December 18th, 2006:

Tuesday, December 19, 2006. Issue 3564. Page 1.
By Mayumi Negishi
Reuters

TOKYO — Japan’s Mitsui and Mitsubishi are seeking cash from state gas monopoly Gazprom in exchange for part of their stakes in the $22 billion Sakhalin-2 project, sources close to the talks said Monday.

The two Japanese partners, who together hold a 45 percent stake in Sakhalin-2, are in talks with majority stakeholder Royal Dutch Shell about ceding control of the world’s biggest liquefied natural gas project to Russian ownership, the sources said. read more

December 19, 2006
Carl Mortished: Analysis
 
How do you change a corporate culture when it loses credibility? It is a moot question for BP, where the senior executives are beating their chests — Tony Hayward, head of exploration and candidate for the chief executive’s job, recently told an internal audience in Houston that the top of the organisation was not listening.

He said that management was too directive and too fond of making a virtue out of doing more for less. “(BP) has lived too long in the world of making do and patching up this quarter for the next quarter,” he said. 
 
It was a pep talk for staff bruised and battered by bad news from the deadly explosions at Texas City to the oil pipeline corrosion in Alaska, all blamed on cost-cutting. It was also, no doubt, an effort by Mr Hayward to project himself as a potential architect of change, a necessary image for a man who would like to be BP’s next leader. read more

Natural resources
December 19, 2006
Carl Mortished, International Business Editor

State to control Statoil and Norsk
Largest offshore unit in the world

Norway will create a gas export colossus with the merger of Statoil and Norsk Hydro, which will take a commanding position in the Northern European gas market and become the largest offshore operation in the world.

The two groups said yesterday that they would combine their oil and gas businesses in a $30 billion (£15.4 billion) deal, creating a single entity with the financial and operational power to compete internationally. 
 
The merged business, whose controlling shareholder will be the Norwegian state, will enhance Norway’s market clout in the European gas sector. It will incorporate Norsk Hydro’s expanding gas operations into Statoil, boosting it’s dominant position as marketer of the Norwegian state’s gas holdings. read more

December 19, 2006
Ben Webster and Lucy Alexander
 
A giant wind farm in the Thames Estuary was approved by the Government yesterday despite a warning from the shipping industry that it would significantly increase the risk of massive pollution in the event of a collision.

It will be located 12 miles off the coast between Margate in East Kent and Clacton in Essex and consist of 341 turbines spread over 90 square miles, making it the world’s largest offshore wind farm. 
 
The Chamber of Shipping said that the decision had been rushed through by the Department of Trade and Industry without proper consideration of the risks to mariners. More than 100 ships a day would pass close to the wind farm. read more

Author: Henk Ruyssenaars – Foreign correspondent
Date Created
18 Dec 2006

Soon it will be announced that SHELL in Russia has made an energy ‘deal’ with Putin’s government. But it is ‘an offer they can’t refuse’. SHELL lost this important geopolitical fight for energy resources and must surrender control over Sakhalin-2, the only foreign owned huge oil and gas fields in Siberia.

To stop SHELL expats they were ‘investigated for visa violations’… read more

By Bunny Nooryani

Dec. 18 (Bloomberg) — Statoil ASA, Norway’s state- controlled oil company, agreed to buy Norsk Hydro ASA’s energy business for about $28 billion as supplies from domestic fields peak and competition intensifies for drilling contracts from Russia to Venezuela.

The combined group will control about 70 percent of production in Norway, the world’s third-biggest crude exporter, as prices stay above $60 a barrel. A bigger Statoil will be better placed to compete with BP Plc, Royal Dutch Shell Plc and OAO Gazprom for reserves. read more

Tuesday 19 December 2006

Shell CEO Jeroen van der Veer at a meeting with Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller today gave his consent for the Russian gas monopoly’s becoming a stockholder of the biggest Russian gas project Sakhalin 2 and handing over 30% shares to it. Earlier, Gazprom Chairman of the Board of Directors Dmitry Medvedev announced that share of the company in the project may total up to 50%.

As a result of the last large-scale inspection held by Rosprirodnadzor, numerous violations of the environmental legislation were found which brought about withdrawing 12 licenses for water use from Starstroy Company, subcontractor of Sakhalin Energy Company. According to spokeswoman for the Federal Agency for Water Resources Anna Khitrova, “annually, about a hundred licenses for water use are taken away.” So, licenses withdrawn at a time from the single Starstroy total practically 10% from the annual amount of licenses withdrawn all over the country. read more

December 18th, 2006

Port Harcourt, Nigeria – Terrorists have hit Nigeria’s restive Niger Delta region’s oil facilities.
 
One blast hit property belonging to the Royal Dutch Shell in Port Harcourt. The other hit the fence of a compound belonging to Italian company Agip.

Little damage has been reported, and no-one was hurt.

The militant group, Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (Mend) has claimed responsibility for what it described as car bomb attacks.

It is the first time Mend have targeted residential compounds. read more

Issue #1231(97), Tuesday, December 19, 2006
By Miriam Elder
Staff Writer
 
MOSCOW — Oleg Mitvol, the state official leading the charge against Shell-run Sakhalin-2, was threatened with disciplinary action Thursday. Yet it looked like his boss was the one in greater danger of losing his job.

Sergei Sai, the head of the Natural Resource Ministry’s environmental watchdog, sent a letter to Minister Yury Trutnev seeking disciplinary action against Mitvol, his deputy.

The latest infighting among state officials came just days after Gazprom said it was close to reaching a deal on securing a stake in Shell’s huge oil and gas project at Sakhalin-2, which Mitvol has accused of gross environmental violations. read more

Tyson Slocum
December 18, 2006

Tyson Slocum is the director of  Public Citizen’s Energy Program .

Big Oil’s lobbying representative in Washington, D.C.—the American Petroleum Institute, whose annual budget exceeds $112 million—recently said that they “will spend what’s necessary” to reform the industry’s battered public image. So they’ve hired the same PR firm that developed the “Got Milk?” campaign.

One of the reasons the oil industry can afford its new public relations spending spree is the fleecing it’s pulled on the American taxpayer with the active help of the Bush administration. A recent Inspector General audit of the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Minerals Management Service concludes that oil companies are pumping oil from federal land without paying adequate royalties to taxpayers for the privilege. The report cites widespread cronyism, ethical breaches, decimated auditing staff and overreliance on information provided by Big Oil as culprits in the oil industry giveaway. Meanwhile the Justice Department unexpectedly announced the welcome news that it has initiated criminal investigations  into the Interior Department’s oversight of oil companies. read more

Paying the price for resistance
 
Scott Calvert
Sun Foreign Reporter
December 18, 2006

OKERENKOKO, Nigeria — This riverside village along remote creeks of the Niger Delta is a base for a violent insurgency that has forced a 20 percent to 25 percent cut in Nigeria’s oil output – the fifth-biggest source of petroleum imports for the United States – and helped fuel this year’s higher gas prices.

The winding path through the creeks is so dangerous that scores of oil workers have been evacuated to guarded compounds in Warri, a rundown city 90 minutes away by speedboat. Those brave or naive enough to travel the creeks risk being detained by the Nigerian navy and strongly urged to turn back. read more

Mon Dec 18, 2006 12:11pm ET 
By Austin Ekeinde

PORT HARCOURT, Nigeria (Reuters) – Two car bombs exploded at oil company compounds in Nigeria’s oil capital Port Harcourt on Monday damaging cars but causing no casualties, authorities said.

The blasts occurred in the car park of a residential compound of Royal Dutch Shell, while the other was on a perimeter wall of a compound of Italian oil company Agip.

There was no immediate impact on oil production.

“The other two bombings were directed at Shell … and Agip,” the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) said in an email to the media adding that a third planned bombing was canceled to avoid high civilian casualties. read more

The Associated Press: Published: 2006-12-18 08:20:18

PORT HARCOURT, Nigeria: Militants seeking a greater share of oil revenues for their impoverished region detonated two car bombs nearly simultaneously in southern Nigeria on Monday, sending shock waves through a city already reeling from attacks that have pared a quarter of crude production in Africa’s oil giant.

Police official Bassie Inyang said no casualties were reported at either site.

At one, a compound belonging to Italian oil firm Agip, the force of the blast blew out windows of a medical facility and cracked compound walls. Agip said in a statement that the car bomb was parked outside the compound wall and that no injuries were reported. Residents of the Shell compound hit by the other blast said several cars caught fire. read more

Published: Dec 18, 2006

Shell oil said a blast struck one of its facilities Monday in restive southern Nigeria. The main militant group had said it had planted three car bombs around the region.

A company spokesman, Bisi Ojediran, said the blast hit company property in the city of Port Harcourt, but he gave no details on any casualties or production cuts in Africa’s oil giant. Minutes earlier, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Deltahad said a car-bomb attack was imminent.

Copyright 2006 Associated Press read more

EXTRACT: And now for something a little bit special. This is an award for Company Song So Awful I Was Positive It Was a Spoof. The outstanding winner in this category is Shell. Its song is called “Growing and Winning” and is set to “We Are the World”. “We have moved on, growing day by day/Sharing strengths, we practise what is best/We are all a part of Shell’s global family/Doing work aligned with everyone.” It is a haunting mixture of pyschobabble, sentimentality and business jargon. Go to www.ft.com/kellaway and listen yourself. You won’t be disappointed. read more

By Julie Ziegler

Dec. 18 (Bloomberg) — The Nigerian ventures of Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Eni SpA reported attacks near their facilities following threats from a militant group.

Shell spokesman Bisi Ojediran said a Shell facility had been attacked, adding that he had no further details. Fidelis Anjou, a spokeman for Eni’s Agip unit, said a blast occurred near a compound in the southern city of Port Harcourt.

The reports followed a warning earlier today by the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, or MEND, that three car bombs were set to detonate “at any minute,” according to an e- mail statement released by the group’s spokesman, Jomo Gbomo. read more

The boss of Anglo-Dutch energy giant Shell is to fly to Moscow for talks with Russia’s energy minister over a $22bn (£11bn) oil and gas project.

Jeroen van der Veer is expected to meet Viktor Khristenko later this week to discuss the Sakhalin-2 project.

Shell is widely expected to cede control of the venture to Russia’s state-run energy firm Gazprom.

Shell has been under intense pressure from officials keen to regain control of Russian assets, analysts have said.

Japanese partners

Earlier this month Moscow suspended 12 vital water-use permits for Sakhalin-2, after previously revoking environmental approval for the project. read more

The Associated Press
Published: 2006-12-18 08:20:18
 
LAGOS, Nigeria: Blasts tore through two oil company facilities in restive southern Nigeria on Monday and the region’s main militant group claimed responsibility, saying it had planted car bombs.

Two private security contractors, speaking on condition of anonymity citing prohibitions on speaking to reporters, said a blast hit an Agip residential compound in Port Harcourt. Shell oil reported a blast at that company’s facilities in the city. read more

By Upstream staff

Oman has awarded BP a concession to develop two large natural gas fields onshore Oman, said Ministry of Oil & Gas technical adviser Khalifa al-Hinai.

Reuters quoted al-Hinai as saying that Oman expected the production of large quantities of gas from the tight gas reserves in the Khazzan and Makarem fields, which cover 2500 square kilometre near existing gas fields operated by state-owned Petroleum Development Oman (PDO).

Omani Oil Minister Mohammed al-Rumhy said last month that eight international consortia had sent proposals to the Ministry of Oil & Gas in Muscat for the development.
 
Rumhy declined to give any estimate of the gas reserves in the geologically complex field, which has three reservoir structures with low permeability. Since the gas in place is difficult to flow, complicated techniques are needed to develop the field. read more

By Upstream staff

Shell expects talks to offer Russian gas monopoly Gazprom a major stake in the Sakhalin 2 oil and gas development to be completed by the end of this week.

Reuters quoted Shell spokesman Alf D’Souza as saying that the talks could be concluded by that time if progress continued to be made.

Shell chief executive officer Jeroen van der Veer flew back to the Netherlands after the talks on Friday, his second meeting with Miller in a week. Reuters added that sources familiar with the matter said both sides were keen to clinch agreement on terms for Gazprom’s entry into the project. read more

EXTRACT:  …other observers believe it is quite probable that Shell will sell to Gazprom the whole of its block of shares in Sakhalin-2, which makes 55 per cent.

THE ARTICLE

18.12.2006, 12.25

LONDON, December 18 (Itar-Tass) — The British-Dutch Royal Dutch/Shell is expected to reach agreement with Gazprom in the coming days on the turning over to it of a major part of its shares in the Sakhalin-2 oil and gas project, The Daily Telegraph of Britain reported on Monday.

According to the information of the newspaper, the agreement between Royal Dutch/Shell, the Russian government and Gazprom will be ready for signing late this week. read more

Gwyn Topham
Monday December 18, 2006

The government has given the go-ahead for the world’s largest offshore windfarm to be built off the coast of south-east England.

The London Array windfarm, to be built by a consortium including Shell, will consist of 341 turbines located 12 miles offshore.

While the government has approved the offshore construction of the windfarm, in an area 145 square miles stretching between Margate, Kent, and Clacton, Essex, the scheme currently depends on an onshore power substation being built in Swale, Kent. read more

By Edmund Conway
Last Updated: 12:14am GMT 18/12/2006

Oil giant Shell is within days of tying up the disposal of its majority stake in the mammoth Russian oil-and-gas project Sakhalin II, it has emerged. The Anglo-Dutch company expects to complete its talks with the Russian government and Gazprom by the end of the week, it confirmed yesterday.

It has come under intense pressure from Russian authorities to quit the project, which is the only major development in Russia owned entirely by foreigners.

Chief executive Jeroen van der Veer, who has flown to a series of meetings in Moscow with energy minister Viktor Khristenko and his Gazprom counterpart Alexei Miller, is expected to announce what progress has been made in the coming days. A spokesman said: “If progress continues to be made, we would expect talks to conclude by the end of this week.” read more

Mon Dec 18, 2006 12:52am ET
By Mayumi Negishi

TOKYO, Dec 18 (Reuters) – Japan’s Mitsui & Co. Ltd. (8031.T: Quote, NEWS , Research) and Mitsubishi Corp. (8058.T: Quote, NEWS , Research) are seeking cash from Russia’s state gas monopoly Gazprom (GAZP.MM: Quote, Profile , Research) in exchange for part of their stakes in the $22 billion Sakhalin-2 project, sources close to the talks said on Monday.

The two Japanese partners, who together hold a 45 percent stake in Sakhalin-2, are in talks with majority stake holder Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L: Quote, Profile , Research) about ceding control of the world’s biggest LNG project to Russian ownership, the sources said. read more

Forbes/AFX News: 12.18.06, 1:53 AM ET
 
TOKYO (AFX) – A Shell-led consortium is demanding supply guarantees and the promise of future cooperation with Gazprom as conditions for giving up control of the huge Sakhalin-2 project to the Russian gas giant, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported.

Royal Dutch Shell Plc (nyse: RDSA – news – people ) holds 55 pct of the project, while Mitsui and Co (nasdaq: MITSY – news – people ) and Mitsubishi Corp (other-otc: MSBHY.PK – news – people ) hold 25 pct and 20 pct respectively. read more

By Neil Chatterjee

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Oil edged lower towards $63 on Monday, pulling back from last week’s gains as a dense fog delaying U.S. crude shipments is expected to ease this week, though support came from OPEC’s plan to further cut output.

U.S. crude fell 29 cents to $63.14 a barrel by 0309 GMT, after rising 92 cents on Friday to the highest settlement in two weeks. London Brent slipped 18 cents to $63.31 a barrel.

Forecasts show a fog delaying tankers carrying crude to refineries along the U.S. Gulf Coast could lift early this week, though vessel traffic on the Houston Ship Channel was halted again on Sunday night due to the fog. read more

By Neil Buckley and Arkady Ostrovsky in Moscow
Published: December 18 2006 00:32 | Last updated: December 18 2006 00:32

Royal Dutch Shell believes it could reach a deal to bring Gazprom, the Russian natural gas giant, into the Sakhalin-2 project by the end of this week, ending months of wrangling with Russian authorities over the $22bn development.

Jeroen van der Veer, Shell chief executive, flew to Moscow for talks with Alexei Miller, his counterpart from Gazprom, for a second successive Friday, and also met Viktor Khristenko, the Russian energy minister. read more

December 18, 2006 
 
Score 1 for Putin and 0 for Royal Dutch Shell. Russian hegemony this week took another step forward when Shell conceded 30% of its stake in the giant Sakhalin Island gas play in eastern Russia. Two smaller Japanese players each with a 10% interest threw in the towel completely.

At Energy Central we are watching the bold moves of former KGB leader Vladimir Putin as he moves Russia forward and we are keeping our readers up to date. What we see is Russia making its footprint on the world as an emerging and powerful energy player. This can surely mean only one thing and that is higher energy prices going forward. read more

By Matthew Lynn

Dec. 18 (Bloomberg) — How much provocation does big business need before it has doubts about Russia?

Anglo-Dutch oil company Royal Dutch Shell Plc has been threatened with lawsuits from the Russian government, which is tightening its grip on the country’s energy industry.

Companies as diverse as Swedish furniture chain Ikea AB and German retailer Metro AG are also finding that Russia can be a tough place to do business.

Yet Western companies are still pouring money, energy and expertise into Russia. They are attracted by a high-growth, low- tax economy offering the chance to make a lot of money quickly. read more

By Patrice Hill
December 18, 2006

Russia has emerged as an unrivaled energy superpower in a world thirsty for oil and gas, but the country’s recent moves to seize control of strategic parts of the energy industry have slowed growth in production and raised questions about the legal rights of investors and speed of future development.

The 10 percent annual growth in oil production that vaulted Russia into the top rank among suppliers in 2003 and 2004 slowed sharply to about 2.5 percent in the past two years in the wake of Russia’s breakup of its leading oil company, Yukos, and the jailing of its chief executive, Mikhail Khodorkovsky. read more

By Patrice Hill
December 17, 2006

Above the Arctic Circle, NENETZ AUTONOMOUS DISTRICT, Russia

Lying under the tundra, thick forests and wilderness here is Russia’s wealth, the key to its future and an important lifeline for the world economy.

Russia has just begun to unlock the vast oil and gas resources of its remote Arctic and eastern Siberian plains and ocean shelves. Developing those resources will require overcoming harsh, even brutal, conditions and building costly and extensive pipelines and transportation networks to deliver them to consumers in Asia, Europe and the United States. These importers look to Russia increasingly for the fuel that keeps their cars running and the world economy growing. read more