Posts under ‘COVID-19’

The Telegraph

Shell defends raising the dividend after profits surge to almost $20bn

Bumper results trigger renewed calls for a windfall tax on oil and gas producers

By Rachel Millard: 3 February 2022 • 7:41pm

The chief executive of Shell has defended his company’s right to pay millions in dividends after a fourfold rise in profits driven by surging energy costs sparked calls for a windfall tax.

Ben van Beurden said the FTSE 100 company played an important role in society by contributing to pension pots after it posted a $19.3bn (£14.2bn) profit for 2021, up from $4.8bn a year earlier. read more

By John Donovan

The jab or be sacked dilemma is not an easy issue for Shell senior management to grapple with.

There is a valid concern expressed in the recently leaked Shell internal information, that mandating covid jabs for employees and contractors risks violating Shell’s business principles. 

That, in turn, might damage Shell’s reputation if that’s possible, bearing in mind that Shell is already held in low esteem as a polluting member of Big Oil.  

Shell senior management had hoped to make its deliberations in private. read more

Shell considers mandatory covid vaccination and firing staff who refuse

“For staff who refuse to comply with a vaccine mandate we would make all reasonable efforts to avoid terminating their employment but will be faced with no alternative but to do so.”

RELATED FT, REUTERS, TELEGRAPH AND WALL STREET JOURNAL ARTICLES BELOW ALL MENTION THE LEAKED INFORMATION THAT JOHN DONOVAN SUPPLIED TO EACH OF THEM

By John Donovan

I am in possession of Shell international comms including a 6 page “Note for discussion” sponsored by Shell Executive Committee member Ronan Cassidy, Chief HR and Corporate Officer at Royal Dutch Shell. read more

-By Zik Gbemre  

OIL DEGRADATION/POLLUTION OF NIGER-DELTA CREEKS/LANDS: A SHARED BLAME 

• Most pipeline vandalism in recent times are third party induced for various unlawful gains 
• The increasing crime now a shared evil involving host communities, service contractors and some oil companies workers. 
• The polluted communities endangering lives and livelihoods of generations unborn 

It is very uncommon to experience crude oil/condensate spillages caused by equipment failure on the vast pipelines constructed by the Federal Government of Nigeria through supervisory NNPC/NPDC and operating oil partners to transport crude oil and associated product across the operating environment.

But no doubt, a significant proportion of crude oil/condensate spills that have become almost a daily experience, threatening health and livelihoods, in massive pollution, particularly across the Niger-Delta states are third party induced for various unlawful self-enrichment. read more

Big Oil Is In Desperate Need Of New Discoveries

By Alex Kimani – May 10, 2021, 2:00 PM CDT

The year 2020 was a watershed moment for the fossil fuel sector. Faced with a global pandemic, severe demand shocks and a shift towards renewable energy, experts warned that nearly $900 billion worth of reserves–or about one-third of the value of big oil and gas companies–were at risk of becoming worthless.

Even Big Oil mostly appeared resigned to its fate, with Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE:RDS.A) CEO Ben van Beurden declaring that we had already hit peak oil demand while BP Plc. (NYSE:BP)—a company that doubled down on its aggressive drilling right after the historic 2015 UN Climate Change Agreement--finally gave in saying “..concerns about carbon emissions and climate change mean that it is increasingly unlikely that the world’s reserves of oil will ever be exhausted.” BP went on to announce one of the largest asset writedowns of any oil major after slashing up to $17.5 billion off the value of its assets and conceded that it “expects the pandemic to hasten the shift away from fossil fuels.” read more

Royal Dutch Shell: One Year Later, Shareholders Are $50 Billion Poorer Despite Solid Results

Summary

Shell raises dividend for second time in six months after first-quarter earnings beat forecasts

Sam Meredith: PUBLISHED THU, APR 29 20212:09 AM EDT

• The Anglo-Dutch company reported adjusted earnings of $3.2 billion for the three months through to the end of March. Analysts had expected $3.1 billion, according to Refinitiv.
• Shell also raised its dividend by around 4%, its second increase in six months.
• It comes as energy majors seek to reassure investors that they have gained a more stable footing in recent months.

LONDON — Oil giant Royal Dutch Shell on Thursday reported slightly better-than-expected first-quarter earnings, amid stronger commodity prices and growing expectations of a fuel demand recovery.

Shell also raised its dividend by around 4%, its second increase in six months, as the oil major seeks to reassure investors it has gained a more stable footing. It comes after Shell slashed its payout for the first time since World War II in April last year. read more

Shell raises its dividend as profits surge

Reuters Ron Bousso Shadia Nasralla: April 29, 2021

Royal Dutch Shell’s (RDSa.L) profits leapt to $3.23 billion in the first three months of the year and the energy company raised its dividend as planned but warned on Thursday that the outlook remained uncertain due to the pandemic.

Shell’s adjusted earnings came in ahead of an average analyst forecast of $3.125 billion and were also above earnings of $2.9 billion last year, boosted by assets sales as well as higher oil and liquefied natural gas prices. read more

Shell shareholders miss out on payday under weight of $74bn debt mountain  

The oil giant has promised more cash for investors – but not until debt has fallen to $65bn (£47bn)

Shell shareholders are to be kept waiting for higher dividend payouts as the oil giant labours under a massive debt pile.

The Anglo-Dutch company has pledged to distribute up to 30pc of cash flow to shareholders as soon as its debts come down to $65bn (£47bn), as it tries to keep investors on board while it moves towards lower carbon energy. read more

Shell and BP bounce back into profit even as oil’s glory days fade

Covid dealt fossil fuel giants a heavy blow, but demand is lifting revenues again in a last hurrah before decarbonisation

Shell expects at best steady fuel sales for first quarter

LONDON (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell expects its fuel sales to fall or at best be broadly steady for the first quarter as some coronavirus restrictions ease, the world’s biggest fuel retailer said in a trading update on Wednesday.

Shell said it saw refined oil product sales at 3.7-4.7 million barrels per day (bpd) for the first quarter compared with just under 4.8 million bpd in the last quarter of 2020.

Shell’s refining margins have improved to around $2.6 per barrel in the quarter from $1.6 in the previous quarter. read more

Shell CEO takes pay cut in 2020 for the second straight year

By Reuters Staff: MARCH 11, 2021: 8.30 am

March 11 (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell’s Chief Executive Ben van Beurden pay package nearly halved in 2020, a year in which the oil major’s profit tumbled because of low oil prices and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Van Beurden, who became CEO in 2014, oversaw sharp growth in Shell’s oil and gas output following the 2016 acquisition of BG Group for $53 billion.

But an unprecedented hit to the energy sector last year, knocked oil prices into negative territory for the first time in history, and forced major players to cut dividend payouts and management pay to weather the storm. read more

Shell publishes Annual Report and Accounts

Royal Dutch Shell plc published its Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended December 31, 2020.

The 2020 Annual Report and Accounts can be downloaded from www.shell.com/annualreport.

In compliance with 9.6.1 of the Listing Rules, on March 11, 2021, a copy of the 2020 Annual Report and Accounts was submitted to the National Storage Mechanism. This document will shortly be available for inspection at https://data.fca.org.uk/#/nsm/nationalstoragemechanism. In compliance with section 5:25m(5) Financial Markets Supervision Act the Annual Report and Accounts was submitted to the Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM). The AFM publishes the report in its public register. read more

Shell changes senior UK leadership in global overhaul

LONDON (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell is changing the senior leadership of its operations in Britain as part of a global overhaul to cut costs and shift away from oil and gas to renewables and power.

Under the changes, which have been announced internally, country chair Sinead Lynch will become Shell’s global head of low-carbon fuels, a company spokeswoman said.

Lynch, who joined the Anglo-Dutch company in 2016 following its acquisition of BG Group, will be replaced by David Bunch who currently runs Shell’s retail business across Europe and South Africa. Bunch joined Shell in 1997. read more

Extracts from current Shell Energy customer reviews posted on Trustpilot: “Avoid like Coronavirus”: “I can’t wait until my contract is up and then good riddance.”: “Switching ASAP – awful company. I’ve never had to contact an energy company so much in my whole life!”

Featured below are extracts from negative customer reviews about Shell Energy posted over the past 4 days on Trustpilot. Visit the Shell Energy page on Trustpilot to view all reviews in their entirety, positive and negative (and Shell Energy responses). Watch out for any fake reviews. Note the reoccurring themes in the negative reviews, including difficulty in communicating with the company. This article posted on 4 March 2021. read more

Shell’s Strategy Is Satisfactory

Summary

• This article takes a close look at Shell’s Strategy Day 2021, which focused on a net-zero emissions target and the businesses that Shell plans to operate.
• Ultimately, Shell isn’t changing its strategy too much, sticking to its core oil and gas businesses.
• By focusing on oil and gas and value over volume, Shell is a safer bet than BP which is betting big on a risky corporate restructuring.

The purpose of this article is to analyze Shell’s recent and very important Strategy Day. Shell had promised to give a lot of detail on an organizational restructuring at this event and it had the potential to radically change Shell’s direction. This means the Strategy Day presentations had a possibility to change my bullish thesis on the company. In that article I also gave some of my expectations of what I expected to see in Shell’s Strategy Day, and here I review the key takeaways of the Strategy Day and what they mean for my bullish thesis. read more