Marketing (Oil Products)
Marketing includes retail, lubricants, business to business (B2B), pipelines as well as biofuels and alternative energies. Our products are marketed around the world for domestic, industrial and transport use and include gasoline, diesel, heating oil, aviation fuel, marine fuel, lubricants, bitumen and sulphur.
Retail
Our global retail business deploys a range of operating platforms. In our invested operating platforms, Shell owns the assets and manages the revenues. Assets and revenues of non-invested platforms are owned and managed by the dealer, wholesaler or licensee. These models enable the business to optimise performance depending on the country we are operating in.
Global Brand Preference
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Our branded fuel retail network is the world’s largest, with close to 43,000 branded service stations in over 70 countries. We serve approximately 30 million customers every day and sell 200 billion litres of fuel each year (enough to fill more than 72 Airbus A380s per hour), as well as making around $6 billion in annual convenience retail sales. In some markets such as Germany, Eastern Europe and Switzerland there are more non-fuels transactions than fuel at every moment of the day.
Our experience in fuel development, gained over more than 100 years, underpins our position today as a leading provider of innovative fuels. Differentiated fuels with unique formulations designed to improve performance are available in 68 countries under the Shell V-Power brand. Recently, we launched our latest generation of Shell V-Power across a range of key markets. We are the leading supplier of premium fuels among the international oil companies. In 2009, we launched the Shell FuelSave range. These products are now available in 29 countries. We also sell Shell Fuel Economy, our petrol and diesel formula, in 18 countries where Shell FuelSave has not yet been launched. We are also the largest retailer of biofuels in the world.
As engines, vehicles and transport systems continue to evolve we change with them. Investing more in research and development than any other energy company – our goal is to deliver the energy our customers require today and in the decades ahead. We have a close technical partnership with Scuderia Ferrari. Our fuel has helped the Ferrari motor racing team to achieve 10 Formula One World Constructors’ and 12 World Championship Drivers’ titles. This partnership enables our scientists and engineers to develop cutting-edge fuel technologies for the racetrack that can be used to make better road fuels for our customers.
People are at the heart of the Shell culture. We pride ourselves on having more than 500,000 frontline service champions who are confident, empowered and proud to represent the Shell brand. We have one of the largest global employee recognition programmes, in which the best frontline service champions from across the world are invited to an annual event where the best service champion is crowned.
Retail is investing in the customer digital experience, with digital screens at the pump available in the UK, Netherlands, Malaysia, Oman and Thailand. The Shell digital experience gives customers access to fast and flexible mobile payments, click-and-collect services, and connected-car technology.
We are working closely with a number of technology partners and car manufacturers to allow customers to order ahead and pay from their cars – reducing queuing and congestion. In February 2017, we announced that Jaguar and Land Rover drivers in the UK can use their car’s touchscreen to pay for fuel via the Shell app. It will be rolled out in additional markets across the globe in 2017. The Shell app is available in 30 countries and the Shell station locator is available in 40. As cars become more connected to the Internet of things, Shell is looking to digitise other services like paying for a car wash or ordering and paying for drinks from any digital screen the customer chooses.
Commercial Fleet is an important part of the Shell Retail business, with Shell fuel cards used 260 million times annually. The Shell loyalty club also has 19 million active users.
Retail business footprint
Business to business
We sell fuels and speciality products and services to a broad range of commercial customers.
Shell Aviation fuels more than 2 million aircraft a year, with a presence at around 900 airports in about 40 countries. Customers range from private pilots to the largest global airlines and airports.
In Australia, we signed an agreement with Viva Energy Australia Pty Ltd for the sale of our aviation business. It follows the sale of Shell’s other Downstream activities in the country to Viva Energy in 2014. The sale is expected to complete in the first half of 2017.
Shell Bitumen is the world’s largest international marketer of bitumen, with over 1,600 customers across 30 countries, and supplies enough bitumen to resurface 450 kilometres of road lanes every day. We have also developed innovative bitumen products that can be mixed and laid at lower temperatures than conventional asphalt, which helps reduce energy use and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. In 2015, Shell Bitumen was recognised by the International Road Federation for its odour-neutralising product Shell Bitufresh.
Shell Sulphur Solutions is a dedicated business which manages the complete value chain of sulphur, from refining to marketing. The business provides sulphur for industries such as mining and textiles and also develops products which incorporate sulphur, such as fertilisers. In 2016, we licensed our Shell Thiogro technology to Office Chérifiendes des Phosphates (OCP), one of the world’s largest fertiliser producers, to produce premium sulphur-enhanced fertilisers at their production facility in Jorf Lasfar, Morocco.
Lubricants
Shell is active across the full value chain in lubricants. We manufacture and buy a number of base oil grades and blend them with additives at Shell-owned or joint venture blending plants, creating a range of branded products with different technical specifications. We then market, sell and distribute those products, either ourselves or via partners, in more than 100 countries. We have around 1,200 accredited distributors, in locations that make sense for our customers. We sell to both individual consumers and to business customers. Shell also owns Jiffy Lube® franchised service centres in North America.
We offer market-leading brands for a broad range of applications, including passenger car motor oils, heavy-duty engine oils, process oils, hydraulic fluids, industrial engine oils and greases.
Since 2014, we have launched a number of new premium products made from natural gas – Pennzoil Platinum in North America, Shell Helix Ultra outside of North America, and Shell Advance Ultra. They contain Shell PurePlus Technology: a patented process which converts natural gas into a clear base oil, the main component of motor oils. These premium products offer better lubrication compared to base oils made from crude oil. It helps to extend engine life, reduce maintenance costs and oil consumption, maintain fuel economy and improve engine cleanliness.
Today, the Ferrari Formula One, BMW Motorsport DTM and Hyundai Motorsport World Rally Championship teams all use Shell Helix Ultra with PurePlus Technology. The Ducati MotoGP team uses Shell Advance Ultra with PurePlus Technology.
In 2016 we launched the Shell Rotella range of heavy-duty engine oils, an industry-first offering of oils compatible with the latest specifications prescribed by the American Petroleum Institute.
We also unveiled the Shell Concept Car, an ultra-efficient concept city car co-engineered by Shell Lubricants, engine experts Geo Technology, and automotive designers Gordon Murray Design.
Our marine business supplies around 90 grades of lubricants and fuels, as well as dedicated technical services for marine vessels powered by diesel, steam turbine and gas turbine engines.
The 14th annual Kline & Company report on the global lubricants sector confirmed our volume and brand leadership position, with a global market share of around 11.5%.
Pipelines
Shell Pipeline Company LP operates seven tank farms across the USA and transports more than 1.5 billion barrels of crude oil and refined products annually through about 6,000 kilometres of pipelines in the Gulf of Mexico and five US states. Our various non-operated ownership interests add about 13,000 pipeline kilometres to our portfolio, unlocking multiple interfaces to share best practices with other pipeline operators.
We carry more than 40 kinds of crude oil and more than 20 grades of gasoline, as well as diesel fuel, aviation fuel, chemicals, and ethylene.
Shell Midstream Partners is a fee-based, growth-oriented master limited partnership formed by Royal Dutch Shell to own, operate, develop and acquire pipelines and other midstream assets. Shell Midstream Partners L.P. is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “SHLX”. Shell Midstream Partner’s assets consist of pipelines, oil storage and terminal systems that serve as key infrastructure to transport and store onshore and offshore crude oil production to Gulf Coast and Midwest refining markets and to deliver refined products from Gulf Coast markets to major demand centres. We maintain control of the partnership through the general partner and own approximately 49% of the limited partner units.
Biofuels & alternative energy
Two researchers working in the biofuels section at the Shell Technology Center Houston, Unites States of America.
The international market for biofuels is growing, driven largely by the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from transport, but also to improve energy security and support the agricultural sector. Sustainable biofuels are expected to play an increasingly important role in helping to meet fuel needs and reduce CO2 emissions.
Today, we are today one of the world’s largest blenders and distributors of biofuels and we continue to build capacity in conventional biofuels that meet our corporate and social responsibility criteria. The production, purchase, trading, storage, blending and distribution of biofuels are part of our everyday business.
In 2011, Shell and Cosan launched the Raízen biofuels joint venture (Shell interest 50%) in Brazil to produce ethanol, sugar and electricity, as well as supply, distribute and sell transport fuels. With a production capacity of more than 2.1 billion litres per year (35 thousand b/d) of ethanol from sugar cane, Raízen is one of the world’s largest sugar-cane ethanol producers. The deal marked our first move into the mass production of biofuels. In 2015, Raízen opened a second-generation biofuels plant, which uses technology from our earlier programmes with Iogen Energy. In 2016, the plant produced 6.9 million litres of cellulosic ethanol from sugar-cane residues. It is expected to produce 40 million litres a year once fully operational.
Outside Brazil, we continue to invest in new ways of producing biofuels from sustainable feedstocks, such as biofuels made from waste products or cellulosic biomass. New advanced biofuels technology can turn these feedstocks into high-quality fuels, while further reducing CO2 emissions compared to gasoline and diesel.
In 2012, Shell built an advanced biofuels pilot plant at our Westhollow Technology Center in Houston, USA, to produce drop-in biofuels. In 2015, also in Houston, we completed the construction of a plant to demonstrate a proprietary pre-treatment system for the production of cellulosic ethanol.
A third pilot plant, approved in 2015, is being built in Bangalore, India. The demonstration plant will use IH2 technology (licensed from GTi) to convert a range of forestry and agricultural residues and municipal wastes directly into drop-in fuels or blend stocks.
With effect from 2017, our biofuels development and hydrogen activities will be reported within Integrated Gas as part of our New Energies business. Raízen will remain within Downstream.
Hydrogen
Hydrogen has the potential to be an important low-carbon transport fuel and Shell is part of several initiatives to encourage the adoption of hydrogen-electric energy.
Hydrogen fuel-cell electric cars do not produce greenhouse gases from their tailpipe – the only emission is water vapour. If the hydrogen comes from renewable sources of energy, and if it is produced at retail sites, then the fuel-cell vehicles create almost no emissions.
In Germany, the government is supporting the development of a national network of hydrogen electric fuelling stations across the country by 2023. We are working on this project with our joint-venture partners in H2 Mobility Germany – Air Liquide, Daimler, OMV, Linde and Total. The hydrogen will be delivered by truck as a gas to retail sites. Under the terms of the partnership, at least 50% of the hydrogen sold must be produced without emitting greenhouse gases.
In 2016, the first station in the H2 Mobility network opened at Shell’s retail site in Wuppertal, western Germany. We currently have five hydrogen filling stations in Germany and two hydrogen filling stations in Los Angeles, California. In the UK, we are partnering with ITM Power, a company specialising in hydrogen fuel-cell products, to make hydrogen fuel available at three Shell retail sites in the south east of the UK. The first of the UK stations opened in February 2017. Shell is assessing the potential for similar projects in the USA, Canada, Switzerland, Austria, France, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.
