August 24th, 2006:

Last Update: 3:06 PM ET Aug 24, 2006

PORT HARCOURT, Nigeria (MarketWatch) — Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria, a unit of Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSB.LN), and the United Nations Development Program will spend $18 million on a development program in the Niger Delta, the unit’s chief executive said Thursday.

Shell will contribute $14 million out of the total, Basil Omiyi said at the start of a two-day conference on development in the region.

The conference is a follow-up to the launch last month of a report on development in the Niger Delta, which found that the quality of development there lagged behind that in similar regions with oil and gas resources. read more

Shell executives believe they can now produce oil from shale at a profit
Updated: 11:38 a.m. ET Aug. 23, 2006

We have an energy problem. There’s no argument about it. Of course, the argument lies in how to fix it, whether it’s fixable at all, and when it can be fixed. On Colorado’s western slope, under the big sky, near a town called Meeker, quietly and often secretly, for decades scientists have been probing hundreds of feet into the Earth.

They’re trying to extract what is believed to be the largest oil reserve in the world. More oil than in Saudi Arabia or Iraq. But, there’s just one problem: It’s trapped in rock called shale. read more

Last Update: 11:01 AM ET Aug 24, 2006
Warnings with “*” added by ShellNews.net

HOUSTON, Aug 24, 2006 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ — Shell has awarded a $1 million research project to the Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering department of Ohio State University for research in CO2-Hydrogen membrane separation.

This investment is part of a broader Shell strategy to invest and develop technologies that would benefit the commercialization of hydrogen.

This research examines a novel approach to membrane separation technology used in production of hydrogen from fossil fuels. The benefits of this particular technology are that unlike conventional methods, this process allows separation of pure CO2 at a lower cost. This is essential for economical carbon capture and sequestration, which allows zero-emission production of hydrogen. In addition, this technology may lower the cost of producing hydrogen, bringing it closer to commercialization. read more

LONDON (AFX) – Shell Petroleum Development Co has denied accusations by Nigeria’s House of Representatives that the oil group ‘underpaid’ the government around 3.2 bln usd.

Royal Dutch Shell PLC owns 30 pct of SPDC, while state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corp controls 55 pct. France’s Total SA and Italy’s Agip hold the remaining 10 pct and 5 pct, respectively.

The lower house is currently looking into allegations that SPDC ‘underpaid’ Nigeria 3.2 bln usd in respect to the crude oil it extracted there in 2000. read more

By Russ Baker, AlterNet. Posted August 24, 2006.

EXTRACT: Other B-M clients have included… Royal Dutch Shell (charged with a massive financial fraud in a U.S. class action lawsuit brought by the UNITE National Retirement Fund and the Plumbers and Pipefitters National Pension Fund);

THE ARTICLE

They claim to be ‘centrists,’ but these D.C. Dems — whose corporate agendas aren’t too different from Bush administration policies — are living proof that the system needs fixing. read more

By KNUT EVENSEN in Stavanger

Shell is aiming to make about 15 “big cat” find this year, the same number it targeted in 2005.  The supermajor defines a “big cat” as a discovery in which its equity interest is more than 100 million barrels of oil equivalent.

Speaking at the ONS conference in Stavanger, Shell vice president for exploration David Lawrence would not give details about results so far this year, but said: “We will drill roughly 15 big cats. We’re doing fine.”

Last year the supermajor also targeted 15 big cats in Australia, West Africa – particularly Nigeria – the Middle East and Gulf of Mexico. It made seven discoveries. read more

By Upstream staff

Militants in the Niger Delta oil patch threatened today to avenge the killing of at least 10 of their fighters and restated their aim to halt all the country’s crude exports.

The militants were killed during an attempt to free a hostage on Sunday night when their boat ran into a heavily armed military convoy on Brass Creek in the southern state of Bayelsa.

The hostage, a Nigerian Shell employee, was also killed in the fighting.

“Our response to Sunday’s killings will come at our time, but for certain it will not go unpunished,” the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (Mend) said in an email to Reuters. read more

EXTRACT FROM POSTED COMMENT: It is therefore no surprise if, as appears to be the case, some senior Shell executives, such as Greg Hill, are troubled by their consciences. In my experience, Mr Brinded is not a man who will allow scruples or conscience to stand in the way of his ambition. The same ruthless attitude seems to apply to the lives of offshore workers.

THE ARTICLE

IAN FORSYTH
08:50 – 24 August 2006
 
One of the top bosses in Aberdeen with oil group Shell is being promoted to a post in Asia-Pacific, he confirmed at the ONS oil show in Stavanger yesterday. read more

IAN FORSYTH: 08:50 – 24 August 2006
 
Scotland Office Minister David Cairns defended the performance of the Health and Safety Executive in UK waters.

Mr Cairns, who was attending an ONS press conference yesterday, was asked if the HSE was up to carrying out its role, in light of recent criticism.

He replied: “I have no reason at all to doubt the competency of the HSE.”

In July, a union leader called for a thorough inquiry into the role of the HSE on North Sea oil and gas platforms. read more

By Estelle Shirbon

Abuja – Nigeria’s oil workers’ unions may pull their members from the Niger Delta over safety fears following a spate of abductions by militants and a military crackdown, the head of one of the unions said on Wednesday.

The two oil unions have called an emergency meeting after a bloody shoot-out on Sunday between troops and militants during a botched attempt to free a Nigerian hostage in the delta. The hostage, an employee of Royal Dutch Shell, was killed in the gunfight. read more

EXTRACT: The nation’s biggest coal company, China Shenhua Group, has teamed up with global technology leaders Royal Dutch Shell and South Africa-based Sasol on a joint study of coal-to-liquids projects in China, which aims to convert coal into 30 million tons of oil by 2020.

THE ARTICLE
 
China, the world’s second-biggest energy consumer, plans to spend 800 million yuan (US$100 million) over the next 10 years to study next-generation fuel, called natural gas hydrates, that could possibly ease the nation’s increasing reliance on oil imports in the long run. read more

Full Headline: Offshore Rigs in an Insurance Quandary Still Hampered By Hurricane Damage, Drillers Say Protection is Getting Scarce
 
Bloomberg
By Jim Kennett

The Deepwater Nautilus rig owned by Transocean should have spent the past two months drilling for oil and natural gas in the Gulf of Mexico, earning $220,000 a day. Instead, the vessel sat idle in a Texas shipyard.

Workers last week finished the latest round of repairs on the Nautilus: Hurricane Katrina tore the 50,277-ton rig from its moorings and Hurricane Rita grounded it almost a year ago. The 2005 storms have cost Transocean, the largest offshore driller, about $135 million in repairs, downtime and equipment upgrades. read more

EXTRACTS: At least 508,000 bpd, or about a sixth of Nigeria’s output capacity, have been shut in due to militant attacks and pipeline leaks this year, with its largest producer Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L) most affected.

Six foreign workers kidnapped in Nigeria were released on Wednesday, though the head of one of the country’s oil workers unions said the unions may pull their members from the oil-producing Niger Delta on safety fears following a spate of abductions.

THE ARTICLE
 
By REUTERS
Published: August 24, 2006
Filed at 3:44 a.m. ET read more

By David Robertson
August 24, 2006
 
BHP BILLITON, the world’s largest mining company, launched itself into competition with the oil and gas giants ExxonMobil, BP and Shell yesterday as it pledged to commit billions of dollars to the petroleum sector.

BHP, which announced record profits up 63 per cent to $10.5 billion (£5.6 billion), is planning to more than double its petroleum production within three years. Analysts regard this as a huge increase in an industry where the costs of raising production are measured in billions of dollars. 
 
By 2009 the Anglo-Australian miner will have oil production equivalent to almost one fifth of BP’s current daily output. Its gas production will be equivalent to almost a quarter of the output of BP. read more

Published: Aug 24, 2006

THE world’s top oil companies are manoeuvring intently to win a stake in their oilfield of choice when Iraq finally opens to multibillion dollar investment.

From a safe distance, multinationals are poring over data from Iraq’s most promising oilfields and some of its older workhorses to gain the edge when the bidding begins.

Iraqi Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani has signalled the race for oilfield deals worth $20 billion could start this autumn. But oil men, noting a lack of security and investment law, are under no illusion that drilling is imminent. read more

EXTRACTS: …a licence was awarded to Statoil and its partner Shell, despite the opposition to Shell’s Corrib gas onshore pipeline in Mayo.

“We call for a full investigation into these licences and the tax deals that have been given to oil companies over the years.”

THE ARTICLE

By: Gabrielle Monaghan, Irish Times
Published: Aug 24, 2006

The Government is seeking expert independent advice as it undertakes a review of the way in which exploration licences are currently issued.

The move follows last week’s granting of four licences to companies, including Statoil, to explore for oil and gas off the Donegal coast. That announcement led to calls for a parliamentary investigation into how the State allocates licences and the benefits that accrue to large oil companies. read more

EXTRACT: In the wave of corporate scandals from Enron to Royal Dutch Shell, this pressure drove top executives to juggle the numbers in ways that boosted their own compensation packages.

By John Plender and Avinash Persaud
Published: August 24 2006 03:00 | Last updated: August 24 2006 03:00

In the Anglo-American model of capitalism the stock market imposes a ferocious discipline on managers of quoted companies.

For a start, the movement of the share price offers a minute-by-minute critical commentary on corporate performance and prospects. Quarterly results are closely examined by stock market analysts, fund managers and journalists, and there is an ever-present threat of hostile takeover. The credibility of top executives in this system depends on their generating consistent increases in earnings. They also have to develop the art of carefully guiding analysts’ expectations and subsequently “hitting the numbers”. read more

By Roman Olearchyk in Kiev
Published: August 24 2006 03:00 | Last updated: August 24 2006 03:00

Royal Dutch Shell has inked a small but strategically important gas purchase agreement in Ukraine with Poltava Petroleum Company, a subsidiary of UK-based JKX Oil & Gas.

The agreement marks the continued expansion of Shell into Ukraine, which has been dominated by Russian and Ukrainian companies.

JKX said in a statement that the agreement would give the Shell subsidiary a minimum of 250m cubic metres of gas over a 12-month period commencing in September. read more

EXTRACT: Ken Fisher, Shell’s senior vice-president of the strategy and portfolio division of its refining and marketing operations, expects biofuels to account for 7-15 per cent of global road transportation fuel volume by 2025, up from less than 1 per cent today.

THE ARTICLE

By Sheila McNulty
Published: August 24 2006 03:00 | Last updated: August 24 2006 03:00

After years of playing down the role of biofuels in the global energy markets, the world’s biggest oil companies are now building an industrial-scale infrastructure to support their growth. read more

By Neil Hume and Robert Orr
Published: August 24 2006 03:00 | Last updated: August 24 2006 03:00

A 5 per cent advance by Premier Oil set tongues wagging in the Square Mile yesterday.

Traders had expected the FTSE 250 exploration group to trade lower following news that the Chinguetti oilfield in Mauritania, west Africa, holds significantly less oil than originally believed. Premier owns an 8.1 per cent stake in the field.

However, after heavy trading, Premier shares closed 5.7 per cent higher at £10.42 amid talk it has received a £1bn, or £13-a-share, cash offer from Royal Dutch Shell, down 0.7 per cent to £19.34. read more

By Sheila McNulty in Houston

Published: August 24 2006 05:10 | Last updated: August 24 2006 05:10

BP, the UK oil giant, was forced to further reduce production from its Alaskan oil field on Wednesday, after it had to shut down a gathering centre due to a mechanical failure in a compressor.

That cut daily production from 200,000 barrels to 110,000 barrels, which is likely to have repercussions in the tightly-balanced oil market, which was rattled when BP last cut production from the field.

BP normally produces 400,000 barrels per day at the Prudhoe Bay oil field, but was forced several weeks ago to shut half the production after discovering ”severe corrosion” in an oil transit line. read more

Statistics recently published by the oil cartel OPEC show that Russia is currently extracting more oil than Saudi Arabia, making it the biggest producer of “black gold” in the world, the British Financial Times reported on Wednesday, Aug. 23.

OPEC statistics show that in the period since 2002 Russian companies have surpassed the Saudis as the world’s biggest oil producers on an on-and-off basis. The latest figures, however, have been hailed in Russia as evidence that such periodic production spikes are no one-offs and that Moscow really does have a right to lay claim to the number one spot. read more

From Chuks Akunna in Abuja, 08.24.2006

House of Representatives yesterday resolved to issue a warrant compelling Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr Edmund Dakoru, to appear before it to explain why Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), allegedly under-paid the Federal Government $3.2 billion.

Reacting to a prayer by the House committee on Petroleum resources for “appropriate sanctions on the minister for aiding SPDC and deliberately refusing to appear before the committee,” the House resolved to, first, invite the minister before meting out the appropriate sanctions on both him and SPDC. read more

A $500,000 donation from Shell Oil Co. is allowing three new trailer-size ice plants to be installed in Chalmette and Cameron Parish for regional use.

By AMY WOLD

Advocate staff writer
Published: Aug 24, 2006
 
CHALMETTE — The grand opening of a new building Wednesday lured more than 100 spectators and merited a visit by Gov. Kathleen Blanco.

The building?

An ice machine.

That’s how important the rebuilding of fishing infrastructure is to communities in St. Bernard Parish and surrounding parishes. read more

Concern as Shell ready to resume work on pipeline
By Diarmaid Pléimionn
[email protected]

Shell says it hopes to resume work on its controversial gas pipeline in County Mayo next month after a delay of over a year due to an ongoing dispute with local residents.

The Anglo-Dutch petrochemical giant says it will re-route the pipeline away from houses of people including those of the Rossport Five, who went to jail last year for obstructing construction in breach of a court order.

The company has also announced that it is to offer local businesses contracts worth €5 million ($6.4 million) for services and work on the controversial pipeline. Protestors in Rossport near Bangor Erris in Mayo remain opposed to the project to pump unrefined gas at high pressure from the Corrib field in the Atlantic Ocean. The pipeline which is backed by the Irish government will pump gas at over 140 times atmospheric pressure, along a route which was to run as close as 80 yards from some homes in one of the most remote and beautiful areas of Ireland. read more

By CHRIS IKWUNZE, Port Harcourt, EMMANUEL OGOIGBE, Warri
 
No fewer than 60 militants in the Niger Delta were killed by the Joint Military Task Force in the last two days in a bid by the Federal Government to rid the area of spectre of hostage taking and criminality.

Ten were killed by members of the task force in Bayelsa on Sunday while 50 Ijaw insurgents lost their lives in a clash with soldiers at a border town between Delta and Bayelsa states Monday.

But the oil firms operating in the region have expressed concern at the renewed crack down, fearing that it could escalate hostage-taking and attacks on their facilities. read more