BBC NEWS

Shell beats forecasts as profits more than double

Shell has reported profits have more than doubled between July and September helped by high oil and gas prices.

The energy giant said underlying profits reached $9.5bn (£8.2bn) in the third quarter.

That compares to $4.2bn during the same period last year though it is a slowdown from the second quarter when it announced record figures.

The invasion of Ukraine sparked oil and gas prices to rise as nations pledged to cut dependence on Russian energy. read more

The announcement comes as the Ohio Valley’s flagship petrochemical project, Shell’s multibillion dollar ethane cracker plant in Potter Township, Beaver County, begins operations after a decade of planning and construction.

Flaring at Shell’s fracked plastic plant in Beaver County, PA. Photo from anonymous source.

Mike Bloomberg commits $85 million to stop petrochemical plants in Ohio Valley, Gulf Coast

LAURA LEGERE: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Sept 23, 2022

Former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg is putting his wealth and clout into an effort to halt the expansion of petrochemical manufacturing in the Ohio Valley and two Gulf Coast states with an $85 million campaign.

The billionaire businessman and philanthropist announced Wednesday that the goal of the new Beyond Petrochemicals campaign is to “turbocharge” efforts by local community groups to block new plastics and petrochemical plants and curb pollution from existing plants in three target regions: the Ohio Valley, Louisiana and Texas. read more

The Guardian

Governments urged to act after oil giants accused of misleading public

Documents suggest Shell and BP staff privately downplayed public commitments on climate crisis

Alex Lawson Energy correspondent: Fri 16 Sep 2022 16.42 BST

Campaigners have urged governments to intervene after oil companies were accused of misleading the public about their commitment to reducing carbon emissions.

Oil and gas companies including Britain’s Shell and BP were urged to “stop their deception” this week as the US House committee on oversight and reform released documents showing that oil industry executives privately downplayed their public messages on efforts to tackle the climate crisis.

The memo claimed that internal BP documents highlighted how carbon capture and storage (CCS) – a nascent technology that involves inserting CO₂ emissions into underground rock formations – could “enable the full use of fossil fuels across the energy transition and beyond”.

Congressional investigators also unearthed an internal Shell email discussing carbon capture, utilisation, and storage (CCUS) in which an executive said: “We want to be careful to not talk about CCUS as prolonging the life of oil, gas or fossil fuels writ large.” read more

The Guardian

Criticism intensifies after big oil admits ‘gaslighting’ public over green aims

Fury as ‘explosive’ files reveal largest oil companies contradicted public statements and wished bedbugs upon critical activists

Oliver Milman: Sat 17 Sep 2022 11.00 BST

Criticism in the US of the oil industry’s obfuscation over the climate crisis is intensifying after internal documents showed companies attempted to distance themselves from agreed climate goals, admitted “gaslighting” the public over purported efforts to go green, and even wished critical activists be infested by bedbugs.

The communications were unveiled as part of a congressional hearing held in Washington DC, where an investigation into the role of fossil fuels in driving the climate crisis produced documents obtained from the oil giants ExxonMobil, Chevron, Shell and BP.

“First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they wish bedbugs on you, then you win,” said Varshini Prakash, executive director of Sunrise. The organization accused Shell of a “legacy of violence and of ignoring the wellbeing of communities across the globe”. read more

Big Oil Companies Are Greenwashing, Congress Committee Says

by Bloomberg: Kevin Crowley and Ari Natter: Saturday, September 17, 2022

A House congressional committee said internal documents from Exxon Mobil Corp., Chevron Corp., Shell Plc, and BP Plc reveal that their public promises to fight climate change amount to greenwashing.

A cache of emails, lobbying and preparation materials for senior executives obtained by the Committee on Oversight and Reform show that Big Oil climate pledges rely on “unproven technology, accounting gimmicks, and misleading language to hide the reality,” Subcommittee Chair Ro Khanna said in an emailed statement. read more

DutchNews.nl

Groningen gas: former mining director says gas firms taken more seriously than supervisor

Sept 1, 2022

The economic affairs minister took gas companies more seriously than government safety supervisors, according to evidence at the six-week enquiry into what has gone wrong in Groningen.

This week the enquiry restarted into how decades of gas extraction caused ever more earthquakes and damage for local people, and why compensation schemes have failed so badly. It will run until October 14. read more

This is MONEY

Shell’s £80m boss Ben van Beurden preparing to join stream of FTSE100 bosses heading for the door

By LUCY WHITE FOR THE DAILY MAIL: PUBLISHED: 21:50, 2 September 2022 | UPDATED: 08:04, 3 September 2022

The £80million boss of Shell is preparing to join the stream of FTSE100 bosses heading for the door. 

Ben van Beurden – who, it emerged in March, bagged £4.6million in bonuses on top of his £1.4million salary last year, taking his total pay and bonuses to almost £80million during his nine years at the helm – could step down as soon as 2023 as the oil giant begins its search for a replacement. 

His departure will mark the end of an era for Shell, as it tries to toe the tricky line of boosting Britain’s energy security with embracing sustainable technologies. While Van Beurden’s legacy includes a commitment to reduce oil production, he has been criticised for failing to take more drastic action. read more

REUTERS

Breakingviews: Shell’s next boss looks a shoo-in

LONDON, Sept 2 (Reuters Breakingviews) – Shell (SHEL.L) is about to get a new boss. Chief Executive Ben van Beurden, who has been in situ since the start of 2014, is likely to step down from the $192 billion oil giant next year, Reuters has reported read more . Plenty of credible candidates exist to replace him, but one looks the most obvious.

Despite battling with two major oil price slumps and an unprecedented 66% cut to Shell’s dividend in April 2020, Van Beurden’s track record looks acceptable. Since Jan. 1 2014, when he took over, Shell shares have returned 67%… He also pulled off the $70 billion purchase of BG Group in 2016, which made it a leading force in liquefied natural gas (LNG). read more

The Guardian

South African court bans offshore oil and gas exploration by Shell

Judgment is huge victory for campaigners concerned about effect of seismic waves on marine life

A South African court has upheld a ban imposed on the energy giant Shell from using seismic waves to explore for oil and gas off the Indian Ocean coast.

The judgment delivered in Makhanda on Thursday marks a monumental victory for environmentalists concerned about the impact the exploration would have on whales and other marine life.

The 2014 decision granting the right for the “exploration of oil and gas in the Transkei and Algoa exploration areas is reviewed and set aside”, the high court ruled in the southern city. read more

MailOnline

REVEALED: UK ‘fat cat’ power bosses pocketed £30million last year as struggling households are warned energy price cap could hit £7,700 in April

• Bosses of Shell, BP and National Grid are among the top earners of seven energy and utility firms in the FTSE 100 index of leading companies on the stock market

• The five energy and power companies make up £23million of the total

• Ben van Beurden, the chief executive of Shell, made £6.2m in pay and bonuses 

• Nadhim Zahawi warned that earners on £45k may need help with energy bills

By FRANCESCA WASHTELL DEPUTY CITY EDITOR FOR THE MAIL ON SUNDAY PUBLISHED: 22:27, 27 August 2022 | UPDATED: 00:46, 28 August 2022

The bosses of Britain’s biggest energy and utility companies pocketed an eye-watering £30million in pay between them last year as hard-pressed families nationwide face an unprecedented cost-of-living crisis.

The bosses of Shell, BP and National Grid are among the top earners of seven energy and utility firms in the FTSE 100 index of leading companies on the stock market. read more

EXCLUSIVE: Meet Britain’s 10 highest paid fat cats who pocketed more than £100m last year

Mirror.co.uk

EXCLUSIVE: Meet Britain’s 10 highest paid fat cats who pocketed more than £100m last year

That means they are now getting 109 times more in their wage slips than the typical British worker – up from 79 times in the previous year

By Nigel Nelson Political Editor, 27 Aug 2022
Britain’s ten highest paid fat cats pocketed more than £100million between them last year, a 39% increase on 2020.
And that means they are now getting 109 times more in their wage slips than the typical British worker – up from 79 times in the previous year. read more

The Guardian

Fears of new quakes in Dutch gas field as energy crisis bites

Arthur Neslen: Mon 22 Aug 2022 10.00 BST

The province of Groningen is home to a vast gas field and the subject of a parliamentary inquiry into the links between gas extraction and the hundreds of earthquakes and tremors that have traumatised residents.

Groningen’s inhabitants have been affected by the giant gas field for the last few decades. About 80% of houses in villages such as Overschild are being demolished and rebuilt because of earthquake damage. More than 150,000 Groningen residents have suffered earthquake damage to their properties in the last decade, and 10,000 now face stress-related health problems. read more

The Guardian

Church of England pension boss’s shares in Shell ‘shocking’, say campaigners

Exclusive: Christian climate groups urge Clive Mather to resign and C of E to divest from fossil fuel

Damian Carrington Environment editor: Wed 17 Aug 2022 10.00 EDT

The chair of the Church of England Pensions Board, which has not divested its £3.5bn fund from fossil fuels, is a shareholder in Shell, the Guardian can reveal.

Clive Mather had a 38-year career at the oil company during which he oversaw a multibillion-dollar tar sands project in Canada. read more

The Biggest of the Biggest: Prelude FLNG, the Largest Floating Edifice of All Time

A project of oil and gas giant Shell, the Prelude is simultaneously a stellar engineering achievement and a financial black hole.

13 Aug 2022, 16:11 UTC: by Razvan Calin

Over 530 yards long, 80 yards wide, more than 300 feet tall, and 660,000 tones heavy. The largest floating structure the world has ever put out to see is the Prelude offshore natural gas facility. Completed in under five years, the colossal ship-looking titan is made to work a quarter of a century in rough South Pacific waters. read more

The Sun

PURE GREED: How fatcat energy bosses will bank a staggering £15 MILLION as terrified hard-up Brits choose heating or eating

• Emma Pietras
• 22:37, 10 Aug 2022
• Updated: 9:09, 11 Aug 2022

IT is High Noon for the energy fatcats today as they drag their expensively-dressed behinds into showdown talks with the Chancellor.

As The Sun revealed yesterday, Nadhim Zahawi has summoned gas and electricity bosses in to explain just how much cash they are making out of the energy crisis.

It comes as energy experts at Auxilione revealed energy bills could reach over £5,000 next year and Martin Lewis warned the crisis could put lives at risk.

Zahawi and Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng wil also demand to know what investment they plan to make with their soaring profits. read more

Extracted from pages 18 & 19 of Shell Sustainability Report 2020

SHELL PLC BUSINESS ETHICS AND TRANSPARENCY

ETHICAL LEADERSHIP

Our core values of honesty, integrity and respect for people underpin our work with employees, customers, investors, contractors, suppliers, non-governmental organisations and others. The Shell General Business Principles, introduced more than 40 years ago, describe our core values, our responsibilities and the principles and behaviours that guide how we do business. read more