Thursday July 30, 2015 Stefano, this is a great question: The phrasal verb 'HUNKERING DOWN' simply means that the Shell executives are settling down with the facts. So what does this mean, settling down to the facts? Think about it this way. Something is going to change sooner or later. The executives are not sure when the oil prices will rise so they are "HUNKERING DOWN" until the price changes. Another thought is that the Shell executives are not going to do much more to influence the prices. Finally, HUNKERING DOWN can be as symbolic as putting a child to bed at night. Nothing more is required until the child wakes in the morning for breakfast and clothing. For this reason, we can say let's start HUNKERING DOWN for the night. There is nothing more to be done until in the morning. Sleep well and stay warm. I hope this helps. Dr. Priscilla

"To hunker down" has the implication of taking shelter and waiting for hard times or a difficult situation to pass. If you know there's a bad storm coming, you might prepare to hunker down at home until it passes. In this case the 'storm' is a period of low oil prices that they have to endure.

Hunker Down means to remain in place until something changes. Dr. Priscilla