Nigeria: Shell Commits to Polio Eradication in Delta
By Augustine Osayande, 28 January 2014
Abuja — SHELL Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) has restated its commitment to eradicate health challenges in the Niger Delta where it mostly operates.
The firm has strengthened the delivery of a routine immunisation programme through clinic-based services in 27 health facilities and community based outreach activities in the region.
Shell’s lavish spending on quixotic drilling adventures
Shell’s quest for new reserves has seen it pump billions into money-devouring plays such as its Athabasca Oil Sands Project in northern Alberta and the Kashagan oilfield, a deeply troubled project in Kazakhstan. It’s even tried deep water drilling in the high Arctic. That attempt ended when the stormy waters of the Chukchi Sea crippled its Kulluk drilling platform, forcing the company to pull up stakes. Investors can’t simply count on ever rising oil prices to justify Shell’s lavish spending on quixotic drilling adventures around the world.
Why Turning a Buck Isn’t Easy Anymore for Oil’s Biggest Players
Jeffrey Rubin: Former Chief Economist, CIBC World Markets
27 Jan 2014
Judging by pump prices, Canadian drivers might think oil companies were rolling in profits that only move higher. Lately, though, the big boys in the global oil industry are finding that earning a buck isn’t as easy as it used to be.
Royal Dutch Shell, for instance, just announced that fourth quarter earnings would fall woefully short of expectations. The Anglo-Dutch energy giant warned its quarterly profits will be down 70 percent from a year earlier. Full-year earnings, meanwhile, are expected to be a little more than half of what they were the previous year.
What makes such poor performance especially disconcerting to investors is that it’s taking place within the context of historically high oil prices.
Shell’s quest for new reserves has seen it pump billions into money-devouring plays such as its Athabasca Oil Sands Project in northern Alberta and the Kashagan oilfield, a deeply troubled project in Kazakhstan. It’s even tried deep water drilling in the high Arctic. That attempt ended when the stormy waters of the Chukchi Sea crippled its Kulluk drilling platform, forcing the company to pull up stakes.
Investors can’t simply count on ever rising oil prices to justify Shell’s lavish spending on quixotic drilling adventures around the world.
Shell’s costs to find and develop oil fields, for instance, have tripled since 2003. What’s worse, when the company does notch a significant discovery, such as Kashagan, production seems to be delayed, whether due to the tricky nature of the geology, politics, or both.
Shell ramped up capital spending last year by 50 percent to a staggering $44 billion. Oil analysts are basically unanimous now in saying the company needs to rein in spending if it hopes to provide better returns to shareholders.
Shell Said to Seek Buyers for $1 Billion Stake in Ho-Ho Pipeline
Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA) is seeking to sell a stake in its Houston-to-Houma crude oil pipeline, which Europe’s largest oil company recently reversed and renamed, people familiar with the matter said. Shell is working with Barclays Plc (BARC) to solicit offers for a stake of as much as $1 billion… Shell on Jan. 17 warned fourth-quarter earnings fell to the lowest level since 2009 due to rising losses in the Americas and deteriorating refining markets.
By Matthew Monks January 27, 2014
Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA) is seeking to sell a stake in its Houston-to-Houma crude oil pipeline, which Europe’s largest oil company recently reversed and renamed, people familiar with the matter said.
Shell is working with Barclays Plc (BARC) to solicit offers for a stake of as much as $1 billion in the conduit, which is known as the Ho-Ho system and valued at about $3 billion in its entirety, said one of the people, asking not to identified because the matter is not public.
The Anglo-Dutch company wants to raise money to cover the cost of reversing the flow direction of the 350-mile (563-kilometer) pipeline, the people said. It also wants to monetize part of the pipeline so that it can use the proceeds to invest in drilling projects that generate higher returns, they said.
The pipeline now carries crude from Houston to Houma, Louisiana, to give refineries on the Gulf Coast better to access to crude oil produced in the oil-rich Eagle Ford and Bakken basins. Previously called the Houma-to-Houston pipeline, it was renamed last year once the reversal was completed, Shell said in December. The company plans to add pump stations to increase its capacity.
Spokesmen for Barclays and Shell declined to comment on the Ho-Ho stake sale.
Shell on Jan. 17 warned fourth-quarter earnings fell to the lowest level since 2009 due to rising losses in the Americas and deteriorating refining markets.
To contact the reporter on this story: Matthew Monks in New York at mmonks1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Stephen Cunningham at scunningha10@bloomberg.net; Mohammed Hadi at mhadi1@bloomberg.net
The TRUTH will set you FREE.
No comments:
Post a Comment