January 20th, 2008:

By Peggy Hollinger in Paris
Published: January 20 2008 19:02 | Last updated: January 20 2008 19:02

Europe’s plans to cut greenhouse gas emissions, due to be unveiled as part of a radical green agenda this week, risk working against the environment and could destroy the competitive position of European industry, according to the region’s leading industrialists.

The warning comes in a letter to Gunter Verheugen, European Union commissioner for enterprise and industry, from Jeroen van der Veer, chief executive of Royal Dutch Shell and chairman of the energy and ­climate change working group of the European Roundtable of Industrialists. ERT is a group of about 50 of Europe’s biggest industrial companies representing sales of about €1,600bn ($2,300bn, £1,200bn). read more

In a letter sent to George Clooney the rebels warned of an ‘imminent battle’ brewing in the Niger Delta

By Mike Pflanz, West Africa Correspondent
Last Updated: 9:43pm GMT 20/01/2008

Rebels in the Niger Delta yesterday called on the actor, George Clooney, to visit the region in his new capacity as UN messenger of peace.

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, which has been responsible for the kidnapping of scores of foreigners, warned Clooney that its campaign against “oil exploitation” by firms, including Shell, was “building up to a crisis that will make Darfur an adjective for child’s play”. read more

Former Royal Dutch Shell Brand Executive, Paddy Briggs, comments on the recent New York Times article reporting that Shell CEO Jeroen van der Veer “lifted the veil on Shell’s latest long-term energy scenarios, titled Scramble and Blueprints, which he will make public next week at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.”

The New York Times: Oil Demand, the Climate and the Energy Ladder

January 20th, 2008 05:57

The phoney hype from Shell on Scenarios

And so another Shell CEO is to be feted at Davos as he presents the oil giant’s latest “scenarios” – the hype being , of course, that these scenarios shows the company’s intellectual edge in planning and decision-making. Having been involved in Scenario planning from time to time during my Shell career I can see this phoney exercise for what it is – pompous and self-aggrandising PR which has little or no benefit to any of Shell stakeholders. read more

20 January 2004 

A GROUP of City investors has lined up a meeting with Shell’s senior independent director Lord Oxburgh to air grievances following the oil giant’s shock downgrade of reserves. 

Oxburgh, 69, an expert geologist and former rector of Imperial College, should have no difficulty dealing with the technical issues. 

Explaining away the tremors in Shell’s share price may be more difficult. At least it stopped falling yesterday, rising 2 3/4p to 362 3/4p. It was 405p before chairman Sir Philip Watts dropped his reserves bombshell. read more

Terry Macalister
Tuesday January 20, 2004

Cairn Energy has made a massive find in India worth up to $500m (£278m) on acreage sold to it 18 months ago by Shell for $7m. The discovery sent the British oil company’s share price soaring 40% to 518p and is another embarrassment for Shell, which has recently been forced to downgrade its global reserves by 20%. 

Cairn – led by former Scottish rugby player Bill Gammell, who counts both Tony Blair and George Bush among his friends – hit significant quantities of oil with its N-B-1 exploration well in Rajasthan, north-west India.  read more

By Carl Mortished, International Business Editor 
January 20, 2004 

THE head of Shell suffered another embarrassment yesterday after a small Scottish company found more than half a billion barrels of crude on land bought from the oil giant for just $7.2 million (£4 million). 

Shares in Cairn Energy jumped 182¼p, or 50 per cent, to 552¼p after stock market analysts said that the find could be worth up to $500 million. 

The find will come as an embarrassment to Shell, which infuriated shareholders earlier this month after writing down the value of its proven oil reserves by 3.9 billion barrels. More than £4 billion has been wiped off the company since the announcement, prompting calls for the resignation of Sir Philip Watts, the chairman. read more

By Joanna Chung in London
Jan 20, 2004 

Royal Dutch/Shell, under pressure after slashing reserves estimates this month, suffered another blow yesterday when it emerged it sold its stake in an oil field that could be one of the finds of the year.

Shell sold its 50 per cent interest in the Rajasthan Basin in western India to Cairn Energy, the UK independent, for $7.25m (£4.1m) in September 2002. Cairn’s shares soared 49 per cent yesterday after it announced “a significant discovery” potentially worth 75 times as much. read more

(Bloomberg News Story)
Jan. 20, 2004, 12:20AM

Royal Dutch/Shell Group Chairman Philip Watts, criticized by shareholders for an unexpected cut in Shell’s proven reserves, defended the decision and assured Shell’s work force there had been no wrongdoing.

Shares plunged Jan. 9 after Europe’s second-largest oil company told investors it cut its estimate of proven oil reserves by 20 percent and that it failed for a third year in a row to replace its production with new reserves.

“The purpose of my note today is to you assure you that I am committed to the full resolution of this issue as soon as possible and to advise you of the process that is under way,” Watts said in a message to staff posted on the company’s Web site. read more

(Bloomberg News Story)
Jan. 20, 2004, 12:32AM

Five years ago, Royal Dutch/Shell Group was the world’s largest publicly traded oil company. Today it’s third and sliding.

Since 2001, Shell has missed goals it set to boost oil and gas output and failed to build up enough reserves to match the volume pumped from the ground. On Jan. 9, Shell said its proven reserves in 2002 were 20 percent lower than stated earlier, tarnishing the century-old company’s image for prudent management.

Its shares have since lost more than 10 percent, and Standard & Poor’s said it may cut Shell’s AAA long-term credit rating. read more

Sunday January 20, 2008 6:01 PM
By CAIN BURDEAU

Associated Press Writer

IN THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER DELTA (AP) – Service canals dug to tap oil and natural gas dart everywhere through the black mangrove shrubs, bird rushes and golden marsh. From the air, they look like a Pac-Man maze superimposed on an estuarine landscape 10 times the size of Grand Canyon National Park.

There are 10,000 miles of these oil canals. They fed America’s thirst for energy, but helped bring its biggest delta to the brink of collapse. They also connect an overlooked set of dots in the Hurricane Katrina aftermath: The role that some say the oil industry played in the $135 billion disaster, the nation’s costliest. read more

Sun Jan 20, 2008 5:54pm GMT 
By Paul Taylor

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Europe’s steel, aluminum and cement industries will have a special, less strict regime for greenhouse gas emissions under European Commission proposals to fight climate change to be announced this week.

After weeks of intense lobbying by business and governments, EU sources said on Sunday those three energy-intensive industries would be introduced more slowly into a new system for auctioning permits to emit carbon dioxide (CO2) from 2013. read more

Pilings are driven into the ground for the $7 billion expansion of the Motiva refinery in Port Arthur, one of the large-scale energy projects pumping life into the Beaumont-Port Arthur area’s economy.
STEVE UECKERT PHOTOS: CHRONICLE

Houston Chronicle: Beaumont-Port Arthur: Energy helping revive a region

By BRETT CLANTON
Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle
Jan. 19, 2008, 1:57AM

PORT ARTHUR — In 1901, a prolific oil field called Spindletop transformed the Beaumont-Port Arthur area from a quiet rural outpost to a booming hub of oil production. read more

Sun, January 20, 2008
By GEORGE MATHEWSON, SUN MEDIA     

SARNIA — Residents will learn Tuesday how a proposed multi-billion-dollar oil refinery would affect the area’s people and environment.

Shell Canada has completed field studies on air, water and human health for the proposed mega-project near Courtright and will present preliminary findings at a Point Edward open house.

“It’s really open to anybody who has an interest in the project and wants to learn more about our progress on the environmental assessment,” said Shell’s Leigh Anne Richardson. read more