Natural gas as energy source will continue to grow.
Share buybacks and generous dividends.
Background
Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE:RDS.A) (NYSE:RDS.B) has been actively focusing on what kind of business it wants to be involved in. Part of this activity is to change the composition of its assets. It has been selling plants and oil licenses, and invested where it wants to position the company.
Disposals have also been done to reduce the total debt level. Much of the debt came from the $35 billion acquisition of BG Group back in March of 2016.
Disposals
Early this year, Shell communicated that its plans were to leave oil and gas operations in as many as 10 countries and instead focus more heavily on gas-rich Australia and shale opportunities in the United States.read more
Germany has been assured by the U.S. that any sanctions imposed on Russia will not affect construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline to bring Russian gas to Europe, says a spokesperson for Germany’s economy ministry.
The U.S. embassy in Berlin says there has been no change in policy, Reuters reports.
The Nord Stream 2 consortium, consisting of Russia’s Gazprom (OTCPK:OGZPY) and five European companies – Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A, RDS.B), BASF’s (OTCQX:BASFY) Wintershall, Engie (OTCPK:ENGIY), OMV (OTCPK:OMVJF) and Uniper (OTC:UNPPY) – last month started preparatory work in the Greifswald bay off Germany’s Baltic coast on a new twin pipeline that will double Russia’s export capacity of 55B cm to Germany.
Separately, Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller says the company can set a new gas export record of nearly 200B cm this year, up nearly 3% Y/Y, breaking last year’s record volume of 194.4B cm of gas to Europe and Turkey.
Esther Kiobel poses with a picture of her beloved late husband, Dr. Barinem Kiobel, one of “Ogoni 9” executed by Nigeria’s military government after a peaceful uprising against Shell in 1995. Photograph: Amnesty International
29 June 2018
Esther says Amnesty activists have given her the strength to carry on fighting for justice
A year ago today, Esther Kiobel stood on the steps of the Palace of Justice in The Hague. It had taken over twenty years to get there, but she had just filed a landmark case against the oil giant Shell over what she says is its role in the 1995 execution of her husband Dr. Barinem Kiobel. Dr Kiobel, a former government official, was hanged by the Nigerian military government in connection with widespread protests against oil pollution in the Niger Delta.read more
When a corporation’s business model revolves around destroying the possibility of human life on earth, sometimes people think that’s not a good thing and they ask if they could maybe not do that. But there’s something about the billions of dollars a corporation can make from engineering the apocalypse that makes it want to not stop, and makes it want to do it more. So instead of not killing everyone, corporations like Shell turn to advertising to make killing everyone seem actually kind of cool.read more
Shell-Partners consortium ready to build Dutch offshore wind farm
Reuters Staff: JUNE 28, 2018
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – A consortium led by Swiss investor Partners Group and Royal Dutch Shell said it has secured financing for the building of a 1.3 billion euros ($1.5 billion) wind farm in the Dutch part of the North Sea.
Shell and consortium partners Eneco, Van Oord and Mitsubishi/DGE were awarded the “Borssele 3 and 4” project in December 2016, at what at the time was the Netherlands’ lowest-ever strike price of 54.50 euro cents per megawatt-hour.
Building of the wind farm, which will have the capacity to power around 825,000 households, will start in the fourth quarter of 2019, with production expected to begin in 2021.read more
A Dutch opposition lawmaker is pushing the government to launch a parliamentary inquiry into Shell, calls that follow criticism of the oil giant’s past deals with the tax authority.
Jesse Klaver, the leader of the Dutch Greens, is specifically focused on a 2004 tax ruling the tax authority issued to Royal Dutch Shell Plc. A parliamentary inquiry would be lawmakers’ only shot to question Shell executives about the deal, and would be the latest development in scrutiny of the company’s tax planning.read more
Production at the Groningen natural gas field will come in lower than expected this year as the Dutch government works to end production completely by 2030 in an effort to limit seismic risks in the region.
Output will have fallen to 19B-20B cm in the year ending October 2018, the Dutch gas sector regulator says, below the original cap of 21.6B cm set for the year and down from 24B cm last year.
The Groningen field is a joint venture of Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A, RDS.B) and Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM)
U.S. court dismisses climate change lawsuits against oil companies
Reuters Staff: JUNE 26, 2018
(Reuters) – A federal court in California dismissed climate change lawsuits by the cities of San Francisco and Oakland against five oil companies, saying the complaints required foreign and domestic policy decisions that were outside its purview. San Francisco and Oakland sued Chevron Corp, Exxon Mobil Corp, ConocoPhillips, Royal Dutch Shell Plc, and BP Plc last year seeking an abatement fund to help the cities address flooding they said was a result of climate change. Judge William Alsup of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California said in the ruling that the dangers raised by the complainants were real and worldwide, and both parties accepted the science behind global warming. FULL ARTICLEread more
Printed below is an English translation of an article published today by the Dutch Financial Times, Financieele Dagblad. NAM is the Shell/Exxon Joint Venture company responsible for the earthquake blighted Groningen Gas Field and consequential potential bill for untold billions to deal with damaged residences.
The State pays almost 90% of the € 1 billion fund for Groningen and the oil companies Shell and ExxonMobil only pay € 135 million on balance. This is confirmed by the Ministry of Finance, after questions from the FD. At the presentation of the deal between the State on the one hand and Shell and Exxon on the other, about the end of the gas production in Groningen, the impression was still created that each accounted for half.
On Monday, the agreement was signed between the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Shell and ExxonMobil, each with a 50% stake in NAM. They will refrain from claims against the State, and would deposit € 500 million into a fund for Groningen. That was the result of ‘tough negotiations’, as Rolf de Jong, CEO of ExxonMobil Benelux put it.read more
Groningen Earthquake Damage: ‘Due to the declining gas extraction and the increased costs of damage and reinforcement, the current so-called payment scheme is no longer tenable’
Printed below is an English translation of an article published today by the Dutch Financial Times, Financieele Dagblad. NAM is the Shell/Exxon Joint Venture company responsible for the earthquake blighted Groningen Gas Field and consequential potential bill for untold billions in damages to effected residences.
Shell and ExxonMobil waive gas claims against State
From our editor • Economics & Politics
Shell and ExxonMobil, each with an interest of 50% in NAM, will waive a claim against the State for the gas that remains in the ground after the extraction has ended. Furthermore, the two oil companies offer guarantees that NAM can and will always pay for earthquake damage and the reinforcement of buildings.
This is evident from the agreement in broad lines that Minister Eric Wiebes of Economic Affairs and Climate has concluded Monday with Shell and ExxonMobil about gas extraction from the Groningen field. It is expected that around 450 billion cubic meters of gas will remain in the ground after the extraction. At the current gas price, this represents a value of around € 70 billion.read more
My company Don Marketing supplied the spectacularly successful Shell Make Money game that ran on Shell forecourts during 1984/5 in a number of countries, including the UK.
Years later, Shell deliberately ignored the signed confirmation of agreement below while surreptitiously producing a subsequent flawed Shell Make Money without our knowledge or consent.
Shell executives blatantly lied about what was going on but was forced to settle the matter after Don Marketing issued a High Court Writ. read more
Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A, RDS.B) approves its second North Sea project in six months, moving forward with development of the Fram natural gas field it considered uneconomical to produce six years ago. Shell, along with partner Exxon Mobil (XOM -1.7%), says it plans to produce as much as 13K boe/day from two wells in the Fram field by 2020, adding ~10% to the company’s current output in the U.K. North Sea.read more
Shell, Exxon not to seek compensation for end of Groningen gas production: government
Reuters Staff: Monday June 25, 2018
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – Energy companies Royal Dutch Shell and Exxon Mobil will not submit a claim for missed revenue due to the Dutch government’s decision to halt gas production at the Groningen field by 2030, the Dutch ministry of Economic Affairs said on Monday.
“A lot of gas will be left in the ground,” Economy minister Eric Wiebes said at the presentation of his deal with the oil majors responsible for extracting Groningen gas.
“That gas is the property of the oil companies, but they will not submit a claim and the government is not required to compensate them.”read more
Oil company Shell has given the final go-ahead to develop the Fram gas field in the North Sea.
The field, 100 miles east of Aberdeen, is expected to produce about 41 million cubic feet of gas a day.
It will be connected using subsea infrastructure to the neighbouring Shearwater platform.
Steve Phimister, Shell’s vice president for upstream in the UK and Ireland, said reducing development costs had allowed investment in new projects.
He said: “With our strong record of operational excellence and project execution, we will look to invest in further projects as we work to grow our business in the North Sea.”read more
By Kevin Crowley and Kelly Gilblom Monday 25 June 2018, 00:00 BST
Big Oil’s fortunes are becoming tied more closely to natural gas than ever before.
Majors including Royal Dutch Shell Plc and BP Plc have boosted their proportion of gas output in recent years, helping them trim Exxon Mobil Corp.’s lead as the world’s most valuable oil company. Meanwhile Chevron Corp. added two giant Australian liquefied natural gas projects and Exxon is punching back with two major projects of its own, in Papua New Guinea and Mozambique.read more
Listen and read proof in audio and transcript form of Shell CEO Ben van Beurden’s cover-up tactics in the OPL 245 Nigerian corruption scandal. The instruction given by him in the covertly recorded call to CFO Simon Henry was at odds with Shell’s claimed core business principles. Cover-up and obstruction, instead of transparency and integrity, says Shell critic John Donovan
JOHN DONOVAN TV DOCUMENTARY INTERVIEW
SHELL EXECUTIVES AT THE CENTER OF A SCHEME TO STEAL $1.3 BILLION FROM NIGERIA’S PEOPLE
SHELL ADMITS DEALING WITH NIGERIAN MONEY LAUNDERER – BBC NEWS
SHELL, ENI AND NIGERIAN OFFICIALS IN OPL 245 CORRUPTION SCANDAL
INVESTIGATION OF OPL 245 NIGERIAN OIL CORRUPTION SCANDAL
DUTCH EARTHQUAKES CAUSED BY SHELL/EXXON
SHELL KILLS FOR OIL IN NIGERIA
ESTHER KIOBEL: EVIL OIL GIANT SHELL COLLUDED IN THE EXECUTION OF MY INNOCENT HUSBAND
ESTHER KIOBEL SUES SHELL FOR COMPLICITY IN HUSBANDS MURDER
SHELL LIED ABOUT CLEANING UP OIL IN NIGER DELTA
SHELL SPIES INFILTRATED NIGERIAN GOVERNMENT
LEGO DROPS SHELL OVER GREENPEACE OIL SPILL VIDEO
SHELL ARCTIC DRILLING ACCIDENTS
SHELL KNEW ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE DECADES AGO
ABANDONED BY SHELL: KEITH MACDONALD & FAMILY, VICTIMS OF RADIOACTIVE CONTAMINATION AT WORK
ROYAL DUTCH SHELL FOUNDER SIR HENRI DETERDING, NAZI FINANCIER
JOHN DONOVAN PROMOTIONAL GAMES FOR SHELL AND OTHER CLIENTS
EBOOK TITLE: “SIR HENRI DETERDING AND THE NAZI HISTORY OF ROYAL DUTCH SHELL” – AVAILABLE ON AMAZON EBOOK TITLE: “JOHN DONOVAN, SHELL’S NIGHTMARE: MY EPIC FEUD WITH THE UNSCRUPULOUS OIL GIANT ROYAL DUTCH SHELL” – AVAILABLE ON AMAZON. EBOOK TITLE: “TOXIC FACTS ABOUT SHELL REMOVED FROM WIKIPEDIA: HOW SHELL BECAME THE MOST HATED BRAND IN THE WORLD” – AVAILABLE ON AMAZON.
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OVER 500 EXTERNAL PUBLICATIONS CITING OUR SHELL WEBSITES
See our link list of over 500 articles by the FT, Wall Street Journal, Reuters, Bloomberg, Forbes, Dow Jones Newswires, New York Times, CNBC etc, plus UK House of Commons Select Committee Hansard records, information on U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission websiteetc. all containing references to our Shell focussed websites, or our website founders Alfred and John Donovan. Includes TV documentary features in English and German, newspaper and magazine articles, radio interviews, newsletters etc. Plus academic papers, Stratfor intelligence reports and UK, U.S. and Australian state/parliamentary publications, also citing our Shell websites. Click on this link to see the entire list, all in date order with a link to an index of over 100 books also containing references to our non-profit websites and/or our activities.
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