Bloomberg Law: Jan. 13, 2020, 4:58 PM

The commodities traders who unsuccessfully alleged North Sea crude oil market rigging by BP PLC, Royal Dutch Shell PLC, and other top energy companies signaled they’ll likely take the case to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The traders have until March 13 to file their high court petition, according to papers filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, which rejected their claimsin August and their rehearing bid in October.

The lawsuit accused the companies of manipulating the Dated Brent Assessment, a daily index that affects overseas prices for North Sea crude oil, also called… read more

Shell, Petrobras units probed for Brazil price-fixing

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) – Brazil’s three largest fuel distribution companies are under investigation for fixing prices at the pump, police said on Tuesday…

Shell to make final investment call on Nigeria oilfield in 2019: official read more

By Gregory Brew – Aug 02, 2017, 6:00 PM CDT

After several years of austerity and belt-tightening, the major international oil companies posted substantial profits in Q2 of 2017. The five largest private oil companies together generated more than $30 billion in profit, an indication that most have successfully adapted to the current bout of low prices, while a few have publicly indicated their belief that prices will hover around $50 for the foreseeable future.

What this means is that the “mega projects” that dominated many companies’ balance sheets for the last decade will become increasingly rare, as the majors pivot towards short-term, low-risk ventures with a faster turnaround. read more

By John Donovan

Nigerian Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke is back in the news. She must have Shell oil running through her veins.

Both of her parents worked for Shell. She joined Shell and went to the top becoming an executive director of Shell in Nigeria. She was subsequently appointed Nigerian Minister of Petroleum Resources in March 2010 by the corrupt Nigerian president Goodluck Jonathan, later implicated with Shell in the OPL 245 scandal. 

Her elevation continued. She became the first female president of the OPEC – the oil price fixing cartel. read more

FULL ARTICLE: BP and Shell profits under renewed pressure as oil price hits 2017 low

Shell: step up building huge North Sea offshore wind farms: DutchNews.nl: 9 June 2017

Wind energy not only has the potential to develop into the most important sustainable energy source, but it is also the cheapest means of generating power, according to Mark Gainsborough, head of Royal Dutch/Shell’s new energy division.

Energy Cos. Dodge Oil Price Manipulation Suits: LAW360: 8 June 2017

A New York federal judge on Thursday nixed multidistrict litigation complaints by derivatives traders and landowners alleging a slew of energy companies manipulated the price of North Sea Brent crude oil and Brent crude futures, saying they haven’t sufficiently linked the activity to any alleged economic harm they suffered. read more

Trump’s climate change executive order won’t change coal’s fortunes, Shell chair says: CNBC

EXTRACT: President Donald Trump‘s effort to roll back Obama-era climate change policies will not do much to improve demand for coal at America’s power plants, Royal Dutch Shell Chairman Chad Holliday said Thursday.

FT: Shell’s top oil trader defends North Sea Brent activity: Seeking Alpha

EXTRACT: Royal Dutch Shell’s (RDS.A, RDS.B) VP of crude oil trading is out with a strong defense against accusations that the company’s activity in the North S
ea crude market has skewed the benchmark Brent contract that underpins global oil prices.

Big Oil Vows to Keep Dividends Up as Prices Falter: Bloomberg.com

EXTRACT: “BP and Royal Dutch Shell have unsustainable dividends,” Neil Woodford, head of investment at Woodford Investment Management Ltd. who manages about $20 billion, wrote in a blog. read more

By Jane Chung and Keith Wallis | SEOUL/SINGAPORE

Oil prices erased early gains to trade almost flat in Asian session on Thursday on mixed U.S. crude stocks data and doubts over OPEC’s implementation of an output cut, although a weaker dollar aided sentiment.

International Brent crude futures were trading up 2 cents at $53.02 a barrel at 0807 GMT. Prices fell to $52.81 a barrel earlier in the session.

U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude was up 3 cents at $49.80 a barrel after dropping to $49.61 earlier. read more

 By The Motley Fool  Dec 5, 2016

Today I’m looking at the critical reasons to sell out of Royal Dutch Shell (LSE: RDSB).

A drop in the ocean

The oil sector’s major players breathed a huge sigh of relief last week after OPEC — responsible for four-tenths of the world’s oil supply — confounded the expectations of many and agreed to cut its output.

Saudi Arabia brokered a deal that will see production fall by 1.2m barrels per day, to 32.5m barrels beginning in January. The news prompted Brent oil to top the $55 per barrel marker for the first time since the summer of 2016. read more

By Ed Crooks, December 2, 2016

In 451 CE, the great Roman general Flavius Aetius rallied a motley army of imperial troops and barbarian allies, and halted the advance of Attila’s Huns at the Catalaunian Plains in Gaul, buying the empire some time and temporarily interrupting its long-term decline. This week’s Opec meeting in Vienna had something of the same feel about it.

Opec’s power peaked in the 1970s, and the US shale oil revolution of the past half-decade has threatened to consign the cartel’s influence to history. But by agreeing a deal to cut production on Wednesday, the Opec ministers showed that if they all acted together they could still bend the oil markets to their will, at least for a while. read more

By Rania El Gamal and Alex Lawler | DUBAI/LONDON

Old disputes between Saudi Arabia and rival Iran resurfaced at a meeting of OPEC experts last week, with Riyadh threatening to raise oil output steeply to bring prices down if Tehran refuses to limit its supply, OPEC sources say.

Clashes between the two OPEC heavyweights, which are fighting proxy wars in Syria and Yemen, have become frequent in recent years.

Tensions subsided, however, in recent months after Saudi Arabia agreed to support a global oil supply limiting pact, thus raising the prospect that OPEC would take steps to boost oil prices. read more

Law360, New York (October 12, 2016, 9:50 PM EDT) — Two Royal Dutch Shell PLC affiliates accused of market manipulation told a New York federal court Wednesday that derivative traders lack standing to assert antitrust claims, citing another judge’s recent decision nixing claims in multidistrict litigation accusing Goldman Sachs & Co. and others of manipulating aluminum prices.

The Shell companies are part of multidistrict litigation accusing various oil companies of manipulating the price of North Sea Brent crude oil and Brent crude oil futures, by engaging in fraudulent physical trades and systematically submitting information about those… read more

OPEC decision on daily oil output freeze to have no impact on Shell’s strategy

September 29, 2016

Baku-APA. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries’ (OPEC) agreement to freeze daily oil output will not affect Royal Dutch Shell ‘s current strategy, a spokesman for one of the world’s largest oil companies told Sputnik on Thursday, APA reports quoting Sputnik.

On Wednesday, OPEC oil producing countries agreed a preliminary deal on the sidelines of an international energy forum in Algiers, Algeria. The output ceiling was set at 32.5-33 million barrels a day for the whole cartel.  read more

Is OPEC’s Output Deal A Game Changer For Royal Dutch Shell And BP?

Royston Wild: Sept 29, 2016

Investors in the fossil fuel sector have finally had cause to celebrate this week after OPEC suggested that an output freeze could finally be in the offing.

The idea had initially been tabled at the start of the year as Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Venezuela and Russia got around the table. But Iran’s determination to get the pumps ramped back up to pre-sanction levels put the plan firmly on the backburner.

However, with Tehran’s reluctance to take part in a deal now apparently thawing, stock pickers have become more optimistic over the growth outlook for many of the oil industry’s major players. read more

By Kevin Penton

Law360, New York (August 24, 2016, 8:24 PM ET) —

Two Royal Dutch Shell PLC affiliates accused of manipulating crude market prices cannot use the Second Circuit’s recent nix of aluminum futures price-fixing claims to escape the allegations the pair face, landowner and derivatives trader plaintiffs told a New York federal court Wednesday.

The appeals court on Aug. 9 had ruled that manufacturers and buyers of aluminum products could not sue Goldman Sachs Group Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Glencore PLC, because the plaintiffs were not directly targeted in the alleged scheme to fix prices… read more