Royal Dutch Shell Group .com Rotating Header Image

July 28th, 2006:

Dow Jones Newswires: Shell Books $500 Million Charge On Yet-To-Settle Class Actions-2

Shell said the provision was in connection with the putative shareholder class actions filed in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey.

A Shell spokeswoman said the class actions were two separate action filed in the U.S. on behalf of foreign and U.S. shareholders.

In January, Stichting Pensioenfonds ABP and 25 other Dutch public pension funds filed a complaint seeking hundreds of millions of dollars in the U.S. from Shell following the reserves restatments.

A separate consolidated class action had already been filed in 2004, led by Pennsylvania State retirement funds. 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: Shell Says Athabasca Project May Cost C$12.8 Billion (Update3)

July 28 (Bloomberg) — Shell Canada Ltd., the country’s fourth-largest oil company, said costs to expand an oil-sands venture will rise 75 percent to as much as C$12.8 billion ($11.3 billion) on higher equipment and labor costs.

A boom in oil-sands projects in Alberta has raised all facets of expanding the Athabasca Oil Sands Project, in which the company owns 60 percent, Shell Canada said today in a statement. The revised estimate includes additional spending to boost efficiency and lower operating costs, Chief Executive Officer Clive Mather said today during a conference call. 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.

Daily Star: Shell’s £270m law bill

ROYAL Dutch Shell has set aside £269 million in an attempt to settle a massive lawsuit in America.

The class action relates to the reserves scandal that rocked the company two years ago.
A settlement would finally draw a line under the debacle, when the company admitted 3.9 billion barrels of oil had been overbooked.

It would leave all the major legal actions resolved in the United States and only one – a separate European lawsuit – still outstanding.

Profits

Chief executive Jeroen van der Veer said Shell still doesn’t admit liability for overbooking the reserves, and legal talks will have to continue. 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 Independent: Exxon makes history as revenues exceed $1bn a day

Rising prices help oil giants pump out massive profits Royal Dutch Shell earnings soar to £3.4bn.

Exxon makes history as revenues exceed $1bn a day

By Gary Parkinson, City Editor
Published: 28 July 2006

Two of the world’s biggest oil companies posted massive profits yesterday on the back of soaring oil prices, making $16bn (£8.6bn) between them in just three months.

At $6.3bn (£3.4bn), Royal Dutch Shell’s underlying profits for the three months to the end of June were 36 per cent higher than over the same period last year, despite serious disruption to production in Nigeria. 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.

Reuters: Shell Nigeria starts repairs on leaking pipeline

Fri Jul 28, 2006 2:32 PM GMT
 
ABUJA (Reuters) – The Nigerian arm of Royal Dutch Shell has started work on repairing a pipeline where a leak has forced the shutdown of 210,000 barrels per day (bpd) in oil output, a spokesman said on Friday.

Shell is losing 180,000 bpd because of the leak discovered a week ago in a section of its Nembe Creek trunk line in Rivers state in the Niger Delta, while Chevron is losing 30,000 bpd that should be going through the same pipeline.

“We are going ahead with repairs at this time,” a Shell spokesman said, adding that the firm could not tell how long the repairs might take. 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.

Malcolm Brinded Powerpoints Presentation supplied by a Shell Insider

A laugh for the weekend…

For adults only

Malcolm Brinded spoof

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.

PressandJournal.co.uk: Shell Brent Bravo: UNIONS CALL FOR WATCHDOG TO FACE PROBE:

KEITH FINDLAY

27 July 2006
 
A Union leader yesterday called for a thorough inquiry into the role of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) on North Sea oil and gas platforms.

Graham Tran, regional officer for Amicus, claimed the HSE had neither the resources nor the independence it needed to improve and police safety offshore.

He was speaking as representatives from the TGWU, RMT and OILC unions met a top HSE official to raise their general concerns about safety following the conclusion last week of a fatal accident inquiry into the deaths of two men on Shell’s Brent Bravo platform almost three years ago. 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.

Press & Journal.co.uk: Talks on offshore safety concerns

Trade unions have held a meeting with health and safety officials in Aberdeen to discuss concerns about the offshore industry.

The talks followed a report into the deaths of two workers on Shell’s Brent Bravo platform in which a sheriff criticised the company.

The Oil Industry Liaison Committee, Transport and General Workers Union and the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers raised a number of issues at the meeting with the Health and Safety Executive.

They called for more independent offshore inspections, a stricter enforcement of improvement orders on install- ations and greater consultation with workers. 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.

MENAFN: Qatar Petroleum & Shell GTL project to cost $18 billion

MENAFN – 28/07/2006  
  
(MENAFN) Qatar Petroleum and Royal Dutch Shell announced they would proceed with the Pearl gas-to-liquids (GTL) project, an integrated development, transport and processing hub for Qatar North Field gas resources, Gulf News reported.

Just months ago the status of the project was cast in doubt amid rising costs worldwide for oil and gas projects, due to shortages of equipment, labour and raw materials such as steel.

The Pearl GTL project may cost as much as $18 billion, triple earlier estimates, based on company-supplied figures. 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.

IrelandOnline: Mediator recommends re-routing of Corrib gas pipeline

28/07/2006 – 08:34:04 

The man appointed by the Government to mediate between Shell and the Rossport Five has recommended that the Corrib gas pipeline be re-routed.

Former trade union leader Peter Cassells was appointed in an effort to find a solution to the long-running dispute, which saw the five Co Mayo men spend more than 90 days in prison last year for refusing to obey an injunction ordering them not to obstruct work on the pipeline.

Earlier this month, he said his talks had failed to find any common ground between the two sides. 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.

Daily Mail: Reserves scandal still haunts Shell… signals readiness to sort out last remaining big lawsuit.

28 July 2006

Doing well: The oil giant’s rising fortunes have been prompted by the soaring price of crude

By Brian O’Connor
 
ROYAL Dutch Shell put a £270m price on settling a US legal action over the reserves scandal two years ago.

This is just an accounting provision, but signals its readiness to sort out the last remaining big lawsuit.

The provision is just a week’s profits for the oil giant, which made a record £3.4bn in the quarter to June, up 36pc, though its oil and gas production tumbled 13pc. 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.

London Evening Standard: Shell’s massive profits mirror BP

Jim Armitage,
28 July 2005

SHELL’S profits surged by more than a third in the first half of the year, thanks to record oil prices.

With crude currently hovering around $60 a barrel, the company enjoyed profits of $10.2bn (£5.8bn) – up 39% on the same period last year. Shell is not alone in enjoying a big boost to earnings on the back of rampant oil prices. BP said earlier this week it made £6bn in its half-year.

Shell is attempting to win back investor confidence following the scandal last year when it was found to have been grossly exaggerating the amount of oil it had in reserves, waiting to be pumped out of the ground. Today it stressed it would be spending $1.8bn a year for the next two years in its hunt for new reserves. 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.

ShellNews.net: …are we witnessing the death throes of Shell?

From “Live Chat” 28 July 2006:

EXTRACT: “Production down, reserves down, merger rumours, white elephants in Qatar, and expropriation of Sakhalin…are we witnessing the death throes of Shell?

THE ARTICLE

Extract from “Live Chat” posted on Thursday 27 July 2006

RoyalDutchShellPlc : We can see that people are getting hooked on this site. When is someone going to make a positive posting about Shell? We haven’t seen one yet!

guest_6780 : Positive: company actually admits that will cancel/postpone some projects if costs are too high! 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.

An outspoken prophetic email from Hans Bouman to Shell Executive Malcolm Brinded

We recently became aware from Shell insiders of a treasure trove of emails from a former, highly respected senior Shell manager, “Hans” Bouman”. His emails have been widely circulated as collector items by Shell insiders because of their outspoken, prophetic and eloquent content, often on controversial subjects.

Printed below is one kindly supplied to us a few minutes ago by a Shell insider. As you will see, it fully meets the above description. It was sent to Malcolm Brinded during the darkest days of the crisis which arose from the reserves fraud – from which Shell management has clearly not recovered. 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.

UpstreamOnline: Shell ordered to step up safety

UK watchdog issues notice to supermajor over rusting stairwells

By Upstream staff

The UK’s offshore watchdog has served a safety notice on Shell after discovering serious corrosion problems on stairwells in the Brent Bravo utility leg in the UK North Sea, many of which had been first identified in an internal inspection report six months earlier.

The Health & Safety Executive (HSE) told Upstream that three inspectors had visited the platform last week on a three-day routine inspection, but were unable to gain access to the leg. 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.

Financial Information Service: Sakhalin Chooses Own Gas Commercialization Option

Financial Information Service (Registration) – Novosibirsk,Russia

YUZHNO-SAKHALINSK, July 28. /FIS/.

Sakhalin region administration has chosen own option of the commercialization of gas obtained under product sharing agreements from ‘Sakhalin-2’ Project. According to Ivan Malakhov, Governor of Sakhalin, Russia is to construct a gas-chemical plant to make products for export to Asia. Japanese companies could act as project initiators and potential customers. In their opinion, the gas-chemical plant is to make methanol and ammonia to be exported to APR countries. The plant’s capacity is yet to be determined since no data are available on the volumes of its gas consumption.
  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 Times: Shell plans Qatar gas project as costs surge

By Peter Klinger
 
ROYAL DUTCH SHELL has approved a huge project in Qatar despite the budget of the gas-to-liquids (GTL) venture more than doubling to $12 billion (£6.5 billion). This comes on top of major cost overruns at the company’s Sakhalin gas and Athabasca oil-sands operations. 
 
Shell would not reveal the development cost for the Pearl GTL project, which is expected to produce three billion barrels of oil-equivalent products over its lifetime. But the Anglo-Dutch group said that the venture would cost between $4 a barrel and $6 a barrel, giving an over-the-life project cost of $12 billion to $18 billion. 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.

AFX Europe: Shell CEO calls merger talk with BP, Total ‘speculation’ (but no outright denial!)

Published: Jul 27, 2006

LONDON (AFX) – Royal Dutch Shell PLC repeatedly evaded persistent merger rumours involving the Anglo-Dutch oil giant and some of the world’s supermajors like BP PLC and France’s Total SA.

During press conferences held in London today, chief executive Jeroen van der Veer took the safe side and always replied “no comment” whenever the issue was raised.

He dismissed it as pure “speculation”, thus not meriting any response from the group. 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.

Lloyds List: Oil price fuels Shell to $6.3bn profits

Production dips fail to dent profit hype, writes Martyn Wingrove, Lloyds List
Published: Jul 28, 2006

HIGH oil prices lifted Royal Dutch Shell’s second quarter profits by 36% to $6.3bn, compensating for lower production levels due to problems in Nigeria and the Gulf of Mexico.

The Anglo-Dutch oil major reported earnings of $4bn from its exploration and production, $2bn from oil products and $516m from its gas and power division for the three months to June.

Total group production was down 8% year-on year in the second quarter to average 3.25m barrels per day as the London-listed group shut down two Nigerian terminals and the Mars platform in the Gulf of Mexico. 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.

Lloyds List: Nigeria oil exports hit by Shell shutdown

Anglo-Dutch firm calls force majeure on its Bonny terminal after militant attacks cause pipeline leaks, writes Martyn Wingrove, Lloyds List
Published: Jul 28, 2006

A QUARTER of Nigeria’s tanker export capacity has been shut down after Royal Dutch Shell called force majeure on its Bonny August loadings and kept its Forcados and EA terminals closed.

A pipeline leak on the country’s second largest onshore oilfield in the eastern Delta has closed down 180,000 barrels of production a day, forcing Shell to announce that it cannot honour its export contracts from the Bonny terminal. 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.

Financial Times: ExxonMobil hits $10bn mark as Shell sees boost

By Sheila McNulty in New York and Carola Hoyos in London

Published: July 28 2006 03:00 | Last updated: July 28 2006 03:00

ExxonMobil, the world’s biggest publicly listed oil company, surprised analysts with higher production than anticipated, resulting in record second quarter earnings of $10.4bn, up 32 per cent from the equivalent period.

The 6 per cent year-on-year rise in production, on an oil-equivalent basis, supports, for now at least, Exxon’s position that the strength of its long-term investment programme should offset worries about lagging production. Analysts are concerned that oil fields are increasingly mature and oil majors’ finds are slowing outside politically sensitive areas. 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.

Forbes: Shell Shocked

EXTRACT: “This company has been losing ground now for many years, and I don’t like that,” says Jeroen van der Veer, the 58-year-old chief executive. “I didn’t see the reserves crisis as something isolated–no, I think the whole company was losing ground. We knew it, but we kept on doing more of the same.”

THE ARTICLE

By Christopher Helman

Scrambling to catch up after its oil reserves scandal, Shell is running ever faster to stay in place. Is there salvation in natural gas? 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.

AFX News/Forbes: Anglo-Dutch Shell to invest heavily in petrochemical complex in Singapore

07.28.2006, 12:25 AM
 
SINGAPORE (XFN-ASIA) – Anglo-Dutch energy group Royal Dutch Shell confirmed it will invest heavily in a new petrochemical complex in Singapore.

In a statement it said it will build a new ethylene cracker on Singapore’s Bukom Island as part of an integrated refinery and petrochemicals project.

The project will also include modifications and additions to Shell’s existing refinery on Singapore’s Bukom Island and a new mono-ethylene glycol (MEG) plant.

It did not detail exactly how much it will spend, but in an earlier news report the Straits Times quoted Tan Ek Kia, Shell vice-president for ventures and developments in Asia-Pacific and the Middle East, as saying: ‘It is going to cost us several billion US dollars,’ 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: Shell sets aside $500m to deal with US lawsuits

· Soaring oil prices drive 36% rise in profits
· ExxonMobil’s earnings close to record at $10.3bn

Terry Macalister
Friday July 28, 2006

Shell has set aside $500m to cover the cost of shareholder lawsuits in America over alleged misconduct in overstating reserves, it emerged yesterday as the company reported a 36% rise in second quarter profits to $6.3bn (£3.4bn). Soaring crude prices helped drive earnings which were slightly higher than BP’s but well short of ExxonMobil’s $10.36bn figure also reported yesterday – the second largest in history. 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.

Daily Telegraph: Shell puts aside $500m to meet mis-statement class action

(Filed: 28/07/2006)

Royal Dutch Shell has set aside $500m (£270m) to settle outstanding class action litigation related to the oil major’s mis-statement of reserves in 2004. A payment at this level would dwarf the £81m it has already paid out in fines to the financial authorities in Britain and the US.

Chief executive Jeroen van der Veer denied that the accounting provision indicated that Shell was close to securing a deal with shareholders over the scandal, which cost then chairman Philip Watts his job. ”It is a management judgment about where we would be prepared to settle,” he added. 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 Herald: Record profits at Royal Dutch Shell

EXTRACT: However, questioned about reports that BP executives had considered a merger approach to Shell, Van der Veer declined to comment. “You have to address that question to BP. We really have nothing to add,” he said, sticking to the formula when asked whether Shell had had any approach from BP, either directly or through bankers. The same applied to reports that Total might be interested in a tie-up, he said.

MARK WILLIAMSON July 28 2006

The chief executive of Royal Dutch Shell said the company was in great shape after the oil giant announced record profits but stonewalled questions on whether it would be interested in merging with its bitter rival BP. 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.