Shell’s 0.69% Rally on 50.97% Volume Surge Propels It to 415th in Market Activity Amid LNG Arbitration Win

Shell (SHEL) rose 0.69% on August 13, with a trading volume of $0.28 billion—a 50.97% increase from the previous day—ranking it 415th in market activity. The move followed a significant legal development involving its liquefied natural gas (LNG) contracts. Venture Global, a U.S.-based LNG producer, secured a favorable arbitration ruling in its dispute with Shell over unfulfilled delivery obligations at the Calcasieu Pass facility. The ruling, delivered by an international tribunal, resolved claims that Shell failed to receive contracted LNG cargoes during the facility’s commissioning phase. This outcome has bolstered investor confidence in Venture Global, which now anticipates similar success in pending arbitrations with other major energy firms.

The arbitration victory highlights ongoing tensions in the LNG sector, where contractual disputes over spot market sales versus long-term obligations remain contentious. Venture Global has argued that operational delays at its Louisiana facility—stemming from electrical system failures—justified its shift to short-term sales. The company plans to expand its export capacity, aiming to surpass Cheniere as North America’s largest LNG producer by 2027. However, rising construction costs for its CP2 project, driven by inflation and supply chain pressures, underscore broader industry challenges.

A strategy of investing in the top 500 stocks by daily trading volume and holding them for one day generated a 3.77% return from 2022 to the present. This outperformed a baseline of holding all stocks without trading discipline, though the approach carries risks tied to market volatility and liquidity. The backtest suggests that high-volume stocks, like Shell on August 13, can reflect short-term investor sentiment shaped by sector-specific events.