BP To Establish US Shale Assets As Separate Unit
Extracts from an article by Sarah Young & Dmitry Zhdannikov published on 4 March 2014 by Reuters
LONDON, March 4 (Reuters) – British oil company BP plans to separate its onshore U.S. oil and gas assets into a new wholly-owned business to improve the competitiveness of its shale gas portfolio there. A number of big oil companies, including rival European operators Shell and BG, have struggled after making big investments in U.S. shale which have left them exposed to depressed gas prices, dragging on their profits.
RELATED BP PRESS RELEASE: BP to Form Separate Business to Manage US Lower 48 Onshore Oil and Gas Assets
COMMENT BY “OUTSIDER”
The question is whether they will move to take on Shell’s liabilities relating to unconventionals in the US – are we about to see a merger of Shell and BP, perhaps starting with the onshore US assets?
LONDON, March 4 (Reuters) – British oil company BP plans to separate its onshore U.S. oil and gas assets into a new wholly-owned business to improve the competitiveness of its shale gas portfolio there. A number of big oil companies, including rival European operators Shell and BG, have struggled after making big investments in U.S. shale which have left them exposed to depressed gas prices, dragging on their profits. – See more at: http://www.rigzone.com/news/oil_gas/a/131916/BP_To_Establish_US_Shale_Assets_As_Separate_Unit#sthash.aX4M8Quk.dpuf
Sarah Young & Dmitry Zhdannikov
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Sarah Young & Dmitry Zhdannikov
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Ukraine queries Royal Dutch Shell and Chevron shale deals
Extract from an article by of Reuters, published on 4 March 2014 by The Chicago Tribune
Ukraine queries shale deals as Yanukovich era under scrutiny
KIEV/LONDON (Reuters) – Commercial deals concluded by Ukraine during the presidency of Viktor Yanukovich are already coming under scrutiny, less than two weeks since he was deposed, with lucrative gas projects involving Western companies among the first. Some Ukrainian parliamentarians have called for the new government to examine how, without significant financial outlay, a small Kiev-based consultancy received interests in shale gas projects led by Royal Dutch Shell and Chevron worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Andrew Neff, analyst at IHS Global Insight, said any investigation raises questions about whether Shell and Chevron’s contracts would be respected by the new government and that at the very least a probe would likely delay the projects.
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Even Ukraine’s ousted President Yanukovich, despite his dealmaking with Russia, had clearly acquiesced to pressure to explore Ukraine’s other energy options. Last year Ukraine signed natural gas exploration deals with Royal Dutch Shell as well as Chevron, which pledged to invest as much as $10 billion if adequate supplies of shale gas were found. The government said it hoped the two companies’ projects would add more than 50% to Ukraine’s current domestic natgas supply. Ukraine could hold more than 40 trillion cubic feet of recoverable shale gas, enough to satisfy decades of demand. Now with Yanukovich gone it’s as if Putin has taken the Crimea as a kind of hostage…
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The world is obviously waiting raptly for an indication of the next occurrence in the chaos gripping Ukraine. There also is a group of western companies preparing to begin exploratory drilling in Ukraine, an effort being undertaken with an eye toward reducing the country’s dependence on Russian gas. For instance, Shell’s docket for the year includes the drilling of 15 appraisal wells in eastern Ukraine’s Yuzivska field. That effort is slated to cost a not-inconsequential $10 billion.
Future Bright For BP and Royal Dutch Shell Shareholders?
Extracts from an article by Rupert Hargreavespublished on 4 March 2014 by The Motley Fool
One of the problems that these oil majors face is the sheer size of their operations, making it hard to keep track of everything. In particular, it has been estimated that up to 30% of Shell’s assets are not currently generating a return on investment. Further, Shell is having a problem with free cash flow, which is not growing nearly as quickly as management said it would. The company said in 2012 that it would generate $200bn of operating cash flow over the ensuing four years, so far it has only realised about $40bn a year. Shell has been divesting assets left, right and centre, with $15bn of asset sales planned, although this figure could double.
The Gas Pipeline Map That Shows Why The Crisis In Ukraine Affects All Of Europe
Map and extracts from article by Michael Kellypublished by businessinsider./com on 3 March 2014
(In answer to LondonLad…)
This Is The Gas Pipeline Map That Shows Why The Crisis In Ukraine Affects All Of Europe: If you question the strategic location of Ukraine, check out this map that Agence France-Presse made last in December — two months before protesters in Kiev forced President Viktor Yanukovych out of office.
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The TRUTH will set you FREE.
