July 20th, 2006:

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL ONLINE
July 20, 2006 6:44 p.m.

Crude-oil futures rose on the New York Mercantile Exchange, settling at about $73 a barrel and ending a three-day slide. Here is Thursday’s roundup of oil and energy news.

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YUKOS BOSS QUITS: The president of OAO Yukos, Steven Theede, announced his resignation just hours ahead of a meeting of creditors, which he predicted would back the liquidation of the company. “There is nothing left for me to do to protect the remaining assets of the company in Russia,” he wrote. Earlier this week, his bid to stop OAO Rosneft’s IPO in London was defeated in court. State-controlled Rosneft is the owner of what was once Yukos’s most-prized asset, which the Russian government pried away from Yukos in a controversial tax case in 2004. read more

By GEOFFREY T. SMITH
July 21, 2006

MOSCOW — The Russian Natural Resources Ministry said Thursday that it will launch a monthlong audit of the Sakhalin-2 project, criticizing delays and cost overruns to the project that it said threaten national interests.

A statement released by Natural Resources Minister Yuri Trutnev said Sakhalin Energy Ltd., a consortium led by Royal Dutch Shell PLC, is taking longer to drill wells and start production than seen in the agreement under which the project is being developed. read more

Woodside Says Oil Output Is Slipping at Chinguetti

Perth Firm Considers
A Reserve Downgrade
For Mauritania Field
By STEPHEN BELL
July 21, 2006

PERTH, Australia — Woodside Petroleum Ltd. experienced another problem at its emerging Mauritania oil province, revealing Thursday that it may be forced to downgrade reserves at the US$750 million Chinguetti field.

It is the second disappointment for Woodside inside a month, after the Perth-based company downgraded its overall 2006 production forecast by 5%, mostly because of problems at Chinguetti, which was once tipped to hold 120 million barrels. read more

CALGARY, July 20 /CNW/ – Shell Canada Limited will host a conference call
and webcast presentation on July 28, 2006 beginning at 12:00 noon (MDT). The
presentation will be followed by a question and answer session and should be
complete by 1:00 p.m. (MDT).

Shell will provide an update regarding the Athabasca Oil Sands Project
expansion (AOSP Expansion 1). Information will also be provided on Shell’s
overall oil sands strategy and growth plans.

Shell Canada’s Clive Mather, President and CEO will host the call. Cathy
Williams, CFO, Brian Straub, Sr. V.P. Oil Sands, and Ken Lawrence, Manager
Investor Relations will also participate. read more

Friday, July 21, 2006

THE sales and purchase agreement for French company Total Oil to buy Shell Fiji Ltd has been signed, says Shell Fiji’s general manager Peter Walsh.

The agreement is subject to the Government’s approval, which is required for Total Oil to trade in the country, Mr Walsh said.

He said the Government’s approval was now being sought.

Shell Ltd finalised the sale of its business in Fiji, Tonga, New Caledonia, Vanuatu and French Polynesia a week ago.

Mr Walsh said all the company’s sales were conditional upon Government’s approval and were expected to be completed by late 2006 or early 2007. read more

By Wang Ying (China Daily)
Updated: 2006-07-21 08:49

CNOOC and Shell Petrochemicals Co Ltd, China’s biggest Sino-foreign partnership deal, plans to expand its current capacity by 10 to 20 per cent within the next four years, to meet surging domestic demand.

The US$4.3 billion joint project, launched in March between Royal Dutch Shell and China’s biggest offshore oil company China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC), yesterday disclosed plans to further expand its capacity.

“We are now looking at a 10 per cent to 20 per cent expansion of our existing production facilities within the next four years,” Jean-Louis Bilhou, the joint venture’s manufacturing director, told reporters yesterday at Daya Bay of South China’s Guangdong Province. read more

(This updates an item published at 1005 GMT 20 July, with comment from Sakhalin Energy and context regarding its proposed deal with Gazprom)

MOSCOW (MarketWatch) — The Russian Natural Resources Ministry said Thursday that it would launch a month-long audit of the Sakhalin-2 project at the start of July, claiming that delays and cost overruns to the project were threatening national interest.

A statement released by Natural Resources Minister Yuri Trutnev said Sakhalin Energy Ltd., a consortium led by Royal Dutch Shell Group (RDSA), is taking longer to drill wells and start production than foreseen in the Production Sharing Agreement under which the project is being developed. read more

By ANDREA R. MIHAILESCU
UPI Energy Correspondent

British-Dutch venture Royal Dutch Shell said it hopes to complete its asset-swap deal with Russian natural gas behemoth Gazprom by the end of the year despite complications.

“I hope that by the end of 2006 the exchange will be completed. It is already July,” Jeroen van der Veer, head of Shell, said in an interview with the Russian daily Vedomosti.

Under the contract, state-controlled Gazprom, the world’s largest gas company, will receive 25 percent plus one share in the $20 billion Sakhalin-2 liquefied natural gas project located in Russia’s Far East, while Shell will receive 50 percent plus one share in the Zapolyarnoye-Neocomian project. read more

HOUSTON, July 20 /PRNewswire/ — Boston-based advertising agency MMB successfully defended the $25 million Jiffy Lube International account and will continue its relationship as agency of record for the leader in the fast lube category. MMB has handled the Jiffy Lube advertising program since 2001 but the account was put up for review earlier this year.

MMB beat two other finalists, Dentsu’s Colby & Partners and WPP Group’s Cole + Weber United to retain the account.

“MMB has done some fabulous creative work for us over the years and they recently expanded their capabilities to include customer-relationship marketing, interactive and non-traditional media implementation. These capabilities will help Jiffy Lube International grow the brand and stay at the top of our game,” said Lisa Carlson, global manager of marketing, Shell Lubricants-Fast Lubes. “Their presentation was very well done and it demonstrated great thought, energy and knowledge of our business.” read more

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL ONLINE
July 19, 2006 6:59 p.m.

Crude-oil futures tumbled for the third consecutive day, falling nearly $1 a barrel to settle at less than $73 after U.S. government data showed continuing gains in oil and gasoline supplies. Oil prices have lost nearly 6% in the three trading days since settling at a record high of more than $77 a barrel. Here’s Wednesday’s roundup of oil and energy news.

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INDIA UNVEILS RESERVE PLANS: India will start building its first strategic crude-oil storage facility in January at Vizag in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh, a government official told The Wall Street Journal. The facility will have a capacity of one million tons, or 7.33 million barrels, of crude oil, and will be ready in January 2010. Two more crude-storage facilities, with even bigger capacities, will also be built. The reserves reflect India’s growing demand for energy supplies and could help keep a floor under global oil prices. read more

A WALL STREET JOURNAL NEWS ROUNDUP
July 20, 2006

President Vladimir Putin signed a law that enshrines the monopoly over Russia’s gas exports of OAO Gazprom, the world’s largest gas company, his office said.

Analysts said the law may be designed to ensure that Gazprom’s status can’t be challenged on the basis of an international Energy Charter that Russia has signed but not ratified.

The law consolidates Gazprom’s hold over gas exports, including piped natural gas, liquefied natural gas and liquefied petroleum gas — butane and propane. The only exceptions are existing production-sharing agreements such as Exxon Mobil Corp.’s Sakhalin I project and Royal Dutch Shell PLC ‘s Sakhalin II. read more

 (This updates an item published at 1005 GMT, with comment from Sakhalin Energy and context regarding its proposed deal with Gazprom)

MOSCOW -(Dow Jones)- The Russian Natural Resources Ministry said Thursday that it would launch a month-long audit of the Sakhalin-2 project at the start of July, claiming that delays and cost overruns to the project were threatening national interest.

A statement released by Natural Resources Minister Yuri Trutnev said Sakhalin Energy Ltd., a consortium led by Royal Dutch Shell Group (RDSA), is taking longer to drill wells and start production than foreseen in the Production Sharing Agreement under which the project is being developed. read more

EXTRACT: But the Judge, Okechukwu Okeke, ruled that since both sides had agreed to go before the National Assembly, the order was binding. Ijaw community leader, Ngo Nac- Eteli, said that if Shell wanted to buy time by taking the case to the appeal court, the company would not be allowed to operate on Ijaw land until the case was settled. Nigeria is one of the world’s biggest oil exporters but despite its oil wealth, many Nigerians live in abject poverty.