February 16th, 2007:

02.16.07, 11:18 AM ET

LONDON (AFX) – Russia’s ambassador to the UK has refused to rule out the possibility that energy giant BP PLC could have its stake in the major TNK-BP joint venture reduced to make way for Russian gas monopoly OAO Gazprom.

Russian ambassador Yuri Fedatov told reporters today that BP and Gazprom were in the process of striking a deal, but would not rule out BP’s 50 pct stake being reduced.

‘I know that they’re in the process of finding a deal that would be suitable to BP and Gazprom,’ Fedatov said. ‘They’re discussing different options and figures and I would not want to pre-empt that. It’s a commercial matter between two companies which I hope will be resolved in a satisfactory manner.’ read more

By John Donovan

It is interesting to note that two members of the Dutch goverment have strong connections with Shell…

The Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Wouter Bos (43) has extensive corporate experience having worked in a number of posts across the globe for the Anglo-Dutch Shell oil company.

His cabinet colleague, the Environment and Environmental Planning Minister, Jacqueline Cramer (55), was once an activist protesting against nuclear power plants. She now is a member of the board of commissioners at Shell. read more

By Jeb Blount and Luciana Magalhaes

Feb. 16 (Bloomberg) — Petroleo Brasileiro SA, Brazil’s state-controlled oil company, may soon be able to invest in expanded natural gas output in Bolivia, thanks to a gas-price agreement between the countries, Brazil’s energy minister said.

Brazil’s agreement yesterday to pay more for gas from Bolivia, the source of about half its supply, resolves the main issue in a dispute between Bolivian President Evo Morales and Petrobras, the biggest company operating in Bolivia, Silas Rondeau, Brazil’s energy minister, said in an interview. read more

EXTRACT: The company, which has exhausted capacity at its 5 million ton-a-year terminal at Dahej, will lease 40 percent of Royal Dutch Shell’s 2.5 million ton-a- year terminal. Petronet and Shell could import up to 8 million tons in 2007, Dasgupta said. That’s equal to 5 percent of global LNG demand last year, according to consultants Wood Mackenzie. “We are leasing capacity at Shell’s LNG terminal in Hazira to import some cargoes,” Dasgupta said in a telephone interview from Delhi. “Our terminal in Dahej cannot accommodate all the additional LNG.” read more

Associated Press
02/16/2007

HARTFORD — Connecticut lawmakers are considering legislation designed to give the state a louder voice when it comes to security issues surrounding a proposed liquefied natural gas terminal in Long Island Sound.

But a spokesman for the developer, Broadwater Energy, said Thursday he believes the bills are just a way for opponents to try and derail the project.

The legislature’s Public Safety Committee heard testimony Thursday on several bills, including a proposal that would require Broadwater Energy to gain state approval before hiring a private, armed security force for the floating terminal. read more

HEAVY OIL AND OILSANDS
March, 2007
By Mike Byfield

Ben Anthony is a connoisseur of Canadian coals, intimately familiar with their individual characteristics. “Every coal is unique. After a quarter century of research, I’ve become quite fond of them,” the federal researcher acknowledges with a smile. He expresses less affection for coke and asphaltenes, the black gunk left over after bitumen is upgraded, but the stuff is abundant and cheaper than dirt. According to the British-educated chemist, Canada is on the brink of transforming its lower-grade hydrocarbons into useful energy on a very large scale thanks to projects now under way in Alberta’s oilsands. read more

By Julie Ziegler

Feb. 16 (Bloomberg) — Nigerian militants plan to widen attacks beyond the oil-rich Niger delta region and may target foreigners in other areas, according to the U.S. consulate in Lagos.

“Possible targets could include expatriate personnel, Western businesses or facilities and locales visited by tourists and foreigners in other regions of Nigeria,” the consulate said in an e-mailed statement today. “Attacks and kidnappings may become more violent than in recent months.” read more

Iran wants more foreign investment in its oil and gas industry

The recent drive to attract international oil companies (IOCs) to commit themselves to major new investments in Iran’s oil and gas sector has come after a prolonged period of stagnation, owing to political ructions within Iran and to the gathering storm over the country’s nuclear programme. Such investments are vital if Iran is to realise its previously stated ambition of increasing oil output, rather than struggling to stem depletion, and of becoming a player in the global gas market. Getting foreign oil companies more deeply involved could also help to strengthen Iran’s hand in the dispute over its nuclear programme. read more

(The barn of a Rossport resident with the names of those murdered in Nigeria)

By Joe Friday, Feb 16 2007, 12:15pm
Work brought to a standstill as 100 protesters enter site

The Shell to Sea Campaign organised a day of support on the 16th February at Bellanaboy to give people from around the country the opportunity to show their support and solidarity with the community of Erris in their struggle against Shell. After the official protest had ended around 100 people crossed the bog to gain access to the refinery and suceeded in halting work there.
 
Every morning, the residents of a small North Mayo community stand in protest at the attempts of Shell to force a high-powered gas pipeline through their area. they do this in the face of ongoing state harassment and violence. read more

By Nariman Gizitdinov

Feb. 16 (Bloomberg) — Kazakhstan plans to raise the oil reserve estimates for an offshore exploration project in the Caspian Sea as ConocoPhillips and Royal Dutch Shell Plc seek licenses for the field.

The new estimates for the Nursultan fields’ reserves are “significantly higher” than expected, Kazakh Energy Minister Baktykozha Izmukhambetov said today, according to a phone interview with ministry spokesman Chingis Mukhanov.

Shell and ConocoPhillips are seeking stakes in the fields, which were thought to hold about 637 million tons (4.7 billion barrels) of oil and gas reserves, according to KazMunaiGaz, Kazakhstan’s state oil company. Shell may gain 35 percent in the fields, while KazMunaiGaz will retain stakes of at least 50 percent, Izmukhambetov said in June. read more

By Nariman Gizitdinov

Feb. 16 (Bloomberg) — An Eni SpA-led venture developing the Kashagan oil field, Kazakhstan’s largest, won’t start production until a year later than it had expected.

“Commercial production won’t start until 2010,” Kazakh Energy Minister Baktykozha Izmukhambetov said today, according to an e-mail from ministry spokesman Chingis Mukhanov.

Royal Dutch Shell Plc, an investor in the $29 billion project, said earlier this month that production would begin “about 2009.” International Oil Daily said yesterday that output probably wouldn’t start until 2011 or 2012. read more

By Louisa Nesbitt

Feb. 16 (Bloomberg) — Protesters opposed to Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s planned natural-gas pipeline in western Ireland broke into the gas project’s refinery during a protest march, according to a campaign group spokesman.

Around 50 people entered the site after a march involving as many as 400 people, said Mark Garavan, a spokesman for the “Shell to Sea” group, by telephone today. The protesters vandalized tools and equipment, Shell said in an e-mailed statement. read more

$6.4-billion figure exceeds BCE’s earnings in 1999
DAVID EBNER

CALGARY — EnCana Corp. has booked the biggest annual corporate profit in Canadian history, but its chief executive officer nevertheless described 2006 as a “mixed” year for the country’s biggest oil and natural gas producer.

The Calgary-based company reported profit yesterday of $5.65-billion (U.S.), up by about two-thirds from the previous year. Converted to Canadian dollars using the average exchange rate in 2006, that would amount to $6.4-billion (Canadian), surpassing the previous record of $5.46-billion set by BCE Inc. for 1999 at the height of the technology boom. read more

Oxford Analytica
02.16.07, 6:00 AM ET

This article is part of Oxford Analytica’s Daily Brief Service.

Russia may spend over $20 billion to build the Eastern pipeline from Taishet to Nakhodka on the Pacific Coast, it was reported on Feb. 13. In early February, Japan’s Osaka Gas signed a preliminary agreement with Russia’s Sakhalin Energy consortium on long-term deliveries of liquefied natural gas. The deal in many ways symbolizes current Russo-Japanese relations.

Russia has sought to take the lead in relations with Japan since 2003, when Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and former Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi met in Moscow and agreed on an action plan based on six main areas. However, Russia is happy in practice to let economic considerations–above all, energy sales–dominate the relationship. read more

16/02/2007 – 11:45:17

A crowd of about 150 Shell to Sea activists have occupied the Bellanaboy Shell site in County Mayo this morning.

The protestors claimed to have forced work to stop there.

The group is highlighting its ongoing opposition to an onshore gas terminal and pipeline.

It is calling on the government to consider renegotiating the deal with Shell to include a royalty tax on all offshore exploration.

Shell workers started work early this morning, in an attempt to avoid disruption as a result of the protest. read more

16 Feb 2007

Russian Economy Minister German Gref warned the government to curb gas-export monopoly OAO Gazprom’s expansion into other industries, saying it could „throw the country back many years.”

Russia shouldn’t „go to extremes,” using Gazprom assets to buy controlling stakes in companies in all sectors of the economy, Gref told a conference in Krasnoyarsk, Siberia today. „If we do, we’ll not only get a government monopoly of the 19th century, but also a state-capitalism monopoly that will throw our country back many years.” read more

Posted by “Real” in response to the article: Financial Post: Shell Canada share battle: “…you can smell the desperation of Royal Dutch Shell PLC…”

These are my reasons:

a) RDS needs my stocks more than I need their money. Whatever money I may loose at the moment of uncertainty will be recovered eventually. If RDS stocks performs, historically Shell Canada Stocks outperformed RDS’s

b) Shell Canada Stock outperformed RDS-A. I don’t want to be holding a stocks run by a bunch of losers. Exchanging them with Exxon’s stock sounds a better bet. read more

Victor Davis Hanson

We all know the Iranian M.O. – nuclear proliferation, Holocaust denial, threats to wipe out Israel, vicious anti-Western rhetoric, lavish sponsorship of terrorists at work attacking Israel and destabilizing Lebanon.

If that were not enough, we now learn that Iran has been sending agents into Iraq to destroy the fledgling democracy and supplying sophisticated roadside bombs to blow up Americans.

Lunatic state-run media keep boasting that Iran will kidnap American soldiers, shut down the Straits of Hormuz, send out global jihadists and raise the price of oil. read more

12:00 AM CST on Friday, February 16, 2007

So is your Fidelity account underwriting genocide in Sudan? Is your pension fund helping finance the janjaweed militias that throw babies into bonfires in Darfur and Chad?

The answer to both questions is complicated but may be yes, and that’s one reason a divestment campaign is gaining strength around America and abroad. Six states (including California) have already begun divesting from companies active in Sudan, and legislation is pending in 23 more states.More than 30 universities, beginning with Harvard in 2005, have sold certain Sudan-related investments. Five cities have divested, and New York is considering doing so. A bill before Congress would bar certain companies active in Sudan from receiving federal contracts. read more

Shell announced that it has entered, with a Spanish oil company, Repsol, into a preliminary understanding to help the Iranian regime develop part of its vast South Pars natural gas reserve. This means a $10 billion investment in Iran. It also means a slap in the face to all of us who are working to undermine the genocidal regime in Tehran. If Shell decides to go forward with the deal the Mullahs will get a shot in the arm that will only embolden them. Sadly, this comes at a time that the Iranian energy sector seems to be on the verge of collapse. Iran’s oil minister Kazem Vaziri-Mamaneh has confirmed recently that the state’s oil industry is suffering from an acute lack of investment. read more

Friday, February 16, 2007. Issue 3598. Page 5.
Reuters

Russia told ExxonMobil on Thursday that it was still ruling out any automatic enlargement of the U.S. oil major’s Sakhalin-1 license territory, just as the project has hit peak output and is seeking new reserves. Moscow said it would put the adjacent deposits into an auction, despite their discovery by Exxon.

The Natural Resources Ministry said in a statement that Deputy Minister Alexei Varlamov told the head of Exxon in Russia, Ben Haynes, that “the ministry’s position was unchanged.” read more

By Upstream staff

Kazakhstan may raise its oil reserves estimate for the Nursultan field in the Caspian sea in a move that will delay a final decision on which company will win rights for the block, the country’s oil minister said today.

Shell has been in competition with ConocoPhillips to win exploration rights for the block, close to Kuryk, where oil-rich Kazakhstan plans to build a port.

“We are not going to announce a tender right now,” Baktykozha Izmukhambetov told Reuters. “We first want to finally make sure what the field actually contains so as not to make a mistake.” read more

By EBR Staff Writer

Shell is to rename the 70 unmanned Metax petrol stations in Denmark Shell Express, committing itself to its automatic site format. This could prove a shrewd move as not only do unmanned sites significantly reduce the time it takes customers to fill their vehicle, but they provide an efficient alternative for over four in 10 of European motorists who visit petrol stations shops but only buy fuel.

‘Content Shell has announced that it plans to rename its Metax petrol stations in Denmark to the Shell Express brand. Shell has 227 stations in Denmark operating under the Shell name and another 70 under Metax. The change of name is part of a global initiative to use the Shell Express branding. The Metax stations, which have been a subsidiary of Shell since 1979, are all wholly unmanned. read more

Created: 16.02.2007 09:13 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 09:14 MSK

On Thursday, Feb. 15, Russian authorities told Exxon Mobil that any automatic enlargement of the U.S. oil major’s Sakhalin-1 license territory is ruled out. The project has just hit its peak output and is seeking new reserves.

Moscow said it would put the adjacent deposits into an auction, despite their discovery by Exxon.

The Natural Resources Ministry said in a statement that Deputy Minister Alexei Varlamov told the head of Exxon in Russia, Ben Haynes, that “the ministry’s position was unchanged”. read more