July 31st, 2006:

Six Lucky Winners Will Each Receive Lifetime Supply of Free Gasoline

HOUSTON, July 31 /PRNewswire/ — Drivers nationwide who stop by their local Shell stations now have a chance to win free gasoline for life through the Shell “Million Gallon Giveaway.” Starting today and continuing through October 1, Shell will give away more than $2 million in free fuel and instant- win prizes — including six grand prizes of a lifetime supply of free gasoline — and hundreds of thousands of $10 Shell Gas Cards in the “Million Gallon Giveaway.” read more

Oil giant seeks financial support for troubled Sakhalin project from UK taxpayers

Alex Hawkes, Accountancy Age, 31 Jul 2006

Shell is facing opposition in its attempts to raise finance for its overspent Sakhalin oil and gas project because the consortium behind it is based in a tax haven.

The group, which is owned by Shell, is seeking cash from UK taxpayers to help fund the project.

James Leaton of WWF told The Observer: ‘It is unacceptable that taxpayers’ money is being spent to endorse projects based in a tax haven that contribute to climate change.’ read more

EXTRACT: News of the Agip incident and of a Shell pipeline leak that shut down a further 210,000 bpd pushed world oil prices up last week.

THE ARTICLE

By Upstream staff

Attackers have vacated an Agip oil pumping station in Bayelsa state in southern Nigeria and freed all hostages they were holding there after they were paid off by government, police said today.

A spokesman for Agip declined to comment and there was no word on when operations at the Ogbainbiri flow station might resume. Agip’s parent, Italy’s Eni, said the attack last Tuesday had caused a “significant decrease” in output. read more

Monday, July 31, 2006; Posted: 02:23 AM 
 
(RTTNews) – Royal Dutch Shell announced that Shell Canada has issued a formal proposal to proceed with Expansion 1 to the other Athabasca Oil Sands Project joint venture owners. The company stated that Shell Canada completed an extensive feasibility study followed by a rigorous cost estimate and assurance review process in support of this formal proposal.

Royal Dutch added that the heated markets for labour, materials and equipment have impacted all facets of this 100 thousand bpd expansion project. Although the capital intensity of the project, estimated at between $275 and $350 per annual flowing barrel, has increased significantly from earlier estimates, Expansion 1 remains viable under a wide range of pricing scenarios. read more

EXTRACT: In Nigeria, the world’s eighth-biggest exporter, there was no apparent progress toward restoring the more than one-quarter of production shut in by militants, with attackers who closed an Agip pumping station last Tuesday still in talks. Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L) said it did not expect a significant recovery in output before the end of the year.

THE ARTICLE 

By REUTERS
Published: July 31, 2006
Filed at 1:59 a.m. ET

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Oil held steady above $73 a barrel on Monday, with traders torn between hope for a Middle East truce and fear of escalation after the bloodiest attack in the nearly three-week war between Israel and Hizbollah. read more

By: JULIA FINCH, The Guardian – United Kingdom
Published: Jul 31, 2006

Exxonmobil, BP, Royal Dutch Shell, Chevron, ConocoPhillips and Total – collectively they have always been known as Big Oil. But the recent rise in the oil price to around $74 a barrel has made them a whole lot Bigger.

Exxonmobil – the world’s biggest company – has just became the first ever firm to unveil sales of more than $1bn a day. That is pounds 540m every 24 hours. Or pounds 6,250 a second. Every second. Exxon, based in Irving, Texas (where else?), was reporting sales up more than 12% to $99bn and profits up 36% to more than $10bn – and that was just for three months. That probably ensures it will once again top the global corporate rankings when the numbers are totted up at the end of this financial year. read more

Published: Jul 31, 2006

TEHRAN, July 31 Asia Pulse – International oil giant Shell will make its final decision on whether to invest in Phase 13 of South Pars gas field development project in 2007.

According to Tehran based English-language newspaper Iran Daily in its Sunday edition, managing director of Pars Oil and Gas Company Akbar Torkan said the final investment decision (FID) on Phase 13 of South Pars gas field which pertains to Shell will be made available next year, adding that the FID on Phase 11 will also be available at the end of this year. read more

By: Lorna Siggins, Marine Correspondent, Irish Times
Published: Jul 31, 2006

Shell to Sea campaigners have set out on a walk to Dublin to highlight their concerns, and among walkers on yesterday’s second leg from Bellanaboy to Bellacorick was marathon runner Patricia Murphy, who had climbed Croagh Patrick first in the early hours of yesterday morning.

Meanwhile, Shell E&P Ireland’s legal action against north Mayo landowners is due back in the High Court today when Ms Justice Mary Laffoy rules on aspects of the case’s full hearing in the autumn. read more

(This article was originally published Friday.)

LAGOS (MarketWatch) — Chevron Nigeria, a unit of ChevronTexaco (CVX), says 23,000 barrels per day of its production are affected by a recent attack on a pipeline belonging to Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria, but explained it has not declared force majeure on its commitments to buyers.

“Our production of approximately 23,000 bpd cannot however be sent through the Shell line to Bonny Terminal,” Chevron said in an e-mail to Dow Jones Newswires Friday. read more

July 31 (Bloomberg) — Energy prices have risen so high that New Zealand is inviting Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Exxon Mobil Corp. and other natural gas producers to send rigs to one of the most inhospitable seas on Earth.

Next month, New Zealand will seek bids to explore in the Great South Basin, off the nation’s southern coast. The area was last explored during the oil shocks of the 1970s, when drillers found the cost of battling 15-meter (50-foot) waves too high to merit exploiting the area’s gas fields. read more