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March 7th, 2007:

Russia Newswire (press release) – Moscow,Russia: Gazprom Headquarters: Moscow

Date: 07/03/2007 

Meeting on Organizational Issues of Gazprom’s Participation in Sakhalin-2 Project Held
 
MOSCOW (RNWire) – Today, at the Gazprom Headquarters, Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee conducted a meeting on the organizational issues of Gazprom’s participation in Sakhalin-2 project. Attending the meeting were heads and specialists of the company’s core business units.

The participants discussed the progress with implementing the Protocol on Gazprom’s joining Sakhalin Energy Investment Company Ltd. read more

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CanadianBusiness.com: Norway’s New Offshore Oil Giant to Be Named StatoilHydro

March 7, 2007 – 11:12 a.m.

OSLO, Norway (AP) – A new state-controlled offshore oil giant made up of Norway’s two key petroleum companies should be called StatoilHydro to end an ongoing debate over its name, the company boards recommended Wednesday.

In December, state-controlled Statoil ASA said it was acquiring the oil and gas operations of smaller rival Norsk Hydro ASA in a $30 billion deal largely motivated by ambitions to expand outside Norway. The new company would surpass Royal Dutch Shell PLC as the world’s largest offshore oil producer, the officials said. read more

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Globe and Mail (Canada): Oil sands upstart plans $4-billion project

BY DAVID EBNER

CALGARY — Value Creation Inc., a small oil sands upstart, is proposing a $4-billion project to produce 80,000 barrels of crude a day, starting in 2011, and the company believes its land in northeastern Alberta could eventually support output of 400,000 barrels a day.

“Our large wholly owned oil sands resource base positions Value Creation to become a major oil sands player,” Columba Yeung, the company’s chairman and chief executive officer, said in a statement on Wednesday morning. read more

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Reuters: Shell still studying Texas JV refinery expansion

HOUSTON, March 7 (Reuters) – Shell Oil Co. (RDSa.L: Quote, Profile , Research) President John Hofmeister said on Wednesday the company continues to study expanding a joint-venture refinery in Port Arthur, Texas.

Shell hopes to decide this year if Motiva Enterprises 285,000 barrel per day (bpd) refinery will expand to 600,000 bpd, Hofmeister said.

Shell and Saudi Refining are partners in the refinery. The expansion could cost as much as $5 billion.

© Reuters 2007. All Rights Reserved.

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Financial Post: Global giants may soon rule oilsands

Costs rise 55%: report
Jon Harding,
Published: Wednesday, March 07, 2007

CALGARY – The trend of soaring capital costs in Alberta’s oilsands will continue and could squeeze out smaller players, turning the industry into an exclusive club of fully integrated global giants, international energy consultancy Wood Mackenzie said yesterday.

In a report that was immediately criticized as off the mark by some of the sector’s smaller players, the U.K.-based Wood Mackenzie said oilsands costs have risen 55% since 2005. read more

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Western People: Issues of engineering and human rights aired at two Erris meetings

Wednesday, March 07, 2007
By: Daniel Hickey

AT separate meetings in Erris last week, both sides in the gas dispute were given the opportunity to air their views on the on-going row over the route of the proposed pipeline.

The meetings, held on two consecutive nights, address-esd concerns with the Corrib Gas terminal, the proposed pipeline, and struggle that has at times erupted in violence.

On Tuesday night last, in the Broadhaven Bay Hotel in Belmullet, RPS engineering consultants – recently appointed by Shell E&P Ireland to hasten the selection of an onshore pipeline route – held their first public meeting. The meeting, according to Shell, was part of the first phase of consultation with the community and landowners around criteria for selecting a new pipeline route. This phase is expected to last until the end of April read more

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AFX Asia (Focus): Oil edges up as market expects falls in US gasoline and distillate stocks UPDATE

EXTRACT: Elsewhere, prices were lent support by Royal Dutch Shell’s announcement that it reduced production from Nigerian operations by 187,000 bpd following a major spill from a pipeline in the Niger Delta. Shell added it would take days to repair the leak.

Published: Mar 07, 2007

LONDON (AFX) – Oil rose as market participants expect today’s weekly US inventory data to show falls in gasoline and distillate stocks.

Recovering global stock markets also underpinned oil prices as fears that recent equity weakness could soften oil demand faded. read more

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Financial Times: US warns foreign energy companies of sanctions if they opt to invest in Iran

By Guy Dinmore in Washington, Carola Hoyos in London, Daniel,Dombey in Brussels and Ivar Simensen in Frankfurt

Published: March 7 2007 02:00 | Last updated: March 7 2007 02:00

The Bush administration said yesterday it had warned foreign energy companies that they risked incurring US sanctions if they invested in Iran.

The warning came as Eon, Germany’s biggest importer of natural gas, confirmed it was pursuing its first natural gas supply contract with Iran in an effort to reduce its dependence on Russia. read more

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Financial Times: Doubling of oil reserves lifts Imperial by 40%

By Catherine Belton

Published: March 7 2007 02:00 | Last updated: March 7 2007 02:00

Shares in the UK-listed Imperial Energy soared almost 40 per cent after the Siberia and Kazakhstan-based oil company said its probable reserves of oil had more than doubled to 803m barrels.

Its shares rose 353p to £12.45 after Imperial promised to push on with plans to boost production to 25,000 barrels per day by 2008 and 35,000 barrels per day by the end of 2009.

Imperial has licences to develop 15 fields across a vast swathe of the westSiberian region of Tomsk. read more

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Financial Times: Eon pursues gas deal with Iran

By Carola Hoyos in London, Daniel Dombey in Brussels and Ivar,Simensen in Frankfurt

Published: March 7 2007 02:00 | Last updated: March 7 2007 02:00

Eon, Germany’s biggest importer of natural gas, is pursuing its first gas supply contract with Iran in an effort to reduce its dependence on Russia.

The company yesterday confirmed it was in talks with liquefied natural gas producers over a supply contract. “One of the producer countries is, of course, Iran,” said an official.

Centrica, the UK’s biggest residential energy supplier, is also looking at Iran as a potential source of gas supplies following the decline in North Sea gas production. read more

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Financial Times: Oil boom boosts John Wood

By Ed Crooks
Published: March 7 2007 02:00 | Last updated: March 7 2007 02:00

The boom in demand for oil services helped push John Wood Group’s pre-tax profits up 47 per cent last year to $184m (£96m), but the company warned thatsuch rapid growth was unlikely to be continued this year.

As oil companies developing new sources of oil and gas have been hit by shortages of skilled staff and equipment, Wood has been among the beneficiaries.

Wood increased its staffing by 4,000 during the year to more than 20,000, in part through acquisitions, and invested $137m in acquisitions and capital spending, up from $99m in 2005. read more

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Financial Times: Lord Browne’s pay cut for the second year running

By Carola Hoyos,Chief Energy Correspondent
Published: March 7 2007 02:00 | Last updated: March 7 2007 02:00

BP slashed Lord Browne’s pay again last year because of the recent string of safety failures in the US.

The chief executive’s total pay fell for a second year in a row, this time by 28 per cent to £4.57m, the company said in its annual reportyesterday.

His salary, bonus and non-cash payments came to £2.5m, down from £3.3m in 2005, while the value of the shares he has been awarded under BP’s long-term incentive schemes fell from £3.1m to £2m. read more

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indianmuslims.info: ‘If Dutch Shell moves forward with its proposed $10 billion deal with Iran, it will be sanctioned’

Headline: Lantos moots ban on nuke deals with those aiding IranWed, 2007-03-07 06:42. International
By Arun Kumar,

Washington, March 7 (IANS) A US lawmaker proposes to introduce a legislation to bar the Bush administration from entering into civil nuclear deals with countries, be it India or China, if they aid Iran’s nuclear programme.

“My legislation goes beyond the waiver issue. If a nation aids Iran’s nuclear programme, it will not be able to have a nuclear cooperation agreement with the United States,” Tom Lantos, chairman of the powerful House foreign affairs committee, said Tuesday during a hearing on “The Iranian Challenge”. read more

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The Guardian: Pipe dreams and distrust

With daily clashes between police and protesters, the five-year row over a gas pipeline route in Ireland shows no sign of subsiding

Owen Bowcott
Wednesday March 7, 2007

The north-west tip of County Mayo is blanketed with rain-sodden and wind-blasted bogland. In winter, the desolate Irish landscape resembles Iceland, as low Atlantic clouds press down on the Nephin Beg mountains.

There are few job opportunities around here. But for the last five years, local fishermen, farmers and residents have waged an epic campaign to prevent Shell, the Anglo-Dutch oil conglomerate, building a gas pipeline close to Rossport village to an inland refinery in a remote pine forest. 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: BP’s Browne to get pension of £1m a year

· Chief’s pay down after a difficult 2006 for oil firm
· Company defends boss’s £22m retirement fund

Terry Macalister
Wednesday March 7, 2007

John Browne, BP’s chief executive, will stand down this summer after a period of extreme turbulence for the company with a pension pot of £22m and a retirement income of more than £1m a year, according to the annual report out yesterday.

The oil boss received a £900,000 bonus for his performance in 2006 which took his pay package to £4.57m while further share awards during the 12-month period could raise the total to about £7.5m. read more

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Daily Telegraph: Raccoon pushes up petrol prices

By Catherine Elsworth in Los Angeles
Last Updated: 1:54am GMT 07/03/2007

A raccoon and an opossum were responsible for pushing up petrol prices on the US west coast this week after the creatures disrupted power supplies at Los Angeles area substations, shutting off electricity to two oil refineries.

The separate incidents resulted in a 7 cent (nearly 4 pence) increase in the cost of a gallon of petrol in the west when news of the interruption to supplies broke.

On Sunday evening, an opossum managed to get into a substation operated by the power company Southern California Edison in Torrance, 20 miles south of Los Angeles, and trip the supply. It went offline around 9pm. The opossum’s carcass was later found by workers at the substation. read more

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Daily Telegraph: Legal and Energy Database: Wednesday 7 February 2007

Last Updated: 2:09am GMT 07/03/2007

A round-up of headlines from across the financial sectors, provided by Bloomberg News

LEGAL

• BP has received grand jury subpoenas in a federal probe relating to the 2005 explosion at its Texas City, Texas, refinery that killed 15 people.

ENERGY

• International Power, which owns power plants in 17 countries, said fourth–quarter net income rose 20pc as electricity prices rose. The shares had their biggest one-day gain in more than three years.

• UK natural gas prices for delivery in June fell as high inventory levels reduced demand for fuel to store for use next winter. 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: Imperial poised to reveal huge oil reserves in Russia

Steve Hawkes

One of the biggest oil explorers on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) is poised to disclose that it is sitting on reserves of more than three billion barrels in Russia, The Times has learnt.

An independent report by DeGolyer & MacNaughton, the American energy expert, will hand Imperial Energy a material reserves upgrade across ten of its fields in west Siberia.

The report is understood to classify total reserves in place for the first time at three billion barrels, just under the amount that Cairn Energy, the FTSE 100 group, has discovered in Rajasthan, northwest India. 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: Comment: Pressure mounts

Steve Hawkes

Lord Browne’s bullish sign off at BP will be met with puzzled looks in the US. His fierce defence of the oil giant’s record, and of its bright prospects, follows a year marked by the dramatic fallout from oil spills in Alaska and the fatal refinery blast at Texas City.

Browne insists that the group has learned its lessons and come through with its core values “reaffirmed”. He says: “The best is yet to come.” The City will now want proof of this pudding. BP’s share price has tumbled 20 per cent in the past year even though it has recorded its best-ever profits. 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: ‘It seems safety and oil don’t mix’

Britain’s second oil company has been repeatedly warned by the Health and Safety Executive about the poor state of its North Sea platforms, according to the Guardian.

The warnings undermine Shell’s public commitment to improve its performance after a fatal explosion on the Brent field in the North Sea in 2003.

The newspaper says that Shell was served with a rebuke and a legal notice that it was failing to operate safely as recently as November 13.

Meanwhile, the Financial Times says that BP avoided $150 million in monitoring and equipment upgrades in the lead-up to the fatal refinery explosion in 2005. It seems safety and oil don’t mix. read more

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The Wall Street Journal: Kinder Morgan to Sell Pipeline

By JOHN MORITSUGU

Inter Pipeline Fund said Monday it has agreed to acquire the Corridor Pipeline System from an affiliate of Kinder Morgan Inc. for $760 million Canadian (US$646 million) including debt.

The Canadian fund said Corridor is the sole transporter of diluted bitumen and related products produced by the Athabasca Oil Sands Project, an oil-sands operations owned by Shell Canada Energy, Chevron Canada Ltd. and Western Oil Sands LP (Western).

Inter said the purchase price is subject to closing adjustments. It said funding for the acquisition will be provided from Inter Pipeline’s existing bank-credit facilities and the assumption of about $411 million of existing debt. read more

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news-press.com: Circle K and Shell trade brands

Circle K Stores Inc., with the Kangaroo labeled convenience stores, named after an Australian marsupial animal, is actually owned by a Canadian company with a French name that made a deal with a Dutch company about stores in Florida, among other states.

That’s why Circle K stations either have converted or are converting their gas pumps to Shell pumps.

Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc, the Canadians, purchased and made arrangements with  Shell Oil, the Dutch (that’s officially the Netherlands) to buy 127 Shell stations in Florida. Of those, 46 sit in Southwest Florida. 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.