Featured (17): Shell Co. or Thailand, Bangkok

Of course we all know Shell and I don't have to tell you what Shell's activities are worldwide. As Dutch people, we would also like to know that it is a Dutch company, but that is not entirely true. The Royal Dutch Shell Group was created from a long-term close collaboration between Shell England and Royal Dutch Oil. It was not until 2005 that this collaboration was really converted into a single company, making the Royal Dutch Shell Group a company under British law with its head office in The Hague.

Worldwide, approximately 90.000 people in 80 countries work for one of the many dozens of companies that belong to the group. Shell is also active in Thailand under the name Shell Company of Thailand with its head office in Bangkok.

History

Thailand has been involved in the collaboration between Shell and Royal Dutch Oil from almost the beginning. To explain this, we have to go back to the history of the English and Dutch firms, which started working together in the early 20th century.

NV Koninklijke Nederlandse Petroleum Maatschappij (Koninklijke Olie) was founded in 1890 to drill for oil in the Dutch East Indies, with the support of the Dutch government. Oil was found on Sumatra and especially after the discovery of a large oil well at Perlak in 1899, the company grew.

Shell Transport and Trading Company Limited was also founded in the late 19th century by two Samuel brothers to expand their trade in seashells. The oil market was still young and growing spectacularly.

The oil that Shell traded mainly came from Azerbaijan. A special ship for the bulk transport of oil was built and in 1892 the first destination of the ss Murex was Bangkok, establishing Shell's presence in Thailand.

Partnerships

Shell had little confidence in the reliability of the oil supply from Baku and, partly in view of the fact that Standard Oil had made major oil discoveries in Texas, a very close collaboration between Shell and Koninklijke Olie was started in 1907, without however fully merging. . Koninklijke Olie acquired a 60% interest in the Koninklijke/Shell Group. The British Shell acquired a 40% interest. The shares of the two parent companies were still traded separately and the company had a corporate structure with two main offices: one in The Hague and one in London, but the office in The Hague was seen as more important.

At the end of 2004, it was announced that the dual structure would be discontinued. On 20 July 2005, Royal Dutch Shell shares were traded on the stock exchanges for the first time. The Royal Dutch/Shell Group thus grew into a single company under British law: Royal Dutch Shell plc. The company is located in one head office, in The Hague.

The long presence of Shell in Thailand

As mentioned above, Shell's presence in Thailand began when the ss Murex, a purpose-built tanker, arrived in Bangkok in 1892. In the 40 years after the arrival of the ss Murex, the oil market in Thailand expanded considerably, as more and more people and companies made use of oil products.

Imports of kerosene, gasoline and other oil products increased until the outbreak of World War II, when all of Shell's activities in Thailand were suspended. After World War II, the Thai government invited Shell to return to Thailand and resume its pre-war operations. In 1946 “The Shell Company of Thailand Limited” was established, a wholly owned subsidiary of Shell Overseas Holdings Ltd.

Shell Thailand now

Shell is involved in a broad spectrum of Thailand's petroleum and chemical industry, from exploration and production, to crude oil refining and the marketing of a wide range of oil and chemical products.

The company operates one of the major storage and distribution centers for oil and chemical products in Chong Nonsi, Bangkok, which, along with a number of upcountry depots, serves a large network of service stations across the country.

Shell started oil exploration in Thailand in 1979 through the Thai Shell Exploration and Production Company Limited. The Sirikit Oil Field, the first commercial oil field in Thailand, named after HM Queen Sirikit, was discovered in 1981. The field is located in Lan Krabu District of Kampaeng Phet Province and the crude oil coming from that field is named “ Phet Crude”. The Sirikit oil field was developed in collaboration with PTT Exploration and Production Public Company Limited and has a daily output of about 20.000 barrels of crude Phet, which was purchased exclusively by the Petroleum Authority of Thailand (PTT). The exploration and production of the Sirikit oil field is now wholly owned by PTT, having produced about 140 million barrels of oil during the cooperation period.

Shell was also involved in the formation of the Rayong Refinery Company Limited in 1991 (Shell with 64% and the Petroleum Authority of Thailand (PTT) 36% to build a fourth refinery in Thailand. This state-of-the-art refinery is located in the Map Ta Phut Industrial Estate, Rayong Province and has a capacity to process 145.000 barrels per day.The start-up was in 1996 and in 2004 Shell sold all shares of this company to PTT.

Summary

This year marks the 123rd year of Shell's operations in Thailand. Over the years, Shell has contributed to the development of sustainable energy infrastructure in Thailand. It has continuously kept pace with the country's social and economic development, as well as contributing to Shell's image as one of the most valued players in the Thai energy sector

Shell played a pioneering role in the advancement of the industry, from the establishment of refineries to a nationwide network of petrol stations. Shell is currently in fourth place in terms of the number of petrol stations, after PTT, Bangchak and ESSO.

The Shell brand is synonymous around the world with passion and expertise in developing high quality and technologically advanced fuels for their consumers and their vehicles.

Source: Facebook page of the Dutch Embassy in Bangkok, supplemented with Wikipedia and websites of Shell Thailand and International.