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August 7th, 2007:

The Guardian: EBRD refuses to fund Sakhalin-2 project

Wednesday August 8, 2007
Mark Milner

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development said yesterday it had “disengaged” from Sakhalin-2, the world’s largest oil and gas export project.

The bank’s plans to lend a reported €300m (£203m) plus had been under review since Gazprom bought a 50% stake in Sakhalin 2 from Shell and its partners, Mitsui and Mitsubishi.

Yesterday the EBRD said it had been unable to meet the October deadline set by the developers to put the financing in place. Gazprom and the EBRD said they would focus on cooperation in other projects, such as promoting sustainable energy. 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.

Email to Mr Saw Choo Boon, Chairman of Shell Malaysia

Wednesday 08 August 207

Dear Sir

My name is Alfred Donovan, owner of the website www.royaldutchshellplc.com recently described by the Financial Times as an anti-Shell website “which has long been a thorn in the side of Shell”.

In June 2004 my son John and I published articles on the website relating to Shell Malaysia and its former production geologist Dr John Huong.  Eight Shell companies within the Royal Dutch Shell Group, five registered in Malaysia, one in the Caribbean, one in The Netherlands and one in the UK, subsequently collectively sued Dr Huong in Malaysia for alleged defamation in respect of the articles. 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 Washington Post: Russia’s Deep-Sea Flag-Planting at North Pole Strikes a Chill in Canada

By Doug Struck
Washington Post Foreign Service
Tuesday, August 7, 2007; Page A08

TORONTO, Aug. 6 — A dramatic submarine dive to plant the Russian flag on the seabed at the North Pole last week has rattled Canadian politics and underscored the growing stakes as the ice cap melts in the oil-rich Arctic.

Canada and the United States scoffed at the legal significance of the dive by a Russian mini-sub to set the flag on the seabed Thursday. “This isn’t the 15th century. You can’t go around the world and just plant flags” to claim territory, Canada’s minister of foreign affairs, Peter MacKay, told reporters. 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.

Bloomberg: Nigeria Plans Refinery With Shell, Exxon, Total, Eni, Chevron

By Julie Ziegler

Aug. 7 (Bloomberg) — Nigeria, Africa’s biggest oil producer, plans to build a 200,000-barrel-a-day refinery in partnership with five international oil companies, a spokesman for the nation’s state-owned oil company said.

The plant, to be built in the Escravos area of the Niger delta, will involve Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Exxon Mobil Corp., Chevron Corp., Total SA and Eni SpA, Levi Ajuonuma, spokesman for the Nigerian National Petroleum Corp., said. The project should be completed by 2010, 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.

Fortune Magazine: The next energy crisis

EXTRACT: At least one oil executive views the threat in more dire terms. In 2004, Ed Landgraf, environmental coordinator for Shell Pipeline, sounded the alarm in congressional testimony. He characterized the destruction of land as “alarming” and called it a “national problem with serious national implications.”

THE ARTICLE: Fortune Magazine: The next energy crisis

More than a quarter of America’s oil flows through southern Louisiana. Too bad the land is slowly sinking into the sea. 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.

Irish Independent: Dirty tactics by Shell protesters

Tuesday August 07 2007

Hats off to Kevin Myers on his timely article (“Protesters should be sent to sea”, Irish Independent, August 3) on the ongoing Shell to Sea campaign “boil” which urgently needs to be lanced.

Any democratic society allows, indeed needs, peaceful protest, but what we have witnessed here is a campaign by a small number of people intent on disrupting this project through dirty tactics – down to even trying to boycott much-needed scholarships sponsored by Shell for deserving third-level pupils in the Erris region. 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.

ipdgroup: Offshore workers died as a result of a “Touch F*** All” safety regime at Royal Dutch Shell

http://www.ipdgroup.com/pr-news/9337-offshore-workers-died-as-a-result-of-a-touch-f-all-safety-regime-at-royal-dutch-shell

Bill Campbell, a much respected former Group Auditor of the oil giant, Shell, this week took the exceptional step of writing to all members of the UK Houses of Parliament – every MP and every member of the House of Lords – to bring to their attention a “Touch F*** All” safety culture at Shell.

Senior officials at Royal Dutch Shell Plc had sight of Campbell’s alarm bell warning to over 1000 British legislators before it was sent. 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.

Bloomberg: EBRD PULLS OUT OF TALKS ON SAKHALIN-II PROJECT FINANCING

(The following is a release issued by EBRD and it was received via electronic mail. The release has not been confirmed by the sender.)

Aug. 7 — By mutual agreement with OAO Gazprom and the other shareholders of the Sakhalin Energy Investment Company, it has been decided that the EBRD will not resume negotiations on financing the Sakhalin II project.

The EBRD withdrew from active consideration of the project in January because there was a significant change of shareholding of SEIC and the new shareholders were reviewing financing plans. In informal discussions with the EBRD since then, it became clear that in light of the timetable envisaged by the shareholders, the financing from the EBRD was not feasible. Gazprom, the majority shareholder, and the other shareholders of the SEIC have reached an advanced stage in the negotiations for the financing of Sakhalin II and now expect to reach financial closure in the next few months. 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.

Bloomberg: EBRD Says It Won’t Resume Talks on Financing Sakhalin-2 Project

By Greg Walters

Aug. 7 (Bloomberg) — The European Bank for Reconstruction & Development won’t resume talks on financing the Sakhalin-2 oil and natural-gas project in Russia’s Far East.

The EBRD withdrew from Sakhalin-2 in January after Russian gas monopoly OAO Gazprom took a majority stake in the project, the bank, which is backed by European governments, said in an e- mailed statement today.

“In informal discussions with the EBRD since then, it became clear that in light of the timetable envisaged by the shareholders, the financing from the EBRD was not feasible,” the bank said in the statement. 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.

Bloomberg: Shell Evacuates Brent Bravo Staff After Power Cut (Update1)

By Paul Dobson

Aug. 7 (Bloomberg) — Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Europe’s biggest oil company, evacuated some of the workers on its Brent Bravo oil and gas platform in the U.K. North Sea to other fields following a power cut.

“This precautionary measure resulted in people being taken to Tern Alpha and North Cormorant, where they will be accommodated until power generation has been fully restored,” the company said today in an e-mailed statement.

The evacuation took place this morning, the company said. “Ninety people will remain on board.” 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.

Crude Market Update: Royal Dutch Shell announced overnight that the Brent Bravo North Sea Field has been shut for maintenance

Tue, Aug 7 2007, 10:48 GMT
by Trade The News Staff

– Royal Dutch Shell announced overnight that the Brent Bravo North Sea Field has been shut for maintenance.

– Total announced overnight an oil discovery off in oil block 32 off of Angola. The discovery is expected to produce approximately 2,130 bpd.

According to an article in oil daily Reliance Industries may buy a stake in a new oil processing plant in Saudi Arabia. The proposed Jizan refinery project is expected to have output of 400K bpd. 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: Iraq says no to oil theft

The population of Iraq want some say in how their country’s oil reserves are developed. We must support them.

By John Hilary
August 7, 2007 10:00 AM

Only two things seem to bridge the sectarian divide in today’s Iraq. One is football, as shown in last week’s celebrations among Sunnis, Shias and Kurds when the national team beat Saudi Arabia to win the Asian Cup. The other is oil – or, to be precise, how best to use Iraq’s massive oil reserves in order to build some form of future prosperity on the ruins of occupation and civil war. 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.

Bloomberg: S. Africa Oil Workers Agree to Wage Deal, End Strike (Update1)

By Mike Cohen

Aug. 7 (Bloomberg) — South African oil industry workers ended a week-long strike that closed two refineries and left hundreds of filling stations dry, after reaching a pay accord with employers.

“The strike is over,” Welile Nolingo, general secretary of the Chemical, Energy, Paper, Wood & Allied Workers Union, said today in a telephone interview from Johannesburg. “We hope that all workers will be back at work today.”

Under the agreement, workers at South Africa’s six refineries and fuel depots will receive 8.5 percent pay increases, backdated to July 1. South Africa’s inflation rate is 6.4 percent. 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: Chevron Taps Into China’s Energy Output With Pact to Develop PetroChina Gas Field

Wall Street Journal Chart

•  Gaining Entry: Chevron won the right to develop a natural-gas field in China’s interior, making a rare inroad by a foreign company.

•  Flying Solo: For reasons involving both independence and national pride, China has had a mixed relationship with Western oil companies over the years when it comes to inland development.

•  Growing Thirst: China’s surging energy consumption in recent years has challenged the go-it-alone approach.

By DAVID WINNING
August 7, 2007; Page A3

BEIJING — U.S. energy company Chevron Corp. won the right to help develop a PetroChina Co. natural-gas field in Sichuan province, people familiar with the situation said, marking a rare inroad by a foreign company into China’s onshore oil and natural-gas production. 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.

Lloyds List: E.ON takes Skarv stake from Shell for $893m

Published: Aug 07, 2007

SHELL has sold its stake in the Norwegian Sea’s largest new oilfield project for five years to German energy group E.ON Ruhrgas for $893m, writes Martyn Wingrove.

E.ON will be getting a 28% stake in the NKr31bn ($5.3bn) Skarv and Idun project, boosting its position in the Norwegian Sea.

Shell, one of Europe’s two largest oil companies, said it would focus its investments on more near term projects such as Ormen Lange, which is due on stream by November.

‘The divestment of Skarv and Idun is part of the active management of Shell’s portfolio-based strategy,’ said David Loughman, managing director of Norske Shell. 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.

Lloyds List: Busy time for Andarko in US Gulf exploration

Martyn Wingrove, Lloyds List
Published: Aug 07, 2007

ANADARKO Petroleum is exploring and developing satellite fields around its spar production platforms in the US Gulf of Mexico.

The US oil company is drilling around the Boonvang, Nansen and Constitution spar platforms, using Diamond Offshore’s semi-submersible rigs in order to keep throughput at plateau levels.

These projects are in water depths of between 1,000 and 1,200 m off the coast of Corpus Christi, Texas, so more subsea wells and flowlines will be required to tie back new fields to the floating spar platforms. 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 Times of Pakistan: Shell’s profits plummet by 77 percent

Tuesday, August 07, 2007

KARACHI: The profit after tax of Shell Pakistan Limited plunged by 77 percent to Rs 706.659 million in the financial year 2006-07 as against 3.147 billion in the previous year, according to a notice of Karachi Stock Exchange.

The board of directors of the company approved the financial results of the company for the year under review on Monday.

The board announced cash dividend of 80 percent for its shareholders for the financial year ended June 30, 2007.

The earnings per share declined to Rs 12.90 in the said year from Rs 57.44 a year earlier. The profit before tax went down to Rs 327.923 million during the year from Rs 1.493 billion in the last year. The sales of the company plummeted to Rs 130.129 billion in the year from Rs 132.129 billion in the last year. 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: Need to know: Shell has decided to temporarily close the largest oil refinery in South Africa…

August 7, 2007
Natural resources

Down 0.71%

Cairn Energy has given the first hint about its future strategy by submitting a bid for two exploration licences in Greenland.

Shell has decided to temporarily close the largest oil refinery in South Africa after a national strike that has crippled the refinery industry and led to petrol shortages. The Sapref facility in Durban holds 35 per cent of South Africa’s refinery capacity and is jointly owned by Shell and BP.

For the full article go to…

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/markets/article2212045.ece 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: Water’s receded, now work begins

EXTRACT: Now 11 companies, including BT, Tesco, Asda and Shell have agreed to supply experts to deliver business recovery seminars and one-to-one assistance.

Daily Telegraph: Water’s receded, now work begins

Last Updated: 1:46am BST 07/08/2007

As John Hutton visits disaster-hit Gloucestershire, Richard Tyler finds him prepared to dig deep to ensure that flood-hit firms survive

John Hutton yesterday paid his first visit to flood-hit businesses in Gloucestershire and came away pledging more help. 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.

Dominican Today: Dominican Customs audits Shell for allegedly altered invoices

6 August 2007
 
SANTO DOMINGO.- The Dominican Customs Agency (DGA) today began an audit of the company Shell, to determine the reach of an alleged alteration of fuel import prices, which diverted hundreds of millions of pesos through the exchange commission and tariffs.

A Customs source, quoted by the newspaper El Nacional, said its lawyers and auditors went to Shell’s offices to begin the probe, and that the measure had been previously notified to the foreign company.

Customs’ Legal Department formally notified Shell of the imminent audit on August 2. 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.

THISDAY ONLINE: Shell BP Drags Nigeria to Arbitration Panel

From Constance Ikokwu in Washington DC, 08.07.2007
 
Shell British Petroleum has dragged the Federal Government to the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), an arm of the World Bank Group, over a dispute concerning hydrocarbon concession.

The case entitled Shell Nigeria Ultra Deep Limited versus Federal Republic of Nigeria with case no ARB/07/18 was registered on July 26, 2007 and is the second case ever brought against Nigeria in the 42-year existence of the ICSID.

Details of what constitutes the alleged infraction by Nigeria were not clear last night. 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.