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March 24th, 2007:

Petroleum News: Shell Beaufort Sea ACMP review period extended

Vol. 12, No. 12  Week of March 25, 2007
By Alan Bailey

Alaska’s Office of Project Management and Permitting has extended the Alaska Coastal Management Plan consistency review period for Shell’s Beaufort Sea 2007 to 2009 drilling program. OPMP has not yet determined a revised deadline for comments on the plan, but does not anticipate a lengthy delay in the review process, Ben Greene, OPMP oil, gas and energy manager, told Petroleum News March 20.

The deadline for public comments had been March 19. 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.

Petroleum News: Royal Dutch Shell quiet on Mackenzie

Vol. 12, No. 12  Week of March 25, 2007
By Gary Park

Now that it has the assets of Shell Canada in its grasp, Royal Dutch Shell sees the takeover as an opportunity to “create an integrated unconventional oil business on an international scale,” said Chief Executive Officer Jeroen van der Veer.

That is a clear reference to the extensive oil sands holdings of Shell Canada in the Athabasca, Cold Lake and Peace River regions of Alberta.

Royal Dutch has never made much of a secret of its desire to rebuild its global reserves after an accounting scandal three years ago. 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.

Financial Times: Lex Column: TNK-BP and Rosneft

Published: March 24 2007 02:00 | Last updated: March 24 2007 02:00

Taking out insurance in Russia is a sensible idea, but the premiums can be huge. TNK-BP, BP’s Russian joint venture, is an anomaly in Russia’s energy landscape: a big player with a high degree of foreign ownership but no government involvement.

It finds itself under pressure from Russian officials and many think the endgame is that Gazprom will end up with a majority stake in the joint venture.

As with Moscow’s professed environmental concerns over Royal Dutch Shell’s project in Sakhalin, its current indignance regarding TNK-BP’s giant Kovykta gas field has more than a hint of the absurd about it. Officials are demanding that Kovykta begins pumping 9bn cubic metres of gas per year, even though none can be exported yet. Unless the locals have worked out a way to breathe the stuff, that is unreasonable – a regional population of less than 3m implies per capita gas usage at more than three times the rate of the European Union. 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.

Financial Times: Shrewd move puts BP in winning position

By Ed Crooks
Published: March 24 2007 02:00 | Last updated: March 24 2007 02:00

When Lord Browne, BP’s chief executive, met Vladimir Putin in Moscow yesterday, it was an occasion for pleasantries and formalities, not hard bargaining.

Lord Browne was introducing his successor Tony Hayward, who takes over at the beginning of August, and turning on the charm for the man who controls the world’s biggest oil and gas reserves.

The atmosphere of the meeting will have been helped by the announcement yesterday morning from TNK-BP, BP’s 50 per cent-owned Russian joint venture, that it was prepared to pay $7.5bn (£3.8bn) or more for a 9.44 per cent stake in Rosneft, the state-controlled oil company. The stake, one of the assets of the bankrupt Yukos group, is going up for auction next Tuesday. 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 Wall Street Journal: BP: ‘Mr. Putin may make TNK-BP an offer it can’t refuse.’

“Keep your friends close but your enemies closer,” is the advice Don Vito Corleone gives his son in “The Godfather.” BP’s outgoing chief executive, John Browne, might say the same about Russia to the oil group’s incoming CEO, Tony Hayward. Both men were to meet with President Vladimir Putin Friday. Two quite separate issues will probably top the agenda. The first is whether a Russian state-owned energy firm might muscle into BP’s Kovykta gas field. The second is whether the same might happen at BP’s Russian joint venture, TNK-BP. 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.

New York Times: BP Plans to Bid for Yukos Assets in Auction

By ANDREW E. KRAMER
Published: March 24, 2007

MOSCOW, March 23 — BP said on Friday that it planned to bid against the state-owned oil giant Rosneft in a bankruptcy auction for assets of the Yukos oil company, a surprise announcement that signaled BP’s deepening involvement in Russia’s turbulent energy sector.

BP owns about $1 billion in stock in Rosneft, a company it considers a strategic partner. On Friday, BP’s chief executive, John Browne, was in Moscow to meet his counterpart from Rosneft and Russia’s president, Vladimir V. Putin, along with BP’s designated successor for the top job, Tony Hayward. 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: We want to stay in Russia, BP boss tells Putin

· Browne and Hayward hold key meeting in Kremlin
· Assets of bankrupt Yukos to be auctioned next week

Luke Harding in Moscow
Saturday March 24, 2007

The head of BP yesterday said that his company planned to expand its operations in Russia and deepen cooperation with state energy firms following a crunch meeting in the Kremlin with Vladimir Putin.

BP’s chief executive Lord Browne emerged from his encounter with Russia’s president declaring that he wanted to work together with Russia’s leading energy producers. His statement appeared to win Mr Putin’s cautious endorsement. 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.

Daily Telegraph: BP must watch its step when dancing with the bear

24 March 2007

BP is playing a high-risk game in Russia. Bidding for the bankrupt Yukos’s stake in energy giant Rosneft is fraught with complications, but in the current climate maybe Lord Browne and Co felt they had little choice.

BP is a sizeable player in the Russian oil and gas industry through its 50pc stake in TNK-BP. But there is a problem: President Putin wants to return Russia’s prize energy assets to state control. Among other things, Moscow desires control of TNK-BP’s vast and potentially very lucrative Kovykta gas field. 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.

Daily Telegraph: Database: Saturday 24 March 2007

Last Updated: 2:22am GMT 24/03/2007: A round-up of headlines from across the financial sectors, provided by Bloomberg News.

ENERGY

• BP’s Russian unit said it will bid for bankrupt OAO Yukos Oil’s stake in OAO Rosneft in an effort to build “strategic” ties with the state oil company.

• Royal Dutch Shell reopened a pipeline in Nigeria that was shut following a spill earlier this month and started boosting production, which had been cut by 187,000 barrels a day.

• Tersus Energy said its full-year pre-tax loss narrowed after the company sold its stake in Dynamotive Energy Systems Corp. 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.

Daily Telegraph: BP enters auction for Yukos assets

By Russell Hotten, Industry Editor
Last Updated: 3:10am GMT 24/03/2007

BP’s Russian joint venture unexpectedly announced yesterday that it will take part in an auction for a £3.5bn-plus stake in state-owned oil producer Rosneft that belongs to the now-bankrupt Yukos.  
 
The controversial decision came on the day that departing BP chief executive Lord Browne, and his successor Tony Hayward, met Russia’s president Vladimir Putin for talks about the company’s future in the country. 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: Lord Browne, plucky explorer, pays homage at court of Putin

March 24, 2007
Carl Mortished, Analysis

Just as his predecessor William Knox d’Arcy paid tribute at the court of the Shah of Persia, the chief executive of BP, Lord Browne of Madingley, was yesterday granted an audience with President Putin of Russia.

A concession secured by Knox d’Arcy to explore for oil in Persia was the foundation of the Anglo-Persian oil company, which later became BP. Persian oil has not played much of a role at BP since the Iranian revolution and Lord Browne has recently said that BP will not do business in the country, the risk of rousing American ire being too great. 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: BP unit to bid for $9bn stake in the remnants of Yukos

March 24, 2007
Carl Mortished, David Robertson, Kevin O’Flynn and Julian Evans

The Russian arm of BP is to bid for a $9 billion (£4.6 billion) shareholding in Rosneft, to be sold in an auction of the remaining assets of Yukos, the bankrupt Russian oil company.

The surprise move by TNK-BP emerged hours before Lord Browne of Madingley, BP’s chief executive, and his successor Tony Hayward, met President Putin.

Any attempt to purchase the 9.44 per cent stake in Rosneft could put BP into competition with Rosneft, which is itself intending to bid for Yukos assets. 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: Ex-Shell exploration chief raising $1bn for a comeback

March 24, 2007
Steve Hawkes

Walter van de Vijver, the controversial exploration director forced to quit Royal Dutch Shell three years ago, is raising $1 billion (£510 million) for a return to the oil and gas industry.

The Dutchman is heading a new venture that plans to help international oil companies and state-controlled firms increase production from ageing and dormant fields.

The company, Delta Hydrocarbons, yesterday revealed that it had raised £385 million from 3i, SHV Holdings and Upstream Capital Partners. 3i is running a separate fund-raising for the rest. 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.