News about Shell (NYSE: RDS.A) was particularly popular among Rigzone’s downstream audience last week. Find out why in this recap of some of the top recent downstream-related articles based on pageviews.
Shell Nearly Doubles Profit from Oil Trading
Shell recently offered a rare glimpse into its secretive oil trading unit, and Rigzone’s downstream readers demonstrated their curiosity with plenty of clicks on this Bloomberg article. The supermajor revealed that its oil trading profit nearly doubled last year, buoyed by wild price swings and the ability to store oil until prices improved, pointed out the news agency. In fact, the strong trading performance by Shell and BP plc (NYSE: BP) prevented the companies from posting losses in the second quarter of 2020, Bloomberg noted.
2021 Oil Price Forecasts Ramped Higher
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) and Standard Chartered (OTCMKTS: SCBFF) recently raised their predictions for the average West Texas Intermediate (WTI) and Brent oil prices for 2021. Compared to its expectations in February, EIA’s average WTI and Brent spot price forecasts for the year are up 14%. Meanwhile, Standard Chartered offered more bullish average prices for the benchmarks for 2021. EIA has also raised its projections for next year’s average Brent and WTI prices, but Standard Chartered has kept its price predictions for 2022 unchanged.
A unit of Shell has closed on the sale of a 26.25% stake in the Queensland Curtis LNG (QCLNG) Common Facilities to Global Infrastructure Partners Australia. The $2.5 billion deal, announced late last year, aligns with Shell’s plan to simplify its portfolio by divesting non-core assets. Shell pointed out the deal has no bearing on its operatorship of the QCLNG venture. Other QCLNG owners include CNOOC (NYSE: CEO) and Tokyo Gas (OTCMKTS: TKGSY).
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