Exxon Secures Lead in top US Oilfield with $60B Buy of Shale Rival Pioneer
Exxon Mobil agreed to buy U.S. rival Pioneer Natural Resources in an all-stock deal valued at $59.5 billion that would make it the biggest producer in the largest U.S. oilfield and secure a decade of low-cost production.The deal, valued at $253 a share, combines the largest U.S. oil company with one of the most successful names to emerge from the shale revolution that turned the U.S. into…
Shell LNG Trading Gives Quarterly Boost
Earnings from Shell's liquefied natural gas (LNG) trading operations are likely to have been significantly higher in the fourth quarter of last year despite a sharp output drop owing to plant outages, it said on Friday.Europe's largest oil and gas company's update ahead of its full-year results on Feb. 2 also said it expects to pay about $2 billion in additional 2022 taxes related to the…
Incoming Shell Boss Aims Fire up Renewables Drive
Shell's incoming Chief Executive Wael Sawan is set to accelerate the group's drive to build its renewable energy business, including through a possible "transformative" clean power acquisition, company and industry sources said.Sawan will from January take on a firm with a strong balance sheet after a surge in oil and gas prices, but whose renewables capacity has lagged peers like TotalEnergies and BP as green issues come increasingly into vogue.
Shell Weighs Sale of $2B-plus Share in Queensland LNG
Royal Dutch Shell is considering raising more than $2 billion from the sale of a stake in the common facilities at its Queensland Curtis LNG plant in Australia, according to a sale flyer reviewed by Reuters."Royal Dutch Shell plc is considering a sale of a 26.25% interest in the Queensland Curtis LNG (QCLNG) Common Facilities - a multibillion-dollar investment opportunity," the sale flyer said.The sale process is being run by Rothschild & Co and is due to be completed in 2020…
Shell Cuts Dividend for First Time Since World War Two
Royal Dutch Shell cut its dividend for the first time since World War Two on Thursday as the energy company retrenched in the face of an unprecedented drop in oil demand due to the coronavirus pandemic.Shell also suspended the next tranche of its share buyback program and said it was reducing oil and gas output by nearly a quarter after its net profit almost halved in the first three months of 2020.Shell's shares in London dropped 6.7% in early trading on Thursday…
Gould Elected to Oxy Board of Directors
US based oil and gas company Occidental Petroleum announced on Thursday that former Schlumberger Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Andrew Gould has been elected to its Board of Directors effective March 1, 2020.Gould has more than 40 years of experience in the oil and gas industry. He started his career at Schlumberger in 1975 and served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the oilfield services giant from 2003 to 2011.
Shell Appoints New Head of Refining
Royal Dutch Shell has appointed Huibert Vigeveno to head its downstream businesss, the refining operations that are to become a key pillar for the oil and gas company as it transitions to cleaner energy.Vigeveno, 50, previously led Shell's global commercial business and rose to prominence when he oversaw the integration of smaller rival BG Group after its $53 billion acquisition in 2016.His…
Shell Pursues Exit from Indonesia LNG Project
Royal Dutch Shell is moving to sell its stake in Indonesia's $15 billion Abadi liquefied natural gas (LNG) project, industry and banking sources said, following on from an asset disposal program that has raised more than $30 billion.Shell, the world's largest buyer and seller of LNG, is raising cash to help pay for its $54 billion purchase of BG Group in 2015 and hopes to raise around $1 billion from the sale of its 35 percent stake in the project…
Shell Outperforms Rivals in Q1
Royal Dutch Shell reported on Thursday a small drop in first quarter profit to $5.4 billion, but still easily beat forecasts, helped by stronger trading and liquefied natural gas earnings.Shell's results outshone those of rivals Exxon Mobil, Chevron and BP which all saw sharp declines in profits in the first three months of the year as a result of lower refining margins and weaker crude and gas prices.Shell's shares were up 2.5 percent by 0932 GMT…
Chevron to Buy Anadarko for $33 Bln
Chevron Corp on Friday said it will buy oil and gas producer Anadarko Petroleum Corp for $33 billion in cash and stock in a deal that doubles down on its bet on U.S. shale and LNG as U.S. energy production is shattering records.The deal makes Chevron the second-largest major by crude production, behind Exxon Mobil Corp, up from fourth. It expands Chevron's reach in two areas where U.S.
Expro Promotes Two Execs
Oilfield services company Expro announced Thursday it has promoted two company executives.Current Executive Vice President, Alistair Geddes, has been promoted to Chief Operating Officer (COO) with immediate effect, and Keith Palmer has been promoted to Executive Vice President – Product Lines and will be responsible for Expro’s product lines, technology and group engineering.
Shell Appoints Sawan as Upstream Boss
Royal Dutch Shell has appointed Wael Sawan to head its oil and gas production division, replacing Andy Brown who will step down after 35 years at the Anglo-Dutch company.Sawan, 44, a Canadian citizen of Lebanese origin, currently heads Shell's deepwater operations, one of the company's cash growth engines in recent years. He joined Shell in 1997.Brown, 56, will remain a member of Shell's executive committee until his departure on Sept.
Shell Profits Soar
Royal Dutch Shell's profits soared to a four-year high in the third quarter, boosted by rising oil and gas prices as the company accelerated its giant $25 billion share buyback program.Although the $5.6 billion quarterly profit slightly missed forecasts for a fourth quarter, investors took heart from a nearly 60 percent rise in Shell's cash generation to $12.1 billion, as deep cost savings in recent years filtered through.Excluding one-off charges…
LNG Investment Set to Grow
Following years in the pricing doldrums, LNG is hot again, with business prospects for floating production and regasification looking strong through 2023. We talk to Jim McCaul of International Maritime Associates (IMA) for his insights, as he is fresh off of a 12-month stint investigating the market in depth."We wanted to take a fresh look at the market, to identify opportunities both in the production and regassification of LNG" is how McCaul…
Shell Sells its Danish Upstream Assets for $1.9 Bln
Royal Dutch Shell has agreed to sell its Danish upstream business to Norwegian Energy (Noreco) in a deal valuing the assets at $1.9 billion, as part of its wider divestment strategy, the company said on Wednesday.The sale brings Shell's three-year $30 billion divestment plan close to its conclusion, having begun the process in 2015 after the acquisition of BG Group. Deals so far have included large portfolios in the British North Sea…
LNG Report: Floating Liquefaction & Regasification
International Maritime Associates has completed a 12-month study of the global market for floating gas liquefaction plants and floating LNG regasification terminals. The 150+ page study, published by World Energy Reports, is the most detailed analysis yet made of this growing business sector. Project Success EvaluationThe IMA study is the first professional effort to systematically look…
IMA Completes 12-month Study of the Floating Liquefaction and Regasification Market
International Maritime Associates has just completed a 12-month study of the global market for floating gas liquefaction plants and floating LNG regasification terminals. The 150+ page study, published by World Energy Reports, is the most detailed analysis yet made of this growing business sector.Project Success EvaluationThe IMA study is the first professional effort to systematically…
Shell in Talks to Sell $1.3 Bln of Gulf Coast Assets
Royal Dutch Shell Plc is in talks to sell its assets in a Gulf of Mexico oilfield to Focus Oil to pay for its takeover of BG Group Plc, Bloomberg reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with matter.The deal could value Shell's stake in the Caesar Tonga field at about $1.3 billion, the report said.Shell has a 22.5 percent working interest in Caesar Tonga, with the rest owned by companies including Anadarko Petroleum Corp, Equinor ASA and Chevron Corp, Bloomberg said, citing co
Shale Innovator Mark Papa Joins Schlumberger Board
Oilfield services company Schlumberger NV has appointed shale pioneer Mark Papa and energy researcher Tatiana Mitrova to its board of directors, according to a filing on Monday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.Papa, who built independent energy producer EOG Resources into one of the most profitable U.S. shale companies, currently heads Centennial Resource Development.His appointment comes just a few months after Helge Lund…
Predictive Software to Optimize FPSO Maintenance
A new test project in Norway looks to employ specialty software for the optimization of floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) maintenance.Lloyd's Register (LR) said it is using its RTAMO software to support AkerBP in an effort aiming to optimize maintenance activities for the Skarv FPSO infrastructure and equipment.RTAMO, which stands for Real-Time Adaptive Maintenance Optimization…