Jonathan Deal spreads nothing but disinformation. Shale losses in the US were a product of policy. For example, while gas prices in the US hit record lows of around $2, prices across the globe where around $10. Why? Because they could not export it since the only terminals where licensed and designed for importing NG. That is changing however, as those terminals are being retrofitted for export. Another key thing to point out is that land prices in the US are far more expensive than South Africa's, combine that with land owner payouts and you can see why companies were not as profitable. Jonathan Deal is a great example of person who uses scare tactics to mislead the uninformed. The $2 Billion write-off could have been Shell marketing down its recoverable assets, that does not translate into a loss, it could mean just less profit. I do not have the time to look over Shell's financials but I'm sure its worth looking into since Jonathan frequently references Josh Fox's film. This is the same Fox that filmed the scene from Gasland II of a garden hose "leaking NG"! Read for yourself.

"Fox’s new film, Gasland Part II, features a powerful scene showing a Texas landowner lighting the contents of a garden hose on fire. The incident is presented as evidence of water contamination from a nearby hydraulic fracturing operation.

According to a Texas court, the scene was actually a hoax devised by a Texas environmental activist engaged in a prolonged battle with a local gas company to falsely inflate the supposed dangers of the oil and gas extraction technique, also known as fracking. …

Texas’ 43rd Judicial District Court found in February 2012 that Steven Lipsky, “under the advice or direction” of Texas environmental activist Alisa Rich, “intentionally attach[ed] a garden hose to a gas vent—not a water line” and lit its contents on fire."