By John Donovan
By John DonovanThe Financial Times has published an article today about Shell’s dramatic plans under the surprise new CEO, Ben van Beurden, to dispose of a string of assets, including North Sea oilfields.
According to one quoted analyst, Shell may divest $30 billion in non-core assets, including its stake in Woodside in Australia and assets in the USA and Nigeria.
The article by Guy Chazan says: “Shell has underperformed the European oil and gas sector by 6 per cent over the past year, dragged down by a string of disappointing quarterly results…. It has been criticised for spending too much and not rewarding shareholders enough.“
One fellow executive director, Peter Rees QC, has already unexpectedly announced his rapid exit from Royal Dutch Shell plc just days after BvB assumed his new supreme position.
Peru ignores UN and pushes ahead with deadly gas project
Any contact with gas workers could introduce fatal diseases to the uncontacted Indians. When Shell carried out initial explorations in the area during the 1980s, half the Nahua tribe was wiped out following first contact with outsiders.
January 14, 2014
Peru’s government is on the brink of approving the expansion of the highly controversial Camisea gas project into the land ofuncontacted and isolated tribes – ignoring a recent UN recommendation to first carry out ‘extensive studies’ over the threats posed to the vulnerable Indians.
Peru’s Ministry of Culture has approved a plan to expand the $1.6 billion Camisea project – run by Argentina’s Pluspetrol, US’s Hunt Oil and Spain’s Repsol – once three minor conditions are met, raising fears that expansion is imminent.
Any contact with gas workers could introduce fatal diseases to the uncontacted Indians. When Shell carried out initial explorations in the area during the 1980s, half the Nahua tribe was wiped out following first contact with outsiders.
The expansion plan includes the detonation of thousands of explosive charges, and the drilling of exploratory wells using heavy equipment, and involving hundreds of workers. It would take place inside the Nahua-Nanti Reserve for uncontacted and isolated Indians.
James Anaya, the UN’s Special Rapporteur for the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, visited the region last month and warned, ‘The government and company should act with extreme caution and should not go ahead with the proposed expansion before first assuring conclusively that the (tribes’) human rights are not at threat’.
Mr. Anaya further recommended that the government carry out ‘exhaustive studies (…) to ascertain the presence and conditions in which isolated or uncontacted tribes find themselves’.
But despite several visits to the area, the Peruvian Ministry of Culture, tasked with protecting the country’s indigenous peoples, has failed to carry out the necessary studies on the impact of Camisea’s expansion on uncontacted tribes, and at least three Ministers have resigned in protest at the plans.
Survival International has demanded a halt to any oil and gas work on the land of uncontacted tribes, and Survival supporters have sent more than 130,000 messages to Peru’s President Humala.
Survival’s Director Stephen Corry said today, ‘The Camisea expansion plan sets a chilling precedent. If Peru’s biggest gas project is allowed to operate in the middle of a reserve for uncontacted tribes, the laws the government has put in place to protect its indigenous peoples are rendered utterly meaningless. Why the rush to diminish the country’s resources at the cost of indigenous lives? Has Peru learned nothing from the bloody and shameful history of contact?’
January 14, 2014
Peru’s government is on the brink of approving the expansion of the highly controversial Camisea gas project into the land ofuncontacted and isolated tribes – ignoring a recent UN recommendation to first carry out ‘extensive studies’ over the threats posed to the vulnerable Indians.
Peru’s Ministry of Culture has approved a plan to expand the $1.6 billion Camisea project – run by Argentina’s Pluspetrol, US’s Hunt Oil and Spain’s Repsol – once three minor conditions are met, raising fears that expansion is imminent.
Any contact with gas workers could introduce fatal diseases to the uncontacted Indians. When Shell carried out initial explorations in the area during the 1980s, half the Nahua tribe was wiped out following first contact with outsiders.
The expansion plan includes the detonation of thousands of explosive charges, and the drilling of exploratory wells using heavy equipment, and involving hundreds of workers. It would take place inside the Nahua-Nanti Reserve for uncontacted and isolated Indians.
James Anaya, the UN’s Special Rapporteur for the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, visited the region last month and warned, ‘The government and company should act with extreme caution and should not go ahead with the proposed expansion before first assuring conclusively that the (tribes’) human rights are not at threat’.
Mr. Anaya further recommended that the government carry out ‘exhaustive studies (…) to ascertain the presence and conditions in which isolated or uncontacted tribes find themselves’.
But despite several visits to the area, the Peruvian Ministry of Culture, tasked with protecting the country’s indigenous peoples, has failed to carry out the necessary studies on the impact of Camisea’s expansion on uncontacted tribes, and at least three Ministers have resigned in protest at the plans.
Survival International has demanded a halt to any oil and gas work on the land of uncontacted tribes, and Survival supporters have sent more than 130,000 messages to Peru’s President Humala.
Survival’s Director Stephen Corry said today, ‘The Camisea expansion plan sets a chilling precedent. If Peru’s biggest gas project is allowed to operate in the middle of a reserve for uncontacted tribes, the laws the government has put in place to protect its indigenous peoples are rendered utterly meaningless. Why the rush to diminish the country’s resources at the cost of indigenous lives? Has Peru learned nothing from the bloody and shameful history of contact?’
Act now to help the Uncontacted Indians of Peru
Your efforts are crucial in defending the Uncontacted Tribes. Get involved in this urgent effort in the following ways.
Writing a letter to the Peruvian government can make a real difference.
Donate to the Uncontacted Indians campaign (and other Survival campaigns).
Write to your MP or MEP (UK) or Senators and members of Congress (US).
Write to your local Peruvian embassy
If you want to get more involved, contact Survival…
Your efforts are crucial in defending the Uncontacted Tribes. Get involved in this urgent effort in the following ways.
Writing a letter to the Peruvian government can make a real difference.
Donate to the Uncontacted Indians campaign (and other Survival campaigns).
Write to your MP or MEP (UK) or Senators and members of Congress (US).
Write to your local Peruvian embassy
If you want to get more involved, contact Survival…
Donate to the Uncontacted Indians campaign (and other Survival campaigns).
Write to your MP or MEP (UK) or Senators and members of Congress (US).
Write to your local Peruvian embassy
If you want to get more involved, contact Survival…
Total dips a toe in UK shale but BP and Shell unlikely to follow
Jan 14th, 2014 by John Donovan. No comments yet
The French company trumpeted becoming the “first major to enter into shale gas licences in the UK”, calling it an “important milestone”. But its stance contrasts starkly to that of Shell, whose British chief financial officer Simon Henry said last year it had no desire to be “first in and be in the headlines every day in the UK”. Shell had “much higher priorities, and more attractive opportunities” elsewhere and would not throw money into shale…
US majors next most likely to invest while BP and Shell expected to steer clear in the short term at least
By Emily Gosden: 9:07PM GMT 13 Jan 2014
More international oil and gas majors may follow Total’s lead in joining the search for British shale gas – but BP and Royal Dutch Shell will not be among them, experts have predicted.
The French energy giant on Monday confirmed it would invest $48.1m (£29.3m) in the search for shale gas in the East Midlands, taking a 40pc stake in two licences held jointly by IGas, eCORP, Egdon Resources and Dart Energy
The move was hailed as the biggest vote of confidence yet in the potential of UK shale, following investments by GDF Suez and Centrica – two smaller but still heavyweight companies.
British Gas owner Centrica in June committed up to £160m in a deal to take a 25pc stake in Cuadrilla’s licences in the Bowland shale in north-west England and fund drilling, while France’s GDF Suez in October said it would invest £24m in acquiring a 25pc stake and funding drilling across Dart Energy licences in the north of England.
Industry experts say more deals are likely to follow, with IGas – which put partnership talks on ice last year to first carry out more drilling itself – seen as a likely contender. Attention is now focused on whether other majors will follow Total by entering the UK market.
The French company trumpeted becoming the “first major to enter into shale gas licences in the UK”, calling it an “important milestone”.
But its stance contrasts starkly to that of Shell, whose British chief financial officer Simon Henry said last year it had no desire to be “first in and be in the headlines every day in the UK”. Shell had “much higher priorities, and more attractive opportunities” elsewhere and would not throw money into shale “because the UK feels it’s a good thing”.
BP, too, has indicated it is not rushing to follow Total. A spokesman said it had decided against investing in shale in the UK or the rest of Europe “for good geological and commercial reasons”. “We continue to monitor competitor results with interest, but so far we have no regrets,” he said.
Experts say BP and Shell’s attitudes reflect in part the typical reticence of the world’s biggest oil firms to enter new regions first; for most majors it is not yet clear whether UK shale is a prize worth pursuing – especially given the potential PR battle involved.
BP’s shale interests consist of ‘giant’ fields, Angus McPhail, analyst at Edison Investment Research, says. “Whether UK shale can be considered ‘giant’ at this stage prior to any extensive drilling having been completed is debateable.”
Shell meanwhile is undergoing a period of change with a new chief executive and about to begin a programme of asset sales. US giant ExxonMobil is believed to have held talks with IGas in 2012 and is still seen as a possible market entrant but, according to Malcolm Graham-Wood of advisory Hydrocarbon Capital, Exxon is likewise not sure whether UK shale is “worth it, being such small beer”.
But Total, unusually, has a reputation for dipping its toe into untested markets. “Total has always been prepared to go somewhere on the offchance,” Graham-Wood says. “Majors will normally try to get smaller companies to de-risk frontier acreage, but Total is slightly maverick.”
It has added reason to be interested in the UK because fracking is banned in its native France due to environmental fears – despite apparently promising resources, he says.
“If it is successful in the UK and people realise there’s an opportunity to get cheap energy, France will change its rules – and Total will have the expertise and a team in place to do the job.”
US companies are the most likely next entrants to the UK market as they look to make the most of the expertise they have acquired in the US market, he says.
Glynn Williams, partner at Epi-V, the oil and gas services investor, agrees. He picks out US giants ConocoPhillips and Chevron – who have both “invested significantly in the Polish shale market” as “plausible” contenders to be “the next majors to commit to the UK shale sector”.
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