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April 6th, 2007:

The Times-Picayune: Judge seals records on legal fees in suit: Payments in gasoline case secret

Friday, April 06, 2007
By Susan Finch

The judge in a 2004 federal class action lawsuit over fuel gauge damage caused by tainted gasoline made at Shell-Motiva refinery in Norco has sealed records on how he divided $6.8 million in legal fees among 79 lawyers in the case.

U.S. District Judge Ivan Lemelle has ordered each lawyer, on pain of being sanctioned, not to reveal how much they were paid.

Lemelle’s late January decision to keep the information under wraps has drawn criticism from some of the lawyers and has attracted the attention of Loyola Law School ethics professor Dane Ciolino.
 
Ciolino says the situation violates the right of the lawyers and the public to have access to court records. Additionally, he said, it flies in the face of a Louisiana attorney ethics rule that says a client is entitled to know how his lawyer shares fees with other lawyers. 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.

Houston Chronicle: As work on Alberta’s oil sands booms, the slide in natural gas prices has meant a retreat in the face of high costs

Energy: Hot and cold in Canada
By KRISTEN HAYS
 
Canada’s oil-soaked sands are hot while natural gas drilling has cooled, illustrating the long-term nature of one business and shorter-term vulnerability to price swings of the other, analysts say.

“The economic life associated with these projects is measured in years, if not decades, as opposed to a 45-day gas well in Canada,” said Bill Herbert, co-head of research for Simmons & Company International in Houston.

Companies are capitalizing on Canada’s vast oil-soaked sands in northern Alberta, largely seen as a stable, long-term source of reserves in a friendly country unfettered by geopolitical uncertainty. 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.

RIA Novosti: Gazprom deal for Sakhalin II stake to be closed in April – min.

06/ 04/ 2007 

MOSCOW, April 6 (RIA Novosti) – Gazprom’s deal to buy a stake in the Sakhalin II oil and gas project will be completed in April, the Russian industry and energy minister said Friday.

“In April, all decisions, not just legal, on the deal, will be completed,” Viktor Khristenko said.

Khristenko said Gazprom, Shell, Mitsubishi and Mitsui are finalizing legal documents.

The ambitious oil and gas 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

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.

allAfrica.com: Four Foreign Hostages Freed, in Niger Delta

Chika Amanze-Nwachuku and Ahamefula Ogbu, This Day (Nigeria)

Two Lebanese construction workers, a British oil worker and a Dutch security manager, who were kidnapped in the oil-rich Niger Delta, have been released.

The Lebanese nationals who were abducted on Monday in Bayelsa State, were working for Setraco, a Nigerian construction firm under Lebanese management, while the Briton was abducted on March 31, by armed men who operated in two speedboats during a pre-dawn raid on the Bulford Dolphin oil drilling rig, 40 miles offshore. 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: Energy Blog

April 5, 2007, 11:23 am
In Other Papers: Back to Africa
Posted by WSJ.com Staff

Here’s a quick roundup of energy news from some other newspapers:

A year after Royal Dutch Shell was forced to shut more than half of its oil operations in Nigeria because of militant violence, the New York Times reports that the company has reached an agreement allowing it to return safely and resume full production within six months.

House Democrats passed a measure earlier this year designed to fix a $10 billion mistake that gave huge royalty breaks to oil companies that drill on federal land. Now, according to USA Today, two key Democrats with political ties to the oil and gas industry are contemplating a gentler approach. 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.

CNNMoney.com: And Iraq’s big oil contracts go to …

Companies from China, India and other Asian nations are seen getting the first contracts. But don’t write off Big Oil just yet.

By Steve Hargreaves, CNNMoney.com staff writer

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Despite claims by some critics that the Bush administration invaded Iraq to take control of its oil, the first contracts with major oil firms from Iraq’s new government are likely to go not to U.S. companies, but rather to companies from China, India, Vietnam, and Indonesia.

While Iraqi lawmakers struggle to pass an agreement on exactly who will award the contracts and how the revenue will be shared, experts say a draft version that passed the cabinet earlier this year will likely uphold agreements previously signed by those countries under Saddam Hussein’s government. 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.

UPI Energy Watch: Shell, Iran move forward on gas project

EXTRACT: The Bush administration, meanwhile, has warned it could impose sanctions on Western firms doing business with Iran, a move that has not stopped Shell from expanding its operations in Iran. 
 
By ANDREA R. MIHAILESCU
UPI Energy Correspondent

Anglo-Dutch venture Royal Dutch Shell continues to move forward with plans to develop a large gas field in Iran.

Shell said it will continue with its Iranian project in the South Pars gas field. It hopes to complete it by early 2008. Shell has admitted to political considerations playing a part in its decision on the scheme. 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: Shell risks Iran backlash

Jeroen van der Veer

(Mr van der Veer sees no reason to terminate discussions with Teheran)

By Russell Hotten, Industry Editor
Last Updated: 12:41am BST 06/04/2007

The chief executive of oil and gas giant Royal Dutch Shell, Jeroen van der Veer, said the company would press ahead with feasibility studies on multi-billion-pound investments in Iran, risking the wrath of the United States government and a public backlash in the UK following the British hostage crisis.

Mr van der Veer said yesterday that he was pleased that the British sailors had been released. “That’s good news, especially for the families and also politically,” he said. 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.