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Oil Companies Ask Judge to Kill NYC’s Global Warming Lawsuit

By Bob Van Voris: 4 May 2018, 23:09 BST Updated on 5 May 2018, 02:09 BST

Case affects global economy, national security, companies say

New York argues oil companies denied climate change science

This lawsuit is based upon the fundamental principle that a corporation that makes a product causing severe harm when used exactly as intended should shoulder the costs of abating that harm. Defendants here produced, marketed, and sold massive quantities of fossil fuels—primarily oil and natural gas—despite knowing that the combustion and use of fossil fuels emit greenhouse gases (“GHG pollution” or “GHGs”), primarily carbon dioxide (“CO2”). Defendants have also known for decades that GHG pollution accumulates and remains in the atmosphere for up to hundreds of years, where it traps heat, a process commonly referred to as “climate change” or “global warming,” and that this process would cause grave harm.

Five of the world’s biggest oil companies asked a judge to throw out New York City’s lawsuit seeking to hold them responsible for costs related to the environmental changes caused by their products. 

BP Plc, Chevron Corp., ConocoPhillips, Exxon Mobil Corp., and Royal Dutch Shell Plc argued that the court lacks the authority to resolve broad policy questions with “profound implications for the global economy, international relations and America’s national security.” read more

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Environmental Group Vows To Sue Shell Over Climate Change

By Tsvetana Paraskova – Apr 04, 2018, 6:00 PM CDT

In the latest legal campaign against Big Oil, Friends of the Earth Netherlands vowed on Wednesday to take Shell to court if it doesn’t act on demands to align its corporate strategy with the global climate objectives.

“Shell is liable for its substantial contribution to climate change and for the associated social and environmental damages,” Friends of the Earth Netherlands, or Milieudefensie as it is known in Dutch, said in a letter sent to Shell’s chief executive Ben van Beurden today. read more

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Shell expands operated footprint in Brazil with new deep-water blocks

RIO DE JANEIRO, March 29, 2018 /PRNewswire/ — Shell Brasil Petroleo, a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell plc (“Shell”), today won four additional deep-water, exploration blocks in the Campos and Potiguar basins, bringing its total operated presence offshore Brazil to 18 blocks. In the 15th deep-water bid round organized by the Brazilian National Petroleum Agency (ANP), Shell secured one exploration block on its own and three in joint-bids with Chevron Brazil, Petrobras, and Petrogal Brasil. Of the newly acquired blocks today, Shell will operate two.  read more

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The Sky’s The Limit In Shell’s New Climate Targets Scenario

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FT: Shell likely to face activist challenge to shift away from fossil fuels

|By: , SA News Editor

  • Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A, RDS.B) likely will face a shareholder resolution calling at its May annual meeting for a radical shift away from fossil fuels, highlighting mounting pressure on big oil companies over global warming, Financial Times reports.
  • Shell has gone further than most peers by announcing last November a goal to reduce its carbon footprint by 50% by 2050, but climate activists are disputing its claim that its goal is in line with the Paris agreement.
  • “The ambitions announced by Shell are inconsistent with the Paris agreement, in particular when taking into account expected global energy demand growth,” according to Follow This, the shareholder group that has submitted a resolution calling for more aggressive targets.
  • Activists say Shell’s goal for a 50% reduction actually would be 25% in absolute terms if the company maintains its share of a global energy market that is forecast to grow by 50% by 2050.
  • read more

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    Oil’s Seven Sisters Enter a ‘Golden Age’, Goldman Sachs Says

    The world’s largest oil companies have survived a life-changing crisis, and are now poised to reap the rewards, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said.

    Big Oil is in a sweet spot with rising oil prices and low operating costs, leaving them with the biggest cash-flow growth in two decades and boosting earnings, Goldman said in a report Monday. That will increase their attraction for investors after years of elevated spending followed by crude’s slump sent their weighting in global equity indexes to a 50-year low, according to the bank.  read more

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    In court, Big Oil rejected climate denial

    In a California court case this week, Judge William Alsup asked the two sides to provide him a climate science tutorial. The plaintiffs are the coastal cities of San Francisco and Oakland. They’re suing five major oil companies (Chevron, ExxonMobil, Shell, ConocoPhillips and BP) to pay for the cities’ costs to cope with the sea level rise caused by global warming. FULL ARTICLE

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    Auction of Oil Drilling Tracts in Gulf Draws Tepid Interest

    HOUSTON — In a setback to Trump administration efforts to increase offshore oil production, the industry responded with only modest interest on Wednesday in a federal auction covering a record 77 million acres in the Gulf of Mexico.

    Companies bid on only 1 percent of the acreage, and the winning bids yielded a mere $125 million for the government.

    The results reflected broad uncertainty among oil executives that global oil prices can remain at current levels over $60 a barrel, as well as a general preference for drilling in onshore shale fields that require smaller investments and are less risky. read more

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    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. read more

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    Chevron Says Climate Change Lawsuit `Not Viable’ As It Prepares To Educate Judge On Science

    Daniel Fisher: Writer and communications consultant and former senior editor with Forbes magazine; 21 March 2018

    Five of the world’s largest oil and gas producers have filed a motion to dismiss a climate change lawsuit against them by the cities of Oakland and San Francisco even as they prepare to deliver an unusual “tutorial” on climate science to the federal judge overseeing the case.

    In a 45-page filing on Tuesday, Chevron, BP, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil and Royal Dutch Shell urged U.S. District Judge William Alsup to dismiss the lawsuit seeking billions of dollars to pay for costs associated with global warming. The oil companies argue the U.S. Supreme Court and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit have repeatedly rejected similar lawsuits against oil companies, the auto industry and electric utilities because Congress has given authority to regulate CO2 emissions exclusively to the Environmental Protection Agency. read more

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    Nigeria State Oil Company Hasn’t Explained Missing Billions

    An agency tasked with cleaning up Nigeria’s murky oil industry says even though financial accountability has improved the state oil company still hasn’t explained billions of dollars of missing revenue.

    While energy producers have cooperated and complied with requirements to publish payments, the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative has struggled with the state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corp., Waziri Adio, executive secretary of the agency known as Neiti, said in a March 7 interview in Abuja, the capital. The state oil company hasn’t explained what it did with at least $22.7 billion earned from the sale of oil licenses and in dividends from its stake in Nigeria LNG Ltd. over a 15-year period, he said. read more

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    Shell mulls investment in new wave of LNG projects

    Shell chief executive Ben van Beurden says the company is looking to finalize new investments, which may include the company’s LNG Canada project

    Geoffrey MorganGEOFFREY MORGAN Published on: March 8, 2018 | Last Updated: March 8, 2018

    HOUSTON – The head of Royal Dutch Shell Plc dropped a hint that it’s keen to invest in liquefied natural gas projects soon on Tuesday, a tantalizing prospect for Canadian gas producers desperate to access rapidly changing global energy markets.

    Shell chief executive Ben van Beurden did not specifically mention the company’s LNG Canada project in Kitimat, British Columbia when he addressed a room of oil and gas executives on Wednesday, but indicated the company is looking to finalize new investments. read more

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    Chevron expects LNG supply shortage by 2025

    John Benny: 6 March 2018

    (Reuters) – Chevron Corp said on Tuesday it expected supply shortage in the global liquefied natural gas (LNG) market by around 2025, echoing comments made last month by top LNG trader Royal Dutch Shell.

    Demand for natural gas, which burns cleaner than coal and oil, has surged as countries such as China look to curb environmental pollution.

    Chevron, owner of the giant Gorgon and Wheatstone LNG projects in Australia, said it expects global demand to be nearly 600 million metric tonne per annum (mmtpa) by 2035, while supply could be just about half of that. read more

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    How Shell hid a Whale before placing Mexican oil bet

    Ron Bousso, Marianna Parraga: MARCH 2, 2018

    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 size of Shell’s cash payments – $343 million out of the total of $525 million that Mexico earned in the sale – far outstripped its competitors’ offers, guaranteeing that the company swept up nine of the 19 offshore blocks.

    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

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    Yedlin: East Coast LNG projects quietly moving forward

    Local Input~ Aerial View of the Bear Head LNG Project Site, Nova Scotia, Canada. Photo: Courtesy of Liquefied Natural Gas Limited. 0211 biz gmo bearhead

    DEBORAH YEDLIN, CALGARY HERALD: 24 FEB 2018

    Lost in the hyper-focus on British Columbia and its persistent obstruction of energy infrastructure development is the East Coast, where two liquefied natural gas projects are quietly moving forward in Nova Scotia.

    Both Bear Head LNG to be located on the north bank of the Strait of Canso and Pieridae Energy in Goldboro are at different phases of their progress, but unlike what’s going on in B.C. there is a marked absence of opposition. read more

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    In the deepwater versus shale oil contest, Shell backs both

    Ron Bousso, Dmitry Zhdannikov: FEBRUARY 20,2018 LONDON (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L) will expand deepwater output and turn a profit from its shale production in coming years as both together will help the oil major cope with a world of low crude prices, the head of its oil and gas production said on Tuesday.

    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

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    New York City Inspires Paris to Take on Big Oil Companies

    By

    A little more than a month after Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that New York City will take the fossil fuel industry to court, Paris says it is following suit.

    In early January, de Blasio announced that the city filed a lawsuit against five of the United States’ biggest oil companies—BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Exxon Mobil and Royal Dutch Shell—on the grounds that they have contributed to global warming. The city will also divest from fossil fuel companies over a five-year period.

    On Feb. 6, 350.org—which has been working on a divestment campaign for the last four years—announced that Paris was looking into the possibility of suing the fossil fuel industry as well.

    The City Council passed a motion to study the possibility of taking legal action against oil companies to cover expenses associated with protecting Paris from the impacts of climate change.

    The Council plans to lobby other major cities like London to ban fossil fuels from their investments through the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group, whose president is Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo. read more

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    Big Oil takes stage for post-austerity beauty contest

    Ron Bousso: 12 FEB 2018

    LONDON (Reuters) – With years of austerity in their rear-view mirrors, the world’s biggest oil companies are locked in a beauty contest to lure investors with promises of growth and greater rewards.

    Royal Dutch Shell and Total are emerging as frontrunners after a three-year slump thanks to strong growth projections but Exxon Mobil, the biggest publicly traded oil company, has largely disappointed with a weaker outlook.

    Major oil companies slashed spending and cut costs after oil prices collapsed in 2014 and can now generate as much cash with crude at $50-$55 a barrel as they did when the price was around $100 earlier in the decade. read more

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    Ads will attack de Blasio’s lawsuits against oil companies

    De Blasio announced last month that the city had filed a lawsuit against BP, Chevron, Conoco-Phillips, ExxonMobil and Royal Dutch Shell, claiming their fossil fuels produce 11 percent of the Earth’s global-warming gases.

    The suit “seeks to shift the costs of protecting the city from climate-change impacts back onto the companies that have done nearly all they could to create this existential threat.”

    City Hall spokesman Eric Phillips slammed the new campaign. read more

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    Shell Commits to Expanding Gas Stations as Some Rivals Retreat

    Istvan Kapitany, head of Shell’s global retail business

    By Kevin Orland: 9 February 2018

    (Bloomberg) — While many oil producers are stepping back from their retail operations, Royal Dutch Shell Plc is doubling down.

    Shell, which has about 44,000 filling stations around the world, opened its first one in Mexico last year, the start of $1 billion in investments over the next decade. Shell also is ramping up spending in China, India, Indonesia and Russia, Istvan Kapitany, head of Shell’s global retail business, said in an interview in Calgary. read more

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    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.Brennan Linsley/AP Photo

    Bloomberg News: Robert Tuttle: February 9, 2018: 12:59 PM EST

    In 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. read more

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    BP announces North Sea discoveries with Shell, Chevron

    Photo: JONATHAN NACKSTRAND, Stringer: Shell is a shareholder in the Elgin rig, shown here operating 150 miles from Aberdeen in the North Sea in 2012. Shell is selling stakes in 10 North Sea fields.

    BP said it struck oil in its Capercaillie prospect in the central North Sea east of Scotland, as well as the northwestern corner of the North Sea in the Achmelvich well, the latter of which is the partnership with Shell and Chevron.

    The discoveries lend optimism to a slowly rebounding offshore energy sector, especially in the North Sea that’s so critical for Europe’s oil supplies. read more

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    Shell says to sell its stake in Thai Bongkot fields to PTTEP for $750 million

    Chayut SetboonsarngFlorence Tan: 31 JAN 2018

    BANGKOK/SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell said on Wednesday that it will sell its stake in the Bongkot gas field and adjoining acreage offshore Thailand to PTT Exploration & Production PCL for $750 million before tax.

    The deal with PTTEP comes after Shell in October canceled a $900 million agreement to sell the same gas field stakes to Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Company (KUFPEC).

    “The two deal values are not comparable and we will not comment further on any commercial terms,” a Shell spokeswoman said in an e-mail when asked about the discrepancy between the price tags in the two sale accords. read more

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    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. read more

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    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. read more

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    The top five oil and gas trends for 2018

    COLE LATIMER: JANUARY 28 2018 – 4:23PM

    This year will be the year of the oil and gas revival, as prices lift performance and major projects come online.

    While Australia is increasing its focus on securing domestic gas supply, it is taking a greater role globally and evolving the industry.

    Wood Mackenzie Australasia oil and gas leader Saul Kavonic has outlined the five trends that will mark LNG growth in 2018.

    Australia leads LNG

    Australia has been ramping up its LNG projects for a number of years, and 2018 will see it finally take the world’s number one spot from Qatar. read more

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    Shell buying spree cranks up race for clean energy

     

    People take pictures of a high-efficiency petrol-burning concept car as it is unveiled by Royal Dutch Shell during a ceremony in Beijing, China April 22, 2016. REUTERS/Damir Sagolj

    Ron Bousso, Clara Denina: JANUARY 26, 2018

    LONDON (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L) has spent over $400 million on a range of acquisitions in recent weeks, from solar power to electric car charging points, cranking up its drive to expand beyond its oil and gas business and reduce its carbon footprint.

    The scale of the buying spree pales in comparison to the Anglo-Dutch company’s $25 billion annual spending budget. But its first forays into the solar and retail power sectors for many years shows a growing urgency to develop cleaner energy businesses. read more

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    Big Oil flush with cash again, but no party yet

    Ron Bousso: 24 JAN 2018

    LONDON (Reuters) – The world’s top oil companies are expected to generate more cash in 2018 than at any other time this decade after three painful years of cuts, but it isn’t party time yet.

    The shift in sentiment has been rapid as crude prices have risen by more than 50 percent over the past six months to reach $70 a barrel, a level not seen since the crash year of 2014, thanks to global supply cuts led by OPEC.

    Only a year ago, many investors still fretted over the sustainability of the sector’s lavish dividend payouts in a weak energy market. Now the focus on company boards is gradually switching from slashing jobs and investment to boosting shareholders’ returns and growth. read more

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    Big Oil Plans Tenfold Expansion of Cost-Cut Collaboration

    The world’s largest energy companies plan to significantly widen a two-year effort to standardize the kit they use to pump oil and gas, hoping they can deliver significant cost savings, said people familiar with the matter.

    The discussions, scheduled on Wednesday for a closed-door meeting at the World Economic Forum in Davos, are the latest sign companies are seeking to tighten their belts permanently even as oil prices recover. Bespoke equipment designed on a project-by-project basis was common during the decade-long boom in crude prices, but looks less affordable after the industry’s worst downturn in a generation. read more

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    Nigeria Moves Closer to Energy Overhaul With New Oil Bill

    Nigeria’s House of Representatives passed a bill governing the country’s energy sector after the Senate did so in May, taking Africa’s top oil producer one step closer to a much-awaited overhaul of the key industry.

    The Petroleum Industry Governance Bill now awaits President Muhammadu Buhari’s signing to become law.

    The bill will “promote openness and transparency in the industry by clarifying the rules, processes, and procedures that govern the oil and gas sector,” Senate President Bukola Saraki said in a statement Thursday. “After nearly two decades of back-and-forth, near-misses and ‘near-passages’, the 8th National Assembly finally reached a milestone.” read more

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    CAN BIG OIL BE SUED FOR CAUSING GLOBAL WARMING?

    BY

    New York City and a number of California municipalities, including San Francisco and Oakland, have filed lawsuits against five major oil companies—BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Exxon Mobil, and Royal Dutch Shell—for contributing to the increased risk of global warming.

    These complaints cite recent scientific reports that project that sea levels will rise from 0.2 meters to 2.0 meters (or 0.66 to 6.6 feet) by 2100, with a major loss of land surface area and serious climate disruptions. read more

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    Shell Takes a Last Exit From Mideast Oil — WSJ

    By Sarah Kent and Benoit Faucon

    LONDON — Royal Dutch Shell PLC is giving up on its last oil fields in Iraq, leaving the world’s second-biggest oil company with a dwindling footprint in the Middle East — a region it helped build into a petroleum powerhouse.

    Shell said Monday it is selling for an undisclosed amount a stake in the West Qurna 1 oil field in Iraq to Japan’s Itochu Corp., the latest step in a gradual retreat from the region. The company is also expected to give up its holding in Iraq’s Majnoon oil field later this year, though it will retain its natural-gas interests in the country. read more

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    New York City sues Shell, ExxonMobil, and other oil majors over climate change

    Each of the first six months of 2016 set a record as the warmest respective month globally. Credit: NASA/GISS
    January 10 2018

    The New York City government is suing the world’s five largest publicly traded oil companies, seeking to hold them responsible for present and future damages to the city from climate change.

    The suit, filed Tuesday against BP, Chevron, Conoco-Phillips, ExxonMobil and Royal Dutch Shell, claims the companies together produced 11 percent of all of global warming gases through the oil and gas products they have sold over the years. It also charges that the companies and the industry of which they are part have known for some time about the consequences but sought to obscure them. read more

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    New York City sues 5 major oil companies, claiming they contributed to global warming

    The ExxonMobil refinery seen at dusk in St. Bernard Parish, La.

    (Gerald Herbert / AP)

    Associated Press

    New York City is suing five major oil companies, claiming they have contributed to global warming.

    Mayor Bill de Blasio says the city will be seeking billions in the lawsuit to recoup money spent by the city for resiliency efforts related to climate change.

    The defendants in the city’s federal lawsuit are BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Exxon Mobil and Royal Dutch Shell.

    A BP spokesman declined comment. A Shell spokesman said climate change is a complex issue that should not be addressed by the courts. The other three did not immediately comment. read more

    This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

    Big Oil Finds Hurdles Buried in Trump’s ‘America-First’ Tax Plan

    For Big Oil, the U.S. tax overhaul is turning out to be a mixed bag, especially for companies that drill overseas.

    Two weeks after President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans passed a sweeping rewrite of the tax code that cuts corporate rates, drillers are finding other changes that are less of a boon. BP Plc and Royal Dutch Shell Plc offered a preview recently, saying they may write off as much as $4 billion in tax assets as a result.

    Caps on debt-interest payments and cuts to deductions from previous years’ losses may hurt companies building capital-intensive projects with borrowed money. And other provisions, including time limits on expensing exploration, could hem in drillers with long-term projects, including Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp. That may also give an edge to domestic shale production. read more

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    U.S. offers drillers nearly all offshore waters, but focus is on eastern Gulf

    Ernest Sheyder and Valerie Volcovici

    HOUSTON/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Donald Trump’s administration has proposed opening up nearly all of America’s offshore waters to oil and gas drilling, but the industry says it is mainly interested in one part of it, now cordoned off by the Pentagon: the eastern Gulf of Mexico.

    The industry’s focus on an area located near a sprawling network of existing platforms, pipes and ports could ease the path to new reserves, and assuage the drilling opponents near other places offered under the Interior Department’s proposed drilling plan issued last week, like California’s Pacific, the Atlantic and Arctic. read more

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    Norway Faces Up to Big Oil’s Snub

    Norway is realizing it will have to do without the deep pockets of the biggest oil companies as it seeks to extend an era that has made it one of the world’s richest countries.

    The most recent blow came when only 11 companies applied for new blocks in the Arctic Barents Sea, touted as the country’s most promising area for exploration. Chevron Corp. and ConocoPhillips were absent after bidding the last time, while Exxon Mobil Corp. and Total SA remained out of the race. Of the five super-majors, only Royal Dutch Shell Plc applied. read more

    This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

    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. read more

    This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

    Blue-chips back oil industry machine learning start-up

    , Energy Editor: 19 Dec 2018

    The Chinese investment bank CICC has joined oil majors Saudi Aramco, Royal Dutch Shell and Chevron in backing a Californian start-up that is developing machine learning technology for the oil and gas sector. Maana has so far focused on uses of data to help oil and gas companies increase speed and reliability in their operations.

    FULL FT ARTICLE

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    31 million barrels of oil later, new life for old rig

    31 million barrels of oil later, new life for old rig

    Royal Dutch Shell’s 36-year-old Cougar oil and gas platform. The bulk of the platform was converted into an artificial reef in November.

    After chugging along for 37 hours, the lumbering heavy-lift vessel reached its destination 110 miles off Louisiana. There, the ship’s powerful cranes lowered a massive steel structure, used to support offshore oil platforms, to the floor of the Gulf of Mexico, 200 feet below the surface.

    This location, however, will never produce oil. Instead, the 3,000-ton frame, from a retired platform operated by Royal Dutch Shell, will become home to barnacles, mussels, sponges and other aquatic invertebrates and a way station for migratory fish from red snapper to whale sharks seeking food and shelter. read more

    This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

    Oil stable on tighter market, but rising US output looms for 2018

    BY HENNING GLOYSTEIN: DECEMBER 15, 2017

    * OPEC-led supply cuts, Forties pipeline outage support crude

    * But rising U.S. output, driven by shale, weighs on market

    SINGAPORE, Dec 15 (Reuters) – Oil markets were stable on Friday as the Forties pipeline outage in the North Sea and the ongoing OPEC-led production cuts supported prices, while rising output from the United States kept crude from rising further.

    U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $57.13 a barrel at 0119 GMT, up 9 cents from their last settlement. read more

    This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

    Goldman Says Big Oil Is Poised for Its Best Year in Decades

    Big Oil’s slump is over and industry domination beckons, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

    In 2018, companies from Royal Dutch Shell Plc to Exxon Mobil Corp. will find themselves with a surplus of cash to fund dividends, ruling the world of deep water mega-projects and even coming out ahead in tax negotiations with oil-reliant governments around the globe, according to Michele Della Vigna, Goldman’s head of energy-industry research.

    The industry’s success in cutting costs, paired with a low oil price that keeps smaller competitors out of the biggest projects, has created an environment where only major players can compete, Vigna said. That should bolster earnings and return the industry giants to a position of dominance not seen in 20 years. read more

    This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

    Analysis: Oil giants unlikely to share coal’s fate, for now

    Ron Bousso, Simon Jessop, Susanna Twidale: NOVEMBER 17, 2017

    The move by the $1 trillion fund, the world’s largest, rattled stock markets, exposing what is seen as one of the biggest threats to companies such as Royal Dutch Shell, Exxon Mobil and BP as the world shifts towards renewable energy such as wind and solar.

    But in the meantime, expectations of growing global demand for oil and gas for decades to come mean reliance on these companies is likely to continue.

    And although the Norwegian initiative will encourage those seeking to hasten the move to a low-carbon economy, the degree to which other investors can follow the fund’s example, at least in the short term, is less clear.

    The European oil and gas index fell on Friday to its lowest since late September, extending declines following the Norwegian fund’s announcement. read more

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    Norway Idea to Exit Oil Stocks Is ‘Shot Heard Around the World’

    Norway’s proposal to sell off $35 billion in oil and natural gas stocks brings sudden and unparalleled heft to a once-grassroots movement to enlist investors in the fight against climate change.

    The Nordic nation’s $1 trillion sovereign wealth fund said Thursday that it’s considering unloading its shares of Exxon Mobil Corp., Royal Dutch Shell Plc and other oil giants to diversify its holdings and guard against drops in crude prices. European oil stocks fell.

    Norges Bank Investment Management would not be the first institutional investor to back away from fossil fuels. But until now, most have been state pension funds, universities and other smaller players that have limited their divestments to coal, tar sands or some of the other dirtiest fossil fuels. Norway’s fund is the world’s largest equity investor, controlling about 1.5 percent of global stocks. If it follows through on its proposal, it would be the first to abandon the sector altogether. read more

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    Big Oil is under pressure, unloved and on sale. 

    • Norway wants to dump its stakes in oil and gas companies
    • Proposal adds to doubts over industry’s long-term outlook

    Big Oil is under pressure, unloved and on sale.

    Energy giants from Exxon Mobil Corp. to Royal Dutch Shell Plc are struggling back to their feet after a three-year oil slump, while also fighting to prove they can survive for decades to come amid an accelerating shift to clean energy. So getting dumped by the world’s biggest investment fund wouldn’t be welcome news.

    Norway’s $1 trillion sovereign wealth fund said on Thursday that it wants to sell about $35 billion of shares in oil and gas companies to make the nation “less vulnerable” to a drop in crude prices. Global energy giants favored by long-term investors including Italy’s Eni SpA, PetroChina Ltd. and Russia’s Gazprom PJSC account for more than $20 billion of that total. read more

    This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

    World’s Biggest Wealth Fund Wants Out of Oil and Gas

    The $1 trillion fund that Norway has amassed pumping oil and gas over the past two decades wants out of petroleum stocks.  

    Norway, which relies on oil and gas for about a fifth of economic output, would be less vulnerable to declining crude prices without its fund investing in the industry, the central bank said Thursday. The divestment would mark the second major step in scrubbing the world’s biggest wealth fund of climate risk, after it sold most of its coal stocks.

    “Our perspective here is to spread the risks for the state’s wealth,” Egil Matsen, the deputy central bank governor overseeing the fund, said in an interview in Oslo. “We can do that better by not adding oil-price risk.” read more

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    Shell’s LNG Strategy A Great Complement To Overall Operations

    Zoltan Ban: Nov 13, 2017

    Summary

    • LNG is set to see robust growth on the back of growing global dependence on natural gas. The LNG industry will provide more supply security, which will be increasingly desired.
    • Shell has become a global leader in LNG, after the BG merger.
    • The advantage of investing in Shell as a way to play the LNG growth story is the fact that its downstream segment will act as a hedge in bad times.

    Beyond the recent hype created by the Saudi events, there is a trend of steady and sustainable advance in the price of oil, which I believe is likely to continue for as long as the current global economic cycle that started with the 2009 economic recovery is going to persist. In fact, I believe that the trigger for the next economic downturn will be an oil price spike, perhaps very similar to what we saw in the 2007-2008 period. This is how I saw the situation play out back in late 2015, which is when I decided to buy Shell’s (RDS.A) (NYSE:RDS.B) stock, along with Chevron (CVX) and Suncor (SU). It is a long-term bet on a trend that I am certain will happen, although the timing of it was never something I was as certain of, which is why I opted to buy only solid names, with a diverse portfolio of projects. read more

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    As Oil Prices Rise, Global Majors Eyeing Mexico’s Deep Waters

    By Adam Williams: 9 November 2017, 21:27 GMT: Updated on 10 November 2017, 05:01 GMT

    As the price of oil rises, an international rush is on for Mexico’s untapped deep-water riches.

    The who’s who of the oil world — led by Exxon Mobil Corp and Royal Dutch Shell Plc, the world’s two biggest drillers by market value — are lining up to bid in the country’s Jan. 31 deep-water auction. And the interest is international in scope, drawing Chevron Corp. from the U.S., the U.K.’s BP Plc, Norway’s Statoil ASA, France’s Total SA, Australia’s BHP Billiton Ltd, Russia’s Lukoil PJSC and China’s Cnooc Ltd, among others. read more

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    Peak oil? Majors aren’t buying into the threat from renewables

    Ernest Scheyder, Ron Bousso: NOVEMBER 8, 2017 HOUSTON/LONDON (Reuters) – Two decades ago, BP set out to transcend oil, adopting a sunburst logo to convey its plans to pour $8 billion over a decade into renewable technologies, even promising to power its gas stations with the sun.

    That transformation – marketed as “Beyond Petroleum” – led to manufacturing solar panels in Australia, Spain and the United States and erecting wind farms in the United States and the Netherlands.

    Today, BP (BP.L) might be more aptly branded “Back to Petroleum” after exiting or scaling back its renewable energy investments. Lower-cost Chinese components upended its solar panel business, which the firm shed in 2011. A year later, BP tried to sell its U.S. wind power business but couldn’t get a buyer. read more

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    Why Royal Dutch Shell’s Value Increased by $10 Billion in October

    Shell has had a great year, and October added to the up trend, even though there wasn’t much actual news.

    Reuben Gregg Brewer (TMFReubenGBrewer) Nov 6, 2017 at 4:32PM

    What happened

    Shares of Royal Dutch Shell plc (NYSE:RDS-B) rose 4.5% in October, which doesn’t sound like a huge amount until you consider it in dollar terms. That move is the equivalent of a $10 billion increase in the integrated oil major’s market cap. By comparison, competitor Chevron‘s stock fell more than 1% and ExxonMobil was up just 1.5% (or so) in the month. That, however, is the continuation of a trend, since Shell has been outperforming its peers all year long.

    So what

    The interesting thing is that there wasn’t much news to drive Shell’s performance last month. However, since around July and August, Shell has been on a tear. There are two parts to this solid showing. First, oil has been heading in a generally upward direction since about that point. Shell is a commodity company, so energy prices will be a big piece of the performance puzzle. read more

    This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.