Royal Dutch Shell Fire Sale Continues
According to a Financial Times article, “Royal Dutch Shell has revived plans to dispose of its European liquefied petroleum gas business four years after a second failed attempt to sell the assets.”
Shell has already disposed of under-performing assets around the globe, including Australia, the USA and in the North Sea. The latest move is part of the $15 billion fire sale announced by the incoming new CEO Ben van Beurden earlier this year, following the surprise issuance of a Shell profits warning that shook the markets.
Shell shareholders can only wish that they had never heard of Alaska
By John DonovanChristopher Helman of Forbes has neatly summarised the misadventures of Royal Dutch Shell in Alaska…
“Consider for a second the $5 billion misadventure that Royal Dutch Shell has had in Alaska. Here’s a quick recap: In 2008 Shell acquired the rights to exploration blocks in the Beaufort Sea north of the North Slope. Shell, in 2012 (after years of studying whales and seals, negotiating with the native peoples, and satisfying draconian EPA rules governing diesel emissions in the middle of freaking nowhere) finally floated its Kulluk drillship into the Beaufort, where it only got to drill for a few weeks before having to be towed back to port lest icebergs crush it. On the way out it got grounded on the rocks of Kodiak Island. Shell decided to press pause on its Alaska project, and Shell shareholders can only wish that they had never heard of Alaska.”
Potential serious impact on Shell from new Sanctions on Russia
American and European explorers such as Exxon and Royal Dutch Shell Plc , which is drilling in Siberian shale rock formations, will have to act fast to avoid violating the bans. “Those new sanctions imposed on Russia by the U.S. and Europe on Friday will, among other things, force Exxon Mobil, Royal Dutch Shell… and other big oil companies to wind up their joint ventures with Kremlin-controlled Rosneft and Gazprom
By John Donovan
The territorial ambitions of the aggressive and dangerous Putin regime in Russia looks likely to undermine the fortunes of Royal Dutch Shell and ExxonMobil in Russia and the Ukraine. This is dispute the grovelling attitude towards Putin by Exxon’s Rex Tillerson and Shell CEO Ben van Beurden, who actually bowed to Putin in their last meeting.
Energy Law360 reports that “The U.S. and European Union moved in conjunction to dramatically escalate new sanctions against Russia on Friday, ratcheting up pressure on Moscow’s financial, energy and defense sectors and further severing the nation’s corporate titans from lucrative capital markets in response to the persistent unrest in Ukraine.
According to a New York Times article: “The United States and Europe will both further tighten restrictions first imposed in July on the export of energy technology that would help Russia develop its Arctic, deep sea and shale oil reserves, officials said.
Related extracts from an article by Epoch Times
The sanctions “prohibit the exportation of goods, services (not including financial services), or technology in support of exploration or production of Russian deepwater, Arctic offshore, or shale projects that have the potential to produce oil,” the Treasury said. In a coordinated effort, the European Union has matched the U.S. sanctions. The Hague-based Royal Dutch Shell Plc has a 28 percent interest with Russian gas giant OAO Gazprom in the Sea of Okhotsk. It also has a joint venture with Gazprom in Bazhenov, a Siberian shale formation with high potential for shale oil similar to the Bakken shale in the United States.
Joe Carroll warns in a Bloomberg report: “American and European explorers such as Exxon and Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA), which is drilling in Siberian shale rock formations, will have to act fast to avoid violating the bans, said Mark Herlach, an international lawyer and partner at the Sutherland Asbill Brennan LLP law firm in Washington. U.S. companies have until Sept. 26 to shut down sanctioned operations with Russian partners, according to the new rules.”
A Forbes article by Christopher Helman warns: “Those new sanctions imposed on Russia by the U.S. and Europe on Friday will, among other things, force Exxon Mobil XOM -1.29%, Royal Dutch Shell , Total and other big oil companies to wind up their joint ventures with Kremlin-controlled Rosneft and Gazprom .”
Extract from an RIA Novosti report
MOSCOW, September 15 (RIA Novosti) – Following the new Western sanctions imposed on Russia, Anglo-Dutch multinational oil and gas company, Shell, is considering the potential impact the measures will have on the company and has recently appealed to Russian state authorities to clarify the situation, a spokesman for Shell in Russia told RIA Novosti on Monday. “We are proud of our strong partnership with Russian companies. Shell brings its technical and commercial expertise for the implementation of energy projects in Russia. We will explore the latest sanctions and their possible impact on our business. We are in consultations with (the) relevant government agencies to obtain the most complete information,” the company’s spokesman said adding that Shell was taking all the necessary steps to act in accordance with the sanctions.
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