By Nick Toscano: August 22, 2019 

Global oil and gas giant Shell has launched a $617 million takeover offer for Australian energy retailer ERM Power as the multinational seeks to make a foray into the country’s energy retailing market.

Shell is proposing to buy ERM – Australia’s second-largest power retailer to commercial and industrial customers – for $2.465 a share, the two companies announced on Thursday morning.

The offer represents a 43 per cent premium to ERM’s last closing price of $1.72.

Shell’s proposal has gained the backing of ERM’s founder, Trevor St Baker, who holds 27 per cent of the company. Mr St Baker said he intended to vote in favour of the takeover bid “in the absence of a superior proposal”. read more

Nigeria: Govt Declines Renewal of Shell’s OML 11 Over National Security

By Alex Enumah: 16 August 2019

Abuja — The Federal Government Thursday told an Abuja Division of the Federal High Court that its decision not to renew the operating license of Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) was in the interest of the nation’s security.

The oil giant in the legal action is seeking an order of the court to compel the Federal Government to grant or renew its Oil Mining Lease (OML)11.

At the resumed hearing on Thursday, counsel to Federal Government, Mohammed Diri, while objecting to the suit said the primary objective of any responsible government is to guarantee the safety of lives and properties, adding that the refusal to renew OML 11 was a pre-emptive measure to prevent the occurrence or escalation of security breach in Ogoni area. read more

AUG 8, 2019

HOUSTON (Reuters) – Motiva Enterprises [MOTIV.UL] plans to shut the big crude distillation unit (CDU) at its 607,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) Port Arthur, Texas, refinery, the nation’s largest, by Sept. 5 for a 60-day overhaul, said sources familiar with plant operations.

In addition to the 325,000-bpd VPS-5 CDU, Motiva plans to shut the naphtha processing complex, which includes the 115,000-bpd naphtha hydrotreating unit 2 (NHTU2), 85,000-bpd catalytic reformer 5 (CRU 5) and 50,000-bpd isomerization unit for the work, scheduled to finish by Nov. 5, the sources said. read more

Shell shares plunge after worst results since oil price crash

By Brian Donnelly @BrianDonnellyHT Business Correspondent: 2 Aug 2019

SHARES in Royal Dutch Shell were down five per cent after it posted its worst financial results since the 2016 oil price crash.

The energy giant said the figures were influenced by lower oil and gas prices while analysts said wider global factors including the US and China trade stand-off played a part, and the firm said it would not take any British-flagged tankers to the Strait of Hormuz amid heightened tensions in the region. read more

Shell Announces the Next Tranche of the Share Buyback Programme

NEWS PROVIDED BY

Royal Dutch Shell plc

Aug 01, 2019, 02:17 E

THE HAGUE, Netherlands, Aug. 1, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — Royal Dutch Shell plc (the ‘company’) (NYSE: RDS A) (NYSE: RDS B) today announces the commencement of trading in the next tranche of its share buyback programme previously announced on July 26, 2018. In the next tranche, the company has entered into an irrevocable, non-discretionary arrangement with a broker to enable the purchase of A ordinary shares and/or B ordinary shares for a period up to and including October 28, 2019. The aggregate maximum consideration for the purchase of A ordinary shares and/or B ordinary shares under the next tranche is $2.75 billion. The company’s intention is to buy back at least $25 billion of its shares by the end of 2020, subject to further progress with debt reduction and oil price conditions. read more

Bloomberg: Shell Profit Misses as Slowing Economy Hurts Gas, Chemicals

By Kelly Gilblom: 1 August 2019, 07:15 BST Updated on 1 August 2019, 08:14 BST

Cash flow rises, but integrated gas adjusted profit falls 25%

Shell CEO says macroeconomic conditions were challenging

Royal Dutch Shell Plc got caught into the same earnings trap as many of its peers, reporting second-quarter earnings that fell well short of expectations as the slowing global economy hit everything from natural gas to chemicals.

Profit in Shell’s integrated gas division was down by 25%, but earnings were lower across all of its businesses, including upstream oil and gas production, and refining and chemicals.

“We’ve seen some very severe macroeconomic headwinds — probably most pronounced in our downstream business where we saw some weaker refining margins — but especially a much weaker trading environment for petrochemicals,” Chief Executive Officer Ben Van Beurden said in a Bloomberg TV interview on Thursday. “In our upstream, we’ve seen headwinds particularly in North American gas.” read more

Shell completes sale of interest in the US Gulf of Mexico asset

by Mark Lammey 31/07/2019, 10:26 am

Shell has completed the sale of a 22.45% non-operated interest in the Caesar-Tonga asset in the US Gulf of Mexico to Equinor.

The total cash consideration was $965 million.

The transaction represents Shell’s focus on strategically positioning the deep-water business for growth and is consistent with its strategy to pursue competitive projects that deliver value in the 2020s and beyond.

The sale contributes to Shell’s ongoing divestment programme.

Shell currently is the largest leaseholder and one of the leading offshore producers of oil and natural gas in the US Gulf of Mexico. read more

by David McPhee and James Wyllie: 26 July 2019

Oil giant Shell has confirmed all decommissioning work on the Curlew floating production vessel (FPSO) has been suspended due to an “incident” involving a worker.

The occurrence is understood to have been a “confined space incident” during tank cleaning work two weeks ago.

It has been claimed that the situation resulted in a male worker running out of oxygen while in the tank.

Shell said no one was injured.

Augean North Sea Services is carrying out cleaning and waste disposal on the FPSO at the Port of Dundee. read more

According to Shell’s records, the community has been impacted by at least 40 oil spills from Shell’s pipelines and equipment since 1989, including 23 spills in the past 4 years. Shell’s pipelines and infrastructure in Ogale are several decades old and in a poor state of repair making the area vulnerable to oil spills which have caused, and continue to cause, long-term contamination of the land, swamps, groundwater and waterways in the Community.

The Supreme Court hearing will appeal a judgment from February 2018, from the Court of Appeal in London, which upheld an earlier High Court judgment, that the English Court does not have jurisdiction over the claims.

Lawyers representing 40,000 Nigerian farmers and fisherman from two communities in the Niger Delta have been permitted to take their legal claim against the oil giant Shell to the UK Supreme Court.

The decision will allow the two communities from Bille and Ogale in the Niger Delta to appeal to the UK’s highest court, having suffered from decades of pollution from Shell’s pipelines.

They have taken their case to the English Courts on the basis that Royal Dutch Shell (RDS), which is headquartered in London, is legally responsible for the environmental failures of the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC), a subsidiary of RDS. read more

Bloomberg: Oil Giants Note — Nigeria Now Has a Chance to Open Its Fields

By Dulue Mbachu and Tope Alake: 16 July 2019, 05:00 BST

*Buhari’s parliamentary control could speed passage of reforms

*Oil majors want favorable fiscal terms to explore deep waters

Investors’ 11-year wait for the Nigerian government to open up Africa’s biggest crude industry may be over.

An overhaul of oil policy that’s been in the works for more than a decade is among a raft of laws President Muhammadu Buhari could steer through parliament in his second term to help drive investment in the oil-dependent economy. The delays cost an estimated $15 billion a year in lost funding for the industry over the past decade, according to the Petroleum Ministry. read more

By Emmanuel Addeh in Yenagoa 12 July 2019: — Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC) has said security remains a major challenge occasioned by continuing crude oil theft and vandalism of oil and gas facilities in parts of the Niger Delta.

SPDC’s General Manager, External Relations, Igo Weli, who spoke in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, at the media launch of the 2019 edition of the Shell in Nigeria Briefing Notes, an annual publication detailing the activities of the business interests of the global energy giant, noted that the illegal activities result in the loss of 11,000 Barrels Per Day of crude oil. read more

JULY 9, 2019 / 10:58 PM

HOUSTON (Reuters) – Major U.S. oil producers on Tuesday began evacuating and shutting in production at their deepwater Gulf of Mexico platforms in advance of a tropical disturbance expected to become a storm this week.

A tropical depression is expected to form late on Wednesday or Thursday, according to the National Hurricane Center, and move westward across the northern Gulf of Mexico, home to dozens of oil and gas producing facilities.

Chevron Corp (CVX.N), Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSa.L), BP Plc (BP.L) and BHP (BHP.AX) are removing staff from 15 offshore energy platforms, according to company statements. read more

Just days after Russia said it had fully resumed oil flows to Europe via the Druzhba pipeline after a major disruption in supplies due to crude contamination in April, a Shell oil refinery in Germany halted imports via the pipeline because, again, slightly higher concentration of organic chlorine was found in the crude, a Shell spokesman told Germany business daily Handelsblatt on Friday.

At the end of April, Russia halted supplies via the Druzhba oil pipeline to several European countries due to a contamination issue, which the Russians said was deliberate. read more

JUNE 28, 2019

LONDON (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L) and Exxon Mobil (XOM.N) are looking to re-enter the market in Somalia ahead of an oil block bid round taking place later this year, the country’s oil ministry said in a statement.

Shell and Exxon Mobil had a joint venture there prior to the toppling of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in the early 1990s.

Somalia has been mired in insecurity since Barre left and is battling Islamist group al Shabaab that frequently carries out bombings in the capital Mogadishu and elsewhere in the country. read more

JUNE 14, 2019 / 2:01 AM

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexico’s oil regulator on Thursday approved exploration plans for four deepwater areas operated by Royal Dutch Shell , after it gave the green light to five others earlier this week, committing the oil major to invest at least $791 million.

The plans stipulate that the Anglo-Dutch company could invest up to $1.06 billion in the four blocks, mostly dedicated to drilling at least six new wells.

One of the blocks is in the Perdido Fold Basin, which straddles the U.S.-Mexico maritime border in the Gulf of Mexico, while the other three are further south in the Salina Basin. read more

NEWS PROVIDED BY Shell: Jun 11, 2019, 16:15 ET

HOUSTON, June 11, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — Equilon Enterprises LLC d/b/a Shell Oil Products US (Shell), a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell plc announced it has reached an agreement for the sale of Shell’s Martinez Refinery in California to PBF Holding Company LLC, a subsidiary of PBF Energy, Inc., for $1.0 billion consideration plus the value of hydrocarbon inventory, crude oil supply and product offtake agreements, and other adjustments.  read more

JUNE 11, 2019 / 6:57 PM

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexico’s independent oil regulator on Tuesday approved deepwater exploration plans for five areas operated by Royal Dutch Shell Plc in Mexican waters near the U.S. maritime border.

The plans commit the Anglo-Dutch oil major to invest at least $397 million over the next four years, but if the drilling proves successful it could grow to some $1.3 billion, according to the regulator, known as the National Hydrocarbons Commission, or CNH. read more

Emily Gosden, Energy Editor: June 11, 2019

Royal Dutch Shell has issued a plea to companies across different sectors of the economy to work with it on plans to reduce their carbon emissions to “net zero”.

Ben van Beurden, chief executive of Europe’s biggest oil company, said that the airline and shipping industries were among the sectors being targeted initially for a “climate coalition”.

In a speech to The Times CEO Summit, Mr van Beurden, 61, also called for action to address unsustainable consumption patterns, citing “consumers who choose to eat strawberries in winter” and a throwaway culture in some industries where recycling could instead be the default. read more

A Shell North Sea boss has said he “agrees” with many of the climate campaigners who took to the streets of the UK’s major cities in April.

by David McPhee: 06/06/2019

Steve Phimister, Shell’s UK vice president for upstream, said yesterday during Oil and Gas UK’s (OGUK) industry conference that he thinks the country needs to take decisive action on the issue of climate change.

But he added that it did not include “abandoning” oil and gas.

Mr Phimister claimed he “agrees with the view from the climate protestors” of the need to move to a net zero carbon target “quickly”.

He added: “I understand why these activists were calling for this change, and it would be easy to assume that we all and those folk are on the opposite side of the conversation, but I don’t see it that way. read more

With generous dividends and buybacks—and talk of cleaner energy—Royal Dutch Shell looks to boost interest in its shares read more

Shell is to return $125bn over five years through dividends and share buybacks

That’s more than double the $52bn handed between 2011 and 2015

Energy group expects new projects will generate $35billion

By CAMILLA CANOCCHI FOR THISISMONEY.CO.UK

PUBLISHED: 15:03, 4 June 2019 | UPDATED: 16:15, 4 June 2019

Shares in Royal Dutch Shell fell despite the oil and gas giant revealing plans to return $125billion (£99billion) to shareholders over five years through dividends and share buybacks.

This is more than double the $52million (£41billion) handed to shareholders between 2011 and 2015.

Shell said it expects to pay for that with money from new projects, which it expects will generate $35billion, assuming oil remains priced at $60 per barrel. read more

Shell plans to boost returns and become a force in power

LONDON (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell outlined plans on Tuesday to boost shareholder returns after 2020, while also increasing spending on oil, gas and power, as it capitalizes on years of cost cutting to prepare for a lower carbon future.

In a strategy update, the Anglo-Dutch energy company said it was on track to deliver on its commitment to sharply increase cash generation and carry out one of the world’s largest share buyback programs of $25 billion by the end of next year.

It then plans to increase payouts to investors through dividends and share buybacks to $125 billion between 2021 and 2025, roughly half of its current market value. That compares with payouts of around $90 billion between 2016 and 2020.

While offering sweeteners to investors, Shell also outlined plans to increase spending in the next decade to grow its gas, oil, renewables and power output. read more

Earlier this month, a Dutch court ruled that it had the jurisdiction and would hear a damages lawsuit against Shell brought by the widows of activists executed by Nigeria’s government after the protests in Ogoniland in the 1990s.

By Tsvetana Paraskova – May 27, 2019, 4:00 PM CDT

The Nigerian unit of Royal Dutch Shell doesn’t have any plans to return to exploring or producing oil in Ogoniland in Nigeria’s Rivers state after it ceased operations there in the 1990s, Igo Weli, General Manager, External Relations, at the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) said this weekend at the release of Shell Nigeria’s 2019 Briefing Notes.

SPDC, as operator of the SPDC Joint Venture, carried out exploration and production operations in Ogoniland from the 1950s until the early 1990s. Production ceased in 1993 following a rise in violence, threats to staff, and attacks on facilities, Shell said. read more

Benet Kolek: MAY 24 2019

TIRANA (Reuters) – Shell Upstream Albania B.V. said on Friday initial tests showed “a flow potential of several thousand barrels of oil per day” from its Shpirag 4 well in central Albania, and it needed more work to determine its commercial volume.

“We are pleased that these initial tests have confirmed the potential of this discovery and look forward to growing our business in Albania,” Marc Gerrits, Shell’s Executive Vice-President of Exploration, said.

The Shpirag 4 well west of Berat had confirmed the flow potential of a significant light oil discovery, it added. read more

PR Newswire: May 23, 2019

HOUSTON, May 23, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — Royal Dutch Shell plc, through its subsidiary Shell Offshore Inc (Shell) announces today that production has started at the Shell-operated Appomattox floating production system months ahead of schedule, opening a new frontier in the deep-water US Gulf of Mexico. Appomattox, which currently has an expected production of 175,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d), is the first commercial discovery now brought into production in the deep-water Gulf of Mexico Norphlet formation.

“That Appomattox was safely brought online ahead of schedule and far under budget is a testament to our ongoing commitment to drive down costs through efficiency improvements during execution,” said Andy Brown, Upstream Director, Royal Dutch Shell. “Appomattox creates a core long-term hub for Shell in the Norphlet through which we can tie back several already discovered fields as well as future discoveries.”

Appomattox is a story of efficiency through innovation. By way of optimised development planning, better designs and fabrication, and expert drilling execution, Appomattox has realised cost reductions of more than 40% since taking final investment decision in 2015. The start of production at Appomattox is only just the beginning of further maximising the flow of resources in the prolific Norphlet surrounding Appomattox.

Shell’s global deep-water business has a strong funnel of development and exploration opportunities in Brazil, the US, Mexico, Nigeria, Malaysia, Mauritania, and the Western Black Sea.  Production worldwide is on track to reach more than 900,000 boe/d by 2020 from already discovered, established reservoirs. The company continues to be one of the largest leaseholders in the US deep water and remains one of the most prolific offshore producers of oil and natural gas in the Gulf of Mexico. Shell designs and operates its deep-water projects to be competitive and, since 2014, has reduced its unit development costs and unit operating costs by about 45%.

Cautionary Note

The companies in which Royal Dutch Shell plc

directly and indirectly

owns investments are separate legal entities. In this release “Shell”, “Shell group” and “Royal Dutch Shell” are sometimes used for convenience where references are made to Royal Dutch Shell plc and its subsidiaries in general. Likewise, the words “we”, “us” and “our” are also used to refer to Royal Dutch Shell plc and its subsidiaries in general or to those who work for them. These terms are also used where no useful purpose is served by identifying the particular entity or entities. ”Subsidiaries”, “Shell subsidiaries” and “Shell companies” as used in this release refer to entities over which Royal Dutch Shell plc either directly or indirectly has control. Entities and unincorporated arrangements over which Shell has joint control are generally referred to as “joint ventures” and “joint operations”, respectively.  Entities over which Shell has significant influence but neither control nor joint control read more

Shell is expected to spend $1.5bn (£1.152bn) on decommissioning in the North Sea over the next six years, according to a new forecast.

by Allister Thomas: 13/05/2019, 11:36 am

FULL ARTICLE

By Irina Slav – May 09, 2019, 9:30 AM CDT

A report that Occidental Petroleum’s corporate jet traveled to the Hague, one of Shell’s two home towns, has sparked a fresh flare-up of speculation regarding its proposed acquisition of Anadarko, CNBC reports, citing an unnamed source.

The news comes after reports on Thursday suggest that Chevron is bowing out of the fight to acquire Anadarko, despite some analysts thinking that it would up its offer to compete with Occidental’s. Chevron will be entitled to a $1 billion breakup fee per the terms of the original agreement. read more

MAY 9, 2019: SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell PLC has plans to invest about $2 billion per year in Brazil through 2025, Chief Executive Ben van Beurden told newspaper Valor Econômico in an exclusive interview.

Its investment plans could be increased to allow the company to bid in three upcoming oil and gas auctions, Valor reported in its Thursday edition based on the interview.

Royal Dutch Shell will not focus exclusively on oil projects, the report said. It is interested in exploring opportunities in natural gas, biofuels and the solar energy sector, Valor said. read more

The German government has made a formal objection to Shell’s plans to decommission the Brent field in the North Sea.

by Allister Thomas and Mark Lammey: 09/05/2019

Shell submitted plans in 2017 which proposed to leave the huge concrete legs of three of the four Brent platforms in place, prompting outcry from environmental groups.

Germany’s environment ministry commissioned a new report on the plans from Aberdeen-based consultancy Scientia et Sagacitas, which has highlighted “major issues” with Shell’s assessments.

The UK and Germany are both part of Ospar, an international agreement with several European countries to protect the marine environment. read more

By Mark Lammey: 6 MAY 2019

Deep-water Gulf of Mexico has always been about making the impossible possible, according to Rick Tallant, Shell’s vice-president of production for the region.

Now, Shell is trying to make the possible affordable, he said.

Mr Tallant said companies had to do a lot of “soul searching” during the downturn to work out how the industry could survive and compete with Brazil, West Africa and parts of Asia.

A shift in the industry’s mindset and culture was vital in the quest to reinvent itself and get “fit for the future” in the GoM, he said.

Shell spent a lot of time focusing on lowering operating costs and investing more wisely, which meant embracing standardisation, harnessing the local supply chain, and vastly improving performance management. read more

by David McPhee: 03/05/2019, 7:40 amUpdated: 03/05/2019, 7:48 am

Oil giant Shell yesterday cited a “strong start to 2019” and increased pre-tax profits as the reason for implementing a bullish share buyback programme.

The firm announced it intends to repurchase almost £20 billion shares by 2025, with the first tranche expected to see it re-aquire £2.1bn over the next three months.

Shell pre-tax profits rose to £7.2bn for Q1 if this year, compared to £6.3bn over the same period in 2018.

But, by Shell’s own preferred method of reporting it also experienced a 7% drop in statutory earnings and a 2% fall in underlying earnings.

Chief executive Ben van Beurden said the firm had delivered “robust results” despite challenging market conditions. read more

• 02 May 2019 | 18:28 UTC
• AuthorRobert Perkins
• EditorDerek Sands
• CommodityNatural Gas,  Oil

London — Shell is keen to grow its US shale oil portfolio but does not feel pressured to chase new acquisitions, as Occidental and Chevron battle for control of Anadarko’s Permian-rich upstream assets, Shell Chief Financial Officer Jessica Uhl said Thursday.

Shell doesn’t “need” to do a US shale deal as it already has a strong US portfolio of shale and tight oil, which has further room for volume growth, Uhl said.

“We have significant growth capacity in our existing position and, in that sense, we are not desperate. We don’t need to find new shale exposure … but we like the business,” Uhl told analysts on an earnings call. read more

By Mark Williamson: Group Business Correspondent

ROYAL Dutch Shell finance chief Jessica Uhl has hailed a “huge step up” in performance by the company in the North Sea and underlined the fact it sees big potential in the area.

Speaking after Shell became the latest giant to report a fall in profits amid renewed oil price volatility, Ms Uhl made clear the oil giant’s focus in the North Sea has shifted to growth after a period of retrenchment. read more

LAGOS, April 30 (Reuters) – Two Royal Dutch Shell oil workers who were kidnapped in Nigeria’s southern Niger Delta region last week have been rescued, a police spokesman and Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC) said on Tuesday.

Kidnappings for ransom occur in much of Nigeria, Africa’s biggest oil producer, but are particularly prevalent in the Niger Delta which produces the majority of the country’s crude oil.

The pair were attacked in southern Rivers state last week while returning from an official trip to Bayelsa state. read more

By Mark Williamson: Group Business Correspondent

ROYAL Dutch Shell has underlined its faith in the exploration potential of the North Sea by buying in to a licence a relative minnow has been working on.

The oil and gas giant has exercised an option to acquire a stake in acreage containing a prospect it is thought could hold 290 billion cubic feet gas from Cluff Natural Resources.

Shell will pay $600,000 for the 50 per cent stake and has agreed to fund 75 per cent of the cost of drilling an exploration well, up to a maximum of $25 million. read more

by Allister Thomas: 26/04/2019, 11:49 amUpdated: 26/04/2019, 11:52 am

A new report alleges that Shell and Eni benefited ‘at the expense’ of the Nigerian people in a generous military-style contact in 2011.

Analysis from non-profit watchdog Global Witness suggests the firms signed a “Sole Risk” contract, which gave away Nigeria’s right to its share of the oil produced in the $1.1bn deal.

Court cases are underway into allegations of bribery in the deal for the OPL 245 license, which holds one of the country’s largest oil fields. read more

APRIL 25, 2019 / 10:44 PM

AMSTERDAM/LONDON (Reuters) – Dutch trade unions and oil major Royal Dutch Shell have agreed to end a wage dispute which has hit production at the company’s Pernis oil refinery and Moerdijk chemical plants in the Netherlands in recent weeks.

CNV union spokesman Piet Verburg said unions on Friday will advise employees at Europe’s largest oil refinery and the chemical plants to end their strikes, which started on April 8.

“Shell has offered an improved and ultimate proposal for the Collective Labour Agreement (CLA) for Pernis and Moerdijk to the unions,” a Shell spokesman said late on Thursday. read more

APRIL 24, 2019 / 3:16 PM

(Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell’s U.S. unit said on Wednesday that it had made one of its biggest oil discoveries in the Blacktip deepwater well in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.

Blacktip, operated by Shell and co-owned by U.S. oil giant Chevron Corp, Equinor ASA and Repsol, is the company’s second material discovery in the Perdido Corridor, Shell’s Upstream Director Andy Brown said.

Blacktip was discovered in the Alaminos Canyon, about 30 miles from the Perdido platform and discovery at Whale, a deepwater well operated by Shell and co-owned by Chevron. read more

Ron Bousso: APRIL 24, 2019

LONDON (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell is in talks to buy BP’s stake in the Shearwater oil and gas field in the British North Sea for around $250 million, three industry sources told Reuters. Shell, the field’s operator, announced plans last year to expand a gas hub around Shearwater, including the construction of a new pipeline.

Shell has a 28 percent stake in Shearwater, BP holds 27.5 percent and Exxon Mobil has the remaining 44.5 percent. read more

DUBAI, April 21 (Reuters) – Saudi Aramco will acquire Royal Dutch Shell’s 50 percent stake in their Saudi refining joint venture SASREF for $631 million, the two companies said on Sunday.

The purchase, which is part of Aramco’s strategy to expand its downstream operations, will be completed later this year, they said in a joint statement.

Saudi Aramco Shell Refinery Co (SASREF), based in Jubail Industrial City in Saudi Arabia, has a crude oil refining capacity of 305,000 barrels per day (bpd). read more

Strikes impact Shell’s Pernis oil refinery but extent unclear

Ahmad Ghaddar

Shell said earlier in the day that the unit had been shut. It later clarified that it had only repeated what the unions had said and would not comment on the status of the refinery.

The refinery, near Rotterdam, has the capacity to process 404,000 barrels per day of oil.

The CNV union also said strike action had disrupted planned maintenance at the adjacent Moerdijk petrochemical site.

A Shell spokeswoman said striking workers were trying to disrupt planned maintenance on the Moerdijk Lower Olefins (MLO) unit. read more

By Clyde Hughes: APRIL 16, 2019

April 16 (UPI) — Environmental protesters blocked several famous landmarks in London Tuesday, demanding that legislators take immediate action to fight climate change.

Demonstrators who call the protests an Extinction Rebellionblocked the Waterloo Bridge, Marble Arch, Parliament Square and the Oxford Circus on Monday. More protesters returned Tuesday morning after police started making arrests.

Authorities said they have arrested more than 100 of the protesters. read more

APRIL 11, 2019 / 8:55 AM /

(Adds comment from Delek CEO, details on Caesar Tonga field, industry background)

April 11 (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell has agreed to sell its stake in the Caesar Tonga field in the Gulf of Mexico for $965 million in cash to a subsidiary of Israel’s energy conglomerate Delek Group.

Company unit Shell Offshore will sell its 22.45 percent non-operated interest in a deal, which is likely to close by the end of the third quarter of 2019, Shell said in a statement. read more

Shell halfway through Norco, Louisiana gasoline unit overhaul – sources

APRIL 10, 2019

HOUSTON (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell Plc is about halfway through a planned overhaul of the gasoline-producing Residual Catalytic Cracking Unit (RCCU) at its 218,200 barrel-per-day (bpd) Norco, Louisiana refinery, said sources familiar with plant operations.

An overhaul of the 14,200 bpd Alkylation Unit also under way is expected to finish in about two weeks, the sources said on Tuesday.

Shell spokesman Ray Fisher declined to comment.

Work on the 112,000 bpd RCCU should finish in about a month if no problems develop, said the sources. They declined to be identified as they were not authorised to speak with media. read more

Chen Aizhu

China is already in the initial stages of developing its vast shale gas resources, with production last year making up just 6 percent of total gas output after more than a decade of work. China’s shale oil is at an even more basic phase due to challenging geology and hefty development costs, experts said.

Shale oil makes up less than 1 percent of China’s crude output after several years of development, according to Angus Rodger, research director of Asia-Pacific upstream at Wood Mackenzie. read more

April 8, 2019

LONDON, April 8 (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell confirmed labour strikes started on Monday at its 404,000 barrel per day Pernis oil refinery in the Netherlands and that production would be affected.

“There will be impact on production but at this point we can’t say exactly what the exact impact will be because we don’t know yet,” a spokeswoman said.

“We are taking it day by day, we will have another technical meeting with the unions this afternoon, and we will take it from there,” she added. read more

LONDON, April 5 (Reuters) –

* Royal Dutch Shell expects planned strikes at its 404,000 barrel per day Dutch Pernis oil refinery to go ahead as planned on Monday, according to a spokeswoman.

* Shell currently has no estimate on the extent to which the strike might impact production, she added.

* The strike, which comes after unions demanded higher wages, will also impact Shell’s Moerdijk chemical plant.

(Reporting By Shadia Nasralla; Editing by Susan Fenton)

SOURCE

APRIL 5, 2019

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – Environmentalist and human rights groups said on Friday they had started a lawsuit against Royal Dutch Shell in the Netherlands to force the energy firm to cut its reliance on fossil fuels.

The groups, including Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth Netherlands, handed over a court summons to Shell at its headquarters in The Hague, demanding it stop extracting oil and gas and cut its greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2050.

“Shell spends billions on oil and gas exploration each year, with current plans to invest just 5 percent of its budget in sustainable energy and 95 percent in exploiting fossil fuels,” the groups said. read more

THE HAGUE, Netherlands — Climate activists are planning to deliver a court summons to Shell in a court case aimed at forcing the energy giant to do more to rein in carbon emissions.

The summons is being delivered to Shell’s headquarters in The Hague on Friday afternoon.

The move comes a year after the Dutch branch of Friends of the Earth sent a letter to Shell’s CEO Ben van Beurden accusing the company of “breaching its legal duty of care” by causing climate damage across the globe. read more

by Josh Siegel: April 04, 2019 12:00 AM

Shell’s move to leave a trade group because of its climate change position is being met with skepticism from fossil fuel critics and energy producers alike, because Shell remains in other groups that oppose policies to address climate change.

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., perhaps the harshest critic of the oil and gas industry, said that Shell’s decision to leave American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers “begs the question as to how Shell justifies continued membership in the much larger lobbying behemoths that spend millions opposing the climate action Shell claims to support.” read more