Replies to post #14477 on The Rising Influence of Rising Affluence

[DewDiligence]

It's fitting that the Shell article you posted focuses on Brazil, since Shell and Brazil have much in common, IMO; from the same article:

Chief Executive Ben Van Beurden predicts the company can end the decade with double-digit returns as it upends its deep-water drilling model, so long as oil prices rebound to $60. Shell estimates it is now drilling new deep water wells around 30% faster than it used to, and has cut drilling costs 50%.

...To do this, Shell is shaking up its corporate culture, appointing “chief irritants” to each division, individuals whose only role is to challenge old ways of doing business. In weekly team meetings, managers have to justify how they are running their units. The result: simpler deep-water operations.

Question: When (at any time since 2004) has Shell not been shaking up its corporate culture?

[DewDiligence]

Deepwater will soon challenge shale, says Wood Mac:

http://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Deepwater-Will-Soon-Challenge-Shale.html

Just when the focus in oil seemed to be firmly fixed on shale as the cheapest kind of crude, Wood Mackenzie went and ruined it for shale producers with a report claiming that deepwater developments are turning increasingly competitive.

According to the report, Big Oil…has done some impressive work regarding costs…aiming for fewer wells and more subsea tiebacks. Thanks to this, output may be lower than it would otherwise be, but costs are also lower—in some cases falling below $50 a barrel… with producers foregoing maximum profits for a more stable revenue stream.

… Siemens and ABB… are working on a new type of offshore platform that is entirely built on the seafloor. These self-sufficient oil and gas extraction factories, as Siemens calls them, will have no crew and will not be subject to weather changes, which is expected to save a lot of money that would normally be paid out in wages and on maintenance, not to mention the savings on safety expenses.

h/t ‘elmatador’ on SI.