Shell Share Discussion Threads

[waldron] 01/8/2019 15:12

01 Aug 2019 | 14:00 UTC London

Shell sidestepping UK-flagged tankers for Hormuz oil transport: CEO

Author Robert Perkins Editor Jonathan Loades Carter Commodity Oil

London — Shell-operated operated tankers continue to lift crude and products from the Persian Gulf via the Strait of Hormuz but the oil major is not currently using any UK-flagged vessels for voyages in the key oil shipping artery, Shell's CEO Ben van Beurden said Thursday.
Not registered?

Receive daily email alerts, subscriber notes & personalize your experience.
Register Now

Tensions over threats to shipping from Iran in the key transit choke-points remain high since the seizure and attempted seizure by Tehran of UK-flagged tankers earlier this month.

An oil tanker owned by oil major BP, the British Heritage, was approached by three Iranian vessels in the Persian Gulf on July 10 which attempted to impede the vessel. The Iranian ships turned back, however, after a British Navy frigate accompanying the tanker intervened. Iran's Revolutionary Guards later detained the UK-flagged Stena Impero chemical tanker.

"We monitor each and every vessel individually and we assess the conditions around it," van Beurden told reporters on a conference call. "There are Shell-managed vessels in the Strait of Hormuz and that will probably continue to be the case. Currently, though there are no UK-flagged vessel [in the Persian Gulf]."

Van Beurden said Shell's understanding is that any UK-flagged vessels transiting the strait will be accompanied by the UK's Royal Navy as a precaution.

He said Shell remained in close contact with the UK's Department for Transport and the Royal Navy, as well as the US Fifth Fleet based in Qatar, to coordinate the safety of its operated vessels in the region.

BP's CEO Bob Dudley this week told Bloomberg his company was not sending "British ships and crews" through the Strait of Hormuz.

The UK Ministry of Defence said on Sunday that the Royal Navy vessel HMS Duncan had arrived in the Gulf region to help protect British-flagged ships through the strait, alongside HMS Montrose.

About 17.3 million b/d of crude oil and 3.3 million b/d of refined products flowed through the strait last year, or the equivalent of about 21% of global petroleum liquids consumption, according to the US Energy Information Administration.

-- Robert Perkins, [e-mail]

-- Edited by Jonathan Loades-Carter, [e-mail]

[crossing_the_rubicon] 01/8/2019 14:30

Disappointing I have to say but still a decent hold imo.
Funny how it seems BP and Shell take turns to report decent/disappointing quarters.

[spud] 01/8/2019 14:25

Topped up @ 2482p although has dropped beyond that. I'm not overly concerned - Nice divi and it ain't about to go bust anytime soon!

spud

[fjgooner] 01/8/2019 14:20

Responding to analysts:

Business is very strong, fully on track for previously provided 2020 outlook, 2019 second half to be stronger with Apo & Prelude now on stream, better asset utilisation expected in 2019H2 now maintenance & industrial issues now resolved.

Full transcript will no doubt be available later today.

Share price reaction to Q2 looks way overdone to me.

[fjgooner] 01/8/2019 11:47

Q2 webcast starts at 1pm BST. Requires a simple 60-second sign-up - email address & a name, org & title which can be anything.

[maywillow] 01/8/2019 11:44

Royal Dutch Shell PLC's profit plunged in the second quarter, with lower oil and gas prices and weaker refining margins outweighing a rise in production.

The Anglo-Dutch oil giant said Thursday its quarterly profit on a current cost-of-supplies basis -- a number similar to the net income that U.S. oil companies report -- was $3.03 billion, down from $5.23 billion a year earlier. The adjusted results missed the company-provided analyst consensus, coming in almost a third below expectations.

Shares in the company were down more than 4% in London morning trading.

Energy majors' second-quarter results have been hit by lower oil and gas prices versus the same period a year ago. Shell's performance is consistent with most of its peers, with France's Total SA and Norway's Equinor ASA both reporting falling profits last week and missing analyst expectations.

BP PLC was the exception, beating expectations to report a similar quarterly result to the comparable period a year earlier.

U.S. oil giants Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp. are set to report their results Friday.

Like Shell, Total and BP posted solid production increases. The rise in output from the majors comes after years of cost cutting in the wake of oil prices collapsing in 2014. Major oil companies are back investing in new production, albeit sometimes in the form of acquisitions rather than developing their own exploration finds.

Total is on track to raise production by 9% this year, helped by their acquisition of Maersk Oil's assets which closed a year ago, alongside projects starting up, including in Angola and the North Sea.

Shell's production rose 4% to 3.58 million barrels a day compared with a year earlier, boosted by fields in North America. Its output is expected to rise again in the third quarter, as production ramps up from some fields and liquefied natural gas projects.

"In Shell's case for instance we do have the startup of several major projects that are contributing to production growth," said Jefferies equity analyst Jason Gammel, adding that some of these, including the Appomattox project in the Gulf of Mexico, were sanctioned before the 2014 downturn in oil prices.

Shell's cash flow from operations rose to $11.03 billion from $9.5 billion in the prior-year period.

"We have delivered good cash flow performance, despite earnings volatility, in a quarter that has seen challenging macroeconomic conditions in refining and chemicals as well as lower gas prices," Chief Executive Ben van Beurden said.

Shell has pivoted toward gas production since its 2015 deal to buy BG Group PLC, known for its global liquefied natural gas business.

A year ago, Shell launched a $25 billion share buyback program. The company said Thursday it would buy back $2.75 billion of shares in the next tranche, in line with the first quarter of 2019.

The company maintained its quarterly dividend at 47 cents a share.

Write to Sarah McFarlane at [e-mail]



(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 01, 2019 06:08 ET (10:08 GMT)

[maywillow] 01/8/2019 11:41

Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSB.LN) reported its second-quarter earnings on Thursday. Shares at 0954 GMT were down 4.7% at 2,481.50 pence. Here's what we watched:



EARNINGS: Shell reported an adjusted profit on a current cost-of-supplies basis attributable to shareholders--the company's preferred metric--of $3.46 billion, missing analyst expectations. A consensus estimate of 26 broker estimates compiled by Vara Research had forecast second-quarter adjusted net CCS earnings at $4.93 billion. In the year-earlier period, Shell reported adjusted net CCS earnings of $4.69 billion.



WHAT WE WATCHED:



-PRODUCTION: Shell reported a 4% rise in production for the second quarter of the year, averaging 3.6 million barrels of oil-equivalent a day, up from 3.4 million barrels in the year-earlier period. In the first quarter of 2019, production had been slightly higher at 3.8 million barrels of oil-equivalent a day.

-DOWNSTREAM: Shell said CCS earnings excluding identified items for its downstream division fell 19% to $1.34 billion. In particular, during the second quarter, chemical manufacturing plant availability fell to 85% from 93% in the second quarter of 2018 due to maintenance activities and strikes in the Netherlands.

-BUYBACK: The company announced another tranche of its share buyback program of $2.75 billion, in line with the first quarter of the year.



Write to Oliver Griffin at [e-mail]; @OliGGriffin



(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 01, 2019 06:16 ET (10:16 GMT)

[lammergeier] 01/8/2019 10:17

During times of world financial insecurity,history has shown that large companies

such as Shell with huge cash flows,high dividend yield and price earnings growth of


less than one are relatively safe havens for investment in the long term.

[spud] 01/8/2019 10:07

Yup all the buybacks do is flatter the eps. Seems to make fanny all difference to the price/investor. spud

[tornado12] 01/8/2019 10:02

Is a bad quarter but the strategy towards LNG remains the future as well as the non fossil generation. I’m here for the long haul and the Divi remain solid as always and well above ftse 100 average ROI. Not phased as all and will buy more above auto reinvest my divis

[holts] 01/8/2019 10:02

I wish they would shove the buyback where the sun doesn't shine .

[fjgooner] 01/8/2019 09:59

Of course the dividend is 100% safe - $2.75 Billion of share buybacks per quarter are being purchased in addition to the dividend.

Whilst some of this quarter's figures are both surprising and disappointing given that the previous quarter results beat analyst forecasts, revenue of $1 Billion per day is still quite astounding when you think about it.

I think Ben van Beurden's comments this morning describe the quarter quite succinctly:

“We have delivered good cash flow performance, despite earnings volatility, in a quarter that has seen challenging macroeconomic conditions in refining and chemicals as well as lower gas prices. This quarter we achieved some key milestones, such as the start-up of Appomattox and the first LNG cargo from Prelude. These add to our competitive portfolio, which is expected to generate additional cash in the coming quarters.

The resilience of our Upstream and customer-facing businesses and their ability to generate cash support the delivery of our 2020 outlook, which remains unchanged.”

[waldron] 01/8/2019 09:36

The company maintained its quarterly dividend at 47 cents a share.



Write to Oliver Griffin at [e-mail]; @OliGGriffin

[grupo guitarlumber] 01/8/2019 09:26

imperial3
1 Aug '19 - 09:13 - 6705 of 6706
0 0 0
How safe is the dividend?


seems safe and confirmed as staying the same at this juncture

[lippy4] 01/8/2019 09:19

bought some more,the future as 2sporrans outlined has to be gas in the interim,thats why i bought in here at £17 some years ago..

[imperial3] 01/8/2019 09:13

How safe is the dividend?

[grupo] 01/8/2019 08:40

THERES ONLY ONE WORD

[2sporrans] 01/8/2019 08:25

One difficulty being faced is the burgeoning short term over-supply
in the LNG market; it won't clear over a few months bar some shock event.

Yet, I'm keeping the faith with Dutch here on their big push into LNG
for the next decade at least.
Can the Chinese and Indians et al keep up their coal for elec. generation expansion
much longer?
Climate change impact apart, this is killing their air badly; Ganges valley now
worse than rust belt China. That's atrocious.
Gas easily the least ugly of the hydrocarbon sisters when it comes to pollution, esp.
elec. gen.
Renewables still don't cut it [yet] for base load power, nuclear very dear...which pretty much leaves Gas as the best choice.
That's what underpins the Shell forecasts for LNG global demand and margin growth and their cashflow prolific to-2025 scenario.

Let's hope Prelude delivers efficiently for starters.

[sogoesit] 01/8/2019 08:14

One word for it, poor.
Free cash flow down as far as I can see and still splashing the cash on buy-backs.

[grupo] 01/8/2019 08:06

Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSB.LN) on Thursday reported a 42% fall in second-quarter earnings, citing the effect of lower oil and gas prices and weaker margins on chemicals and refining operations.

The Anglo-Dutch oil giant reported profit on a net current cost-of-supplies basis--a figure similar to the net income that U.S. oil companies report--for the three months ended June 30 of $3.03 billion, compared with $5.23 billion in the year-earlier period.

Adjusted net CCS earnings, which exclude certain items and is Shell's preferred metric, came in at $3.46 billion, compared with $4.69 billion in the second quarter of 2018. A consensus estimate of 26 broker estimates compiled by Vara Research had forecast second-quarter adjusted net CCS earnings at $4.93 billion.

Weakness in oil prices was tempered slightly by stronger production, the company said. Total production was up 4% on the year-earlier period at 3.6 million barrels of oil equivalent a day, though down on the prior period. CCS earnings excluding identified items in the company's upstream business fell 8.4% to $1.34 billion, though came in up 1.7% at $3.06 billion for the first half of the year.

Integrated gas CCS earnings excluding identified items fell 25% to $1.73 billion, Shell said. Production in the division fell 3% on year following divestments.

Revenue for the period fell 7.5% to $91.84 billion. Cash flow from operations rose to $11.03 billion, from $9.5 billion in the prior-year period.

A year ago, Shell launched a $25 billion share buyback program. The company said it would buy back a further $2.75 billion of shares in the next tranche, in line with the first quarter of 2019.

The company maintained its quarterly dividend at 47 cents a share.



Write to Oliver Griffin at [e-mail]; @OliGGriffin



(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 01, 2019 02:41 ET (06:41 GMT)