Shell PLC is a multinational oil and gas company headquartered in London, England. The British firm is the second-largest investor-owned petroleum company in the world and among the largest corporations by industry.
Shell is known for its consistent commitment to quality in the petroleum industry. It boasts operations in several countries worldwide, directly or indirectly, through franchising.
While the company may be known for oil and gas, what remains unknown to many is how the company was founded and its initial business.
Shell was founded by Marcus Samuel as an antique trader.
In 1833, the interior design industry in London and Europe was experiencing massive changes, prompting Samuel to expand his London Business and try importing and selling oriental seashells.
The demand was so great that he began importing the shells from the Far East, laying the foundations for an import-export business that would ultimately become one of the world’s leading energy companies.
When Marcus Samuel Senior died in 1870, he passed the business on to his two sons, Marcus Junior and Samuel. The two had big ideas, and immediately, they embarked on expansion.
In the 1880s, they became particularly interested in the oil exporting business, but shipping still posed a problem. Oil was carried in barrels that could leak and took up a lot of space.
To solve the problem, they commissioned a fleet of steamers to carry oil in bulk, including the Murex, which in 1892 became the first oil tanker to pass through the Suez Canal.
The Samuel brothers had struck gold with their new venture. The bulk transportation of oil cut the cost of the commodity by a significant margin.
In marketing, the brothers created the Shell brand and painted their cans bright red. The tactic worked, and by 1896, their kerosene trade was earning more than all their other businesses combined.
Marcus and Samuel renamed their company the Shell Transport and Trading Company in 1897. They launched their first refinery at Balik Papan in Dutch Borneo. Unfortunately, the refinery was destroyed in World War II.
In 1901, Marcus Jr won the transport and distribution rights after oil was discovered in Texas, USA. This marked a significant milestone for the company.
However, by 1902, overproduction in Texas slashed the available supply to virtually nothing. At the same time, a smaller competitor called Royal Dutch had begun to construct its own tankers and set up a sales organization in Asia. As a result, half of Shell’s fleet sat idle.
Shell Transport and Trading Company merged with Royal Dutch in 1907 to form the Royal Dutch Shell Group. The day the telegram announcing the merger was received, April 23, 1907, is now celebrated every year as Shell’s birthday.
The World Wars were brutal and resulted in massive damages for the company. Shell picked itself up post-war and began to reinvent itself.
In 1947, the first commercially viable offshore well was drilled in the Gulf of Mexico and within 8 years, the company had over 300 such wells. Discoveries were also made in Borneo and the Niger Delta, and commercial production of oil in Nigeria began in 1958.
Shell explored and discovered more oil wells in the Middle East, including Yibal, Oman’s most prolific field. This discovery was the country’s first and would transform Oman’s economy.
At the start of the decade, the Groningen gas field in the Netherlands was also discovered, followed by the discovery of gas in the North Sea. This time was also a golden period of research for Shell Chemicals.
The company also decided to internationalise, placing local people in top positions to make the most of homegrown talent in each country.
Shell has since weathered multiple storms, including the 1986 collapse in crude oil prices, to become an industry leader in the oil business.
The adoption of technological advances has steered the company to global heights.
