Shell 推迟油砂项目

fancycat

Shell scales back Athabasca oilsands development because of rising costs
2 x8 J2 |- f; g9 p. A2 x1 z" jThu Oct 30, 12:46 PM
The Canadian Press

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Canadian PressAMSTERDAM, Netherlands - Royal Dutch Shell PLC, Europe's largest oil company, is delaying a planned expansion of its major oilsands project in northern Alberta, joining many other oilsands operators who have delayed similar projects because of soaring costs and weaker oil prices.
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6 O: k& N) q) [6 K% B* |: W1 a* k1 UDespite reporting a 22 per cent jump in net profit for the third quarter, Shell said Thursday it's pushing back a decision on expanding the Athabasca oilsands project near Fort McMurray, Alta. due to tough economic conditions, CEO Jeroen Van der Veer told a conference call.

) \7 E) N  I7 t- a+ V/ MThe British-Dutch company is already going ahead with an initial expansion of Athabasca, raising its output from 155,000 barrels a day to more than 250,000 barrels by the end of next year. More expansions had been planned with the goal of producting 500,000 barrels a day.

"We had in mind to decide on the second expansion in 2009," Van der Veer told analysts. "But at this moment, if you look at the combination of inflated labour costs and raw material prices in the form of equipment, we felt that we had better delay that."

3 j) m: W7 J% l0 g- gThe Athabasca project, 60 per cent owned by Shell, starts at the Muskeg River mine, where giant trucks excavate the ore that contains tar-like bitumen. After the bitumen is processed with water and liquefied using solvents, it is shipped by pipeline to the Scotford Upgrader refinery near Edmonton, where the bitumen is converted into synthetic oils and later into various fuels.

The Shell delay follows other major Canadian oilsands players who are scaling back energy projects and cutting spending as they cope with falling crude prices, volatile stock markets and tight credit markets that make it harder to raise money.

The major partners in the proposed $24-billion Fort Hills oilsands project in northern Alberta - Petro-Canada (TSX: PCA.TO), Teck Cominco (TSX: TCK-B.TO) and UTS Energy (TSX: UTS.TO) - announced last week they may defer a decision to build an upgrading refinery northeast of Edmonton.

The move could chop about $10 billion from the cost of the oilsands project's development.

7 t! Y$ l1 R7 _Meanwhile, Suncor Energy Inc. (TSX: SU.TO), Canada's oldest oilsands operator, reduced its planned 2009 capital spending by more than one-third to $6 billion as the company focuses its spending on "prudence, growth and flexibility" going ahead.
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$ A8 e" U: M" r1 v, k, }( d9 UEarlier, EnCana Corp. (TSX: ECA.TO) of Calgary put on hold plans to split itself into separate oilsands and natural gas producing companies, blaming the turmoil in global financial markets for the move.

; J7 d5 q- r8 x# ZNexen Inc. (TSX: NXY.TO) and its partner Opti Canada (TSX: OPC.TO) have also delayed a decision on expanding their 50-50 Long Lake oilsands operation in northern Alberta because the credit crunch made it harder to raise capital.

In addition, BA Energy delayed a planned oilsands refinery near Edmonton.

* A. y' T, a/ e( @+ qIn the conference call, Van der Veer declined to say whether the company would cut capital expenditure on other projects next year.

"Our strategy remains to pay competitive and progressive dividends, and to make significant investments in the company for future profitability," he said.
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In its earnings report, Shell's net profit roared ahead in the third quarter, despite a fall in production, thanks to high oil prices and gains from the sale of operations.
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4 k2 k( F/ n' ?7 m% _4 |The company earned US$8.45 billion, up from $6.92 billion a year ago, as sales rose 45 per cent to $132 billion. The earnings included one-off gains of $2.06 billion, mostly from the sale of operations, up from $265 million in such gains a year earlier.
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# J- z$ ]. Z! ?5 o+ x2 H5 }1 PShell's largest European rival BP PLC reported net profit rose 83 per cent to $8.05 billion Tuesday.

The world's largest oil company, Exxon Mobil Corp., reported Thursday income that shattered its own record for the biggest profit from operations by a U.S. corporation, earning US$14.83 billion in the third quarter.

% S2 b+ ~% p* y+ xShell's oil production fell to 2.93 billion barrels of oil and equivalents per day from 3.14 billion a year earlier. The company's average selling price was $111.18 per barrel, up from $70.81 a year ago. Oil hit a record $147 in July but has fallen by more than half.

Given the steep fall of oil prices in recent weeks, Van der Veer said the company was watching the global economic situation closely, but added Shell would be profitable amid a wide range of energy prices.

5 z! E8 K4 D& ]9 i; G% {. f* Y"It was very difficult to forecast $147 in July, and then in October that they would fall below $60 - there are so many factors at work and even then you miss what will OPEC do," Van der Veer said on the conference call.

' t% E& G: w% ?8 t" I: {& u5 ~On Wednesday, Shell said chief financial officer Peter Voser will be promoted to Van der Veer's job after he retires in July 2009. Shell maintains dual headquarters in London and The Hague. Voser, a Swiss national, will be the company's first CEO from outside Britain or the Netherlands.
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Analyst Alexandre Weinberg of Petercam Securities said the results were "clearly better than what was expected ... and this is throughout all divisions."

"Going forward, we clear expect the weaker pricing environment to take its toll on profit," he said. But he said the impact of a weakening economy would be less on oil majors since production costs will fall and smaller competitors may face financing problems.

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lilac

西红柿酸

tyrochangs

石油公司三季度赢利还是相当可观的

RowlandSpring

注册号

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

天豕爱美丽

主要是缺少技术工人，不是油价的问题，油价在60，每个项目最少还有10%的盈利呢

醉酒当歌

这才哪到哪啊。过了几个月你再看看。

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原帖由 tyrochangs 于 2008-10-30 22:41 发表
石油公司三季度赢利还是相当可观的

烟雨江南

太平洋

..............................

瓦窑

原帖由 天豕爱美丽 于 2008-10-31 07:59 发表
+ f3 }% P  A4 H$ `- o主要是缺少技术工人，不是油价的问题，油价在60，每个项目最少还有10%的盈利呢

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: v2 K! ]% O0 f: w对，这样直接造成建设成本不断上升。其实这么多大公司都集中在一个时间投入建设，确实会造成人力和物资紧缺的。把建设计划拉长放缓其实未必不是好事。外省来打工的自然希望项目越多越好，人越缺越好，这样工资高，加班多。不过对于我们居住在Alberta的人来说，细水长流是最好的。

bobo

It was very difficult to forecast $147 in July, and then in October that they would fall below $60 ???

WhereNext

大工程公司裁员在即了。。。情况好的能撑到明年2、3 月， 不好的，只怕今年底就有动静了。

云山水月

原帖由 JimZ 于 2008-11-1 09:44 发表
" @: I) F. o: q  A4 Vwhatever.

! I; ?* F' D( O2 L, A) E- g0 |# E就是就是。

jiaxia1111

howardx

silver

要勒紧裤腰带了。。

爱城一粒沙子

some company did it

jiaxia1111