High oil and natural gas help Shell
Royal Dutch Shell reported quarterly profits today and saw income tick up 33 percent. The oil company said high oil and natural gas prices helped it during a difficult period. Stephen Beard reports.
Sign from a Shell gas station (Tim Boyle/Getty Images)
More on Oil
TEXT OF STORY
Stacey Vanek-Smith: The prices of oil has dropped a bit in recent weeks, but it's still roughly double what it was this time last year. That's bad news for drivers and grocery shoppers and, well, bad news for most people. Good news, though, for oil companies. Earlier this week, British Oil Giant BP announced a 28 percent jump in profits. And today, three of Europe's largest oil companies reported stellar quarters. Including Royal Dutch Shell, which saw income tick up 33 percent. From London, Stephen Beard reports.
Stephen Beard: Shell says that high oil and natural gas prices helped it during a difficult period. Attacks on pipelines and other facilities in Nigeria cost the company 160,000 barrels a day. Shell has also lost out in Russia. Last year, it was pressured into giving up control of a major energy project there.
But Shell is well placed to develop other sources of energy. For example, it has already invested heavily in Canadian tar sands.
Jason Kenney is with the Dutch bank ING:
Jason Kenney : It does take a higher oil price to give you the good margins from these kind of assets, but you know, even today's oil price is significantly above what Shell needs on a cash break-even. So still good profits at the moment.
He says that by investing early in the tar sands, Shell is well ahead of the game.
In London, this is Stephen Beard for Marketplace.
Comments
Comment | Refresh
From Warren, ME, 07/31/2008
Commentary Submission-NPR SNOIL
Contact: Hugh Magbie hmagbie@tds.net
PO Box 62 207 273 3609
Warren Maine 04864
SUNDAY NO OIL/SNOIL
It’s time to fight back, time to stop the exploitive and predatory practices of the oil companies and their investment bank cronies. This winter due to the price of heating oil, many of us will be making an obscene choice, heat or eat!
The whole world has been held hostage by greedy, oil rich countries, and their partners the big oil companies and oil speculators. This year oil companies have made more profits than any other companies or industry in all of history. And all of it at our expense!
Last month Americans consumed almost 3% less oil and yet yesterday the government announced that oil supplies were down. There have been huge reductions in oil production; do you think that’s to keep the price high? Gouging anyone?
OPEC and the big oil companies think that we are helpless as they arrogantly continue to pick our pockets. They’re right about one thing; the price of oil is determined by supply and demand.
When we don’t consume oil it is immediately reflected in the price of oil, the price goes down. So let’s all take a few days off from driving and reduce that demand.
Starting on Sunday, August 17 let’s just stay home, walk, ride our bikes, canoe, whatever, but don’t get in your vehicles. Not using your car for a day in the summer is easier than not turning down your heat in the winter, so we need to start now. You can stock up on your milk, bread, beer and newspapers on Saturday, but on Sundays, none of us ride in our cars. That includes trucks and boats too.
It would be great to get everyone in a whole town to participate, but wouldn’t be awesome to have a whole state, a country, the whole globe, stay home on Sundays? Yes we can people, we can do this. Sit down with your family, friends and neighbors and plan and prepare for SNOIL. (Sunday No Oil.) Make a real dent in our oil consumption. And the price of oil and gas will go down! Supply and demand controls the markets remember? If we’re serious and committed we can stop these predators from destroying our economy and impoverishing us.
(Go to www.snoilnow.com for more information.)
Post a Comment: Please be civil, brief and relevant.
Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments. All comments are moderated. Marketplace reserves the right to edit any comments on this site and to read them on the air if they are extra-interesting. Please read the Comment Guidelines before posting.
You must be 13 or over to submit information to American Public Media. The information entered into this form will not be used to send unsolicited email and will not be sold to a third party. For more information see Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.