The Rising Influence of Rising Affluence

[DewDiligence]

Shell will slash North/South-American cap-ex by 20%:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-03-13/shell-to-cut-americas-spending-by-20-continue-refinery-sales.html

Royal Dutch Shell Plc plans to lower spending in the Americas by a fifth as Europe’s largest oil producer focuses on more profitable operations. It’s “not acceptable” that Shell, now deploying about 36 percent or $80 billion of its capital in North America, has been losing money, Chief Executive Officer Ben van Beurden said.

…“That leaves us with about $10 billion in total for the upstream Americas and about $4 billion for the shale,” Chief Financial Officer Simon Henry said. “Some of that does include Argentina and Canada. It’s not all in America.”

…Van Beurden plans to dispose of about $15 billion of assets through 2015. Shell agreed to sell holdings valued at more than $4.5 billion, including in Australia and Brazil, and is seeking buyers for stakes in oil and gas fields, as well as pipeline and fuel-marketing assets from the U.S. to Nigeria. The company may also exit its $6.3 billion investment in Woodside Petroleum Ltd.

Shell had an Investor Day presentation today in London; it holds a second presentation in New York on 3/17/14.