June 22nd, 2007:

EXTRACT: Another pointer to the general climate is that one of the major projects that was due to come on stream, namely the giant LNG project run by Gazprom and Shell – Sakhalin 2 has also hit some apparent problems. The deputy head of Sakhalin 2 one David Greer has just resigned, purportedly about a ‘motivational’ e-mail he sent out to his workforce that was widely derided. But also possibly because of the fact that the deadline for Sakhalin 2 to lay pipelines – before the winter sets in and freezes the ground hard – is going to be missed. The e-mail, copied from General Patton and ridiculed in the British press, may be a smokescreen for bigger problems. read more

Friday 22 June 2007

The entire content of the article below was supplied this morning to the following individuals:

Michiel Brandjes, Company Secretary of Royal Dutch Shell Plc
Jeroen van der Veer, Chief Executive Officer of Royal Dutch Shell Plc
Jorma Ollila, Chairman of Royal Dutch Shell Plc
Malcolm Brinded, Chief Executive of Shell Exploration & Production
Richard Wiseman, General Counsel, Shell International Petroleum.

This was the exact invitation put to Shell by John Donovan:

I have printed below a self-explanatory draft article ready for publication. As usual, we are happy to carefully consider any amendments you feel should be made for the sake of accuracy and balance. We will also publish with the article on an unedited basis any comments you may wish to make. If you want to consider this matter for a few days, that is not a problem.  However, if Shell does not wish to take up our invitation, we would be most grateful for an indication that this is the case, so that the article can be published later today. We will be making all of the relevant Court documents accessible online. read more

David Greer resigns
by John Donovan   21 Jun 2007  07:38 PM
Today information was leaked to us that David Greer had resigned.

We checked with Sakhalin Energy and a Mr Jim Niven confirmed by email that this is indeed the case.

With regard to the question of whether Ed Crooks described our website as being “anti-Shell”, it turned out that he had. This was fair comment on his part and not a problem. Mr Crooks dealt with the whole Greer story in a fair and balanced way which does him great credit. read more

By Ed Crooks in London and Catherine Belton in Moscow
Published: June 22 2007 10:45 | Last updated: June 22 2007 14:15

Gazprom is to buy TNK-BP’s controlling stake in the vast Kovykta gas field in Siberia, a deal that cements state-controlled Gazprom’s control over the Russian gas sector and resolves a long-running stand-off with BP’s Russia venture.

BP and TNK-BP have also signed a memorandum of understanding on creating a strategic alliance with Gazprom for investing in long term strategic projects or asset swaps across the globe, BP said in a statement on Friday. read more

By Torrey Clark and Lucian Kim

June 22 (Bloomberg) — OAO Gazprom took control of BP Plc’s stake in a Siberian deposit with enough natural gas to supply Asia for five years as President Vladimir Putin ends foreign ownership of Russia’s biggest energy assets.

State-run Gazprom will pay as much as $900 million for the 63 percent of the Kovykta field held by BP’s TNK-BP unit and half its regional pipeline unit, and agreed to set up a $3 billion global venture, executives from the three companies said in the Kremlin today. BP’s shares rose as much as 1.6 percent today. read more

22 June 2007

BP is seeking joint ventures with Russian firm Gazprom

British oil firm BP has sold its stake in a Siberian gas field development to Russian state-controlled firm Gazprom.

BP’s Russian joint venture TNK-BP has agreed to sell Gazprom its majority interests in the giant Kovykta field for between $700m-$900m (£350m-£450m).

Analysts said this is a fraction of what TNK-BP’s stake is worth, and that it is the latest example of the Kremlin forcing out Western energy firms.

Kovykta is said to have enough gas to supply all of Asia for five years. read more

June 22nd, 2007 08:40

To understand the predicament of President Omar Yar’Adua of Nigeria, please read about “Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves”.

The new administration of President Omar Yar’Adua of the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) is now at the mercy of the trade unions as the nationwide strike against hikes in the prices of petroleum products and Value Added Tax (VAT) enters the third day Friday. The government has already conceded to suspend the increase of VAT, but has not reverted to the old price of N65 per litre of gasoline. read more

By Maher Chmaytelli

June 22 (Bloomberg) — BP Plc, Europe’s second-largest petroleum company, and the Libyan government will share any oil fields BP may find under an exploration accord signed with the North African nation last month, a Libyan official said.

The agreement was initially announced as a “natural-gas cooperation accord” during British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s visit to Libya on May 29. London-based BP committed to spend at least $900 million on exploration works in offshore and onshore plots that cover a total of 54,000 square kilometers (20,850 square miles), about the size of West Virginia. read more

EXTRACT: Motiva, a joint venture between Shell Oil and Saudi Aramco, plans to make a final investment decision this year on a project that will double the size of its 285,000-barrel-a-day refinery in Port Arthur.

THE ARTICLE

As project cost soar, companies are rethinking their plans to add capacity

By BRETT CLANTON
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle
June 22, 2007, 1:11AM

Recently, Placid Refining Co. was ready to launch a major expansion of its oil refinery in Port Allen, La., when it received some unwelcome news. read more

By Julie Ziegler

June 22 (Bloomberg) — A nationwide general strike in Nigeria, Africa’s biggest oil producer, continued for a third day after labor unions and the federal government failed to reach an agreement over an increase in domestic fuel prices.

Peter Akpatason, the president of the National Union of Petroleum & Natural Gas Workers, or Nupeng, said the next meeting was scheduled for 9 a.m. today.

Yesterday, oil unions withdrew workers for export terminals in a bid to halt exports and intensify pressure on the new administration of President Umuru Yar’Adua. read more

By Gavin Evans and Hector Forster

June 22 (Bloomberg) — Crude oil was little changed in New York after three days of declines on doubts strikes in Nigeria have halted exports from Africa’s largest producer.

Oil workers left Nigeria’s export terminals yesterday in the second day of a general strike protesting an increase in domestic fuel prices. Royal Dutch Shell Plc is working to minimize the impact of the strike on the company’s Nigerian operations, spokesman Precious Okolobo said yesterday. read more

June 21, 2007, 2:53PM

By JOHN PORRETTO AP Business Writer
© 2007 The Associated Press

HOUSTON — The world’s major oil companies replaced reserves at levels below 100 percent for the third straight year in 2006, while costs to find and produce the key asset continued to rise, a new analysis shows.

Reserve replacements last year, excluding acquisitions and divestitures, were 91 percent, slightly below the 92 percent replaced in 2005, according to a report released Thursday by investment bank Bear Stearns & Co. read more

June 22, 2007

Nigeria’s President Umar Yar’Adua came into office on May 29 after a sham ballot a month earlier. Africa’s most populous and oil-rich country isn’t easy to govern in the best of times, but the new President is fast learning that it’s near impossible without political legitimacy.

The immediate crisis is a nationwide strike, which is paralyzing Nigeria and raising further questions about its reliability as a petroleum supplier. The outcome will help determine if Mr. Yar’Adua can govern the country. read more

Sale of Majority Stake
To Gazprom Would Tighten
Kremlin’s Grip on Energy
By GUY CHAZAN in London and GREGORY L. WHITE in Moscow
June 22, 2007; Page A3

BP PLC, facing pressure from the Kremlin, is close to a deal that would cede its holdings in a $20 billion Russian natural-gas project to state-controlled gas monopoly OAO Gazprom, according to people familiar with the matter.

If sealed, the deal would mark the Kremlin’s latest move to take control of Russia’s energy resources, a process that often has come at the expense of Western companies and investors. It comes amid uncertainty in world energy markets, which are increasingly dependent on Russia’s reserves at a time of rising demand and tight supply, and could send a chill through the investment climate in Russia. read more

EXTRACT: Royal Dutch Shell recently amended its charter to provide for certain shareholder disputes to be handled outside of the court system, raising little public alarm.

June 22, 2007; Page A10

Hear ye, hear ye, Democrats are having a worthwhile debate on financial regulation. To witness this marvel, check out the party’s current intramural dispute over the perils facing the U.S. capital markets.

In one corner is Chuck Schumer, Senator from New York, the former financial capital of the world. In the other is Massachusetts’s Barney Frank, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, who next week will host a political spectacle, er, hearing on whether a GOP-led Securities and Exchange Commission has slackened enforcement and investor protection. All five SEC Commissioners have been “invited” to testify — something that hasn’t happened in a decade. read more

06.22.07, 2:49 AM ET 
 
SINGAPORE (XFN-ASIA) – Royal Dutch Shell PLC subsidiary, Shell (China) Ltd, said it will build a lubricants blending plant in Zhuhai, Guangdong Province, which be the oil giant’s sixth such plant in China.

The plant, to be one of the three biggest lubricants blending plants for Shell worldwide, is expected to start operations in 2009 with an initial capacity of 200 mln liters annually, which will later increase to 400 mln.

No financial details were given.

David Pirret, executive vice president of Shell’s lubricants arm, said China is the fastest growing lubricant market in the world and is the firm’s second largest market outside of the US. read more