by David McPhee: 18/09/2019, 12:36 pm

Oil giant Shell has announced that Saudi Aramco has bought up its 50% interest in the Shell Saudi Arabia (Refining) Limited’s (SASREF) joint venture in Jubail Industrial City.

The deal has been agreed for more than £500 million.

Shell said the completion of the deal is contingent on “receipt of all necessary regulatory consents”.

The acquisition is understood to support Saudi Aramco’s longer term plan to increase the “complexity and capacity” of its refineries, as part of its downstream growth strategy. read more

APRIL 17, 2019 / 12:46 PM

DUBAI, April 17 (Reuters) – Saudi Aramco plans to buy Royal Dutch Shell’s 50 percent stake in Saudi refining complex SASREF, a joint venture between the firms, two sources said on Wednesday.

One of the sources said an agreement has been reached between Aramco and Shell.

Aramco and Shell declined to comment.

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

Aramco this year signed a memorandum of understanding with Royal Dutch Shell to jointly pursue global gas business opportunities…

LONDON: Saudi Aramco has outlined to Arab News how it plans to massively ramp up its multibillion-dollar natural gas business, both in the Kingdom and overseas, as gas gradually replaces coal and oil in global power generation.

Gas is viewed as a cleaner energy source than coal or oil in power stations, and there is soaring demand in Asia.

“Gas is already a large global business and is expected to be among the fastest-growing fuels (60 percent growth) over the next quarter-century. And LNG (liquefied natural gas) is expected to make up almost half of global gas trade over the same period,” Aramco said in a statement. read more

FILE PHOTO: Logo of Saudi Aramco is seen at the 20th Middle East Oil & Gas Show and Conference (MOES 2017) in Manama, Bahrain, March 7, 2017. REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed/File Photo

Reuters Staff: 8 MARCH 2018

LONDON/DUBAI (Reuters) – Saudi Aramco signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Thursday to pursue international gas opportunities with Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L).

That would include developments of gas upstream and liquefaction projects.

The MoU signed in London between the two energy companies was during the visit of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to the United Kingdom.

Reporting by Dmitry Zhdannikov and Rania El Gamal; Editing by Mark Potter

SOURCE read more

HIROFUMI MATSUO, Nikkei senior staff writer

TOKYO — One after another, the top executives of Western oil majors have been stepping into the great Persian Gulf rift.

It has been more than two months since Saudi Arabia and other Arab states severed diplomatic ties with Qatar, and there are no signs of a thaw. But soon after the decision was made, a oil bosses began heading to Doha, the Qatari capital.

On June 14, just nine days after Qatar’s neighbors closed off their airspace and closed the sole land border, Royal Dutch Shell CEO Ben van Beurden met with Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani. Exxon Mobil CEO Darren Woods followed on June 24. Total CEO Patrick Pouyanne took his turn on July 11. read more

Royal Dutch Shell Plc has restarted four units at its Pernis refinery and more will be brought online in the coming days, according to an environmental regulator.

Oil slipped, heading for the biggest weekly loss in a month, as the outlook for demand dimmed amid an already shaky market.

Futures dropped 0.8 percent in New York Friday, poised for a weekly decline of 2.8 percent. The International Energy Agency reduced demand estimates for OPEC crude this year and in 2018, and said there are doubts about the group’s commitment to cutting production, according to its monthly report released Friday. Even a pledge by Saudi Arabia and Iraq to strengthen their commitment to the curbs and maintain balance in world crude markets isn’t helping to prop up prices. read more

Ellen R. Wald , CONTRIBUTOR: 11 July 2017

As Saudi Aramco’s much hyped IPO approaches, the company’s most recent annual review, released last week, provides insight into its strategic direction. Aramco has positioned itself to be accepted by investors as a major international oil company (IOC) and as a globally diversified energy enterprise with integrated downstream and sales operations around the world. Currently, Aramco is a national oil company (NOC), owned by the government. But upon its expected public offering of shares, it will join the ranks of other major IOCs. read more

by Alan Shields – 11/07/2017 6:00 am

More than half of global industrial emissions can be traced back to just 25 corporate and state producing entities, the report says.

China, India and Russia’s coal industries and major oil and gas players like Saudi Aramco, Gazprom, ExxonMobil, BP and Shell are among those named in the paper from CDP, formerly the Carbon Disclosure Project.

The research found that 100 active fossil fuel producers were linked to 71% of global industrial greenhouse gases since 1988. read more

by: Andrew Ward, Energy Editor: 10 July 2017

Saudi Aramco and Royal Dutch Shell acknowledged that a shift towards renewable energy — including battery-powered cars — was under way but said oil and gas would remain indispensable for decades to come. Ben van Beurden of Shell said the transition to low-carbon technologies would “take place over generations” rather than as a rapid “revolution”.

FULL FT ARTICLE

Royal Dutch Shell Plc plans to spend as much as $1 billion a year on its New Energies division as the transition toward renewable power and electric cars accelerates.

“In some parts of the world we are beginning to see battery electric cars starting to gain consumer acceptance” while wind and solar costs are falling fast, Shell CEO Ben Van Beurden said in a speech in Istanbul on Monday. “All of this is good news for the world and must accelerate,” while still offering opportunities for producers of fossil fuels. read more

Jon Yeomans: 10 JULY 2017 • 12:01AM

The Chinese coal industry and stock market debutant Saudi Aramco have been named as the world’s biggest emitters of carbon dioxide.

As new data claims to have identified the top 100 emitters of greenhouse gases over the last three decades, a leading NGO has warned that natural  resources companies need to transform their business models to adapt to a low-carbon future.

Just 100 firms are responsible for 71pc of carbon dioxide gases released into the atmosphere since 1988, the year that climate change was first recognised as an international problem, according a report by the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP). read more

Mergers and acquisitions in Canada are set for the strongest start in a decade as foreigners sell their oil sands investments. ConocoPhillips and Royal Dutch Shell Plc are leading the exodus amid a bear market for crude. However, Canadian producers are responding by pumping money into oil deposits in the remote boreal forests, which trail only Saudi Arabia and Venezuela in proved reserves but are more expensive to extract.

FULL ARTICLE

• Aaron Sheldrick
• Wednesday 21 June 2017 09:02 BST
• Reuters

A number of producers – notably Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Russia – have aggressively ramped up output

Oil prices held near multi-month lows on Wednesday as investors discounted evidence of strong compliance by OPEC and non-OPEC oil producers with a deal to cut a global output.

Global benchmark Brent LCOc1 was unchanged at $46.02 barrel at 0651 GMT after falling nearly 2 per cent in the previous session to its lowest settlement since November.

US crude futures CLc1 for August were trading up 4 cents at $43.55, after spending much of the day slightly lower and falling more than 2 per cent on Tuesday to the lowest since September. read more

Crude slumped last week after a shock rise in US stockpiles, up 3.3million barrels to 513million, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA). 

Brent crude slipped to about $48 a barrel, its lowest level since December, and analysts said it could go sharply lower. 

Crude dipped below $27 a barrel in January last year and Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at online trading platform IG, said a repeat of those levels is a distinct possibility: “Crude tends to overshoot on both the upside and the downside.” read more

May 15, 2017 3:17 PM ET|By: Carl Surran, SA News Editor

Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A, RDS.B) and Saudi Aramco complete the separationof the assets, liabilities and businesses of their U.S.-based refining and marketing joint venture.

Shell now holds sole ownership of the 235K bbl/day Norco refinery, where subsidiary Shell Chemical already operates a petrochemical plant, and the 242,250 bbl/day Convent refinery, which Motiva previously said will be integrated to create the Louisiana Refining System, as well as 11 distribution terminals. read more

by Javier Blas: 21 March 2017, 10:26 GMT

Big Oil is muscling in on shale country.

Exxon Mobil Corp., Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Chevron Corp., are jumping into American shale with gusto, planning to spend a combined $10 billion this year, up from next to nothing only a few years ago.

The giants are gaining a foothold in West Texas with such projects as Bongo 76-43, a well which is being drilled 10,000 feet beneath the table-flat, sage-scented desert, and which then extends horizontally for a mile, blasting through rock to capture light crude from the sprawling Permian Basin. read more

23 January 2017 

LONDON (ICIS)–Royal Dutch Shell’s chemicals business will continue to be a “growth engine” for the company despite the $820m disposal in its Saudi joint venture with SABIC, a spokesperson for the UK-Netherlands energy major said on Monday.

Shell announced late on Sunday it was divesting its 50% stake at SADAF, a 37-year old joint venture with the Saudi petrochemicals major.

The SADAF joint venture, at Jubail Industrial City, has six petrochemical plants with a total output of more than 4m tonnes/year, according to Shell, including production plants of ethylene and styrene with output capacities of 366,000 tonnes/year and 400,000 tonnes/year, respectively, according to Shell’s 2015 financial report.   read more

By Daniel J. Graeber: Jan. 23, 2017

Royal Dutch Shell said its move to sell off its share in a petrochemical joint venture with a Saudi partner is part of its effort to retool its regional focus.

Shell sold its stake in a joint venture effort to Saudi Basic Industries Corp. for $820 million in a move that solidifies the Dutch supermajor’s shifting priorities in the wake of last year’s acquisition of BG Group.

The agreement marks the end of a joint venture agreement that was set to expire in 2020. read more

Saudi Basic Industries Corp., the Middle East’s biggest petrochemicals producer, agreed to buy out Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s 50 percent stake in a Saudi joint venture for $820 million.

The Saudi Petrochemical Co. venture, known as SADAF, is ending earlier than the planned 2020 expiration, the Hague-based Shell said in an e-mailed statement Sunday. SADAF in Jubail, Saudi Arabia, has six petrochemicals plants with total production of about 4 million metric tons a year, it said.

Shell’s acquisition of BG Group Plc last year has turned its attention to restructuring its business and focusing on existing assets, and is sending “mixed signals about its desired role” in the Middle East, Arab Petroleum Investments Corp., the investment banking arm of Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries, said in a report last week. Shell in 2015 ended plans to build a $6.5 billion petrochemical plant in Qatar and last year exited a natural gas exploration venture in Abu Dhabi. read more

By Ed Crooks of the Finacial Times: January 13, 2017

In the 1930s many newspapers carried impressively detailed diagrams showing France’s defences along the German border, described by Popular Mechanix and Inventions magazine as the “world’s greatest underground fortifications”. By the end of May 1940, Hitler had demonstrated that while the Maginot Line might indeed be an engineering marvel, it was also irrelevant, as his panzer divisions swept past it through Belgium and into France. Last year’s agreement between leading oil-producing countries to curb their output had something of the same feel about it this week. read more

HOUSTON, Dec 18 2016 (Reuters) – A malfunction on Saturday triggered flaring at Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s Norco, Louisiana, chemical plant, said a Shell spokesman.

Shell’s Ray Fisher on Sunday declined to say which unit sustained the malfunction.

A source familiar with plant operations said the malfunction was in an olefins unit at the chemical plant.

The Shell chemical plant in Norco shares the safety flare system with the adjoining Motiva Enterprises refinery. Flaring from the chemical plant is sometimes thought to come from the refinery. read more

 By The Motley Fool  Dec 5, 2016

Today I’m looking at the critical reasons to sell out of Royal Dutch Shell (LSE: RDSB).

A drop in the ocean

The oil sector’s major players breathed a huge sigh of relief last week after OPEC — responsible for four-tenths of the world’s oil supply — confounded the expectations of many and agreed to cut its output.

Saudi Arabia brokered a deal that will see production fall by 1.2m barrels per day, to 32.5m barrels beginning in January. The news prompted Brent oil to top the $55 per barrel marker for the first time since the summer of 2016. read more

By Catherine Ngai and Ernest Scheyder

NEW YORK/HOUSTON In a corner of the prolific Bakken shale play in North Dakota, oil companies can now pump crude at a price almost as low as that enjoyed by OPEC giants Iran and Iraq.

Until a few years ago it was unprofitable to produce oil from shale in the United States. The steep slide in costs could encourage more U.S. shale output if OPEC members cut supplies, undermining the producer group’s ability to boost prices. OPEC ministers meet Wednesday to weigh output cuts to end a two-year glut that has pressured global oil prices. read more

By Ahmad Ghaddar, Alex Lawler and Rania El Gamal | VIENNA

OPEC has agreed its first limit on oil output since 2008, sources in the producer group told Reuters, with Saudi Arabia accepting “a big hit” on its production and agreeing to arch-rival Iran freezing output at pre-sanctions levels.

Brent crude futures jumped 8 percent to more than $50 a barrel after Riyadh signaled it had finally reached a compromise with Iran after insisting in recent weeks that Tehran fully participate in any cut. read more

By Ed Crooks: November 19, 2016

The last rites have been read over the Age of Oil a few times recently, but this week the International Energy Agency suggested there was still plenty of life left in it yet.

In its 2016 World Energy Outlook, the IEA argued that even if the Paris climate agreement were fully implemented, demand for oil would keep rising until at least 2040.

The message was reassuring for oil producers worried that “peak demand” might condemn them to stagnation or decline, or even put them out of business. There was colder comfort, however, in a warning from Wood Mackenzie that big oil companies risked being left behind in the transition to low-carbon energy. read more

HIROFUMI MATSUO, Nikkei senior staff writer

TOKYO — Idemitsu Kosan‘s founding family is treading on treacherous ground as it attempts to block a planned merger with Showa Shell Sekiyu.

The family’s opposition to the deal, struck last November, has baffled the rest of the Japanese oil industry and apparently riled Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil exporter. The future of Japan’s second-largest oil distributor hangs in the balance. 

Speculation about Saudi anger has swirled in the Japanese oil sector since the family’s stance came to light in late June. Saudi Arabian Oil Co., better known as Saudi Aramco, the kingdom’s state oil company, is Showa Shell’s No. 2 shareholder, after Royal Dutch Shell. The Saudi company intends to retain a stake in the new entity created through the Idemitsu-Showa Shell merger. Under the proposal, Idemitsu would buy Showa Shell shares held by Royal Dutch Shell. read more

By Staff Writer on Jul 5, 2016 at 9:04 am EST

Earlier in March, Saudi Aramco’s subsidiary, Saudi Refining, Inc (SRI) and Royal Dutch Shell plc (ADR) (NYSE:RDS.A), announced to dissolve their fuel partnership, Motiva Enterprise. Due to contradictory interests, both the entities signed a letter of intent (LOI), showing the division of assets held under joint venture (JV).

However, the disbanded venture has stuck another blow as Shell is seeking up to $2 billion as a part of breakup from its giant refining enterprise. The hefty compensation is due to Saudi Aramco’s retention of a larger stake in the venture for almost two decades. read more

Apr 23rd 2016

FOR generations, oil and stability have gone hand in hand in Saudi Arabia. The puritanically conservative kingdom has used its oil wealth to buy loyalty at home and friends abroad. But since King Salman came to the throne last year, his 30-year-old son, Muhammad, has injected unpredictability into the Middle East.

Critics consider the deputy crown prince a hothead, whose dangerous obsession with Iran, Saudi Arabia’s rival, is feeding sectarianism and fraying relations with America. At home, though, the impetuousness of Muhammad bin Salman may be just what Saudi Arabia needs to start weaning itself off oil, the price of which has fallen sharply over the past 18 months. A big test comes on April 25th, when the prince is due to unveil the kingdom’s long-delayed “Vision” reform plan. read more

By ANDREW SCOTT COOPER: A version of this op-ed appears in print on March 13, 2016

FOR the past half-century, the world economy has been held hostage by just one country: the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Vast petroleum reserves and untapped production allowed the kingdom to play an outsize role as swing producer, filling or draining the global system at will.

The 1973-74 oil embargo was the first demonstration that the House of Saud was willing to weaponize the oil markets. In October 1973, a coalition of Arab states led by Saudi Arabia abruptly halted oil shipments in retaliation for America’s support of Israel during the Yom Kippur War. The price of a barrel of oil quickly quadrupled; the resulting shock to the oil-dependent economies of the West led to a sharp rise in the cost of living, mass unemployment and growing social discontent. read more

By Tyler Durden

Extracts from extracts…

Could oil prices collapse to $20? 

The short answer is ‘yes.’

We believe that crude oil prices could fall further unless global oil production is reduced. As shown in Table 2, we estimate that the global oil market could be oversupplied by roughly 920,000 bpd in 2016. The key assumptions are year-over-year growth in global demand of 1.2 million bpd, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Libya hold production at current levels, Iran ramps up production at moderate pace over the course of the year and the U.S. rig count remains at current levels. read more

Motiva to trade refined products apart from co-owner Shell

HOUSTON, JUNE 11 | BY KRISTEN HAYS AND ERWIN SEBA

Motiva Enterprises said on Thursday it aims to trade its own gasoline, diesel and the components needed to make them in a new organization separate from its co-owner, Royal Dutch Shell.

Motiva, a 50/50 joint venture of Shell and Saudi Aramco , said in a statement that the move will more closely connect the company with fuels markets, customers and trading partners.

But Motiva said it will still rely on Shell to trade crude oil.

“With this change, we hope to provide greater value to them through more active participation in the market,” Motiva Chief Executive Dan Romasko said in the statement. read more

Motiva plans in-house trading organization for refined products

Markets | Thu Jun 11, 2015 1:13pm EDT

(Reuters) – Motiva Enterprises said on Thursday that it was planning to form its own products trading organization for transport fuels and refinery intermediates to enhance its market participation through direct dealings with customers.

The company said it started negotiating term contracts for its gasoline and diesel products in late 2014. It now intends to expand its focus to include all trading activities for refined products starting on Jan. 1.

Motiva said there would be several job opportunities within the new trading organization. read more

Article by CLIFFORD KRAUSS and STANLEY REED published 1 June 2015 in the New York edition of The New York Times under the headline

Prices Are Down, but Saudis Keep Oil Flowing

HOUSTON — The international cartel of oil producers has long followed the same basic strategy. When the market was soft, the group slashed production to raise prices.

But Saudi Arabia, the heavyweight of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, has a new agenda. It is now less concerned about the price of crude oil in the global markets and more concerned about delivering fuel to its growing economy.

The shift is upending the traditional market dynamics that have influenced the direction of oil prices for decades. read more

Article by Stanley Reed published 17 March 2015 in the New York edition of the New York Times

Prices Fall to a Six-Year Low for U.S. Oil

Oil prices fell to six-year lows on Monday in the face of concerns that a glut in the United States was outpacing already-brimming storage facilities.

Additionally, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries published a report suggesting that the cartel remained reluctant to intervene to prop up prices.

The direction of oil prices, which had risen sharply from January lows, has fallen back in recent days. Traders are now focused on the second quarter of the year, when demand for oil is traditionally weak because of the end of winter and scheduled refinery shutdowns for maintenance.

On Monday, the price of West Texas Intermediate crude, the main United States benchmark, fell about 2 percent to about $44 a barrel, a six-year low, while Brent crude, the international benchmark, fell by about 2 percent to about $53 a barrel. read more

Article by Stanley Reed published New York Times New York Edition 14 March 2015under the headline:

Oil Prices Drop as Production Hums Along Despite a Brimming Supply

LONDON — Just as the oil market appeared to be stabilizing, the price of crude resumed its descent on Friday.

The drop, of about 4 percent, came after a report from the International Energy Agency warning that oil pouring into tank farms in the United States might “soon test storage capacity limits.”

The agency, whose reports are closely monitored by oil traders, said that overflowing storage “would inevitably lead to renewed price weakness.” American production of oil continues to increase despite recently announced cutbacks in new drilling by producers.

The price of West Texas Intermediate, the American benchmark, fell to around $45 a barrel on Friday, while Brent, the international benchmark, fell below $55 a barrel.

The Department of Energy has proposed adding five million barrels of oil to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. The purchase, which requires congressional approval, would be added in June and July. But 9.4 million barrels of oil a day are being produced in the United States. Kevin Book, an analyst with ClearView Energy Partners, said that the proposed purchase was not an attempt to support falling prices but instead “appears to derive from a statutory obligation.” read more

By: MICHEAL KAUFMAN: Published: Mar 7, 2015 at 10:04 am EST

The biggest oil refinery strike in the US in over three decades has entered its 35th day, with no agreement between the United Steelworkers (USW) union and Royal Dutch Shell plc (ADR) (NYSE:RDS.A) been reached so far.

The two parties had a meeting on Wednesday, but the talks ended without reaching a mutually acceptable agreement. Towards the end of the meeting, the two parties decided to hold talks next week. Further negotiations can start as early as March 9. read more

By Puneet Kollipara January 29 at 5:43 PM

Saudi Arabia shocked the world last fall in breaking from its traditional mold of keeping oil production artificially low to prop up oil prices. Instead, the Saudis and other OPEC nations voted to keep oil output steady even in the face of a global supply surplus, a move seemingly designed to respond to the threat that the Saudis see from rising output from non-OPEC producers — from U.S. shale plays to Russia’s Arctic to Brazil’s deep offshore waters. read more

Published: November 29, 2014 at 11:11 am EST
By: Micheal Kaufman

The decision by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to maintain production at 30 million barrels of oil per day came as a shock for most oil companies. As a result crude oil prices fell drastically and West Intermediate Texas (WTI) was down 10% yesterday, to $66.15.

The fall in oil prices has severely affected numerous economies and companies. It was far more than what was expected by experts. Last month, before deciding to take on investment projects, BP plc. (ADR) (NYSE:BP) assumed Brent crude oil prices would be at $80. Goldman Sachs had predicted the price of WTI would hover around $75 for the first three months of next year. Russia had expected average crude oil prices to remain at $100 and had planned its budget accordingly. read more

Major Opec nations, Russia and US shale oil drillers now appear on the brink of a price war as these three giant producing blocs fight for a greater share of global demand. (Potentially disastrous news for Big Oil – ExxonMobil, Shell, BP, Chevron and Total)

The Telegraph: World on brink of oil price war as Opec set to keep pumping

Extracts

Oil slumped on Wednesday as expectations that Opec will cut production faded following dovish remarks by cartel kingpin Saudi Arabia, which could signal the beginning of a price war. Crude traded in the US fell to as low as $74 per barrel as traders bet that Opec will allow the price to fall further amid growing signs of a global price war amid producers.

Major Opec nations, Russia and US shale oil drillers now appear on the brink of a price war as these three giant producing blocs fight for a greater share of global demand. read more

ARTICLE BY STEVEN HAYWARD, PUBLISHED BY POWERLINE 25 NOVEMBER 2014

The fall OPEC meeting is under way right now in Vienna, and all eyes are on the Saudis, to see whether they will lead a strategy to stop the fall in oil prices, which is putting the crimp on Iran, Russia, and Venezuela, among other worthies. We’ve commented previously about what the Saudis may be up to (here and here), and today Business Insider reports that the Saudis show no interest in curtailing production to shore up the price, and in fact may be willing to go for two years or more with falling prices, with some Saudi insiders saying the real objective is to retard the shale oil revolution in the United States and elsewhere… read more

Reuters article published by ArabNews.com Monday 7 July 2014

DUBAI: Royal Dutch Shell is ending investments in a gas development project in Saudi Arabia, complicating the top oil exporter’s efforts to exploit its huge gas reserves.

The search for gas has been a priority for Saudi Arabia as it struggles to keep pace with rapidly rising domestic demand.

But the emergence of the shale gas industry has opened up more lucrative opportunities for energy companies elsewhere.

“Shell has decided to end further investment in the Kidan development,” it said in a e-mailed statement. read more

Extracts from an article by Andrew Critchlow published 6 July 2014 by The Sunday Telegraph read more

The Washington Post has reported today that the Dutch foreign minister Frans Timmermans is considering flying to Saudi Arabia in an attempt to defuse the situation, which includes threats of looming sanctions against Dutch interests, including Royal Dutch Shell.

By John Donovan

Royal Dutch Shell Group has had a long relationship with the Saudi regime.

In the USA, Motiva Enterprises is a joint project of Shell and Saudi Aramco. The company owns three refineries and 35 refined product terminals.

Extract from the Motiva website

Motiva markets Shell gasoline in 49 states and the District of Columbia together with Shell Oil Products US. Together we lead the industry in national retail volume and market share in one of the world’s best known gasoline brands. We also refine and market gasoline and other petroleum products under the Shell brand across the eastern and southern parts of the US, providing product to over 8,200 Shell-branded retail outlets. read more

By BENJAMIN ALTER and EDWARD FISHMAN

A version of this op-ed appeared in print on April 28, 2013, on page SR5 of the New York edition

JUST as the world was writing off America as a declining power, the country now finds itself on the cusp of realizing one of its longstanding goals: energy independence.

A wave of new technologies has made it possible to extract oil and gas from shale rock formations, and the results have been astonishing. By some estimates, the United States is on track to overtake Saudi Arabia as the world’s largest oil producer as early as 2017, start exporting more oil and gas than it imports by 2025, and achieve full energy self-sufficiency by 2030. read more

“So is Shell STILL anti-Semitic, or is it simply because doing business with Israel would upset the rulers of Saudi Arabia, yet another tyrannical regime in bed with Shell? One Country swims in oil. The other doesn’t. Perhaps that has something to do with it?”

By John Donovan

In March 2011 we published an article under the headline: Is Royal Dutch Shell STILL anti-Semitic?

SOME EXTRACTS

A Shell insider asked if we were aware that “there is one country in the world that Shell will not do business with?”

This was a reference to Israel. The insider explained events that had led them to ponder the question in our headline.

We suspected that Shell was a racist company. We did not know that it was still anti-Semitic, if that is the case. Israel is not included in the global list of Countries on shell.com where Shell does business. I cannot find any reference by Shell to Israel on Shell’s website. There is no reference to anti-Semitism in its Business Principles. It seems to be a taboo subject? read more

FROM OUR 2005 SHELL NEWS ARCHIVE:“Motiva, a joint supply venture between Shell and Saudi Refining…”: “…pleaded no contest to state charges of criminally negligent homicide…”: “The company… has paid more than $60 million to settle lawsuits”: “It is still the subject of a federal lawsuit…”

Judge Fines Motiva $10M in Tank Explosion

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS: Posted 18 March 2005

DOVER, Del. (AP) — Refineries operator Motiva Enterprises LLC was fined $10 million Thursday after the company pleaded guilty to criminal charges relating to a fatal tank collapse and explosion at a refinery in 2001.

Motiva, a joint supply venture between Shell and Saudi Refining, pleaded guilty to negligently endangering workers at its former refinery in Delaware City as well as discharging pollutants into the Delaware River and negligently releasing sulfuric acid into the air, both in violation of the Clean Air Act. read more

Shell Global Solutions International has signed a gasification licensed technology agreement with Saudi Aramco, the fully integrated energy and chemicals company, for the largest residue gasification unit to ever be built.

The Jazan Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle Project (IGCC) agreement includes the licensing of Shell gasification and acid gas removal technologies and the provision of engineering services. Shell’s CRI/Criterion catalysts and a sulphur recovery unit (SRU) will also treat the off gases from the acid gas removal unit. read more

Published December 31, 2012 by Dow Jones Newswires

Motiva Enterprises LLC reported that a wet gas compressor at its Port Arthur, Texas, refinery experienced an emergency shutdown Saturday, according to a filing with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

The company reported that charge rates were reduced to help stabilize operations for the restart of the compressor.

A spokesman for Royal Dutch Shell PLC couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.

Motiva is a joint venture between Shell and Saudi Arabian Oil Co. read more

Saudi Arabian Oil Co. doubled the number of crude tankers booked to ship oil to the Gulf of Mexico this month as two people familiar with its U.S. refinery operations said a damaged crude unit may restart in December.

The company’s shipping unit booked eight very large crude carriers to load about 16 million barrels in October, compared with four ships a month so far this year, according to data from Athens-based Optima Shipbrokers Ltd. Motiva Enterprises LLC, which the state-controlled oil producer owns with Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA), will open the 325,000 barrels-a-day unit as early as the first week of December, the people said Oct. 5. read more

FROM OUR SHELL NEWS ARCHIVE OCTOBER 2005

The Guardian: Shell shows cracks: “Another PR blunder from the House of Shell or a tragic piece of misreporting?

“Ian McCredie, head of global security services at Shell, is reported to have told a Chatham House conference a tale of how up to 70 staff have been kidnapped over the last year in Nigeria. Mr McCredie then went on to slag off the royal family in Saudi Arabia, where Shell is desperately trying to ingratiate itself, before moving on to Russia – another key market for the Anglo Dutch giant.”

Thursday 6 October 2005

Another PR blunder from the House of Shell or a tragic piece of misreporting? Following on from a Shell press officer telling a TV reporter on camera not to bother to listen to its then-UK chairman Ron Oxburgh about climate change because he will soon be gone, comes a front page belter in yesterday’s FT.

Ian McCredie, head of global security services at Shell, is reported to have told a Chatham House conference a tale of how up to 70 staff have been kidnapped over the last year in Nigeria. Mr McCredie then went on to slag off the royal family in Saudi Arabia, where Shell is desperately trying to ingratiate itself, before moving on to Russia – another key market for the Anglo Dutch giant. read more