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January, 2014:

Shell scraps controversial exploration programme in Alaska

Capital spending will fall to $37 billion this year from $46 billion in 2013, Shell said, adding that for the time being it was also scrapping a controversial exploration programme in Alaska.

Shell to cut spending and step up disposals in 2014

Jan 30 (Reuters) – Anglo-Dutch oil company Royal Dutch Shell on Thursday said it would step-up disposals and cut spending as it seeks to win back investors with a new focus on returns, less than two weeks after a shock profit warning.

Shell, the world’s no. 3 investor owned oil company, earlier this month issued a “significant” profit warning for the quarter to the end of December, detailing across-the-board problems just weeks into the tenure of new boss Ben van Beurden. read more

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

New Shell CEO Ben van Beurden sets agenda for sharper performance and rigorous capital discipline

The recent Ninth Circuit Court decision against the Department of the Interior raises substantial obstacles to Shell’s plans for drilling in offshore Alaska. As a result, Shell has decided to stop its exploration programme for Alaska in 2014. “This is a disappointing outcome, but the lack of a clear path forward means that I am not prepared to commit further resources for drilling in Alaska in 2014,” van Beurden said. 

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Thursday, January 30, 2014

Speaking to investors today, new Shell CEO Ben van Beurden updated on the company’s priorities: improving Shell’s financial results and achieving better capital efficiency, as well as continuing to strengthen operational performance and project delivery.

Van Beurden, who became the new CEO of Royal Dutch Shell plc (“Shell”) on 1 January 2014, said Shell’s strategy overall is sound. The company has a high quality portfolio and key strengths in technology and project delivery. Shell will continue to invest in new projects that deliver more energy to customers, and create value for shareholders. The strategy is designed to deliver through-cycle growth in cash flow, to drive competitive returns and a growing dividend. read more

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

Shell Abandons U.S. Arctic

Screen Shot 2013-01-11 at 20.09.51LONDON—Royal Dutch Shell PLC on Thursday said it would abandon drilling in the U.S. Arctic, as it reported a 71% decline in fourth-quarter profit largely because of rising costs and lower oil and gas volumes. read more

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

Shell 4Q earnings fall 74 percent

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Shell’s earnings have dropped by 74 percent in the fourth quarter from the same period a year ago, on a mix of higher exploration costs, lower production, and worse refining margins.

The company, which warned on Jan. 17 weaker figures were coming, also had more one-time gains in 2013. Net profit for the quarter was $1.78 billion (130 billion euros), versus $6.73 billion a year earlier.

The earnings report, the first featuring new Chief Executive Ben van Beurden, noted that production was down 5 percent to 3.25 million barrels per day. Shell said 2 percentage points were due to wells shut in Nigeria for security reasons, Shell said, and the rest due to other maintenance and “asset replacement activities” — old fields fading faster than new projects came online. read more

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

Shell Arctic plans at risk

Screen Shot 2013-08-29 at 17.22.26Almost every legal option in dealing with the appeals court decision will take time, however, and Shell may be running out of time, for this year at least. The company must begin making commitments soon to contractors and suppliers if it is to get its drill fleet ready to move north in July.

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Shell Arctic plans at risk after 9th Circuit Court tosses EIS

By Tim Bradner, Alaska Journal of Commerce: Published: 2014.01.29 02:32 PM

A Jan. 22 U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling could invalidate a key section of the Environmental Impact Statement on the 2008 Chukchi Sea Outer Continental Lease Sale, throwing a wrench into planning by Shell to return to the Arctic this summer.

The U.S. Interior Department, the defendant in the case, could ask the Ninth Circuit for a hearing before the full court, as the Jan. 22 decision was not unanimous among a three-judge panel. read more

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

Iraq and Iran plot oil revolution in challenge to Saudi Arabia

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Iraq’s goal of pumping 9m barrels a day of crude could be a game changer for oil prices and British companies: British oil giants BP and Royal Dutch Shell are also poised to benefit from Iraq’s ambitious production plans. Both companies are already managing two huge oil fields in southern Iraq which are vital if Baghdad is to achieve its goal.

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By Andrew Critchlow: 1:32PM GMT 28 Jan 2014

 Iraq is poised to flood the oil market by tripling its capacity to pump crude by 2020 and is collaborating with Iran on strategy in a move that will challenge Saudi Arabia’s grip on the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries.

“We feel the world needs to be assured of fuel for economic growth,” Hussain al-Shahristani, Deputy Prime Minister for Energy in Iraq told oil industry delegates attending a Chatham House Middle East energy conference. read more

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

Tesoro, Shell Oil settle lawsuit from families of killed workers

Screen Shot 2013-10-01 at 07.56.54The attorney representing the families of six of the seven refinery workers killed in an explosion in 2010 said they’ve settled a wrongful death lawsuit against Tesoro and Shell Oil Company. The families claimed the company deliberately ignored dangerous conditions at the Anacortes refinery that led to the blast, killing seven workers. Attorney David Beninger said the lawsuit settled last month for around $39 million and the money was divided among the families.

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by JAKE WHITTENBERG / KING 5 News

NWCN.com: Posted on January 29, 2014 at 9:12 AM 

The attorney representing the families of six of the seven refinery workers killed in an explosion in 2010 said they’ve settled a wrongful death lawsuit against Tesoro and Shell Oil Company.

The families claimed the company deliberately ignored dangerous conditions at the Anacortes refinery that led to the blast, killing seven workers. A contractor who was burned but survived was also included in the suit. read more

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

Links to a selection of recent articles relating to Royal Dutch Shell

Links to a selection of recent articles relating to Royal Dutch Shell kindly supplied by a regular contributor

Screen Shot 2013-05-17 at 01.06.41Benchmark in Jeopardy: Oil & Gas Journal-Jan 27, 2014: … by increasing the volatility of an important crude oil price marker. … unveiled investigations into suspicions that representatives of Shell, BP, …

Price-rigging probes jammed by oil industry bid to protect its secrets: Environment & Energy Publishing-Jan 17, 2014: Shell and Vitol, the Switzerland-based multinational oil trader, are pressing the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to reverse a lower court .. read more

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

Why I’ve Sold Royal Dutch Shell plc

Okay, I know this will be controversial, but I really have just sold my shares in Shell.

A company’s recent share price is based on its past profitability.

But its current profits are falling. Full-year profits are expected to be 23% down on last year, and the trend in profitability is clearly downward.

The sudden, sharp fall in profitability has taken me, and many other investors, by surprise.

Shell has invested substantially in gas, particularly liquefied natural gas (LNG). Yet, as more and more shale gas has been produced, the gas market has been over-supplied far more quickly than anyone expected, and gas prices have tumbled. read more

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

Shell Plans Boat to Tap Gas Fields

By Justin Scheck: Jan. 28, 2014 11:16 p.m. ET

Royal Dutch Shell PLC says it has a way to spend less on tapping remote natural-gas fields. There’s just one catch: It will cost at least $10 billion, according to people who have worked on the project.

Shipyard workers in South Korea are building a hull for the Anglo-Dutch company that stretches more than 1,600 feet from bow to stern. The boat will drop anchor in a natural-gas field, chill the gas into liquid and pump it into… read more

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

Shell Oil quietly downsizes its downtown operations

Screen Shot 2014-02-18 at 13.48.06 By 1.28.14 | 5:02 pm

Screen Shot 2013-12-22 at 19.09.52Shell Oil is vacating a huge block of downtown office space in Two Shell Plaza. The renovation of the 26-story Two Shell Plaza will be a powerful marketing tool as Hines leases up the office space Shell will vacate at the end of 2014. Shell will move out of all but two floors in Two Shell, leaving behind some 400,000 square feet of vacancy…

One and Two Shell Plaza, designed by the legendary Bruce Graham of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, opened in the early 1970s. One Shell Plaza was the tallest building in the city and importantly, the tower put the rest of the world on notice — Houston had become the Energy Capital of the World. read more

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

Shell To Sell 23% Interest In Offshore Brazil BC-10 For $1 Bln

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Screen Shot 2013-12-22 at 19.09.52European energy giant Royal Dutch Shell Plc Wednesday revealed an agreement to sell a 23 percent interest in the Parque das Conchas (BC-10) project offshore Brazil to Qatar Petroleum International for about $1 billion.

SOURCE

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

Shell to sell a stake in a key U.S. Gulf Coast crude oil pipeline

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Screen Shot 2013-12-22 at 19.09.52Royal Dutch Shell Plc wants to sell a stake in a key U.S. Gulf Coast crude oil pipeline for as much as $1 billion and is working with Barclays Plc to solicit offers, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters.

SOURCE

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

Oil Profits Slump as Higher Spending Fails to Lift Output

Screen Shot 2013-10-01 at 07.56.54Investors are shunning the world’s biggest oil companies as drilling costs surge, major projects are delayed and energy prices stagnate. Shell, the second-largest oil company by market value, will report its lowest fourth-quarter profit since 2009 after The Hague-based explorer was socked with cost overruns on some of its most important new fields. Ben van Beurden, who took the helm at Shell at the start of the year, said Jan. 17, in Shell’s first profit-warning in a decade, that disruptions in Nigeria, weak refining margins and lower U.S. natural gas production brought down earnings.

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Jan 29, 2014 12:00 AM GMT

Investors are shunning the world’s biggest oil companies as drilling costs surge, major projects are delayed and energy prices stagnate.

Crude and natural gas producers from Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA) to ConocoPhillips began issuing profit warnings three weeks ago as they tallied the extent of fourth-quarter disappointments. Shareholders have punished the stocks, making the energy sector the worst performer in the MSCI World Index this year, in anticipation of bleak earnings disclosures later this week. read more

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

Big Oil Companies Struggle to Justify Soaring Project Costs

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By Daniel Gilbert and Justin Scheck: Jan. 28, 2014 11:00 p.m. ET

Chevron Corp., Exxon Mobil Corp. and Royal Dutch Shell PLC spent more than $120 billion in 2013 to boost their oil and gas output—about the same cost in today’s dollars as putting a man on the moon.

But the three oil giants have little to show for all their big spending. Oil and gas production are down despite combined capital expenses of a half-trillion dollars in the past five years. Each company is expected to report later this… read more

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

Nigeria: Shell Commits to Polio Eradication in Delta

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Abuja — SHELL Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) has restated its commitment to eradicate health challenges in the Niger Delta where it mostly operates.

The firm has strengthened the delivery of a routine immunisation programme through clinic-based services in 27 health facilities and community based outreach activities in the region.

FULL ARTICLE

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