It is a strange turnaround. Ten years ago, they were regarded as comically mismanaged. But I think what happened was: top tier firms like XOM did well, the mar

It is a strange turnaround. Ten years ago, they were regarded as comically mismanaged. But I think what happened was: top tier firms like XOM did well, the market started softening in the mid-2010s, the top tier were more exposed to that, Shell had already botched it so they couldn't really get any worse, they were therefore in a fairly good place to latch onto new trends because they weren't fire-fighting. Tbf, their returns haven't been much different to XOM except over the last year. I don't really invest in natural resources but have been considering SHEL as a diversifier (I am down very bad on everything else) because they do seem to be switched on (and are being pushed by Third Point).