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July 8th, 2004:

EMAIL FROM CHARLES WIWA, NEPHEW OF KEN SARO-WIWA

EMAIL FROM CHARLES WIWA, A NEPHEW OF THE LATE NOBEL LAUREATE, KEN SARO-WIWA

TO ALFRED DONOVAN

7 July 04

Dear Alfred,

I write to thank you for your writing a presentation for our 2004 mid year convention held at Lincoln, Nebraska (June 26).

Your presentation was timely and has encouraged participants as they prepare for battle against Shell. The information you shared support all of our claims against Shell’s double standards and human rights abuses. We will adhere to your recommendations and strategies on peaceful means of ‘fighting’ the company.

The National Union of Ogoni Students (NUOS Intl. USA) is committed to seek justice and human development for Ogoni and other indigenous peoples around the world. Therefore, all effort towards achieving justice and development is greatly appreciated. NUOS will continue to network with you, your organization and others who share similar views. We will continue to seek help and guidance from you as we continue our campaign. We reckon it is no easy task, but, we trust that our weapon of TRUTH will prevail over the evil tendencies of the ‘multi-national goliath’. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

S&P warns Shell to reform governance

Times Online: S&P warns Shell to reform governance

“credit rating will be cut unless “effective” reforms are introduced”

By Mike Verdin,

08, July 2004

Standard & Poor’s has raised the pressure on Shell to improve its corporate governance, warning the oil giant that its credit rating will be cut unless “effective” reforms are introduced.

Standard & Poor’s, which cuts its ratings on Royal Dutch/Shell debt after the reserves debacle at the Anglo-Dutch company, said that it had ended a review of whether further downgrades were needed.

However, while reaffirming its revised grades, the ratings agency warned that the outlook for Shell’s debt was “negative” and cautioned the company over the risks of maintaining current corporate procedures. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

The Guardian: Bailiffs close in on Yukos

The Guardian: Bailiffs close in on Yukos

“BP and Shell have large stakes in Russia”

Jailed oligarch’s offer to help meet £1.8bn demand with personal shareholding fails to avert crisis

Carolynne Wheeler in Moscow and Terry Macalister

Thursday July 8, 2004

Bailiffs moved in on Russia’s largest oil firm, Yukos, last night despite a last-ditch plea to the Kremlin by its largest shareholder, Mikhail Khodorkovsky. The jailed billionaire asked the state to take his shares to pay a massive tax bill and save the company from bankruptcy.

Yukos, facing a midnight deadline to meet a £1.8bn demand for 2000, conceded it was impossible to pay the bill without help from the government. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Bloomberg.com: Shell Offers to Sell $103 Mln Stake in Malaysian Unit (Update2)

Bloomberg.com: Shell Offers to Sell $103 Mln Stake in Malaysian Unit (Update2)

July 8 (Bloomberg) — Royal Dutch/Shell Group, Europe’s second-largest oil company, offered to sell a 20 percent stake in its Malaysian oil refining unit for as much as 390 million ringgit ($103 million), its second sale of Asian assets this week, bankers and investors said.

Shell, based in London and The Hague, is offering 60 million shares in Shell Refining Co. for 6.20 ringgit to 6.50 ringgit each, they said, asking not to be identified. The company may sell an additional 12 million shares, depending on demand, they said. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

LondonFreePress: Suncor, Shell lower production targets

LondonFreePress: Suncor, Shell lower production targets

8 July 2004

CALGARY — Two of Canada’s major oilsands producers are facing lower production targets this year due to unplanned maintenance at their huge open-pit mining operations in northern Alberta. Oilsands giant Suncor Energy announced yesterday that corrosion damage in June at its main facility will reduce annual production targets to an average of 220,000 barrels a day, down from an original expectation of 225,000 to 230,000 barrels.

The news comes one day after a similar warning from the Muskeg River mine, part of the new Athabasca oilsands project operated by Shell Canada. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

FTC Probing Shell’s Plan to Shut Refinery

Los Angeles Times: FTC Probing Shell’s Plan to Shut Refinery

“We’re looking at any possible antitrust violations associated with the closure,”

The antitrust inquiry heightens scrutiny surrounding proposed closure of the oil firm’s Bakersfield plant.

By Elizabeth Douglass, Times Staff Writer

The Federal Trade Commission has launched a formal antitrust investigation into Shell Oil Co.’s plan to close its Bakersfield refinery, an agency official said Wednesday, stepping up scrutiny of a move that California officials believe will worsen the state’s gasoline supply woes.

Meanwhile, the oil company on July 1 reduced crude oil processing at the refinery to levels 19% below capacity, according to an internal Shell document obtained by The Times and a plant employee who asked not to be identified. A Shell spokesman would not say whether the facility was running at full capacity. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Shell faces antitrust inquiry

The Times: Stop Press: Shell faces antitrust inquiry: THE US Federal Trade Commission has launched an investigation into plans by Royal Dutch/Shell to close down a Californian oil refinery

Posted 8 July 04

THE US Federal Trade Commission has launched an investigation into plans by Royal Dutch/Shell to close down a Californian oil refinery producing 70,000 barrels a day. The Anglo-Dutch oil group faces an antitrust inquiry amid fears that the move will cut competition and raise oil prices on the US West Coast. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Regulators to Examine Shell’s Closing of California Refinery

New York Times: Regulators to Examine Shell’s Closing of California Refinery

‘William E. Kovacic, the F.T.C.’s general counsel, said the agency’s investigation would “examine possible antitrust violations” by Shell’

Published: July 8, 2004

WASHINGTON, July 7 (Reuters) – The Federal Trade Commission said Wednesday that it had begun a formal investigation into the Royal Dutch/Shell Group’s plan to shut a California oil refinery, after some lawmakers said that closing it would hurt competition and increase gasoline prices on the West Coast.

William E. Kovacic, the F.T.C.’s general counsel, said the agency’s investigation would “examine possible antitrust violations” by Shell in closing the 70,000-barrel-a-day refinery in Bakersfield. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

FTC Acts Against Two Oil Companies

The Wall Street Journal: FTC Acts Against Two Oil Companies

“The launch of a formal investigation means the FTC has the authority to issue subpoenas to Shell”

By JEFFREY BALL and EMILY CHASAN

Staff Reporters of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

July 8, 2004; Page A3

In two moves to crack down on alleged efforts to keep gasoline prices high, the Federal Trade Commission said it launched a formal investigation into the planned closing of a Royal Dutch/Shell Group refinery in California and it reinstated an antitrust complaint against Unocal Corp.

The commission’s actions come in the wake of record U.S. gasoline prices, which climbed to an average of more than $2 a gallon nationwide this year before pulling back a bit recently. The moves also come as the commission is under fire for failing to police the petroleum industry, most recently in a General Accounting Office report that concluded oil-company mergers approved by the commission in recent years contributed to higher gasoline prices. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

FTC examines Shell’s shutdown of California plant

Houston Chronicle: Refinery closing questioned: FTC examines Shell’s shutdown of California plant

“formal antitrust investigation by the Federal Trade Commission”

By NELSON ANTOSH

July 7, 2004, 11:02PM

Posted 8 July 04

Controversy over Shell Oil’s decision to close a refinery in California has escalated into a formal antitrust investigation by the Federal Trade Commission.

A senior official of the agency made the disclosure at a House subcommittee hearing on gasoline prices in Washington on Wednesday, although he provided few details.

Shutting the refinery in Bakersfield could be blocked if the agency finds antitrust violations, William Kovacic, the agency’s general counsel, told reporters after the hearing. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

FTC Opens Probe Of Shell Oil Co Refinery

The Wall Street Journal: FTC Opens Probe Of Shell Oil Co Refinery

“William Kovacic, the FTC’s general counsel, said subpoenas already have been served”

DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

July 7, 2004 12:35 p.m.

Posted 8 July 04

WASHINGTON (AP)–The Federal Trade Commission has begun a formal investigation of the proposed shutdown of a Shell Oil Co. (RD) refinery in California to determine possible antitrust violations, a senior FTC official said Wednesday.

The refinery near Bakersfield, Calf., has been the subject of intense controversy as Shell (SC) officials plan to close the facility in November. The oil company said the refinery was being shut down because of a decline in oil production in the region. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.