March 29th, 2007:

BLOOMBERG

PetroChina Co. made a discovery in an offshore field in eastern Bohai Bay that that may be the largest in East Asia in 33 years.

The field may hold as much as 2.2 billion barrels of oil, China’s official Xinhua news agency reported on its website, citing officials at the Beijingbased company it didn’t identify.

The field might produce 200,800 barrels of oil a day in three years, Xinhua said, enough to meet 95 per cent of the needs of PetroChina’s largest refinery in Dalian.

“That’s a pretty big field,” said Ian Cross, vice-president of business intelligence at Inc., an Englewood, Colo.-based research company. “We only get a few discoveries a year in that range worldwide.” read more

Royal Dutch Shell PLC installed tougher clamps on its Mars platform, the biggest oil producer in the Gulf of Mexico, to protect the $1-billion US structure from hurricane damage.

Shell finished installing a drilling rig aboard Mars Tuesday that buckled under the force of waves and wind during hurricane Katrina in August 2005, spokeswoman Darci Sinclair said. The work included stronger deck clamps to prevent the 1,000-tonne rig from collapsing onto other equipment during storms, Sinclair said.

Oil production from the platform 209 kilometres southeast of New Orleans was shut down for nine months after Katrina swept through the Gulf. The drilling rig fell onto the deck and a 12-tonne anchor slashed through subsea pipelines. read more

Thu Mar 29, 2007 3:03 PM BST

LONDON, March 29 (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSa.L: Quote, Profile , Research) said on Thursday it planned to establish a joint venture with OJSC Alliance Group to operate a network of more than 150 Shell-branded retail sites in the Ukraine.

Rob Routs, Executive Director of Shell’s downstream business, said in a statement the new venture would capitalise on Ukraine’s large population, growing GDP and its strategic location.

The new venture, in which Shell will have a 51 percent share and Alliance a 49 percent share, comes as Shell has scaled backed retail operations in some other countries where the company has deemed these to be too small to be strategic. read more

EXTRACT: Tom Borelli, fund manager at Feaf, said Lord Browne had spent too much time burnishing BP’s green credentials, with its “Beyond Petroleum” campaign, and not enough time paying attention to safety. 

THE ARTICLE

By Stephen Foley in New York
Published: 28 March 2007

Lord Browne of Madingley, the outgoing chief executive of BP, came under fire from shareholders at Goldman Sachs at the bank’s annual meeting.

The peer has sat on the Goldman Sachs board since its flotation in 1999, but yesterday he faced calls for his resignation because of what some investors said was his poor management record at BP. read more

15:07 | 29/ 03/ 2007 

MOSCOW, March 29 (RIA Novosti) – No court action will be initiated against the Sakhalin II operator for environmental damage incurred during the implementation of the major oil and gas project in Russia’s Far East, an environmental regulator said Thursday.

The ambitious project, formerly led by Anglo-Dutch oil major Shell, was subjected to months of intense pressure last year from Russian authorities, who accused it of causing serious environmental damage to Sakhalin Island, including deforestation, toxic waste dumping and soil erosion. read more

Web Posted – Thu Mar 29 2007

Opposition Senator Dr. Denis Lowe, wants Government to pay more attention to the plight of small farmers.

While speaking in the Upper House yesterday morning during debate of the Appropriation Bill, 2007, Senator Lowe made a call for the country’s import food bill to be reduced, and for Government to pave the way for small farmers, to enable them to run sustainable businesses. It is time that healthier eating is encouraged, and persons living in the country should be aided in doing so, by being encouraged to eat what they grow. Many food outlets he said, should pay more attention to giving these small farmers a chance and should partner with them, so that they are able to produce consistently, some of the agricultural commodities needed in supermarkets across the country. read more

March 29, 2007
Bloomberg

Exxon Mobil Corp. and four other U.S. gasoline retailers must face a lawsuit accusing them of conspiring to drive up the price of the fuel, a federal judge ruled.

Exxon, Marathon Oil Corp., Citgo Petroleum Corp. and U.S. affiliates of Royal Dutch Shell and BP are accused in the complaint of intentionally limiting the available gasoline supply, driving up prices and boosting profits, U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve in Chicago said Monday.

“Facts consistent with these allegations could establish that defendants unjustly enriched themselves or acted deceptively or unfairly,” St. Eve said, rejecting the companies’ request that she dismiss the lawsuit, which seeks class-action status on behalf of all affected Illinois consumers. Some claims in the complaint were dismissed. read more

03.29.07, 8:53 AM ET
 
LONDON – Royal Dutch Shell PLC and ConocoPhillips have secured the licenses to develop the Caravel, Shamrock and Kelvin fields in the North Sea, said Alistair Darling, the UK’s trade and industry secretary.

Shell, along with partner ExxonMobil Corp (nyse: XOM – news – people ), will be developing Caravel, which will pump its first oil in December. It will also be operating the nearby Shamrock field.

ConocoPhillips (nyse: COP – news – people ), meanwhile, will be developing the Kelvin discovery with partners GDF Britain Ltd and Tullow Oil PLC. read more

AN ancient Persian proverb, much beloved of the ayatollahs in Tehran, urges Iranians to “be lions at home and foxes abroad”. This is exactly the strategy being pursued by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, and his hardline Revolutionary Guards, with the result that Great Britain is suffering its greatest foreign policy humiliation since the Suez crisis of 1956.

British military personnel have been abducted by a foreign power; yet a British nation shell-shocked by its disastrous Iraqi adventure doesn’t want to know. The Iranians, long convinced that the West is now too decadent, weak and crippled by self-doubt to react to even the most egregious of provocations, are jubilant. read more

TOM GILLESPIE
Published: Mar 29, 2007

A TD is at the centre of an alleged phone tapping scandal involving rivals of the Corrib gas project, it emerged yesterday.

Dr Jerry Cowley wants a probe into claims his phone line in north Mayo has been under Garda surveillance for several months, along with senior figures within the Shell To Sea group.

The independent TD revealed he was alerted to the alleged undercover operation “by a series of unusual coincidences”.

In an interview with the Connaught Telegraph he said: “I am not the only one to hold these fears. read more

Lorna Siggins & Tom Shiel
Published: Mar 29, 2007

Independent Mayo TD Dr Jerry Cowley says he intends to ask the Circuit Court judge who acts as the State’s complaints referee in relation to phone tapping, to investigate alleged surveillance of telephones held by himself and six prominent members of the Shell to Sea campaign.

This follows a Dail reply to Dr Cowley by Minister for Justice Michael McDowell yesterday in which Mr McDowell said it was “not the practice” and would be “contrary to public interest” to disclose if authorisation for such surveillance had been granted. read more

By REUTERS
Published: March 28, 2007
Filed at 8:59 p.m. ET

HOUSTON (Reuters) – Shell U.S. Gas and Power (RDSa.L) is discontinuing plans to build a liquefied natural gasterminal offshore of Louisiana because import capacity will be sufficient without it, the company said Wednesday.

“It’s just an assessment of the market,” said project manager Greg Koehler in announcing cancellation of the terminal that had been dubbed Gulf Landing.

When Shell proposed Gulf Landing for a site 38 miles (61 km) south of Cameron, La., in 2003, there was one LNG terminal in the Gulf of Mexico. Now, including Mexico, there are seven either operating or under construction and more are planned. read more

Julia Finch
Thursday March 29, 2007

Jeroen van der Veer deserves the chance to continue much of the good work he has put in at Shell since taking over from Sir Philip Watts in 2004.

Memories of the reserves scandal will stay with many investors for a long time but the oil major has seen its reputation hugely enhanced since its humiliation at the hands of the US regulator.

Mr van der Veer can take much of the credit for that, although the restructuring of the dual-company structure that has also helped modernise the group, was the result of a wider board decision. read more

Terry Macalister
Thursday March 29, 2007

Jeroen van der Veer has won a victory over his more lauded rival Lord Browne by being allowed to stay on as chief executive of Shell a year after the company’s retirement date. The Dutchman will retire on June 30, 2009, aged 61, whereas the BP boss will have to go this summer at 60, after losing his internal battle to stay.

“There has been great progress in our company in recent years. Jeroen’s decision today provides clarity, and I am most pleased that he will stay on longer, providing valuable continuity and leadership in Shell over the next years,” said Jorma Ollila, Shell’s chairman. read more

March 29, 2007
Steve Hawkes

Shell, the £125 billion oil giant, may break with a century-old tradition and recruit a new chief executive from outside either the Netherlands or Britain, industry experts said.

The prediction came yesterday after it fired the starting gun for a succession battle by announcing that Jeroen van der Veer, the chief executive, would retire on June 30, 2009.

The Dutchman could have stepped down next summer after turning 60 this October. However, Shell’s board has persuaded him to sign a 12-month extension and continue the recovery plan that he put in place on taking over after the 2004 reserves scandal. read more

By CARMEN J. GENTILE
UPI Energy Correspondent

LAGOS, Nigeria, (UPI) — Royal Dutch Shell in Nigeria defended its operations Wednesday amid a bevy of government allegations that the company illegally transported and dumped radioactive material in the Niger Delta.

In a statement sent to United Press International Wednesday, Shell officials denied the allegations of any misbehavior on the part of Shell Petroleum Development Co. of Nigeria Ltd., known locally as SPDC, put forth by the Nigerian government earlier this week. read more

Thursday March 29, 2007

PETALING JAYA: The increasing demand for energy and the challenge to produce better oil makes it essential to use Smart Fields oil recovery technology, said Shell Smart Fields programme manager Jaap van Ballegooijen.

Van Ballegooijen projected the world’s consumption at 120 million barrels per day by 2025, but added that remote and complex developments could mean heavier or poorer quality oil could be produced.

Speaking via webcast yesterday, he said there was also a need to develop oil in a more environmentally responsible way, but the positive side was Shell already knew “where most of the oil is” and was producing it. read more

RAVENNA, Italy, (Reuters) – Italy should ease its permit regime for energy projects and boost domestic oil and gas exploration to diversify energy supplies, a senior executive at Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L: Quote, Profile , Research) said on Wednesday.

Italy depends heavily on energy imports to meet growing internal demand and needs to import gas to cover about 85 percent of its needs. But international energy company Shell said it has undeveloped oil and gas reserves.

“Italy needs to move forward, it needs a more flexible legal framework,” Tom Botts, Shell’s executive vice-president for European exploration and production said at an energy conference in Ravenna, northern Italy. read more

By Russell Hotten
Last Updated: 12:17am BST 29/03/2007

Royal Dutch Shell, Europe’s biggest oil company, has announced that Jeroen van der Veer will remain as chief executive beyond the normal retirement date, a move welcomed by investors but which still sparked speculation about the company’s succession plans.

Mr van der Veer, 60 in October, had been due to retire on 30 June 2008, but will now leave 12 months later in order “to further progress our delivery and growth agenda,” he said yesterday. read more

By Michael Harrison, Business Editor
Published: 29 March 2007

The chief executive of Royal Dutch Shell, Jeroen van der Veer, has succeeded where his opposite number at BP, Lord Browne, failed by getting a one-year extension to his contract.

Shell announced yesterday that Mr Van der Veer would now stay on at the helm until July, 2009, when he will be three months short of his 62nd birthday.

Under Shell’s old rules, he would have had to retire in July next year after reaching 60 this coming October. But last year Shell said that it intended to amend its retirement rules to allow executive directors to continue beyond 60, partly because of changes in Dutch employment law. read more

Risk-Taking Shell CEO Stays in Race
With Unusual Strategies,
Big Investments in Staff,
Van der Veer Battles Rivals
By CHIP CUMMINS and GUY CHAZAN
March 29, 2007; Page B1

LONDON — When Jeroen van der Veer, a low-key chemicals executive and marathon ice skater, took the top job at Royal Dutch Shell PLC in 2004, industry watchers wondered how long it would be before the Dutchman took a tumble at the scandal-tarred energy titan.

Three years later, he’s not only still in the race, but he’s also starting to outpace BP PLC, his biggest European rival. Since taking over Shell amid a scandal over how it accounted for its energy reserves, Mr. van der Veer has ridden the oil-price boom to higher profit. At the same time, though, high costs and diminished access to fresh reserves have been squeezing Big Oil, so he has pushed a bunch of large-but-risky development projects.
 
In the long oil-patch rivalry between European giants Shell and BP, Mr. van der Veer’s company is back on top. Shell’s shares outperformed BP’s last year, as BP floundered from a series of operational blunders and scandals in the U.S., including a handful of safety probes stemming from a refinery blast and pipeline problems in Alaska. For the first time in years, Shell’s market capitalization is bigger than BP’s, at $215 billion to $209 billion. Among non-state-controlled oil companies, only Exxon Mobil Corp. is larger. read more