.

Back on May 24th I “sounded the all clear” on Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A) (NYSE:RDS.B). Shell, I felt, would henceforth be able to pay its dividends and capital expenditure from operational cash flow. Shell’s latest quarter was another continuation of that, with ongoing synergies from the huge BG Group acquisition two years ago and also continued opex savings. Shell’s pro-forma workforce is about 30% smaller than it was in the beginning of 2016, and while that may not be good for employees who were laid off, it is a reflection of impressive modernization and productivity gains from the company itself. read more

Royal Dutch Shell Plc is seeking creative solutions to bring gas from Israel and Cyprus to market, a step that could help turn the Mediterranean region into a major gas-producing hub.

Shell is in talks to buy natural gas from Israel’s Leviathan field, combine it with output from Cyprus’s Aphrodite field, in which it owns a 35 percent stake, and pump it to a liquefied natural gas plant in Egypt, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Talks are at an early stage and some of Aphrodite’s gas could be sold locally, said the people, who asked not to be named because the discussions are private. read more

The management team wants the company to focus on long-term returns, which means investing in different types of projects.

Making the grade

Shell has been trying to pull off an elaborate corporate shift over the past couple of years. It wanted to absorb and integrate BG Group into Shell, unload about $30 billion in assets from the combined company to lower total debt levels, reduce operating costs and capital spending, and get back to generating enough cash to cover capital expenditures and dividends. To make this transformation even more challenging, it was trying to do it in a low oil price environment.

Based on the company’s most recent performance, it looks like management has pulled it off. Here’s CEO Ben van Beurden taking stock of the situation. read more

I’ve advocated CEO Ben van Beurden is the real deal. He’s a no-nonsense Dutchman with an eye for business simplification and efficiency; precisely what Shell needed.

Ray Merola: Aug. 11, 2017 9:55 AM ET

Summary

• In 2017, most energy stocks have under performed.
• Amidst the castaways, there’s a Super Major gem hiding in plain sight.
• It’s a turnaround story wrapped in a 6.7% dividend yield.

Of all the companies I follow, one 2Q 2017 earnings release stood out. The company blew out Street estimates. Management continued to fulfill promises to investors. Remarkably, the stock resides in 2017’s most downtrodden neighborhood: Energy.

The company is Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A) (RDS.B).

For those that follow my work here on Seeking Alpha, I’ve been constructive on RDS shares for a long time. I’ve advocated CEO Ben van Beurden is the real deal. He’s a no-nonsense Dutchman with an eye for business simplification and efficiency; precisely what Shell needed. In 2014, Mr. van Beurden was elevated to the CEO role after an outstanding run at Shell Chemical. read more