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| Formerly | Shell Oil Company, Inc. |
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| Company type | Subsidiary |
| Industry | Petroleum |
| Founded | 1912; 113 years ago (1912) U.S. |
| Headquarters | , United States |
Key people | Gretchen Watkins (president) |
| Products | Fuel,motor oil |
| Revenue |  US$ 37.376 billion (2013/2016)[2] |
Number of employees | 12,100+ (2021)[3] |
| Parent | Shell plc |
| Website | shell.us |
Shell USA, Inc. (formerlyShell Oil Company, Inc.) is theUnited States–based wholly ownedsubsidiary ofShell plc, aUK-based transnational corporation "oil major" which is among the largestoil companies in the world. Approximately 18,000 Shell employees are based in the U.S. Its U.S. headquarters are inHouston, Texas. Shell USA, including its consolidated companies and its share in equity companies, is one of America's largest oil and natural gas producers, natural gas marketers, fuel marketers andpetrochemical manufacturers.
In 1979, Shell purchased Belridge Oil Company for $3.65 billion, which at the time was called the "biggest cash takeover in American history" by US government sources.[4]
In 1997, Shell andTexaco entered into two refining/marketing joint ventures. One combined their Midwestern and Western operations and was known as Equilon. The other, known asMotiva Enterprises, combined the Eastern and Gulf Coast operations of Shell Oil and Star Enterprise, itself a joint venture betweenSaudi Aramco and Texaco.[5]
After Texaco merged withChevron in 2001, Shell purchased Texaco's shares in the joint ventures.[6] In 2002, Shell began converting these Texaco stations to the Shell brand, a process that was to be completed by June 2004 and was called "the largest retail re-branding initiative in American business history".[7]
In recent years, The Shell Oil Company's Midstream, and Downstream, in particular, have become limited to petroleum, and chemical products. This has come as a result ofRoyal Dutch Shell breaking off itsNatural Gas and power businesses into a new segment named Integrated Gas. The Shell Oil Company's former Natural Gas, and energy divisions are nowShell Energy North America, a closely integrated, but a distinctive entity that runs across North America and is headquartered out ofHouston, Texas.[8]
Shell is the market leader through approximately 14,000 Shell-branded fuel stations in the U.S. which also serve as Shell's most visible public presence, and comes closest to serving all 50 states, lacking a presence only inMontana.[9] At its gas stations, Shell providesdiesel fuel,fuel andLPG. Shell Oil Company was a 50/50 partner with theSaudi Arabian government-owned oil companySaudi Aramco inMotiva Enterprises, a refining and marketing joint venture which owns and operates three oil refineries on theGulf Coast of the United States. However, Shell is currently divesting its interest in Motiva.[10]
Shell products include oils, fuels, and car services as well as exploration, production, and refining of petroleum products.[11] The ShellMartinez Refinery inMartinez, California, the first Shell refinery in the United States, supplied Shell andTexaco stations in the West and Midwest[12] until its sale toPBF Energy in 2020.[13]
Shell fuel previously included the RU2000 and SU2000 lines (later there was a SU2000E) but they have been superseded by theV-Power line.[14]
In 2023Shell USA (North American division ofShell plc) became theOfficial Fuel of the NTTIndyCar Series they will supply 100%Ethanol-sourced fuel. They are also theOfficial Fuel of theIndianapolis Motor Speedway.[15][16]
In 2023, the first deliveries ofsustainable aviation fuel (SAF) to Shell Trading (US) Company (Shell) from Montana Renewables took place. The companies have entered into a multi-year agreement, with the fuel received being distributed by Shell and subsidiaries across the country to acceleratedecarbonization.[17]
Shell is preparing to sell its onshore business inNigeria'sNiger Delta for $2.4 billion (€2.2 billion) to a consortium of companies in 2024. The acquiring consortium is Renaissance, which includes ND Western, Aradel Energy, First E&P, Waltersmith and Petrolin. The assets include 15 onshore leases and three shallow water fields. The deal needs to be approved by the national government before it can be finalized.[18]
Until the mid-1980s, Shell's business in the United States was substantially independent. Limited direct involvement from the main office inThe Hague,Netherlands, and having its stock "Shell Oil" traded on theNew York Stock Exchange were factors. However, in 1984, Royal Dutch Shell made a bid to purchase those shares of Shell Oil Company it did not own (around 30%) and despite some opposition from some minority shareholders which led to a court case, Shell completed the buyout for a sum of $5.7 billion.[19]
Despite the acquisition, however, Shell Oil remained a fairly independent business. This was due in part to complex legal reasons, as Royal Dutch Shell feared that there could be onerousliability problems if closer control of Shell Oil's affairs was exercised by the "parent company". One consequence of this independence was that the Shell logo used in the U.S. was slightly different from that used in the rest of the world. In the 1980s, Shell Oil's independence began to gradually erode as the "parent company" took a more hands-on approach to running the business. The logo used in the United States is the same as that used elsewhere since June 1, 1998.[20]
In January 2018, Royal Dutch Shell acquired a 44% interest in solar energy company Silicon Ranch, run byCEO Matt Kisber. The takeover was part of the global New Energies project, with the aim of bringing solar renewable options to U.S. customers.[21] The company paid up to an estimated $217 million to take over from former minority shareholdersPartners Group.[22]
In October 2018, the company installed a 285-foot-high quench tower at the Shell Chemical Appalachia L.L.C. Pittsburgh plant, which transfers heat absorbed by the water circulation process to use across other areas of the site.[23]
Shell Puget Sound Refinery,Anacortes, Washington, was fined $291,000 from 2006 to 2010 for violations of theClean Air Act making it the second most-fined violator in thePacific Northwest. As of 2011[update], it has been listed as a "high-priority violator" since 2008.[26][27]
In 2008, a lawsuit was filed against Shell Oil Company for alleged Clean Air Act violation. ShellDeer Park Refinery 20 miles east of Houston, was the nation's eighth-largest oil refinery and one of the world's largest petrochemical producers. The facility was also the second-largest source of air pollution inHarris County, which ranked among the lowest in the nation in several measures of air quality.[28] According toSierra Club and Environment Texas, analysis of Shell's reports to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, air pollutants released at Deer Park since 2003 exceeded theEPA's emissions limits.[29]
Will Oremus from Slate magazine states, "The company's business depends on being able to anticipate and respond quickly to seismic shifts in the energy market. So it employs a team of big-thinking futurists, called scenario planners, to keep it a step ahead. In 2008, the company released a fresh pair of scenarios for how the world might respond to climate change over the coming decades. Both were predicated on what the company called 'three hard truths': that global energy demand is rising, that the supply of conventional energy will not be able to keep up, and that climate change is both real and dangerous."[30]
Between 1978 and 1995, Shell Oil producedpolybutylene pipes, which corrode when exposed to chlorine. Aclass action lawsuit was filed in 1995 against Shell Oil when the polybutylene pipes caused flooding in many households in the U.S. and Canada.[31] The settlement required Shell Oil to pay for the re-installation of piping for millions of houses for claims filed through May 2009.[32]
About 6,000 Shell workers and contractors were instructed to attend aDonald Trump speech held on August 13, 2019, or take the day off without pay, losing about $700 from overtime and per diem. During his address, Trump called out specific union leaders to declare their voting loyalty. Many of the union leaders present were not consulted before the event, and memos sent to contractor management forbade any protest.[33][34] Federal law prohibits a corporation from making a contribution.[35]
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