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Permalink Reply by 1qead70mqm01c on September 30, 2013 at 5:32

Interesting, Jay.

I was just talking to a retired Shell employee yesterday, and we agreed that Shell does, indeed, process good gasoline.

Now, having stated that, for years I've personally favored the Chevron Techron blend, since a Toyota mechanic specifically recommended it to me as being good for Toyota/Lexus engines.

Of course, some folks may not realize it, but in regards to certain locations (due to a lengthy distance to the closest "brand-name" refinery) -- a Shell refinery will have a Chevron Techron blender (?) on site, which means that the retail-delivery-ing tanker trucks will actually transport Shell gasoline that's been blended to Techron standards to the nearby filling stations in the surrounding area (if Chevron doesn't have a close refinery).

Dare to say, that's what I was told just yesterday.

Yep, nice to have such access to insightful folks.

From your post, it seems that Shell's changing footprint in the EF might foreshadow more such moves by others.

 

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Permalink Reply by Steve on October 4, 2013 at 6:24

I am not sure about the effects of  grades of gasoline but I know we have a 2009 Lexus with 171K miles on it and a Honda Accord with 232K miles on it and have never burned any gasoline in either any higher octane than 89 - and all we burn is regular gas  with 10% ethanol. I have never had a tune-up on the Lexus and only changed the plugs twice on the Honda. This is our 3rd Lexus and 3rd Honda and we have never had engine problems. Our Lexus looks and rides like a new car. Maybe I am just lucky. We do change their oil every 5-7k or so miles.

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Permalink Reply by olddog573 on September 30, 2013 at 9:25

Based on your last sentence there Jay, I like the fact that Shell just announced a multi billion $ GTL facility in South Louisiana near the Haynesville.

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Permalink Reply by Henry on October 1, 2013 at 12:17

The fact that Shell would consider investing $12B in this new GTL facility suggests that they think gas prices will stay low for the next 20+ years.  Ouch.

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Permalink Reply by Henry on September 30, 2013 at 12:59

If only this would move their stock price!  Oh well, at least the dividend is good.

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Permalink Reply by 1kw6x71km1v37 on October 1, 2013 at 5:07

Frequently a facility in a given geographic area makes generic gasoline. Individual vendor (Shell, Gulf, Phillips) additives are added while each tanker fills. That's what makes the brand difference.

At one time circa 1970, Shell held many leaseholds in SW Louisiana and were interested in deep gas. Chevron/Texaco currently sits on thousands of acres of potential play in SW Louisiana that somehow appears held by contract in perpetuity separate from the surface estate. I understand there is a way to do that, but don't have a clue as to how. Anyway, the Shell interest in SW LA may be running in the background. The leasing in Vernon, Allen and Beauregard Parishes appears to be orchestrated from the top down, which tells me there is one main player in the driver's seat.

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Permalink Reply by Two Dogs, Pirate on October 1, 2013 at 5:16

CS are you talking about current leasing, as of today, or past leasing, as of the past couple of years in Vernon, Allen & Beauregard? Who do you think is in the drivers seat, since it has been several players buying leases in these areas in the past couple of years?

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Permalink Reply by Skip Peel - Mineral Consultant on October 1, 2013 at 9:15

Shell abandons Western Slope oil-shale project

Published: September 25, 2013  The Associated Press

DENVER — Royal Dutch Shell PLC has become the latest company to abandon efforts to turn Western Slope oil-shale into oil, joining a long line of companies in a boom and bust cycle in the region.

The company said energy markets have changed since the project started in 1982, and the company no longer wants to continue efforts to turn oily shale rock into liquid by heating the rock and pumping out the oil.

Chevron stopped its oil-shale research in Rio Blanco County in February 2012.

"We are exiting our Colorado project to focus on other opportunities," Shell spokeswoman Kelly op de Weegh said. "Our focus is to work with our staff and contractors to safely stop research activities and close the site."

Efforts to squeeze the oil from the shale in the Rockies stretch back decades. An oil shale boom in Colorado in the early 1980s went bust when oil prices dropped and government subsidies dried up. People still refer to "Black Sunday," May 2, 1982, when Exxon Mobil Corp. shut down a $5 billion project near the West Slope town of Parachute, throwing 2,200 people out of work.

"The economics of oil shale have always been the issue," said David Abelson, an analyst with Western Resource Advocates, an environmental group opposing shale development.

Shell spent an estimated $30 million to create a test subterranean wall to hold in the shale oil when it was heated, but full-scale production would probably have required building a large power plant, the Denver Post reported Wednesday (http://tinyurl.com/qydcqph).

The new oil plays in North Dakota and Texas and along Colorado's Front Range, which are producing large quantities of oil, hurt the viability of oil shale, said Jim Spehar, former mayor of Grand Junction.

"Out here on the Western Slope, oil shale will always be the fuel of the future," Spehar said.

Shell on Tuesday announced plans to build a $12.5 billion plant in Louisiana that would turn natural gas into diesel, jet fuel and other liquids.

"We have a large portfolio of opportunities, all competing for capital," op de Weegh said.

Government and industry officials estimate 1 trillion to 1.8 trillion barrels of oil — up to three times the proven reserves of Saudi Arabia — are locked in rock in parts of western Colorado, Utah and Wyoming. Roughly 800 billion barrels are considered recoverable.

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Permalink Reply by 1kw6x71km1v37 on October 2, 2013 at 3:50

two dogs,

I'm talking about 30-40 years ago when Shell took a huge leasehold position and did extensive seismic testing in SW LA. Clayton Williams was strong in the area also.

There are certain things that have happened to cause one to construe much of the leasing of SW LA acreage is being controlled from the  top down with certain key players.  I won't go into detail, but trust me, as Nancy Pelosi says, the evidence is there.

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Permalink Reply by Two Dogs, Pirate on October 2, 2013 at 4:41

One of our research attorneys was one of the head knockers over the in-shore land operations for Shell back then. He has passed on but I still have fond memories of him every time I see his signature on one of those old Shell documents.

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Permalink Reply by 1kw6x71km1v37 on October 2, 2013 at 9:33

A 12.5 billion investment  to alter NG tells me Shell is still at the helm in SW LA.

Face it. If you are some little p-ant multi-billion dollar oil company, are you really going up against Shell, or ride it's coattails  'til the sun sets?

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