Shell Share Discussion Threads

[ariane] 09/3/2021 09:41

DIVI DATES






4th quarter 2020

Event Date




Pounds sterling and euro equivalents announcement date March 15, 2021

Payment date March 29, 2021

[ariane] 03/3/2021 18:33

DIVIDEND

Closing of currency election date March 05, 2021

Pounds sterling and euro equivalents announcement date March 15, 2021

Payment date March 29, 2021

[grupo guitarlumber] 25/2/2021 09:39

ExxonMobil to Sell Shell, Total-Operated UK Upstream Assets for Over $1 Billion
02/25/2021 | 05:10am GMT


(MT Newswires) -- ExxonMobil said Wednesday it will sell the majority of its non-operated upstream assets in the UK central and northern North Sea for over $1 billion.

The sale to private equity fund HitecVision, through its wholly-owned portfolio company NEO Energy, could also net the company a further about $300 million in contingent payments based on increases in commodity prices.

The agreement includes ownership interests in 14 producing fields operated primarily by Royal Dutch Shell (RDSA.L, RDSA.AS), the Elgin Franklin fields operated by Total (TTA.L, FP.PA, FP.BR), and interests in the associated infrastructure.

The company will retain its non-operated share in upstream assets in the southern North Sea, and its share in the Shell Esso gas and liquids infrastructure that supplies ethane to the company’s Fife ethylene plant.

The transaction is expected to close by the middle of 2021.

Shell's stock jumped over 3%, while Total gained almost 3% on Wednesday's close.

Price (GBP): £1481.60, Change: £47.80, Percent Change: +3.33%

[grupo] 24/2/2021 10:18

Notice of Results

The Hague, February 24(th) 2021 - On Thursday April 29(th) 2021 at 07:00
BST (08:00 CEST and 02:00 EDT) Royal Dutch Shell plc will release its
first quarter results and first quarter interim dividend announcement
for 2021.

These announcements will be available on











(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 24, 2021 04:27 ET (09:27 GMT)

[waldron] 21/2/2021 09:22

subsurface
20 Feb '21 - 22:47 - 53249 of 53250
0 0 0
Oil Report

[adrian j boris] 17/2/2021 13:56

Ex- Dividend Date for ADS.A and ADS.B February 18, 2021

Ex- Dividend Date for RDS A and RDS B February 18, 2021

Record date February 19, 2021

Closing of currency election date (see Note below) March 05, 2021

Pounds sterling and euro equivalents announcement date March 15, 2021

Payment date March 29, 2021

[misca2] 16/2/2021 17:08

$100 Oil: Big Banks Believe A New Oil Supercycle Is Beginning
By Julianne Geiger - Feb 16, 2021, 11:00 AM CST
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Some of the world’s biggest names in oil trading and analyzing can’t seem to get on the same page when it comes to predicting what will happen next for the volatile commodity.

Some, like Jeffrey Currie of Goldman Sachs and Christyan Malek of JPMorgan, according to the Financial Times, are confident that oil is ready for the next supercycle—a prolonged rise in the price of oil.

And when they refer to this rise, they’re talking $80, or even $100 per barrel.

Others, like oil analyst Arjun Murti who correctly predicted the last $100+ per barrel achievement seen between 2008 and 2014, say that talk of this next supercycle may be a bit hasty.

For Malek, he sees a situation where demand outstrips supply, before “we don’t need it in the years to come.”

The reason for supercycle predictions is simple: stimulus packages, most notably the stimulus package that the U.S. government is expected to roll out, are expected to boost consumption.

And according to Currie, this stimulus will create a “significant, commodity-intensive consumption” as the stimulus package is mostly targeting lower and middle-income households.

“These people don’t drive Teslas,” Currie explained. “They drive SUVs”.

Murti, on the other hand, thinks that if oil demand were to increase by a half a million barrels per day over the next year, it wouldn’t be enough to outstrip supply.

As a point of reference, global oil demand sank roughly 10 million barrels per day as a result of the pandemic in 2020.

If, however, oil demand were to pick up steam by as much as 1.4 million barrels per day, a supercycle may follow.

Veteran trader Pierre Andurand told the Financial Times that the fate of oil prices rests on OPEC—specifically on how much oil they supply.

Standing in the way of the next supercycle, says Andurand, could be Iran returning to the global oil markets, and OPEC’s production in general.

Retired veteran trader—a particularly successful one that made a not-so-small fortune on oil’s last supercycle—Andy Hall, sees the oil market in “terminal decline” the Financial Times writes, and likened any price rally as a dead cat bounce.

By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com

[maywillow] 11/2/2021 11:36

Giacomo Romeo from Jefferies retains his positive opinion on the stock with a Buy rating. The target price remains set at GBX 1780.


Analyst Jon Rigby from UBS research considers the stock attractive and recommends it with a Buy rating. The target price is unchanged and still at GBX 1810.

[ariane] 11/2/2021 09:41

Global Oil Market's Cautious Rebalancing Is Underway, IEA Says
11 February 2021 - 09:29AM
Dow Jones News

--The IEA has increased its non-OPEC 2021 supply forecast

--The oil market is set for "rapid stock draw" in the second half of the year, the IEA says

--The agency says North American production is rebounding



By David Hodari



The global supply and demand of crude oil are on course to continue rebalancing this year, after the turmoil brought by the pandemic in 2020, the International Energy Agency said Thursday.

Despite increasing its estimates for the world's oil output in 2021, the IEA said in its closely-watched monthly market report that a recovery in demand will outstrip rising production in the second half of the year to prompt "a rapid stock draw" of the glut of crude built up since the outbreak of the coronavirus.

The agency significantly increased its forecast for producing nations outside of the production pact between the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies such as Russia, upping non-OPEC supply by 290,000 barrels a day to an increase of 830,000 barrels a day this year.

At the same time, the IEA trimmed its forecast for global oil demand by 200,000 barrels a day to 96.4 million barrels--around 3% less than in 2019, before the coronavirus pandemic--although added that part of that change came thanks to a change to historic data.

Even so, with much of the developed world grappling with fresh Covid-19 variants and renewed lockdown restrictions, a brightening economic outlook and strict supply discipline from OPEC-plus are hastening the drawdown in global oil inventories, the IEA said. It added that "the prospect of tighter markets ahead" has been responsible for a sharp rally in oil prices in recent weeks.

Crude prices slipped early Thursday, giving up a fraction of their recent gains. Brent crude, the global benchmark, was last down 0.6% at $61.13 a barrel after climbing for nine straight sessions to notch gains of 11% so far in February and break through the $60-a-barrel level for the first time in a year. West Texas Intermediate futures, the U.S. benchmark, fell 0.6% to $58.31 a barrel.

The beginning of February saw Saudi Arabia--one of the world's largest producers--unilaterally cut an additional 1 million barrels of crude a day in a move that surprised the world when it was announced the month prior.

Along with resilient demand in developing-world powerhouses, such as China and India, as well as hopes of a large U.S. stimulus bill and ecstatic trading in broader financial markets, Riyadh's move has helped fuel a recovery in oil prices.

The so-far successful efforts of OPEC-plus to hold back supply, the hoped success of coronavirus vaccination programs, and the prospect of weaker travel restrictions remain the basis for cautious forecasts of an oil-market recovery, the IEA said.

In that context, the production of non-OPEC producers will be in focus in the coming months. Those countries, particularly the U.S. and Canada, are responding to those higher prices, "albeit cautiously and from a low level," the IEA said.

Drilling and well completion-rates in the Permian Basin have steadily risen in recent months and, while U.S. oil companies are under pressure to reward shareholders and retain financial discipline, current oil prices mean "there is clearly potential for some producers to respect those engagements and modestly increase their capital expenditures," the report added.

Canada, meanwhile, is now pumping at record rates, having restored nearly all the production shut during the nadir of the collapse of the global oil market in April.

If balances continue to tighten and non-OPEC producers ramp up production, that could fray the cohesion of OPEC-plus cuts, the IEA said. That might have consequences for the oil-price rally.



Write to David Hodari at [e-mail]



(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 11, 2021 04:14 ET (09:14 GMT)

[ariane] 08/2/2021 12:49

Is There An Oil Price Correction Coming?
By Julianne Geiger - Feb 05, 2021, 5:00 PM CST

Even as Baker Hughes reported a rise in the number of active drilling rigs in the United States on Friday, oil prices continued to see gains on Friday afternoon.

At 4:19pm EDT, WTI crude was still up 1.32% on the day at $56.97. Brent was still up over 1% on the day, at $59.44—dangerously close to the $60 psychological threshold for the benchmark.

Last week at this time, the spot price for Brent was just $55.04. The near $5 gain is due to a combination of factors, including a large crude oil inventory decrease in the United States, continuing OPEC+ production restraint, Aramco’s price hike to crude for Europe, U.S. traders drunk on stimulus chatter, and whispers of an overall tightening oil market.

These are bullish signals indeed. But can this uptrend last amid lockdown extensions and oil demand that just isn’t there yet?

When a stimulus deal is finalized, oil prices are expected to jump—this is certainly still bullish. But on the bearish side, oil demand is still lagging, and some analysts are not calling for a full rebound in demand for years—if ever.

The EIA, for one, doesn’t see U.S. energy consumption rebounding fully for another eight years. That’s certainly on the bearish side.

Will OPEC will be able hold back the flood of supply until that time? Can they afford not to? Russia is still itching to ramp up its oil production, leery of opening the door for U.S. shale producers. For now, Saudi Arabia is happy to take one for the team, resigned to curb production so others in the group will continue with at least some of the cuts. For now, OPEC’s actions are bullish.

The EIA sees U.S. oil production setting new records, but not until 2023.

Goldman Sachs, however, is still bullish, calling for $65 Brent by mid-year, with WTI in the low $60s.

Rystad Energy, however, sees a price correction on the horizon.

“Many technical indicators are flashing red, so a price correction soon would not be unsurprising,” Rystad said on Friday, according to Oilfield Technology.

By Julianne Geiger For Oilprice.com

[sarkasm] 04/2/2021 22:29

Don't Sell Shell
Feb. 04, 2021 5:24 PM ETRoyal Dutch Shell plc (RDS.A), RDS.BRYDAFRYDBF1 Comment2 Likes
Summary

Shell's dreadful stock price action in 2020 is coming to an end. All the bad news has been priced in and the stock offers good value now.
Oil fundamentals look supportive but even with flat oil prices, Shell's financials look to be getting stronger, providing strong dividend cover.
The Strategy Day on 11th February could offer a catalyst for investors to reconsider Shell as a serious Energy Transition investment option.

The December 21st trading update from Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A) largely foresaw the torrid Q4 results and 2020 full year results just released. In a nutshell, 2020 was an exceptionally challenging year for the oil major.

What should Shell shareholders do? While the company is trying to reposition itself for the new energy landscape ahead, the headlines have been consistently bad for the Anglo-Dutch company. Profit warnings, write-downs, collapsing prices for oil, collapsing refinery margins, the first cut in dividends for decades, a falling share price, and finally the departure of several clean energy executives amid internal arguments over its clean energy strategy have all contributed to the bear market in Shell's stock in the last year.

The 36% fall in the stock price over the last year sounds bad, but there is a fundamental truth in oil markets and that is that the cure for low oil prices is low oil prices. That’s why the weakness in the sector, the cutbacks in production and investment will cause higher oil prices going forward, as I have already pitched in a recent Seeking Alpha article on crude oil, that so far is playing out nicely.

The pessimism about Shell, coupled with some positive signs on the horizon and my bullish outlook on oil in fact make Shell a very good contrarian play.

The fact that December’s profit warning did not do much damage to the share price suggests that all the bad news is already priced in and indeed the stock has started to rise over the last couple of months. The Global Investor thinks this recent price action isn’t a dead cat bounce, but the start of a rally back to a fairer, higher price for Shell's stock.

Oil majors have traditionally been core income stocks for many portfolios but after the first dividend cuts in decades last year, when the dividend was cut 66% it has since been raised slightly in October and now been raised again slightly some more. This gives the stock a current dividend yield of about 3.6%. What’s more, Shell is still slashing costs and capital expenditure, like the rest of the oil and gas industry, and US shale output is falling thanks to weak pricing. This suggests low prices will squeeze out uneconomic supply and help oil prices continue their recovery. And with the rollout of vaccination programs, some oil demand lost in 2020 should come back in 2021, further tightening the supply-demand balance towards higher oil prices.

Another contrarian indicator is that the oil and gas industry is now hated by institutional investors, either for financial reasons or for environmental, social and governance - ESG - reasons and this has simply gone too far. The weighting of the Oil & Gas sector in the main stock market indexes is at lows last seen in the 1990s when oil prices ranged from $10-$20 per barrel.
Risks

This brings us to the risks of owning Shell right now. ESG is a new force in the markets, so some investors simply won’t look at Shell for a long time. Long-term oil demand has probably peaked and the switch to renewable sources of energy will be bumpy as the company is finding in its transition efforts to date. Shell also has the risk that it gets stuck with “stranded assets” with its large reserves of oil and gas. This means Shell’s book value is bound to be higher than its market value as investors price in further write-downs to its asset values. Shell has traditionally been a very reliable dividend payer, but the energy transition makes it almost impossible to balance the needs of high dividend payouts with the large investments required in greener energies. While the dividend has been cut deeply to a lower level, investors cannot assume it will rise back to its previous level quickly as the volatility in energy markets and the restructuring needs of Shell will probably dictate otherwise. Indeed, Shell's management has called it a dividend "reset".
The future

It is expected that Shell will outline a radical new strategy at its investor day scheduled for February 11th. The new strategy, likely to focus on clean energy, and to more closely follow BP’s radical restructuring plans that started last year, could appeal to investors who are looking more at the rate of change in ESG factors than in the absolute level of how good a company is on current ESG measures, specifically with respect to climate change and carbon emissions.
Strategy Day on February 11th

Ultimately, The Global Investor expects Shell to try to strike a balance between driving meaningful change towards 'Net Zero' emissions but also to maximize value from existing businesses over the intermediate period. The following are some of the topics I expect Shell to cover in the forthcoming Strategy Day which I expect to help turn market sentiment back towards Shell’s favor.

Net zero by 2050 or earlier – Shell already outlined this target back in April last year but didn’t give much detail and so wasn’t seen as that credible. Shell will probably present its business plan in more detail to get to these targets.

Upstream oil & gas to underpin cash generation. Having made the mega acquisition of gas major BG Group back in 2016, Shell is more committed to oil & gas than BP who have outlined plans to cut production by 40% over the next decade. Given Shell's project pipeline, its portfolio still has some growth potential but during last year’s Q3 results CEO Ben van Beurden said "It’s probably fair to say that 2019 was the high point in terms of oil production". So Shell is probably keen to keep a relatively flat production profile as it looks to sell non-core positions as it uses its Upstream division to act as a key contributor to cash generation over the next decade, through both operations as well as disposals. While this might disappoint ESG investors who argue for more aggressive action, it will keep dividend investors happy as this strategy reduces risks to free cash flow generation.

Strength in natural gas, the bridge fuel. Shell is the world’s largest player in LNG so it’s likely Shell will highlight the role of natural gas as the “transition fuel” helping reduce carbon emissions because of its cleaner properties compared to coal and its vital role in electricity generation. The term "bridge" comes about because natural gas can support renewables over the period where wind and solar still suffer from intermittency issues.

In 2019 Shell said it expected the LNG market to grow at 4% per year over the next few years. Last year management said Shell’s LNG business will not necessarily match the market "percent for percent" which might mean lower capex needs in this division. LNG will remain a key cash generator over the next decade so expect updates on Shell’s LNG outlook on 11th February.

Growth opportunities in hydrogen and biofuels. For renewables, Shell will likely emphasize both hydrogen and biofuels given hydrogen is a natural fit as it is already produced and consumed in Shell’s refining business. Shell already has about 50 hydrogen fueling stations mostly in Germany and California. In biofuels, Shell is one of the largest blenders and distributors globally, partly due to its 50:50 joint venture with Raizen in Brazil.

Shell will likely highlight its expansion in wind and solar, businesses which are getting extremely competitive now. Shell will look to leverage its strong Marketing and Trading positions to sell more electricity to the customers who currently buy fossil fuels from their large global customer networks.

New Energies to account for about 25% of capital expenditure over the next few years. At last year’s 3Q earnings announcement, Shell guided that capex would remain in the $19-22 billion range over the coming years. It gave high level guidance on the breakdown between segments: 35-40% for Upstream, 35-40% for “Transition business”, which includes Integrated Gas, Chemicals and Refining, and about 25% to growth businesses such as Marketing, Power, Hydrogen, Biofuels and carbon capture, utilization and storage with nature-based solutions. The Global Investor expects Shell to update this breakdown and give more detail.

Overall, hydrocarbons will remain part of Shell’s core strategy over the next decade. This gives it less execution risk on restructuring compared to its great rival BP, but makes it more exposed to oil and gas commodity prices.

While ESG investors do play a role at the margin, and maybe a larger role in Europe, The Global Investor still believes the stock market is overall, at least in the long term, amoral. Short term trends matter and ESG has driven investors away from oil & gas but it could also be argued that that’s mostly happened because of weaker financial returns in the sector. If Shell can raise its profits through higher oil prices, Shell can raise its dividends and investors will put a higher valuation on the stock because of higher dividends.
Dividends

So, it comes back to dividends ultimately. That has always been the driver of Shell’s share price. Assuming oil prices at about $50/bbl over the next few years – more conservative than my actual view – I think Shell will generate $13-14 billion in free cash flow each year. At current dividend levels this implies dividend cover of about 2.5x, a very high number for Shell historically. This means Shell's balance sheet will start to de-leverage quickly. Management has indicated that when net debt falls to about $65 billion it will re-start its share buyback program. This could happen around the middle of next year if oil prices hold. Currently, Shell is guiding for 4% dividend growth per year, but there is big upside potential to this number. Before the dividend reset last year, Shell’s dividend had become unstainable given the investment needed in the energy transition.
Valuation

Shell’s dividend yield over the last 10 years had bounced around the 6% level as it was always assumed the dividend was unstainable. After the reset a much lower more sustainable dividend yield would be more like 3.5% or 3.6%. Taking 3.6% to be conservative, and a forecast full year 2022 dividend of $1.39 per share for the “A” class ADRs would give us a stock price of about $39, or about 6% higher than where it is at the time of this writing. While this isn’t massive upside, the dividend yield of 3.6% and dividend growth of 4-5% per year offers us good stability. All this assumes conservative oil price forecasts and gives Shell ample room to de-lever and increase share buybacks or accelerate dividend growth, which should further put a bid on the stock price.
Conclusion

Value investors and income seekers should continue to own Shell. Shell is very likely to always be a “Supermajor221; but with its focus shifting gradually towards energy in general and away from its historical reliance on oil but gas will play a major role for a long period. Energy is a core need in society so Shell is likely to be able to keep its large size and retain its status as a core “income portfolio” position thanks to strong and stable dividends. In the short term, rebounding oil prices should help near term cash flows and hence drive stock price appreciation. A successful investor day on February 11th could help change Shell’s perception amongst the sustainable investment crowd and market sentiment towards companies through lowering the climate / sustainability / reputational risk for institutional investors in owning Shell. This sustainability focus for investors accounts for a very large section of European institutional investors now. So things are improving now and it's likely we've seen the low in the Shell share price. The bottom line is that Shell is worth holding as a small part of your portfolio.

[misca2] 04/2/2021 21:25

Shell must take 'hard look' at Nigeria assets, CEO van Beurden says
Feb. 04, 2021 2:58 PM ETRoyal Dutch Shell plc (RDS.A)By: Carl Surran, SA News Editor8 Comments

Persistent incidents of pipeline sabotage and oil theft in Nigeria's Niger delta region have pushed Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A -1.1%) to reconsider its position in the country, CEO Ben van Beurden says.
Nigeria is a "headache," and the lack of security in the Niger delta has prompted the company to "take a hard look" at its onshore assets there, van Beurden told today's earnings conference call.
Shell's onshore portfolio in Nigeria, which operates a joint venture with state-owned NNPC, Total and Eni, already has been sold down by ~50% over the past 10 years, the CEO noted.
The constant security and operational challenges in the Niger Delta have long held reputational and legal risks for Shell; just last week, the Hague Court of Appeal ordered the company to compensate three farmers there for damage caused by oil leaks in 2005.
"We believed the leak was caused by sabotage and the judge ruled that could not be proven beyond reasonable doubt, therefore we are liable for damages," van Beurden said.
Shell shares are lower after posting a Q4 loss but saying it expects a strong recovery of oil demand in H2.

[maywillow] 04/2/2021 13:04

LONDON -- Royal Dutch Shell PLC reported a fourth-quarter loss as it continued to grapple with the fallout of the pandemic but said it would raise its dividend, forecasting a recovery in demand later this year.

International oil companies are reporting one of their worst annual performances in decades after Covid-19 sapped demand for oil, hitting prices. In response, energy companies have slashed spending, cut jobs and written down the value of their assets.

Shell on Thursday reported a fourth-quarter loss on a net current-cost-of-supplies basis -- a figure similar to the net income that U.S. oil companies report -- of $4.5 billion, down from a profit of $871 million in the same period the previous year.

For the full year Shell reported a loss of $19.9 billion, from a profit of $15.3 billion in 2019. Shell's peers including Exxon Mobil Corp., Chevron Corp. and BP PLC also reported losses for 2020.

Shell said its profit was hit by a fall in oil and gas production and weak refining margins, as well as already flagged asset write-downs and charges related to onerous contracts.

Overall, Shell's full-year posttax write-downs totaled $21.3 billion, partly reflecting lower energy prices. That is part of a broader revision of asset values across the industry, triggered by the pandemic, which has been the steepest in at least a decade.

Shell said that while it was still feeling the impact of the pandemic with weaker energy demand, it had seen some signs of recovery in the fourth quarter and was optimistic about a continued rebound.

"I am optimistic that in the second half of the year we see a much more fulsome recovery," said Chief Executive Ben van Beurden. Oil demand is around 5% to 7% below the levels of 2019, but should return to those levels in 2022, as the aviation sector in particular recovers, he added.

Shell said it would raise its first-quarter dividend by 4%, in line with the commitment made to shareholders last year of annual increases, after cutting it in April for the first time since World War II by two-thirds.

"We are coming out of 2020 with a stronger balance sheet, ready to accelerate our strategy and make the future of energy," said Mr. van Beurden.

The company has said it would give an update next Thursday on its continuing restructuring and broader strategy to accelerate investments in low-carbon energy.

Rivals Total SE and BP have already laid out targets to increase renewable power generation, while reducing their dependence on fossil fuels.

The pivot to renewable energy comes as Shell and others in the industry are also seeking to reduce debt. Shell wants to cut its debt to $65 billion from $75.4 billion at the end of the fourth quarter. That is down from $79 billion a year ago after a number of asset sales.

Write to Sarah McFarlane at [e-mail]



(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 04, 2021 07:44 ET (12:44 GMT)

[maywillow] 04/2/2021 11:37

Royal Dutch Shell PLC, one of the world's largest oil-and-gas companies, released its fourth quarter 2020 results Thursday, which revealed an 87% drop in earnings. The company blamed the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic, which hammered oil demand and with it oil prices and refining margins.

While the company raised its dividend, its shares were last down 1.4% at GBP13.18. Here are some more remarks from Shell's report:



On Gas:



"Compared with the fourth quarter 2019, Integrated Gas Adjusted Earnings of $1,109 million primarily reflected lower realised prices for LNG, oil and gas and lower contributions from trading and optimisation, partly offset by lower operating expenses... Compared with the full year 2019, total oil and gas production decreased by 1% mainly due to more maintenance activities and lower wells performance"



On Upstream:



"Compared with the fourth quarter 2019, Upstream Adjusted Earnings were a loss of $748 million, reflecting lower oil and gas prices, lower production volumes mainly driven by hurricanes affecting US Gulf of Mexico production and OPEC+ restrictions, and unfavourable deferred tax movements... total production decreased by 10%, mainly due to the impact of divestments, lower production in the NAM joint venture, OPEC+ restrictions and higher maintenance. New fields and ramp-ups, mainly in Brazil, offset the impact of field declines."



On Refined Products:



"Compared with the full year 2019, Oil Products Adjusted Earnings of $5,995 million reflected lower realised refining margins and lower marketing sales volumes due to the weak macroeconomic environment and the COVID-19 pandemic. These were partly offset by lower operating expenses, contributions from crude and oil products trading and optimisation, and favourable deferred tax movements."



On 1Q 2021:



"As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, there continues to be significant uncertainty in the macroeconomic conditions with an expected negative impact on demand for oil, gas and related products... Due to demand or regulatory requirements and/or constraints in infrastructure, Shell may need to take measures to curtail or reduce oil and/or gas production, LNG liquefaction as well as utilisation of refining and chemicals plants and similarly sales volumes could be impacted. Such measures will likely have a variety of impacts on our operational and financial metrics."



On Debt:



"Net debt was $75.4 billion at the end of the fourth quarter 2020, compared with $73.5 billion at the end of the third quarter 2020, mainly driven by lower free cash flow generation and by lease additions, partly offset by favourable foreign currency exchange translation differences."



Shell CEO Ben van Beurden on 2020:



"2020 was an extraordinary year. We have taken tough but decisive actions and demonstrated highly resilient operational delivery... We are coming out of 2020 with a stronger balance sheet, ready to accelerate our strategy and make the future of energy. We are committed to our progressive dividend policy and expect to grow our US dollar dividend per share by around 4% as of the first quarter 2021."



Write to David Hodari at [e-mail].



(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 04, 2021 06:08 ET (11:08 GMT)

[waldron] 04/2/2021 09:04

Oil major Shell reports sharp drop in full-year profit, raises dividend
Published Thu, Feb 4 20212:31 AM ESTUpdated Thu, Feb 4 20213:18 AM EST
Sam Meredith
@smeredith19
Share
Key Points

Shell reported adjusted earnings of $4.85 billion for the full-year 2020. That compared with a profit of $16.5 billion for the full-year 2019.
The company said it would raise its first-quarter dividend to $0.1735 per share, reflecting an increase of 4% from the previous quarter.
The results come as energy giants seek to reassure investors about their future profitability, following a dreadful year for the global oil and gas industry by virtually every measure.

Royal Dutch Shell products in Torzhok, Russia.
Royal Dutch Shell products in Torzhok, Russia.
Andrey Rudakov | Bloomberg | Getty Images

LONDON — Oil giant Royal Dutch Shell on Thursday reported a sharp drop in full-year profit as the coronavirus pandemic took a heavy toll on the global oil and gas industry.

Shell reported adjusted earnings of $4.85 billion for the full-year 2020. That compared with a profit of $16.5 billion for the full-year 2019, reflecting a drop of 71%. Analysts polled by Refinitiv had expected full-year 2020 net profit to come in $5.15 billion.

For the final quarter of 2020, Shell reported adjusted earnings of $393 million, missing analyst expectations of $470.5 million.

The company said it would raise its first-quarter dividend to $0.1735 per share, an increase of 4% from the previous quarter.

Shell CEO Ben van Beurden described 2020 as an “extraordinary” year.

“We have taken tough but decisive actions and demonstrated highly resilient operational delivery while caring for our people, customers and communities. We are coming out of 2020 with a stronger balance sheet, ready to accelerate our strategy and make the future of energy,” van Beurden said in a statement.

Income attributable to Shell shareholders collapsed by 237% to a loss of $21.7 billion in full-year 2020, down from a profit of $15.8 billion in full-year 2019.
PUBLICITÉ

Shell said this was the first full-year headline loss since the unification of Royal Dutch Petroleum Company and Shell Transport & Trading Company to one parent company in 2005.

Energy supermajors endured a dreadful 12 months by virtually every measure in 2020 and the industry faces significant challenges and uncertainties as it seeks to recover.

Last year, the Covid pandemic coincided with a historic demand shock, falling commodity prices, evaporating profits, unprecedented write-downs and tens of thousands of job cuts.

Shell said it had reduced its net debt by $4 billion to $75 billion over the course of 2020.

Shares of the company are up more than 3% year-to-date, having plummeted over 44% last year.




2021 outlook

Shell’s results come as oil and gas giants seek to reassure investors about their future profitability, pointing to an expected upswing in fuel demand in the second half of the year and a mass rollout of Covid vaccines.

However, renewed lockdown measures and limited mobility worldwide amid the ongoing Covid-19 crisis has prompted some of Shell’s peers to warn of a tough start to 2021.

U.S. major Exxon Mobil reported on Tuesday that it had lost $20.1 billion during the most recent quarter, while U.K.-based oil and gas company BP posted its first full-year net loss in a decade.

International benchmark Brent crude futures traded at $58.81 a barrel on Thursday morning, up around 0.6%, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures stood at $56.08, more than 0.7% higher.

Oil prices have steadily improved since the start of the year, with WTI climbing to its highest level in more than a year in the previous session. Crude futures have been supported by ongoing production cuts and the mass rollout of Covid vaccines.

OPEC and non-OPEC partners, an oil producer group sometimes referred to as OPEC+, maintained their production policy on Wednesday, buoyed by rising oil prices.

The energy alliance said it was “optimistic221; for a year of recovery in 2021.

[waldron] 04/2/2021 08:52

-Shell ended 2020 with a $4 billion loss in the fourth quarter, dragged by impairments and other one-offs

--Adjusted CCS earnings came in at a profit but below the market consensus

--Net debt increased to more than $75 billion.



By Jaime Llinares Taboada



Royal Dutch Shell PLC on Thursday posted a loss for the fourth quarter of the year as its underlying performance was worse than expected.

The Anglo-Dutch oil-and-gas major booked a net loss of $4.01 billion for the three months to Dec. 31, swinging from a $489 million profit for the third quarter and a $965 million profit for the fourth quarter of 2019. This was largely caused by impairment charges of $2.7 billion and $1.1 billion in costs related to contract provisions.

The full-year loss was $21.68 billion compared with a $15.84 billion profit for 2019.

Fourth-quarter adjusted earnings on a current cost of supplies basis came in at $393 million, down from $955 million in the third quarter and below the market consensus of $597 million, taken from Vara Research and based on 25 analysts' forecasts. The metric is a figure similar to the net income that U.S. oil companies report, but strips out exceptional items.

Adjusted CCS earnings were been $2.93 billion in the fourth quarter of 2019. The FTSE 100 company said the on-year decline was driven by lower realized prices for oil and liquefied natural gas, as well as lower production and realized refining margins.

Operating cash flow fell to $6.29 billion from $10.40 billion for the third quarter and from $10.27 billion for a year earlier.

Shell declared a quarterly dividend of $0.1665, bringing the full-year payment to $0.653--down from $1.88 in 2019. In addition, the company anticipated a payment of $0.1735 a share for the first quarter of 2021.

Net debt as at the end of the year was $75.4 billion, up from $73.5 billion at the end of the third quarter, driven by lower free cash flow generation and lease additions.

Shell has a target to reduce net debt to $65 billion before distributing 20%-30% of cash flow from operations to shareholders through dividends and share buybacks.

Looking ahead, Shell warned that headwinds will continue in the first quarter of 2021. "As a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, there continues to be significant uncertainty in the macroeconomic conditions with an expected negative impact on demand for oil, gas and related products."



Write to Jaime Llinares Taboada at [e-mail]; @JaimeLlinaresT



(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 04, 2021 02:57 ET (07:57 GMT)

[waldron] 04/2/2021 08:47

Shell non-GAAP EPS of $0.05, misses on revenue, provides Q1 production outlook
Feb. 04, 2021 2:08 AM ETRoyal Dutch Shell plc (RDS.A)By: Mamta Mayani, SA News Editor6 Comments

Shell (NYSE:RDS.A): Q4 Non-GAAP EPS of $0.05; GAAP EPS of -$0.52 misses by $0.36.
Revenue of $43.99B (-47.6% Y/Y) misses by $3.46B.
The Board expects Q1 2021 interim dividend will be $0.1735/share, an increase of ~4% over Q4 dividend of $0.1665/share.
Q1 2021 Production Outlook:
Integrated Gas and new energies: 900 - 950 thousand boe/d
Liquefaction volumes: 8.0 - 8.6 million tonnes.
Upstream production: ~2,400 - 2,600 thousand boe/d.
Oil Products sales volumes: ~4,000 - 5,000 thousand b/d.
Refinery utilization: ~73% - 81%.
Chemicals sales volumes: ~3,600 - 3,900 thousand tonnes.
Chemicals manufacturing plant utilization: ~80% - 88%.
"We are committed to our progressive dividend policy and expect to grow our US dollar dividend per share by around 4% as of the first quarter 2021.” says CEO, Ben van Beurden.

[grupo] 04/2/2021 00:36

Vaca Muerta producing at record levels, matching U.S. well scores - Rystad
Feb. 03, 2021 5:59 PM ETYPF Sociedad Anónima (YPF)By: Carl Surran, SA News Editor

Production from the Vaca Muerta shale formation in Argentina has not only rebounded to pre-pandemic levels but also reached a record high of 124K bbl/day in December 2020, Rystad Energy reports.
The ascent can continue towards the 145K-150K bbl/day range by the end of 2021 if current activity levels continue, Rystad says.
Lead developer YPF has not yet returned to its pre-COVID Vaca Muerta oil production record, so the play's recovery was driven mostly by other producers with aggressive capital programs, including Vista Oil and Gas (NYSE:VIST), which produced 15K bbl/day in December, and Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A, RDS.B) with 13K bbl/day, new all-time highs from the basin for both operators.
Rystad says the estimated ultimate recovery range for recent Vaca Muerta oil wells is comparable to the Midland and Eagle Ford plays in the U.S.
Vaca Muerta wells also benefit from extremely low gas-to-oil ratios, which means "breakeven oil prices in Vaca Muerta's oil window are already at the same level as the best U.S. tight oil plays," according to Rystad.
YPF's top short-term challenge will be the refinancing of its international bond maturing in March 2021 amid currency controls implemented by Argentine authorities, Shahid Manzoor writes in a bearish analysis posted on Seeking Alpha.