By AFP: PUBLISHED: 22:14, 31 July 2016

Nigerian militants on Sunday blew up a crude pipeline operated by Anglo-Dutch oil giant Shell in the restive oil-producing south, residents said.

“The incident occurred at about 1:00 am near Odimodi community in Delta State with the velocity of the blast shaking apartments in the community amidst a huge ball of fire,” said local resident Endoro Newworld.

“The trunk line known as Trans Ramos belongs to the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), he said. read more

• BRADLEY OLSON, SELINA WILLIAMS
• The Wall Street Journal
• 12:00AM August 1, 2016

The world’s biggest oil companies posted losses or steep declines in profit for the second quarter, and now face a daunting remainder of the year as crude prices retreat to about $US41 a barrel.

ExxonMobil on Friday reported its quarterly profit fell 60 per cent to the lowest level since 1999, while Chevron disclosed its biggest quarterly loss since 2001. The results capped a bad week for big Western oil companies: BP and Royal Dutch Shell earlier posted earnings that disappointed investors. read more

Brian Robins: August 1 2016

A series of commissioning problems has delayed the timing of when Chevron Corp expects the giant Gorgon gas export project to be in full production, until well into 2017.

Since it began to bring the initial stage of the project on stream, it has encountered a series of problems that have forced it to halt processing from time to time, and it has now told analysts the first unit is operating at only a little over two-thirds of its rated capacity.

Production was halted for two months soon after the initial exports of gas, forcing Chevron to push back towards mid-2017 when it expects the project to be fully operational, from earlier this year. read more

By Joe Carroll: July 29, 2016 — 1:02 PM BST: Updated on July 30, 2016 — 5:01 AM BST

Exxon Mobil Corp. and Royal Dutch Shell Plc this week reported their lowest quarterly profits since 1999 and 2005, respectively. Chevron Corp.’s third straight loss marked the longest slump in 27 years, and BP Plc lodged its lowest refining margins in six years.

Welcome to year two of a supply overhang so persistent it’s upsetting industry expectations that the market would return to a state of balance between production and demand. It’s left analysts befuddled and investors running to the doorways as the crude market threatened to tip into yet another bear market, dashing hopes that a slump that began in mid 2014 would show signs of abating. read more

By  Katie Fehrenbacher: JULY 29, 2016

Analysts expected the oil giants’ cost cutting to help more.

Many of the world’s biggest oil companies continue to feel the pain as low oil prices continue to undercut profits and lead to shuttered projects and layoffs.

Exxon, Royal Dutch Shell, Statoil, BP, and Chevron announced dismal earnings this week, missing expectations and showing how slashing spending and pulling back isn’t yet enough in a world where oil has dropped from a high of $115-per-barrel in 2014 to a low of $27-per-barrel in January of this year. read more

Written by Niamh Burns – 29/07/2016 7:59 am

Unions will stage a 48-hour strike next week as industrial action continues on seven Shell assets in the North sea.

Both RMT and Unite members voted in support of action for the first time in more than a generation.

Around 400 workers are taking part in a continuous overtime ban, while tools were also downed on Tuesday this week, followed by two three hour stoppages yesterday.

Wood Group is currently making changes to is contracts with workers on Shell installations after renewing its contract with the oil major earlier this week. read more

JUL 28, 2016, 08:00 ET

HOUSTON, July 28, 2016 /PRNewswire/ — Shell today announced a new exploration discovery in the deep water U.S. Gulf of Mexico. The initial estimated recoverable resources for the Fort Sumter well are more than 125 million barrels of oil equivalent (boe). Further appraisal drilling and planned wells in adjacent structures could considerably increase recoverable potential in the vicinity of the Fort Sumter well.

“The Fort Sumter discovery builds upon Shell’s global deep-water leadership. Its proximity to our nearby discoveries in the area, and to highly prospective acreage to the southeast, makes Fort Sumter particularly significant,” said Ceri Powell, Executive Vice President Exploration. “These successes demonstrate there is still running room in the producing basins of our heartlands where large, high-value discoveries have the potential to further strengthen our deep-water competitiveness.” read more

by Angela Macdonald-Smith: July 29 2016

Royal Dutch Shell looks to be heading for an exit from Woodside Petroleum sooner rather than later, after reclassifying its remaining $3 billion stake in the Australian oil and gas producer as an “asset for sale”.

The move appears to be driven by technical reasons because of Shell’s reduced representation on Woodside’s board. But at the same time it may signal a firmer intention to dispose of the circa 13 per cent stake, which Shell has for some time declared as a non-strategic holding. read more

Net debt increased to a record $75 billion at the end of June from $70 billion three months earlier, Shell said Thursday as it reported a slump in second-quarter earnings. Additional borrowing drove up the ratio of net debt to capital, or gearing, to 28.1 percent — more than double the year-earlier level.

“We’re close to the maximum level and it could go up still with the oil price where it is,” Chief Financial Officer Simon Henry said on a conference call. “Thirty percent is an upper limit to where we can describe our position as comfortable.” read more

17:00 28 Jul 2016

Investors in Royal Dutch Shell PLC (LON:RDSB) should be steeling themselves for an eventual cut in their dividend payouts, according to analysts.

In half-year results on Thursday, the Anglo-Dutch company held its interim dividend steady, at 47 cents, despite underlying earnings for the quarter falling 72% to US$1bn.

Its gas and downstream businesses fuelled earnings, more than outweighing a US$2bn loss in the upstream division, which faced one-off charges of US$649mln.

But shares in the group fell 53.5p, or 2.5%, to 2051.5p. read more

Summary

Shell produced a meager $3B of operating Cashflow for H1 2016.

Cash Commitments for Capex, Debt and Dividends were about $20B.

Shell does not stack up until an oil recovery to $80 IMO.

Introduction

Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE:RDS.A) (NYSE:RDS.B) released results this morning in Europe. Both the London and Amsterdam listings are down 4%. RDS is yielding about 7% this morning at current prices in Amsterdam.

Let’s get the disclosure bit over with. I was long Shell up until a few months ago. I sold as its share price recovered from the January meltdown. Having analyzed the company several times on SA, I concluded I was not comfortable holding the stock. Of course, if I had continued to hold and sold now, I would have made a much better return at today’s prices. read more

PHOTOGRAPHER: ANDREY RUDAKOV

By Chris Hughes: July 28, 2016

Royal Dutch Shell has delivered a shock.

Weeks after cheering investors with a big plan for living within its means, the oil major’s second-quarter earnings plummeted from $3.4 billion to $239 million. Paradise — a cash-generative company driven by February’s $64 billion acquisition of BG Group — has been postponed.

So much for the benefits of BG. This was the first set of numbers to include a full contribution for the acquisition, and so far the deal has pushed indebtedness higher while introducing a raft of one-off integration costs. read more

THE HAGUE, Netherlands, July 28 (UPI) — Lower crude oil prices continue to present problems for the industry and Shell is now focused on retooling efforts, the chief executive officer said.

“We are making significant and lasting changes to Shell’s working practices and cost structure,” CEO Ben van Buerden said in a statement.

Shell, moving through the year after a merger with British energy company BG Group, said net income during the second quarter fell more than 70 percent to $1.18 billion. The company attributed the decline in part to some of the fiscal pressures from its $7 billion tie-up with BG Group, weak industry conditions and tougher tax regimes. read more

By REUTERS: PUBLISHED: 08:16, 28 July 2016

By Karolin Schaps and Dmitry Zhdannikov

LONDON, July 28 (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell reported a more than 70 percent fall in quarterly profit on Thursday, well below analyst estimates, blaming weak oil prices, poor refining profits and higher charges resulting from its $54 billion acquisition of BG Group.

Shell’s current cost of supplies — its definition of net income — came to $1 billion in the second quarter, compared with analyst expectations of $2.2 billion and $3.8 billion achieved the same time last year. read more

The quarter was the first full one that included BG Group PLC, which Shell bought in a roughly $50 billion acquisition that completed in February.

“Downstream and integrated gas businesses contributed strongly to the results, alongside Shell’s self-help program. However, lower oil prices continue to be a significant challenge across the business, particularly in the upstream,” said Shell Chief Executive Ben van Beurden.

FULL ARTICLE

Written by Reporter – 27/07/2016 11:50 am

Shell Oil Products has agreed to pay more than $700,000 to settle a civil prosecution over gift cards and fuel reward cards.

The company settled the dispute in which is admitted no liability.

The case had been filed in Alameda County in the US state of California.

Prosecutors had alleged there was multiple consumer protection and advertising violations related to the cards.

They said it included not allowing the redemption of gift cards with a balance under $10 as required by state law. read more