Shell plc: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 22:21, 13 March 2025

Revision as of 00:07, 26 March 2025

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| predecessors = {{plainlist|

*Royal Dutch Petroleum Company (1890)

*The "Shell" Transport and Trading Company (1897)}}

| area_served = Worldwide

| key_people = {{ubl|{{nowrap|{{wd-chairperson}}}}|{{wd-ceo}}}}

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[[File:Aurora 1914 Sydney Harbour.jpg|thumb|left|150px|Shell benzine for Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton, Antarctic Expedition 1915]]

[[File:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Afscheepsteiger Tarakan 14 TMnr 10010382.jpg|thumb|Royal Dutch Petroleum dock in the [[Dutch East Indies]] (now [[Indonesia]]), c. 1925]]

The Royal Dutch Shell Group was created in April 1907 through the amalgamation of two rival companies: the Royal Dutch Petroleum Company ({{langx|nl|Koninklijke Nederlandse Petroleum Maatschappij}}) of the Netherlands and theThe "Shell" Transport and Trading Company Limited of the United Kingdom.<ref name="beginnings" /> It was a move largely driven by the need to compete globally with [[Standard Oil]].<ref name="Aftalion2001">{{cite book|author=Fred Aftalion|title=A History of the International Chemical Industry|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zTP1MFJw8CsC&pg=PA142|year=2001|publisher=Chemical Heritage Foundation|isbn=978-0-941901-29-1|page=142|access-date=14 November 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160128120644/https://books.google.com/books?id=zTP1MFJw8CsC&pg=PA142|archive-date=28 January 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> The Royal Dutch Petroleum Company was a Dutch company founded in 1890 to develop an oilfield in [[Pangkalan Brandan]], [[North Sumatra]],{{sfn|Merrillees|2015|p=60}} and initially led by [[Jean Baptiste August Kessler|August Kessler]], Hugo Loudon, and [[Henri Deterding]]. The "Shell" Transport and Trading Company (the quotation marks were part of the legal name) was a [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|British]] company, founded in 1897 by [[Marcus Samuel, 1st Viscount Bearsted]], and his brother [[Samuel Samuel]].<ref name=history>{{Cite web|url=http://www.shell.com/home/content/aboutshell/who_we_are/our_history/dir_our_history_14112006.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081011102905/http://www.shell.com/home/content/aboutshell/who_we_are/our_history/dir_our_history_14112006.html|url-status=dead|title=Royal Dutch Shell: History|archive-date=11 October 2008}}</ref> Their father had owned an antique company in [[Houndsditch]], London,<ref name="Forsyth2011">{{cite book|author=Mark Forsyth|title=The Etymologicon: A Circular Stroll through the Hidden Connections of the English Language|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KUZxTvay3PMC|year=2011|publisher=Icon Books|isbn=978-1-84831-319-4|page=140|access-date=14 November 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160128120639/https://books.google.com/books?id=KUZxTvay3PMC|archive-date=28 January 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> which expanded in 1833 to import and sell seashells, after which the company "Shell" took its name.<ref name=beginnings>{{cite web|url=http://www.shell.com/global/aboutshell/who-we-are/our-history/the-beginnings.html|title=The beginnings|work=shell.com|access-date=21 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150331024927/http://www.shell.com/global/aboutshell/who-we-are/our-history/the-beginnings.html|archive-date=31 March 2015|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Falola">{{cite book|last1=Falola|last2=Genova|first1=Toyin|first2=Ann|title=The Politics of the Global Oil Industry: An Introduction|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BXWasJHiT-kC&q=marcus+samuel+sold+shells&pg=PA30|year=2005|publisher=[[Greenwood Publishing Group]]|page=30|isbn=9780275984007|access-date=14 November 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160128120639/https://books.google.com/books?id=BXWasJHiT-kC&pg=PA30&lpg=PA30&dq=marcus+samuel+sold+shells&source=bl&ots=spB9T3LJjT&sig=iI8KbrjxYzslXq6Pl27xah1BcKE&hl=en&sa=X&ei=DXO1U7OWIZe2yASP5oKADg&ved=0CDsQ6AEwBTgK#v=onepage&q=marcus%20samuel%20sold%20shells&f=false|archive-date=28 January 2016|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=dy>{{cite book |last1=Yergin |first1=Daniel |title=The Prize, The Epic Quest for Oil, Money & Power |date=1991 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |___location=New York |isbn=9780671799328 |pages=63–77,86–87,114–127}}</ref>

For various reasons, the new firm operated as a [[dual-listed company]], whereby the merging companies maintained their legal existence but operated as a single-unit partnership for business purposes. The terms of the merger gave 60 percent stock ownership of the new group to Royal Dutch, and 40 percent to Shell. Both became [[holding company|holding companies]] for [[Bataafsche Petroleum Maatschappij]], containing the production and refining assets, and Anglo-Saxon Petroleum Company, containing the transport and storage assets.<ref name="Gerretson346">{{cite book|author=F. C. Gerretson|title=History of the Royal Dutch|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IsoUAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA346|year=1953|publisher=Brill Archive|page=346|id=GGKEY:NNJNHTLUZKG|access-date=14 November 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160128120639/https://books.google.com/books?id=IsoUAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA346|archive-date=28 January 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> National patriotic sensibilities would not permit a full-scale merger or takeover of either of the two companies.<ref name="Gerretson346" /> The Dutch company, ''Koninklijke Nederlandsche Petroleum Maatschappij'' at [[The Hague]], was in charge of production and manufacture.<ref name="Gerretson347">{{cite book|author=F. C. Gerretson|title=History of the Royal Dutch|year=1953|publisher=Brill Archive|page=346|id=GGKEY:NNJNHTLUZKG}}</ref> The British ''Anglo-Saxon Petroleum Company'' was based in London, to direct the transport and storage of the products.<ref name="Gerretson347" /><ref name=dy/>

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[[File:Filling station.jpg|thumb|Shell filling station in the UK, 2006]]

In November 2004, following a period of turmoil caused by the revelation that Shell had been overstating its [[oil reserves]], it was announced that the Shell Group would move to a single capital structure, creating a new parent company to be named Royal Dutch Shell plc, with its primary listing on the LSE, a secondary listing on [[Euronext Amsterdam]], its headquarters and tax residency in [[The Hague]], Netherlands and its registered office in London. The company was already incorporated in 2002 as '''Forthdeal Limited''', a [[shelf corporation]] incorporated by Swift Incorporations Limited and Instant Companies Limited, both based in Bristol.<ref name="chshell"/> The unification was completed on 20 July 2005 and the original owners delisted their companies from the respective exchanges. On 20 July 2005, theThe "Shell" Transport &and Trading Company plc was delisted from the LSE,<ref>[http://www.shell.com/home/content/investor/shareholder_information/unification_archive/st_archive/share_capital_history/ The Shell Transport & Trading Company plc] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120522212951/http://www.shell.com/home/content/investor/shareholder_information/unification_archive/st_archive/share_capital_history/ |date=22 May 2012 }} delisted from LSE</ref>, whereaschanging its name to The Shell Transport and Trading Company Limited<ref>https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/00054485/filing-history?page=5 Directors' Report and Accounts 2005</ref>, whereas Royal Dutch Petroleum Company was delisted from the [[New York Stock Exchange]] on 18 November 2005.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sec.gov/rules/delist/1-03788_111805.pdf|title=N.V. Koninklijke Nederlandsche Petroleum Maatschappij (English translation, Royal Dutch Petroleum Company) to Withdraw its Ordinary Shares, par value 0.56 Euro, from NYSE|access-date=13 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181109153338/https://www.sec.gov/rules/delist/1-03788_111805.pdf|archive-date=9 November 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> The shares of the company were issued at a 60/40 advantage for the shareholders of Royal Dutch in line with the original ownership of the Shell Group.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4628983.stm Shell shareholders agree merger] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071214094846/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4628983.stm |date=14 December 2007 }} BBC News, 2005</ref>

During the [[Economy of Iraq#2009 Oil services contracts|2009 Iraqi oil services contracts tender]], a consortium led by Shell (45%) and which included [[Petronas]] (30%) was awarded a production contract for the "Majnoon field" in the south of Iraq, which contains an estimated {{convert|12.6|Goilbbl|m3}} of oil.<ref name=GT-DEX-2009-47>{{cite news|title=Iraq holds oil auction, Shell wins giant field|url=http://in.reuters.com/article/idINIndia-44646120091211|access-date=22 August 2012|work=Reuters|date=11 December 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130619230728/http://in.reuters.com/article/2009/12/11/idINIndia-44646120091211|archive-date=19 June 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/natural_resources/article6954091.ece|title=Shell secures vital toehold in 'the new Iraq' where oil is ready to flow|access-date=22 April 2011|work=The Times|date=12 December 2009|___location=London|first=Robin|last=Pagnamenta|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120712060026/http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/natural_resources/article6954091.ece|archive-date=12 July 2012|url-status=bot: unknown}}</ref> The "West Qurna 1 field" production contract was awarded to a consortium led by [[ExxonMobil]] (60%) and included Shell (15%).<ref>[[Iraq oil#2009 Oil services contracts|2009 Iraqi oil services contracts tender]]</ref>