Growing and facing challenges

In the 1980s Shell began to grow through acquisitions. In 1986 the oil price collapsed with the price of a barrel of oil falling from $31 to $10 over the winter. To adjust to the lower oil price Shell had to focus on developing projects more cheaply. Intensive research led to huge improvements in drilling techniques and the use of 3D seismic technology to search for new oil sources became widespread. These advances enabled the company to develop offshore projects in much more challenging environments. The Troll field in Norway was one example, another was in the Gulf of Mexico where a new well was drilled at a depth of 2.3 kilometres.

The 1990s saw biomass and gas-to-liquids (GTL) technologies make giant leaps forward. In 1993 Shell opened the world’s first commercial GTL plant in Bintulu, Malaysia, a pioneering step that set the stage for the increasing role this fuel would play over the next decade.

This era was not without its challenges, however. While Shell moved into new growth areas such as China and Russia and developed projects of increasing complexity and in harsher environments, it also faced increased external criticism. Environmental concerns were raised in relation to Shell’s plans to dispose of the Brent platforms in North Sea storage platform, as well as over Shell’s presence and activities in Nigeria. Shell has since strived to work as closely as possible with both local governments and communities. The Shell commitment and policy on Health, Security, Safety, Environment and Social Performance (HSSE & SP) applies across the company and is designed to help protect people, their communities and the environment wherever Shell operates.