I'm going well on Shell, Shell, Shell. Oh, what a day! I'm on my way.
I can be sure of Shell. Oh, I'm going well. I'm going Shell.
You can be sure of Shell. Marcus Samuel turned his father's London business into one of the most important companies in the history of the oil industry. But the path wasn't easy.
After striking gold and finding the right partnership, Samuel's business was on the brink of failure after a bitter decade-long rivalry. But ingenious engineering, sponsorship, and a deep involvement in both world wars ensured it would emerge as one of the top five oil companies on the planet, even today. This is the story of Shell.
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Chapter 1. Traveling Abroad Marcus Samuel was born into a successful London business family. His father, who had the same name, owned M. Samuel & Co., a thriving import-export enterprise with a shop in Houndstitch, that sold merchandise sailors had collected from the Far East, and was known for a popular item in particular, small boxes decorated with painted seashells.
Apart from the obvious perks of his wealth which afforded him an education in Britain, Brussels, and Paris, Marcus was exposed to a world not many British had access to at the time. Throughout Marcus's youth, he was able to travel to the Far East, visiting Siam, the Philippines, China, and Japan. where his father's merchandise originated.
Upon returning, he and his brother Samuel took over the business and immediately began branching out to new products, like rice and commodities. They found trading partners in Japan who were in the process of industrializing the country, but there was a problem for the Japanese, a lack of oil. Marcus and Samuel sensed a huge business opportunity, far beyond their father's relatively humble operation.
Even with their Asian connections, though, they were going to need a powerful partner to enter the oil business. That's where a deal was struck with the Rothschild family, who owned oil reserves in the Caucasus. The Rothschilds were looking for a way to transport, especially to the East Asian market. And to solve their problem, Marcus Samuel proposed moving it through the Suez Canal.
Samuel's company became the exclusive seller of kerosene east of the Suez Canal. But to transport huge loads of oil, there would need to be a more modern, better equipped vehicle available, and Marcus Samuel was the man of the moment. This would be the turning point in his business, revolutionizing the nature of the oil industry in the process. Chapter 2. A Revolution in Oil At the time, oil was carried in barrels.
Apart from taking up large spaces, constant leaking was an ongoing issue. In Samuel's most significant move, he created a fleet of steamships specially made for the task. He even designed the tankers himself.
Oil could be directly pumped into them at ports and on their return leg, and these tankers were fitted out with various goods, making oil distribution exponentially cheaper and more efficient. The first of these, named Murex, was the first oil tanker to ever pass through the Suez Canal, a watershed moment in global trade. And that was only the beginning. Over the next few years, almost 70 oil tanker voyages were made through the route.
Apart from exploring the value of the company, Marcus and Samuel's innovation completely changed how oil would be transported. Now, much bigger volumes could be transported, with a much lower risk of leaks or damages during travel. At the time, their major competitor was Standard Oil, which used distinctive blue cans of kerosene. Wanting to make their brand more visible, the brothers decided to paint their cans a bright red color instead.
This was successful, and by the close of the 19th century, their kerosene was the biggest part of their business. In 1897, the company was incorporated under the name Shell Transport and Trading Company, which he named in honor of the two brothers'father, who made his career as an antique dealer and was known as the Shell Merchant. The logo began as a realistic shell design, and was slowly simplified over the years.
The company's first order of business was to open a refinery in what is now Borneo, but the late 19th century was a competitive time for Oil. Chapter 3. The Oil Wars. Just four years after changing the company's name, a Dutch rival emerged on the scene, popping up in North Sumatra, named the Royal Dutch Petroleum Company, and working in tandem with the Dutch government, which had taken over the East Indies.
These were the two titans of the region, competing for an oil monopoly. Elsewhere, Shell were fighting for their lives. after securing an exclusive distribution deal in Texas after oil was found.
But less than a year later, overproduction in the area caused the price to plummet, causing huge losses for Shell. Around half of their oil tankers were not being used, and these problems were exacerbated by Shell's regional conflict with Royal Dutch. Shell's trade war with Royal Dutch lasted almost a decade, with both losing out to their growing competitor, Standard Oil Company. which was rapidly growing and in the early 1900s controlled 91% of oil refinement in the United States.
Recognizing their intertwined futures and that neither would survive continued fighting, Shell and the Royal Dutch Petroleum Company reached an agreement to merge in 1907. They would continue to legally operate as two separate companies, with Royal Dutch taking 60% of control to Shell's 40%, but their deal unified two of the biggest players in the market and consolidated the East Asia market. The Royal Dutch component of the company was responsible for manufacturing and production, while the Shell side was responsible for transportation, storage, and logistics. Marcus was appointed as director of Alliance Marine Assurance Company, but never again would head the company.
By then, Marcus had been appointed as an alderman of the City of London, and later Mayor of London, overseeing the creation of the Royal Dutch Company. of the Port of London Authority. What survived was the name he and his brother had come up with.
The two unified businesses, sometimes referred to as The Group, was more often than not shortened simply to Shell. Shell soon after bought the Rothschilds'oil company, Benito, expanding their operations to include Mexico, Venezuela, the United States, Romania, Russian Empire, while still remaining in the East Indies. which still made up the bulk of their portfolio.
But as a global technological revolution was kicking into gear, and the battle for oil supremacy was going to be waged in marketing just as much as it was over land. Chapter 4. Pushing Ingenuity The early 20th century was full of mechanical innovation, and to keep their product front and center, Shell sponsored and supplied petrol to aircraft. automobiles, and other vehicles. The 1907 Perking to Paris Motor Rally was won by a vehicle using Shell Spirit motor oil, and two years later, Louis Blériot became the first pilot to cross the English Channel from Les Baroques to Dover, a distance of 22 miles, using Shell's fuel.
Shell also supplied fuel for the first historic transatlantic flight. Shell had rebranded with the now-iconic red and yellow colors, a reformed and simplified pectin-like logo, which was now appearing on cars, motorcycles, postcards, and lorry bills all over the world. These experiments with automobiles signaled a shift to the mass adoption of automobiles and the increasing available commercial aircraft, which drove a massive demand for oil, especially after the invention of the jet engine. Shell was perfectly positioned to capitalize on this, opening up the company for years of expansion.
Giving them an advantage was the breakup of Standard Oil into 43 different companies after U.S. lawmakers deemed the company in violation of antitrust legislation. Standard Oil had become a monopoly. Two of the companies that emerged were Exxon and Mobil, later merging again.
But some economists have estimated that the company would have been worth around $1 trillion by 2000 if it hadn't been broken up. Standard Oil's loss was Shell's gain. Between 1897 and 1927, the value of the company skyrocketed from $1.8 million to $26 million, which would be the equivalent of a $66 to $456 million jump today. With success came new problems, though, and would soon lead to the seizure of valuable equipment. They were about to be entangled in a global conflict that would both make and nearly break the company.
Chapter 4. The Business of War With the outbreak of World War I, Shell quickly became a key partner for the for the Allied forces. Their office in London was solely for the war. In particular, specialized aviation fuel was being produced in the United States with the help of newly founded Shell Chemicals, which innovated new refinements methods.
The partnership with the British paved the way for more expansion directly after World War I, but it wasn't all smooth sailing. When Germany invaded Romania in 1916, it wiped out 17% of Shell's worldwide production. This didn't slow down the relentless march of the company, though, which continued to expand and by 1930 was the world's biggest oil company, producing one-tenth of global crude oil. This fuel source was vital for the Allies during the war, so much so that Shell's tankers were taken control of by the British government, classified as essential for the war effort. In 1927, between the two wars, Marcus Samuel, now given the title of Viscount, with commemorations led by the London business and political community, his contributions to both the private and public spheres were enormous, and what he had spawned had reached heights that even he never could have imagined.
To break in the 1930s, Shell finished their global headquarters in London, named the Shell Mex House. By 1935, Shell was already employing 180,000 people, 80,000 people around the world. After the war, when its tankers were returned to private hands and facing the huge task of restructuring the company from the ruins of World War II, Shell set out on even more ambitious projects. Exploration programs in Africa, South America, Borneo, and the Niger Delta were carried out with their newest addition to the fleet, the Supertanker. Over the next few decades, Shell was on the cutting edge of new research and technology.
like improved drilling techniques and 3D seismic technology. But some of this research was kept hidden from the public. Chapter 5. Heating Up As an oil company, Shell has continuously been at the center of fears about environmental degradation, pollution, and climate change.
And during the 1980s, nobody knew more about the impact of fossil fuels than oil titans like Shell, and Exxon. Agreeing with an early report of internal research made by Exxon, Shell sponsored research in 1988 which concluded that CO2 levels would double as early as 2030, and that the sea level would rise approximately 1 meter, and even more terrifyingly, that the melting of the West Antarctic ice sheet would lead up to a 6 meter rise in sea levels. Experts at the company warned that large-scale ecosystem and agricultural destruction would follow, and that sources of fresh water would be eliminated with changes in temperature and precipitation levels.
Researchers wrote that policy options should be considered because the effects were potentially the greatest in human history. Despite having more evidence than any other organization, though, Shell publicly denied any correlation between carbon emissions and climate change. Instead, they sought to discredit any assertions made about the damaging nature of their business.
and the details of that confidential report were not released until 2018. In the 21st century, Shell began marketing itself as a supporter of climate change science and action, advocating for the Paris Climate Agreement and a shift towards green energy. The company now describes itself as an active player in transforming the global energy system, transitioning to cleaner and lower-carbon alternatives, and making pledges to reduce fossil fuel dependency. But talking is one thing, actions are another. Shell still spends tens of millions of dollars each year lobbying against climate policies to keep the company as profitable as possible.
Chapter 6. Now and the Future Shell's projected emissions between 2018 and 2030 are on track to account for 1.6% of the global carbon budget, and in the previous decade, only 1% of its long-term investments went towards energy like wind and solar. Going into the future, Shell plans to grow its fossil gas business by 20%, while a study found that almost $4 billion of Shell's spending in 2019 conflicted with the International Energy Agency's guidelines. This has led to many critics accusing Shell of greenwashing their corporate image and history by deceptively presenting themselves as environmentally friendly. And it goes against what Shell has been telling their own shareholders. Chief Executive of the company, Wael Sawan, told investors that the company would abandon plans to cut oil production and that it would be irresponsible to reduce output right now.
In response, advocacy group Greenpeace installed a sign outside Shell's London office that read, Our profit, your loss. This year, Shell posted second-quarter profits of $5 billion, and last year was more than twice that. The entire earnings for 2022 were almost $40 billion. A company once started by Marcus Samuel along with his brother over 100 years ago has grown into the fifth-largest oil company on the planet. Last year alone, Shell produced 692 million barrels of oil, over 1,800 per day.
and now makes up almost 12% of global market share. And the Shell logo, which began as a tribute to a Shell merchant father, is now synonymous with oil, and one of the most recognizable on the planet.