October, 2007:

Saturday 27 October 2007

Dear John,

Maura Harrington, Shell to Sea, here. Firstly, best wishes to your father and continued good health and longevity to him.

I would like to alert you to a poll result which will be published in the Irish Times on Monday next. This follows a 5 day online debate on the subject ‘Is Shell’s Corrib Gas Project good for the Local Community?’

(http://scripts.ireland.com/polls/head2head/index.cfm?fuseaction=yesnopoll&pollid=8030&subsiteid=352).

I’m very pleased that the result presented on a pie chart will show 16% YES and 84% NO! read more

27 Oct 2007 10:45:34 GMT
By Tom Ashby

LAGOS, Oct 27 (Reuters) – A prominent militant group claimed responsibility on Saturday for the kidnapping of six foreign workers from an Italian oil facility off the coast of Nigeria.

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) gave no reason for Friday’s abduction, the second in a week, which underscored the fragility of a peace initiative in the Niger Delta, Africa’s biggest oil producing region.

“MEND carried out the attack. Six oil workers captured,” the group said in an e-mail to Reuters from a recognised MEND address. read more

By John Donovan
Saturday 27 October 2007

A Shell pensioner, Bernie Doeser, a distinguished former senior project manager at Shell, poses an interesting ethical dilemma in a “letter to the editor” published in the current edition of the Shell Pensioners Association news magazine. He questions whether the Shell Contributory Pension Fund (SCPF) should invest taking into account ethical considerations.

Mr Doeser asks whether the trustees should invest in companies that “have a history of polluting the environment”, “support repressive regimes” and “have a poor health and safety record with their employees or customers.” read more

By Matthew Green
Published: October 27 2007 03:00 | Last updated: October 27 2007 03:00

Gunmen in speedboats yesterday kidnapped six oil workers from an Italian vessel off the Nigerian coast, the second such attack in a week.

The attackers boarded the production facility owned by Eni, the Italian energy company, and seized the hostages, who were from Nigeria, Poland and the Philippines. The raid follows an assault on a Royal Dutch Shell oil facility last Saturday – seven hostages were taken and released two days later. read more

By Toby Harnden in New York
Last Updated: 2:14am BST 27/10/2007

A senior foreign policy adviser to the Republican frontrunner Rudy Giuliani has urged that Iran be bombed using cruise missiles and “bunker busters” to set back Teheran’s nuclear programme by at least five years.

The tough message at a time of crisis between the United States and Iraq was delivered by Norman Podhoretz, one of the founders of neoconservatism, who has also imparted his stark advice personally to a receptive President George W. Bush. read more

EXTRACT: The US Securities and Exchange Commission recently put Shell on a list of companies that were working in “state sponsors of terrorism countries”. Shell said that its activities in Iran were transparent and information on them was fully available to investors.

October 27, 2007
Angela Jameson, Steve Hawkes and Suzy Jagger

Iranian banks will be given the cold shoulder in the City after America’s imposition of new economic sanctions on Iran, a leading Anglo-Iranian business group predicted yesterday. read more

Acacia Research in Settlement With Shell Oil on Credit Card Patent Dispute; Terms Undisclosed

October 26, 2007: 10:42 AM EST

NEW YORK (Associated Press) – Acacia Research Corp., which develops, licenses and acquires patented technologies, said Friday it agreed to settle a patent dispute with Shell Oil Co. regarding credit card fraud protection technology.

Shell Oil is a unit of Royal Dutch Shell PLC. Terms of the settlement were not disclosed.

The agreement between Acacia’s Financial Systems Innovation LLC unit and Shell covers patents relating to a computerized system for protecting retailers and consumers engaged in credit card, check card, and debit transactions. The system includes an electronic card reader and the generation and use of a transaction number which identifies each transaction in the system. read more

Price Hits Record Close; U.S. Tightens Sanctions

By Steven Mufson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, October 26, 2007; A01

A U.S. military strike against Iran would have dire consequences in petroleum markets, say a variety of oil industry experts, many of whom think the prospect of pandemonium in those markets makes U.S. military action unlikely despite escalating economic sanctions imposed by the Bush administration.

The small amount of excess oil production capacity worldwide would provide an insufficient cushion if armed conflict disrupted supplies, oil experts say, and petroleum prices would skyrocket. Moreover, a wounded or angry Iran could easily retaliate against oil facilities from southern Iraq to the Strait of Hormuz. read more

17:49 | 26/ 10/ 2007 

MOSCOW, October 26 (RIA Novosti) — Sakhalin Energy, operator of the Sakhalin II oil and gas project off Russia’s Pacific Coast, said Friday it would rectify violations, identified by Russia’s environmental watchdog, within a year.

Sakhalin Energy CEO Ian Craig said at a meeting with Russian Natural Resources Minister Yury Trutnev that the program, including the reinforcement of landslide-prone river banks and reforestation, would be completed in a year.

Trutnev said the government was prepared to wait, expressing hope that the violations would indeed be eliminated within the time. read more

By ELIZABETH A. KENNEDY — Associated Press Writer
Published: Friday, October 26, 2007

LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) Gunmen in speedboats attacked an oil vessel off the coast of Nigeria at dawn Friday and kidnapped six workers, Italian energy giant Eni SpA said.

The Polish, Filipino and Nigerian workers were taken off the FPSO Mystras, Eni said on its Web site. One Nigerian was reported to have been wounded in the leg, the statement said. A spokeswoman refused further comment.

The Mystras, used for production, storage and offloading crude oil, is capable of producing 80,000 barrels of oil per day. read more

BARRY MORGAN, Nairobi

Seven workers kidnapped on Sunday from support vessels working near Shell’s Amatu facility near the EA field off Bayelsa state in Nigeria have been freed.

The hostages citizens of the US, Russia and Croatia were working for sub-contractors Hydrodive and Interoil. They were handed over unharmed to Bayelsa State Governor Timipre Sylva-Sam and senior Shell officials.

A total of 30 heavily armed men from a faction of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (Mend) engaged military guards from the Joint Task Force (JTF) for three hours at Ekeremor before the abductions took place, according to local reports. read more

RUSSELL SEARANCKE, Wellington

Shell’s multi-billion dollar Gumusut-Kakap deep-water oil project in Malaysia is facing delays while project partners deal with weight issues on the topsides.

The topsides of the semi-submersible production platform have been designed far too heavy for the supporting hull, according to well-placed sources. Some suggested the deck is 3000 tonnes overweight.

The Gumusut project’s main turnkey contractor is Malaysia Marine&Heavy Engineering (MMHE), which one year ago was awarded its prestigious Gumusut platform contract by way of direct negotiations between Shell, national oil company Petronas, which is a part owner in Gumusut-Kakap, and Petronas subsidiary MISC, which owns MMHE. read more

By Upstream staff

Environmental concerns dogging the Sakhalin 2 development, in Russia’s far east, will be resolved next year, Sakhalin Energy management told Russian resources officials today.

The two sides met after the Gazprom-led project came under fire from the Russian government for what it claimed were continued environmental violations.

“I am pleased with your timetable to clear the problems next year and I think it’s positive Gazprom plays such a central role in your management,” Resources Minister Yuri Trutnev told Sakhalin Energy’s chief executive Ian Craig at a meeting in Moscow, Reuters reported. read more

By Upstream staff

Shell will take political issues into account when deciding whether to go ahead with the Persian liquefied natural gas project Iran, chief financial officer Peter Voser said today.

The Anglo-Dutch supermajor and Spain’s Repsol YPF have signed a preliminary deal to develop phases 13 and 14 of Iran’s South Pars gas field, despite Washington urging its allies not to invest in the Islamic Republic.

Voser told a news conference on the company’s earnings that the supermajor was working on technical and economic aspects of the project, which Tehran has valued at $10 billion. read more

Graeme Wearden
Friday October 26, 2007

Renewed fears over relations between the US and Iran helped to push the oil price to a new all-time high this morning.

The price of a barrel of oil for December delivery reached $92.01 a barrel.

Traders said the economic sanctions announced yesterday by US secretary of state Condoleeza Rice against Iran had fuelled concern over rising tensions in the Middle East.

There were already worries that military action between Turkey and Kurdish rebels could disrupt supplies. read more

By Alexander Kwiatkowski and Angela Macdonald-Smith

 Oct. 26 (Bloomberg) — Crude oil rose above $92 a barrel for the first time in New York after the U.S. accused the Iranian military of supporting terrorism and stepped up pressure on foreign companies to cut ties with the Middle East oil producer.

Oil was also pushed higher as Turkey warned of a wider military assault into northern Iraq and called on the U.S. to join the fight. Turkey’s army shelled suspected militant camps on the Iraqi side of the border. read more

The new report shows that after they reach their peak around the year 3000 humans will begin to regress

By NIALL FIRTH
 
The human race will one day split into two separate species, an attractive, intelligent ruling elite and an underclass of dim-witted, ugly goblin-like creatures, according to a top scientist.

100,000 years into the future, sexual selection will mean that two distinct breeds of human will have developed.

The alarming prediction comes from evolutionary theorist Oliver Curry from the London School of Economics, who says that the human race will have reached its physical peak by the year 3000. read more

By Dino Mahtani
Published: October 25 2007 21:00 | Last updated: October 26 2007 06:45

Shell’s drop in third-quarter profits follows a trend seen elsewhere in the global oil and gas industry.

In spite of record oil prices, the major multinationals are struggling to book growth in profits, taking hits in their refining divisions or facing industry-wide cost pressures and delays to important new oil and gas projects.

John S Herold, an oil and gas research firm, and industry advisory group Harrison Lovegrove recently estimated that spending by the 228 global oil and gas companies increased 45 per cent to $401bn in 2006 but they generated only a 2 per cent increase in reserve volumes to 263bn barrels of oil equivalent. read more

By Dino Mahtani in London
Published: October 26 2007 03:00 | Last updated: October 26 2007 03:00

Royal Dutch Shell, Europe’s biggest oil company, warned that record high oil prices were being driven by speculation and political tension, not a lack of supply.

The comments by Peter Voser, chief financial officer, came as the group reported that third-quarter earnings, on a current cost of supply basis, had fallen 8 per cent to $6.39bn as a result of lower refining margins and sales volumes.

But record high oil prices meant that profit attributable to shareholders rose 16 per cent to $6.916bn. read more

By Javier Blas in London
Published: October 26 2007 07:49 | Last updated: October 26 2007 07:49

Crude oil prices on Friday breached $92 a barrel to hit a fresh all-time high, driven by low inventories ahead of the winter peak season, fresh geopolitical tension between the US and Iran and the weakness of the US dollar.

Nymex December West Texas Intermediate jumped in London early morning trade by $1.59 to an intraday record of $92.05, after rising $3.36 to $90.46 on Thursday. The oil price is up almost 50 per cent since January. read more

By JULIA WERDIGIER and STEPHEN LABATON
Published: October 26, 2007

LONDON, Oct. 25 — The chief executive of BP, Tony Hayward, presented himself when he took over in May as a leader who could move the company away from its troubled recent past.

On Thursday, Mr. Hayward and BP took a big step forward in doing that.

At a news conference in Washington, the Justice Department announced that BP and its subsidiaries had agreed to pay $373 million in fines and restitution to settle accusations of environmental violations that had led to a fatal explosion at a Texas refinery in 2005 and to leaks of crude oil from pipelines in Alaska. read more

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: October 26, 2007

AMSTERDAM, Oct. 25 (AP) — Royal Dutch Shell said Thursday that third-quarter net profit rose 16 percent despite a drop in production, but it warned that the underlying performance of its refining operations was weaker than it appeared.

Net profit at Shell, Europe’s largest oil company, came to $6.92 billion, up from $5.94 billion, primarily because of a rise in the reported refining earnings. Sales rose to $90.7 billion in the quarter from $84.3 billion. read more

By Russell Hotten
Last Updated: 12:18am BST 26/10/2007

Peter Voser, finance chief at Europe’s biggest oil company, Royal Dutch Shell, warned the industry not to bank on record crude prices to drive revenues in the future, calling predictions that the price per barrel would hit $100 “too speculative”.

He said the oil price was being driven up by speculators and political factors, rather than any fundamental problems with production and supply.

“To be honest, we find it hard to explain the oil prices,” said Mr Voser. read more

(Mike Agliolo/Science Photo Library)
A computer enhanced image of earth from space at sunset

October 26, 2007
Lewis Smith, Environment Reporter

The speed at which mankind has used the Earth’s resources over the past 20 years has put “humanity’s very survival” at risk, a study involving 1,400 scientists has concluded.

The environmental audit, for the United Nations, found that each person in the world now requires a third more land to supply his or her needs than the Earth can supply.

Thirty per cent of amphibians, 23 per cent of mammals and 12 per cent of birds are under threat of extinction, while one in ten of the world’s major rivers runs dry every year before it reaches the sea. read more

By Angela Macdonald-Smith and Christian Schmollinger

Oct. 26 (Bloomberg) — Crude oil rose to a record above $91 a barrel in New York on an unexpected drop in U.S. stockpiles and concern that supply from the Middle East may be disrupted.

Inventories last week fell 5.29 million barrels to the lowest since January, the U.S. Energy Department said. New U.S. sanctions against Iran, warnings of a Turkish assault on Kurdish militants in Iraq and a falling dollar helped push prices higher. Brent futures in London reached a record. read more

Mark Milner, industrial editor
Friday October 26, 2007

Royal Dutch Shell yesterday blamed lower oil production, weaker refining margins and higher costs for a fall in third quarter profits.

The company said that earnings on a current cost of supply basis – which strips out changes in the value of fuel inventories – fell from $6.9bn to $6.4bn.

However the group’s performance beat analysts’ expectations, helped by higher earnings from insurance and income.

Chief executive, Jeroen van der Veer, described the results as “satisfactory” in the light of the weaker refining margins and said they were underpinned by the group’s operating performance. read more

October 26, 2007

Bet of the day:

Shell’s strong third-quarter results helped its share price to gain 13p to £20.59. Has the oil giant permanently shaken off the concerns about its reserves which led to a management reshuffle? BetsForTraders.com is offering odds of 4-1 that Shell’s share price will continue to rise and will be above £21.30 one week from today

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/markets/article2734012.ece

October 26, 2007
James Rossiter: Tempus

Third-quarter figures out yesterday from Royal Dutch Shell saw the oil major stealing a march on its arch-rival BP. Third-quarter profits were down 8 per cent to $6.39 billion but, considering that the industry is suffering from a slump in production volumes and trading margins, the fall was less than the City had been expecting.

Shell’s profits fall compares with BP’s 27 per cent fall in underlying third-quarter profits revealed earlier this week, a result that Tony Hayward, BP’s new chief executive, admitted was “dreadful” as he revealed plans to cut 10 per cent of the company’s North Sea workforce, the core of the company’s legacy business before it expanded into the US, Russia and Nigeria. read more

By Julia Werdigier
Thursday, October 25, 2007  
 
LONDON: Ever since he took over the top job at BP in May, Tony Hayward has presented himself as a leader who can move the company beyond its somewhat troubled recent past.

Even though he was already part of the management team under which the British oil giant suffered a series of accidents at refineries, was investigated for allegedly favoring cost-cutting over safety and saw its shares lag behind those of competitors, many analysts think Hayward is up to the challenge to fix those problems. read more

By Fred Pals

Oct. 25 (Bloomberg) — Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Europe’s largest oil company by market value, said long-term fiscal stability is needed before it makes further investment decisions on its oil sands project in Canada.

A government-appointed panel last month recommended Alberta increase oil and natural-gas royalties and impose a new tax on tar- sands developments to boost government revenue by 20 percent, or about C$2 billion ($2.1 billion) annually. The report suggested the changes apply to all projects, without exemptions. read more

By Ladane Nasseri and Fred Pals

Oct. 25 (Bloomberg) — Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Europe’s largest oil company by market value, will take into account Iranian political issues when deciding whether to go ahead with a liquefied natural gas project in the Islamic Republic.

Shell will consider the “political dimension” in its investment decision, Chief Financial Officer Peter Voser said on a conference call today. The company is working on technical aspects of the project, he added. read more

By Dino Mahtani

Published: October 25 2007 21:00 | Last updated: October 25 2007 21:00

Shell’s drop in third-quarter profits follows a trend seen elsewhere in the global oil and gas industry.

In spite of record oil prices, the major multinationals are struggling to book growth in profits, taking hits in their refining divisions or facing industry-wide cost pressures and delays to important new oil and gas projects.

John S Herold, an oil and gas research firm, and industry advisory group Harrison Lovegrove recently estimated that spending by the 228 global oil and gas companies increased 45 per cent to $401bn in 2006 but they generated only a 2 per cent increase in reserve volumes to 263bn barrels of oil equivalent. read more

By Jeremy Grant in New York, Stephanie Kirchgaessner in Washington and Sheila McNulty in Houston

Published: October 25 2007 20:27 | Last updated: October 25 2007 20:38

BP on Thursday night sought to draw a line under two years of damage to its troubled North American operations by agreeing to pay fines totaling $373m (£182m) to US authorities to settle violations linked to a refinery explosion, oil pipeline leaks and fraud in energy trading.

The payments are part of a wide-ranging settlement with three federal agencies requiring BP to submit to years of government-appointed monitors of trading and environmental systems. read more

By Dino Mahtani in London
Published: October 25 2007 08:25 | Last updated: October 25 2007 19:23

Royal Dutch Shell, Europe’s biggest oil company, warned that the oil price was being driven by “speculation” and “has a political premium in it rather than actually some of the fundamental drivers”.

The comments by Peter Voser, chief financial officer, came after the group reported that third-quarter earnings, on a current cost of supply basis, fell 8 per cent to $6.39bn as a result of lower refining margins and sales volumes. read more

Thu Oct 25, 2007 9:31 PM BST
(Adds comments from Shell Oil president)

WASHINGTON, Oct 25 (Reuters) – Shell Oil Co.’s (RDSa.L: Quote, Profile , Research) U.S. refineries have all the oil they need to make gasoline and other refined products, the company’s president said on Thursday.

“We have very reliable supply contracts,” Shell Oil President John Hofmeister told reporters.

Separately, Hofmeister said high levels of refined product imports to U.S. shores are weighing down refinery margins. read more

Energy Strategy Commentary
Andrew McKillop
Senior Energy Strategist
October 2007

Increasing Signs of Peak Oil Supply Pressure

Through October to date (Week 43), with increasing media attention, oil prices continued to surge. Even the key phrase “Peak Oil” was to be heard, here and there, and usually denied through the regular and standard claims there is always more oil, somewhere, but it hasn’t yet been brought to market.

On September 29, the Wall Street Journal ran an article with a gung-ho optimistic tone, under the headline “How Economy Could Survive Oil At $100 a Barrel – Compared to 1980, U.S.Is More Able to Handle Once-Unthinkable Rise”. This article, almost inevitably, dismissed Peak Oil as a near-term reality. It focused the small role of energy in average US household spending (about 5.5% compared to 7% in 1980). It then gave a long list of other politically correct ways to explain high oil prices. These included the weakening US dollar against other moneys, consumer disinterest in energy saving compounded by automakers who go on building huge cars, fast-rising oil imports by China and India, resource nationalism in producer countries like Kazakhstan, Venezuela and Russia, and of course tensions and pressures in the Middle East wracked by wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Palestine-Israel, Turkish threats to Kurdistan, Russian threats to Georgia, deepening crisis in Lebanon and growing unrest in Pakistan. read more

EXTRACT: The sanctions could affect hundreds of foreign companies by leaving them with the choice to end their dealing with Iran or face sanctions from the US.

By Toby Harnden in Washington
Last Updated: 5:43pm BST 25/10/2007

The United States has announced its harshest action against Iran since 1979 by instituting a raft of unilateral sanctions designed to cut international financial support to Teheran’s theocratic regime.

Condoleezza Rice, the US Secretary of State, and Henry Paulson, the US Treasury Secretary, said that the unprecedented steps, which include outlawing Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, were a response to Teheran’s support of insurgents in Iraq and its refusal to abandon its uranium enrichment programme. read more

By TOBY STERLING – 2 hours ago

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) — Royal Dutch Shell PLC said Thursday that third-quarter net profit rose 16 percent despite a drop in production, but it warned that the underlying performance of its refining operations was weaker than it appeared.

Net profit at Europe’s largest oil company came to $6.92 billion, up from $5.94 billion, primarily due to a rise in the reported refining earnings. Sales rose to $90.7 billion in the quarter from $84.3 billion.

The company had net gains in the third quarter of $265 million from asset sales and a windfall from a tax change in Germany, versus charges of $77 million a year ago. read more

This Day (Lagos)
25 October 2007
Kunle Akogun
Lagos

Governor Timipre Sylva of Bayelsa State has stressed the need for Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) to establish an operational office in the State.

The governor stated this shortly after securing the release of 7 hostages that were abducted from the Shell platform in Ekeremor Local Government Area of the State.
 
He pointed out that the oil company’s presence in the state would provide more employment opportunities as well as enhance socio-economic activities in Bayelsa, adding that the perceived absence of the company in the state is adversely affecting its economic growth. read more

Thu Oct 25, 2007 3:07 PM BST
(Adds background)

LONDON, Oct 25 (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSa.L: Quote, Profile , Research) expects to hold net capital expenditure steady at around $22 billion to $23 billion per annum, excluding acquisitions, in coming years, despite investor fears rising industry costs would boost the figure.

“You can foresee that we are spending around those levels in the medium term,” Peter Voser told a conference call with reporters on Thursday.

Citigroup said last week that Shell may yet again disappoint investors with an increase in near-term capital expenditure plans to $24-$25 billion a year from the $22-23 billion which the company forecast for 2007. read more

Thu Oct 25, 2007 7:53 AM ET

By Alex Lawler

LONDON, Oct 25 (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s Chief Financial Officer said on Thursday that oil prices at a record high are being driven by speculation and political tension, not a lack of supply.

The comments are the first from an executive of a Western oil company agreeing with the view of the OPEC exporters’ group that oil’s surge to a record peak largely reflects speculative trading, not supply shortages.

“The price seems to be driven by some speculation and also has a political premium in it, rather than actually some of the fundamental drivers,” Shell CFO Peter Voser said at a news conference. read more

10.25.07, 1:19 AM ET
 
MOSCOW (Thomson Financial) – Russian energy giant Gazprom’s top officials met with the chief of Japan’s natural resources and fuel department to discuss gas supplies and the Sakhalin-2 project, Gazprom said late Wednesday.

Shinsuke Kitagawa and Gazprom’s deputy board chairman Alexander Annenkov discussed ‘realization of the program setting up a united system of production and transport of gas in eastern Siberia and the Far East,’ as well as ‘realization of the Sakhalin-2 project,’ the Gazprom statement read. read more

By Matthew Green in Lagos
Published: October 25 2007 04:03 | Last updated: October 25 2007 04:03

Nigeria’s pledge to review its relationship with major oil companies is likely to ring alarm bells among investors who fear soaring crude prices will tempt the government to demand a bigger profit share.

Rilwanu Lukman, chairman of Nigeria’s oil and gas reform committee, said this week the government wanted to take a fresh look at agreements signed with energy companies as part of a wider reform of the sector. read more

By Dino Mahtani
Published: October 25 2007 08:25 | Last updated: October 25 2007 08:25

Royal Dutch Shell, Europe’s biggest oil company, on Thursday said third-quarter current cost of supply earnings, an industry measure of underlying profit, fell 8 per cent to $6.39bn (£3.12bn, €4.48bn) on the back of lower refining margins and sales volumes.

However, record high oil prices meant that profit attributable to shareholders rose by 16 per cent to $6.916bn.

Exploration and production revenues fell to $3.51bn, from $3.74bn in the year-ago period, hit by lower volumes, higher tax charges and higher costs. read more

‘El Loco’ Price Controls
Help First Lady Lead,
But Inflation Still Rises
By MATT MOFFETT
October 25, 2007; Page A1

BUENOS AIRES — Argentina has had plenty of anti-inflation plans over the years. The current one may be the first that rests heavily on a public servant whom some executives and politicians have nicknamed “El Loco,” or the Crazy Man.

The official, Guillermo Moreno, is Argentina’s Secretary of Internal Commerce, the government’s price policeman. His mission is limiting price markups in the red-hot economy — at least until the leftist Cristina Kirchner, the wife of the current president, Néstor Kirchner, can win her own bid for president. Elections are scheduled for this Sunday, and she’s heavily favored to win.
 
With the Kirchners’ blessing, Mr. Moreno has hammered out price-control agreements with industry, doled out subsidies and imposed export restrictions to keep the domestic market awash in goods. He has also threatened uncooperative businesses with prosecution under a recently resurrected 33-year law against hoarding goods. When none of that worked to restrain prices, a prosecutor has alleged, Mr. Moreno ousted the government statisticians who prepared the consumer price index and installed his own people to massage the numbers. Mr. Moreno denies that; a judge is reviewing the case. read more

By BENOIT FAUCON
October 25, 2007 3:30 a.m.

LONDON — Royal Dutch Shell PLC Thursday said third-quarter net income rose 16%, as rising oil prices more than offset the loss of control of a Sakhalin venture and weaker refining margins and gas prices.

Shell posted net income of $6.92 billion, or $1.10 a share, compared with $5.94 billion, or 93 cents a share, a year earlier.

Revenue at the Anglo-Dutch oil firm increased 7.7% to $90.7 billion from $84.25 billion. Shell’s earnings conform to international financial reporting standards, which differ from U.S. generally accepted accounting principles. read more

October 25, 2007
Robin Pagnamenta

There was a whiff of nostalgia in the air yesterday as Cairn Energy soared another 6 per cent to its highest share price for 17 months, amid continuing speculation of a possible bid by BP.

The jump means that shares in the oil and gas explorer have motored 15 per cent in just two days, rising 302p to £24.13 and valuing the group at £3.1 billion.

It all recalls the clamour for Cairn stock three years ago, when the little-known company transformed its fortunes by discovering the one billion barrel Mangala oilfield in Rajasthan, northwest India. read more

LONDON, England (CNN) — The world has reached the point of maximum oil output and production levels will halve by 2030 — a situation that will eventually lead to war and disaster, a report claims.

The German-based Energy Watch Group released a report Tuesday saying the world’s oil production peaked in 2006 and from now on will drop by around 3 percent a year. It says that by as early as 2030, the global availability of oil will be half of what it was at its peak.

“It’s a very serious result,” said Hans-Josef Fell, a German lawmaker from the environmentalist Green Party who commissioned the report. “I fear the world will come into a big economic crisis in the coming years.” read more

By Richard Blackden
Last Updated: 7:54am BST 25/10/2007

Oil major Royal Dutch Shell delivered further evidence that it is in better shape than rival BP after reporting an increase in third-quarter profits.

Pre-tax profits climbed 6.7pc to $11.5bn in the quarter despite a drop in refining margins, or the money made turning crude oil into gas and diesel. BP, which was also hit by a decline in margins, on Tuesday reported a drop in pre-tax profits for the period. ConocoPhillips yesterday saw its profits decline 5.2pc to $3.7bn as refining margins narrowed. read more

In full on www.shell.com

http://www.shell.com/home/content/investor-en/quarterlyresults/2007/q3/q3_2007_results_25102007.html