Risk Moment RES

Shell Buys Cansolv Technologies

12-03-2008

People & Companies in the News

• Shell
• Cansolv
• Greg Lewin

Shell Global Solutions International has purchased 100% of shares of Cansolv Technologies, reports CNW Group. All employees of the company will be retained and it will become fully incorporated into Shell Global Solutions over time.

Cansolv provides technologies designed to counter air pollution and for the control of sulphur dioxide and other contaminants as well as a carbon dioxide capture process for greenhouse gas reductions. Greg Lewin, president of Shell, said, “Cansolv’s promising capabilities in CO2 capture will also allow us to further explore post-combustion carbon capture technology and solutions.”

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Attention Business/News Editors:

Shell Acquires Gas Emissions Treating Specialists Cansolv Technologies Inc.

    CALGARY, Dec. 1 /CNW/ - Shell Global Solutions International B.V. today
acquired 100% of the shares of Cansolv Technologies Inc. (Cansolv), a provider
of technologies designed to counter air pollution.
    Cansolv offers technology for the control of sulphur dioxide (SO2) and
other contaminants as well as a carbon dioxide (CO2) capture process for
greenhouse gas reductions. Cansolv has a strong research and development
strategy to develop new and enhance existing applications for its
technologies.
    The CANSOLV(R) SO2 Scrubbing System removes sulphur dioxide from
combustion gases. SO2 removal helps industries such as oil refining, chemical
processing, utilities and metals to improve environmental performance and meet
regulations that aim to reduce acid rain.
    Greg Lewin, President, Shell Global Solutions International B.V., said:
"As global energy demand grows and the availability of easy oil and gas
diminishes, strong gas treating capabilities will be required to help unlock
new resources such as complex contaminated gases or coal, while maintaining
environmental performance.
    "We want to improve our capabilities to clean up contaminated gas and
gases released during processing operations, focussing on the reduction of SO2
emissions in the first instance."
    "Cansolv's promising capabilities in CO2 capture will also allow us to
further explore post-combustion carbon capture technology and solutions. We
must 'learn by doing' in order to reduce costs, accelerate technology
development and ultimately make carbon capture and storage commercially viable
on the back of emissions trading schemes."
    Cansolv's offices are located in Canada (Montréal) and China (Shenzhen).
All employees will be retained. The company will become fully integrated into
Shell Global Solutions over time.

    Notes to editors

    Shell Global Solutions

    Shell Global Solutions provides business and operational consultancy,
catalysts, licensed technologies and research and development expertise to the
energy and processing industries worldwide. Shell Global Solutions has
approximately 5,500 staff located in an extensive network of offices around
the world, with primary commercial and technical centres operating in the USA,
Europe and Asia Pacific.
    Shell Global Solutions supports the Shell Group's business activities in
downstream manufacturing, downstream marketing, gas & LNG, production and
project management. Outside of the Shell Group, the company successfully
services refining, chemicals, gas, metals, pulp and paper and motor-sport
customers worldwide.

    Cansolv Technologies Incorporated

    Cansolv Technologies Incorporated was formed in 1997, through a
management buyout from Union Carbide Corporation, to commercialise and market
the CANSOLV(R) SO(2) Scrubbing System. Since this date, Cansolv Technologies
has demonstrated the capabilities of its regenerable SO(2) control technology
in a variety of applications and now counts seven units in operation, with
several more in the construction or engineering phase. The CANSOLV(R) SO(2)
Scrubbing System has been adopted by industries such as oil and gas and
non-ferrous metals. Cansolv Technologies has maintained a strong research and
development strategy, which has resulted in the development of solvents for
CO(2) capture. Cansolv Technologies offices are located in Canada (Montréal)
and China (Shenzen).

    Disclaimer Statement

    This document contains forward-looking statements concerning the
financial condition, results of operations and businesses of Royal Dutch Shell
plc. All statements other than statements of historical fact are, or may be
deemed to be, forward-looking statements.
    Forward-looking statements are statements of future expectations that are
based on management's current expectations and assumptions and involve known
and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results,
performance or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in
these statements.
    Forward-looking statements include, among other things, statements

concerning the potential exposure of Royal Dutch Shell to market risks and
statements expressing management's expectations, beliefs, estimates,
forecasts, projections and assumptions. These forward-looking statements are
identified by their use of terms and phrases such as "anticipate", "believe",
"could", "estimate", "expect", "intend", "may", "plan", "objectives",
"outlook", "probably", "project", "will", "seek", "target", "risks", "goals",
"should" and similar terms and phrases.
    There are a number of factors that could affect the future operations of
Royal Dutch Shell plc and could cause those results to differ materially from
those expressed in the forward-looking statements included in this
announcement, including (without limitation): (a) price fluctuations in crude
oil and natural gas; (b) changes in demand for the Shell Group's products; (c)
currency fluctuations; (d) drilling and production results; (e) reserve
estimates; (f) loss of market and industry competition; (g) environmental and
physical risks; (h) risks associated with the identification of suitable
potential acquisition properties and targets, and successful negotiation and
completion of such transactions; (i) the risk of doing business in developing
countries and countries subject to international sanctions; (j) legislative,
fiscal and regulatory developments including potential litigation and
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financial market conditions in various countries and regions; (l) political
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    All forward-looking statements contained in this document are expressly
qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements contained or referred
to in this section. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking
statements. Each forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date of this
announcement.
    Neither Royal Dutch Shell plc nor any of its subsidiaries undertake any
obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement as a
result of new information, future events or other information. In light of
these risks, results could differ materially from those stated, implied or
inferred from the forward-looking statements contained in this announcement.

For further information: Nicki Welding, Shell Global Solutions (UK) -
telephone: +44 151 373 5174; Catherine Aitken, Media Relations, Shell
International Ltd - telephone: +31 30 377 6254

Treating oil addiction

Published: February 24 2008 18:08 | Last updated: February 25 2008 09:59

Driving is as American as apple pie. At more than 9m barrels a day, gasoline accounts for almost half of US oil demand, and more than a 10th of that of the world. Capitol Hill wants to curb this. Use of biofuels, mainly ethanol, is to be expanded five-fold to 2.4m b/d by 2022. In addition, new cars must achieve
35 miles per gallon by 2020, up from 21 mpg today.

Will it make a difference in 10 years? Ethanol provides only two-thirds the energy gasoline does, and the dominant corn-based variety requires a lot of energy to make. So the extra 1.3m b/d of ethanol possibly on the market by 2017 would actually displace only 700,000 b/d of gasoline consumption.

With regard to better vehicle efficiency, Michael Canes of the LMI Research Institute has analysed the potential gains. Assume average mpg for new vehicles improves evenly, and the total vehicle pool turns over at
a rate of 7 per cent a year. Then adjust for factors such as more traffic on the roads and the fact that greater fuel efficiency tends to encourage more driving. By 2017, average actual fuel efficiency might be 23.5 mpg, implying “savings” of another 1.3m b/d. In theory, then, biofuels and less thirsty cars should more than offset an expected 1.5m b/d of incremental US gasoline demand by 2017. The savings would equate to perhaps one seventh of global incremental oil consumption.

How realistic is this benign view? Vehicle efficiency forecasts look robust – just reducing the weight of America’s bloated cars would help. The annual increase in fuel efficiency mandated by Washington – about 3 per cent – might seem ambitious. But vehicle manufacturers did much better than that in the decade after fuel efficiency standards were first passed in 1975, clocking up a 5.5 per cent improvement each year.

A biofuels breakthrough, however, requires big technological strides, and quickly. Start-ups such as Coskata, backed by General Motors, are developing such wonders as swamp bacteria that turn old tyres and other waste into fuel. But expanding a laboratory process into a nationwide industry is a huge challenge.

The bigger near-term risk to oil prices is the economy. Gasoline demand growth in the US has slowed to zero already. It turned negative in the recession at the start of the 1990s. China and the Middle East are now the centres of incremental demand, fuelled in part by domestic price subsidies. A US recession seems unlikely to slow them to a stop but could have a noticeable short-term effect and recalibrate demand forecasts beyond that.

Washington’s policy will have a real impact nonetheless, on a 10-year view. GSW Strategy Group, a US energy consultancy, points out that all the presidential frontrunners have committed themselves to initiatives such as greenhouse gas cap-and-trade schemes. A bubble may be developing in alternative energy. But that does not mean all the technologies it spawns will be duds. And their use would not be confined to just one country – China, for example, also worries about energy security.

If the history of the last oil shock is anything to go by, the one thing that could really undermine efficiency efforts would be a sudden drop in the price of crude. This time, however, fears for the climate and security concerns are creating, if not an alliance, at least a coalition of the willing encompassing such diverse interests as green activists and defence hawks. That even Detroit’s dinosaurs seem to view greener cars as one way of reinventing themselves suggests the trend will hold.

Beyond the near term, therefore, the efficiencies being planned now will affect the pricing of oil futures more and more. In that context, the stance of Opec keeping the market tight, even if that fuels efforts to make gasoline from bugs, perhaps makes more sense. If the trends pushing greater energy efficiency look unstoppable, the oil cartel might as well maximise profits up front.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/1/0bf26e56-e303-11dc-803f-0000779fd2ac.html