Oil price rout hits credit rating of Royal Dutch Shell Plc
Standard & Poor’s warned today that the six-month collapse in oil prices has undermined the credit ratings of Royal Dutch Shell, BP and Total.
Extract from warning issued by Standard & Poor’s:
We have revised to negative our outlooks on three oil majors, while affirming the credit ratings on these companies to reflect that we will further evaluate management’s actions in reducing negative free cash flow by cutting costs and gradually reducing capital expenditures (capex).
RELATED FINANCIAL TIMES ARTICLE
RELATED Seeking Alpha ARTICLE: S&P says outlook negative for BP, Shell, Total amid deteriorating oil prices
Extract
S&P revises its outlook to negative for BP, Royal Dutch Shell and Total, as it cites “the dramatic deterioration in the oil price outlook” in forecasting still more negative free cash flow in 2015 extending possibly into 2016, given fairly inflexible capital expenditure and high dividends.
RELATED FT ARTICLE: Opec leader vows not to cut oil output even if prices hit $20 a barrel
Tumbling crude prices will lay waste to countries and companies alike
By John Donovan
The oil industry is leaving 2014 on a low note as far as oil prices are concerned.
A financial earthquake has hit ExxonMobil, Royal Dutch Shell, BP, Chevron, Conocophillips and Total.
The Sunday Times devoted a whole page article by Danny Fortson to the turmoil resulting from the collapse in the price of crude oil.
According to his article on page 5 of the Business Section of The Sunday Times published on 21 Dec 2014:
“Tumbling crude prices will lay waste to countries and companies alike”
…and tens of thousands of British jobs are at risk.
Extracts
The slide is reminiscent of the price shocks of 1973, 1979 and 1998. It may be a godsend for drivers and households squeezed by soaring energy bills, but the speed and severity of the drop will also be hugely destructive and wlde-ranglng. Companies will go bust. Mega-mergers will return.
“The impact on the oil producers is likely to be big, too. Having become addicted to the oil revenues and ramped up spending to buy off their populations, they now face painful retrenchment. Some – Venezuela, Russia and Iran – are very exposed.”
The article also says that BP has warned of thousands of redundancies.
Petition over Allseas Nazi named ship, the Peter Schelte
By John Donovan
I have just started apetition on change.org asking Edward Heerema, the owner of Allseas Group SA, to change the name of his new ship currently named in honour of his Nazi war criminal father, shown right in his Waffen SS uniform.
If you share my disgust, you can support the petitionhere
I have also brought this matter to the attention of the Simon Wiesenthal Organisation.
FROM CHANGE.ORG
Petitioning Edward Heerema, founder of Allseas Group SA
This petition will be delivered to: Edward Heerema, founder of Allseas Group SA
Out of respect to the victims of the Nazi war crimes, please change the name of your gigantic new ship, the Pieter Schelte, named after your father, a former officer in the murderous Waffen SS and diehard member of the Nazi party.
Please change the name of your new ship, the Pieter Schelte, at 1,253 feet long and 384 feet wide, said to be the largest ship in the world in area.
Astonishingly, you have named the ship in honour of your late father Pieter Schelte Heerema, a former officer in the murderous Waffen SS officer and a diehard member of the Nazi party, who was once quoted as saying:
“The German race is model. The Jewish race, by comparison, is parasitic … therefore the Jewish question must be resolved in every Aryan country.”
You have done so in your capacity as the founder of the Swiss-based Allseas oil services company that owns the Nazi named ship, which has just entered service in the offshore oil industry, with Shell as one of its first clients.
This public homage by you as the weathy son of a Nazi war criminal is an affront to the relatives of tens of millions of souls who perished at the hands of Nazi Germany, the most evil regime in history. Many innocent victims, including children, died in the most horrific circumstances in the gas ovens at Nazi concentration camps.
Forbes published an article on the subject on 20 December 2014:
“Big Oil’s $3 Billion Homage to Nazi War Criminal”
Extract from the Forbes article
The interesting thing is that Allseas seems to be getting away with this. The Dutch government even provided a subsidy for the project. Meanwhile, after a brief flurry of interest in 2008 when the original contract to build the Pieter Schelte was signed with Korea’s Daewoo shipyard, the Dutch press has largely swept the controversy under the rug. The Korean press too has been quiet. (Even as the ship left Seoul in November, the event seems to have gone almost completely unrecorded…
I am identified in the Forbes article as a so-called Shell whistleblower. I have published articles on the subject, corresponded with Allseas Group and received written threats from your company, no doubt originated by your lawyers.
I accept that you had the ship named after your father out of genuine affection and high regard for him, irrespective of his past. I was very fond of my late father who fought against the Japanese in Burma.
However, in view of the unspeakable war crimes against humanity committed by the Nazis, I believe your action is morally wrong and hope you will reconsider an act that many might regard as the height of arrogance and blatantly disrespectful to the victims of Nazi attrocities.
Please change the ships name so that it no longer sails under the name of a former Waffen SS Officer jailed for war crimes.
I feel sure that many others will share my feelings and support this appeal to you.
(A photograph of Pieter Schelte Heerema wearing an SS uniform can be viewed via the link shown below. He was a renowned maritime engineer, but rightly condemned for his service in the Nazi Waffen SS.)
The TRUTH will set you FREE.
