Roundup of Royal Dutch Shell News 16 August 2014
SHELL’S USA FIRE SALE
The New York Times reports that the Blackstone Group, a private equity company, is paying Royal Dutch Shell $1.2 billion for a stake comprising more than 107,000 net acres in Louisiana.MORE
A related article by BusinessReport.com features a quote from Marvin Odum, president of Royal Dutch Shell’s U.S. division, Shell Oil Company. Marvin said in a statement: “We are adding highly attractive exploration acreage, where we have impressive well results in the Utica, and divesting our more mature, Pinedale and Haynesville dry gas positions.” MORE
The same news story is also covered by RTT News: Vine, Blackstone Energy Partners To Buy Shell’s Haynesville Assets For $1.2 Bln
BIDNESS ETC, the innovative news based website founded by “a team of more than 100 financial wizards, musicians, rock stars, artists, singers, aspiring philosophers and tech geeks” reports that Rex Energy is paying Shell $120million for a 100% interest in Shell Western Exploration and Production Inc. in the Marcellus, Burkett and Utica shales in Pennsylvania and Ohio. MORE
The same new story is covered by Ohio.com: MORE
The disposals are also reported in a Reuters article which says “Shell, like many other global oil companies, is carrying out a broad cost-cutting drive aimed at boosting profits. Chief Executive Ben van Beurden is seeking to offload $15 billion-worth of assets by the end of 2015, including in North America.”
Also in the USA, a panel of three judges upheld a lower court’s dismissal of a contract suit against Shell Oil Co. by operators of its gas stations, saying a U.S. district judge had not abused his discretion in tossing the case after finding the plaintiffs deliberately destroyed evidence. MORE
SHELL’S AUSTRALIAN FIRE SALE
Vitol completed its purchase of Shell’s downstream businesses.MORE
RECENT ARTICLES PROVIDE AN OVERVIEW OF SHELL”S PERFORMANCE
An article by Micheal Kaufman in BIDNESS ETC provides an overview on Shell’s performance this year, and analyzes if the company is on track to achieve targets set out at the start of the year: MORE
Seeking Alpha features an interesting related overview article by Ray Merola published under the headline: “New Shell CEO Takes Out The Trash.” It says: “First, van Beurden lost no time aiming to restructure parts of the business; first, focusing upon shoring Shell’s woeful performance in the North American energy fields, and second, divestiture of other weak assets.”
According to citywire.co.uk, “Shell’s turnaround will continue to deliver”
A related Motley Fool article, in which concern is expressed about sanctions on Russia, asks: Is It Time To Sell Royal Dutch Shell Plc and BP plc?
SHELL’S WASHINGTON OIL-BY-RAIL PLAN
Reuters reports that a Shell proposal to move by rail up to 60,000 barrels per day of North American crude to its Washington state refinery will not have to undergo a lengthy environmental review.MORE
SHELL ARCTIC DRILLING
The battle to stop Shell drilling in the Arctic is still in progress. Law360 says that environmentalists have asked a US court to revoke the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement’s approval of two Royal Dutch Shell PLC units’ spill response plans for exploratory oil drilling in the Arctic Ocean. The environmental group coalition is seeking to vacate the U.S. Department of the Interior bureau’s approval of Shell Gulf of Mexico Inc. and Shell Offshore Inc. spill response plans for drilling in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas… MORE
AUSTRALIA – PRELUDE FLOATING LIQUEFIED NATURAL GAS FACILITY
UPI reports a part of the largest floating liquefied natural gas facility in the world is on the way to a South Korean shipyard. Shell said the turret module, part of the mooring system for the Prelude Floating Liquefied Natural Gas Facility, is on its way from Dubai to a shipyard in South Korea, where the entire FLNG is set for construction. MORE
SHELL NIGERIA
The Editorial Board of the New York Times has published an important article: Oil’s Devastating Legacy in Nigeria
EXTRACT
“Three years after the United Nations Environment Program issued a comprehensive assessment of shocking levels of pollution in the oil-producing region of Ogoniland in Nigeria, little appears to have been done. The 2011 report said that it would take 30 years to repair the damage. Last week, Amnesty International joined other groups in issuing a damning follow-up by accusing the Nigerian government and the Shell Oil Company of essentially ignoring the entire problem.”
This Is Money reports that “Shell on brink of announcing multi-billion pound sale of four onshore oil blocks in Nigeria”
Extract
The sale of the four oilfields is expected to raise at least £2billion for SPDC, amid fierce competition for the assets. A separate source with knowledge of the bidding process said: ‘They [winning bidders] have paid massively over the odds.’
IGNORING CLIMATE CHANGE IS A RISKY BUSINESS
BreakingEnergy.com says that a report released in early July by The Carbon Tracker Initiative and Energy Transition Advisors suggests that up to $77 billion worth of Royal Dutch Shell’s investments in new fossil fuel projects could be stranded if new climate change policies are introduced, as some observers believe is inevitable. MORE
The TRUTH will set you FREE.
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