January 28th, 2008:

Lauren Krugel, THE CANADIAN PRESS
January 28, 2008

– Shares in Goldnev Resources Inc. (TSXV:GNZ) soared nearly three fold in massive trading Monday after positive results were confirmed for a core hole drilling program at the Pasquia Hills oil shale permits in east-central Saskatchewan.

On the TSX Venture Exchange, Goldnev stock jumped 39 cents to close at 53 cents on a volume of nearly 50 million shares, making it the most heavily traded issue by far on the junior market.

“The laboratory results revealed an excellent high oil yield of 61 litres per ton of rock … which equates to recoverable oil in place of 57 million barrels of oil per section of land,” the Calgary-based firm said in a release. read more

Investors were searching out safe havens yesterday as London shares headed south again.

Nick Fletcher
Tuesday January 29 2008

The FTSE 100 index was in the red all day, following hefty overnight falls in Asia on growing fears of recession not just in the US but possibly in Japan and elsewhere. A recovery on Wall Street yesterday afternoon – prompted by increasing speculation of a half-point cut in US interest rates this week – helped London shares climb back from their worst levels. So having fallen as far as 5705.1, the leading index closed down 80.1 points at 5,788.9. read more

Tuesday 29 January 2008: Created: 2008-1-29 0:10:49
Author:Fred Pals

STATE-CONTROLLED energy companies OAO Gazprom and Petroleo Brasileiro SA are winning the battle for investors as their governments squeeze Exxon Mobil Corp, BP Plc, and Royal Dutch Shell Plc for access to oil and gas.

Russia’s Gazprom forced BP and Shell last year to cede control of gas deposits that can supply Asia for more than five years, while Brazil pulled 41 exploration licenses from an auction after Petrobras found an eight-billion barrel oil field in November. read more

Reuters
Monday January 28 2008

ABUJA, Jan 28 (Reuters) – Nigeria has agreed with foreign companies a joint investment of $15.2 billion in oil ventures this year and is seeking debt finance to foot part of its share of the bill, a top official said on Monday.

The five joint ventures that pump the bulk of Nigeria’s crude oil have suffered from decades of underinvestment due to government budget constraints, causing output to stall or even decline despite huge reserves in the ground.

The government has a long-standing target of reaching 4 million barrels per day by 2010, but output has stagnated at around 2 million for the past few years. read more

We hope supporters can join us in London to bring the pipeline back to Shell – 15-17th March.
 
Gluaiseacht are mobilising people from all over Ireland to travel to Shell Headquarters in London on St Patrick’s Day to protest the giveaway and mismanagement of our national resources. We will be carrying a 200ft pipeline to Shell’s front door.

The Irish people will not benefit from the Corrib Gas Project. We will have to buy back any gas that Shell will sell to us at the ever increasing full market value. As well as this, Shell will destroy a pristine environment and the health and safety of the local community. read more

Hans

MorningStar.com: FOCUS: Brinded, Cook, Voser Lead Shell Insiders For Top Job

You and I were both quoted and in my case I don’t really have a problem with what Benoit said. The substantive point I was trying to make (which I think came through) was to express the hope (forlorn I suspect) that Shell is imaginative in its appointment of a successor to Jeroen. I think that perhaps they did need this sincere, but dull, Dutchman to restore some modicum of integrity after the Watts disaster. In that respect, however, I think that Jeroen has been a disappointment. My experience of him is of a decent man, albeit a creatively limited one. Quite why he surrounded himself with the apparatchiks he chose I’m not sure. They are not sycophants – but they aren’t very memorable either. The least popular of them all is Rob Routs about whom I have not heard one complimentary word over the past few years. No wonder there is no feel for marketing at the top in his malevolent hands – not that there was ever much! read more

FROM HANS BOUMAN

Hello John

I saw on your site a posting from the Morningstar in which I was quoted followed by another one posted by you where you ‘accuse’ me of having mellowed. Nothing of the kind!!

I have indeed been contacted by the journalist and agreed on some quotes. But I am also a great believer in the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. My quotes came out a bit distorted, presumably done by the corporation for which the journalist works. I understand that even journalists have bosses. But I will not stand my quote connected to a factual error! read more

Published: Jan. 28, 2008 at 10:41 AM
By MARTIN WALKER
UPI Editor Emeritus

WASHINGTON, Jan. 28 (UPI) — It is ironic that Europe, which likes to think of itself as the center of environmental correctness and the green revolution, should now be the scene of a sharp political struggle over its ambitious emissions targets. Indeed, few EU proposals have aroused quite such a chorus of complaint and derision.

“This is a historic plan to make Europe the first economy on the post-carbon age,” EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso told the European Parliament. read more

By Heath Aston
January 29, 2008 03:00am

THE bosses of Australia’s big four oil companies will this week be forced to explain why they have failed to pass on falling international petrol prices to local motorists in 2008.

Australian Competition and Consumer Commission chairman Graeme Samuel yesterday renewed his demand for crisis meetings with the chiefs of Caltex, Shell, BP and Mobil.

The Daily Telegraph revealed last week that Mr Samuel had finally “lost patience” with the refiners, accusing them of undermining the national economy and threatening to push interest rates even higher. read more

FROM A SHELL INSIDER

Dear John

I have read your posting today suggesting that Hans Bouman may have mellowed. That is an unlikely prospect.

I like to share something with you.

It was in October 1995 when Moody-Stuart invited all staff from SIPM and KSEPL for a briefing on the imminent transformation of Shell. I remember it well. Mark was carrying on in a beautiful low voice on the need to ‘unleash talent’ and remove controls. We would not need strong hierarchies anymore and would go for ‘self managing teams’. All the business guru jargon of the day was used. He explained the paralels with a soccer team. Not everyone could be a primadonna or star but a good team would win more than a team that consisted of only stars. Self managing was the word and we would do away with bosses but have ‘coaches’ instead. When he was finished questions were invited. read more

Posted by Martin LaMonica
January 28, 2008 7:14 AM PST

The CEO of oil giant Royal Dutch Shell Jeroen van der Veer sees an end to easy oil and a potential worldwide “scramble” to mitigate climate change.

On Friday, van der Veer outlined to potential scenarios for energy usage and extraction over the coming century in a speech published on the company’s Web site. 

Regardless of whether countries “scramble” or take in a more orderly approach to adopting low-carbon fuels and renewable energies, getting oil and gasoline not be as easy as it once was, he said. read more

By John Donovan

In view of the comments about Shell EP Chief Executive Malcolm Brinded attributed to Hans Bouman, a retired senior Shell manager, in a Dow Jones article published today, it seems timely to republish a blunt email from Bouman to Brinded in 2004.

MorningStar.com: FOCUS: Brinded, Cook, Voser Lead Shell Insiders For Top Job

Hans Bouman emails are considered as collector items by Shell insiders because of their highly outspoken, prophetic and eloquent content, often on controversial subjects. Some have fortunately fallen into our hands. As can be seen, his email to Brinded during the dark days following the Shell reserves scandal fully meets this description. His quoted comments about Brinded in the article published today, which focuses on the three principle candidates for the top job at Shell, are more constrained. Perhaps he has mellowed. read more

1-28-08 5:47 AM EST

LONDON -(Dow Jones)- Malcolm Brinded, Royal Dutch Shell PLC’s (RDSB.LN) head of exploration and production, is competing with the head of gas and power and the chief financial officer for the top job at the company, according to company insiders.
 
The challenge posed by Linda Cook, the head of gas and power, and Chief Financial Officer Peter Voser underscores the shifting nature of Shell’s business. The gas business and financial discipline now have higher priority than they used to, say current and former company staff. read more

By Fred Pals and Eduard Gismatullin

Jan. 28 (Bloomberg) — State-controlled energy companies OAO Gazprom and Petroleo Brasileiro SA are winning the battle for investors as their governments squeeze Exxon Mobil Corp., BP Plc, and Royal Dutch Shell Plc for access to oil and gas.

Russia’s Gazprom forced BP and Shell last year to cede control of gas deposits that can supply Asia for more than five years, while Brazil pulled 41 exploration licenses from an auction after Petrobras found an 8-billion barrel oil field in November. read more

Is Sonatrach Deal
With StatoilHydro
A Lesson to West?
By GUY CHAZAN
January 28, 2008; Page A8

ALGIERS, Algeria — State-owned energy giants are increasingly joining forces to expand internationally, a worrying sign for Western oil companies already besieged by the global stampede to find new reserves.

In recent years, national oil companies have signed a series of deals with each other on technical cooperation and sharing access to resources and markets. Consulting firm PFC Energy says there were two such contracts in 2000; in 2006 there were 16. read more

By Andrew England, Financial Times
Published: Jan 28, 2008

As concerns mount about global energy security, north African producers find themselves in a prime position and attracting much attention.

Algeria is already a big operator in the European market, providing the continent with about 13 per cent of its total gas consumption, while rapid investment in Egypt’s gas sector over the past seven years has seen that nation rise to become the world’s sixth largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) producer. Libya has been attracting renewed interest as it has opened up to international companies after years of isolation as a result of US and United Nations sanctions. read more

By Ed Crooks
Published: January 28 2008 01:17 | Last updated: January 28 2008 01:17

The fact that after months of delay, the Indian government now appears to be keen to expedite an agreement with Cairn India may have something to do with the fact that Murli Deora, the petroleum minister, and his officials are touring the world looking for foreign investment.

They were in London last week and are in Houston on Monday, on the road show for the seventh round of licences under India’s new exploration licensing policy, trying to attract investors up to and including the super-majors such as ExxonMobil, BP and Royal Dutch Shell. read more

By Andrew England
Published: January 28 2008 06:10 | Last updated: January 28 2008 06:10

When Algeria’s next bidding round finally goes ahead, observers and investors will be watching closely, seeking to gauge the impact that amendments to the hydrocarbons law and the implementation of a controversial windfall tax have had on confidence in the north African state.

Chakib Khelil, the energy minister, had been hoping to hold the round – the country’s seventh – before the end of 2007, but the announcement for pre-qualification applications was only made this month. The government is thought to be offering 15 oil and gas blocks, but further details have not been made public. Mr Khelil has said the government wants to focus on the value bidders offer in terms of expertise, technology and management, as well as the potential for Sonatrach to expand its portfolio globally. read more

By Dino Mahtani
Published: January 28 2008 06:10 | Last updated: January 28 2008 06:10

In the past decade, Africa has seen an unprecedented boom in oil and gas investment.

With big companies shut out, or deterred from investing in the Middle East, Africa has by contrast offered multinationals relatively lenient terms and extensive access to its oilfields in the past 15 years. The continent has been able to attract money from the biggest supermajors, from ExxonMobil to Shell, looking to exploit its prolific and relatively untapped geology, particularly in the Gulf of Guinea and North Africa. read more

By Dino Mahtani
Published: January 28 2008 06:10 | Last updated: January 28 2008 06:10

Over the past 15 years, Africa has featured prominently on the global exploration map of international oil majors looking to open up new frontiers and book new reserves. Soft fiscal terms in oil rich countries and high oil prices more recently have driven exploration programmes of some of the bigger companies into the deepwater areas of the Gulf of Guinea, which has a prolific oil bearing geology.

With many of the international oil companies locked out of the most productive basins in the Middle East, or up against hostile government policies in producers such as Russia and Venezuela, Africa has come as something of a reprieve. read more

By Matthew Green
Published: January 28 2008 06:10 | Last updated: January 28 2008 06:10

Listening to Nigeria’s top energy officials, it would be easy to assume that Africa’s biggest oil exporter is cruising towards its goal of doubling output by 2010. Talk to oil company executives, however, and anxieties over rising costs, attacks by militants and the government’s push for a bigger share of profits make prospects seem distinctly gloomy.

Forty years after commercial quantities of oil were discovered in Nigeria, President Umaru Yar’Adua has launched the most ambitious reform process the industry has seen. At a time of record oil prices, his success or otherwise in raising output from its current level of about 2.3m b/d will affect the global economy and influence energy security in the US and Europe. read more

By Matthew Green
Published: January 28 2008 06:10 | Last updated: January 28 2008 06:10

Emmanuel Egbogah is reluctant to say just how much money he will try to wring out of western majors when he starts renegotiating contracts covering Nigeria’s vast offshore oilfields. But it seems clear that any executives from companies such as Royal Dutch Shell, Chevron and Total which were hoping for a leisurely review will be in for a surprise.

“We don’t intend to sit around, we’re settling to business, and therefore we’re going to deliver on this as quickly as possible,” says Mr Egbogah, a special adviser to Nigerian President Umaru Yar’Adua on petroleum. “There’s a wide margin of areas that we could look for adjustment … With the price of oil as it is today, I think everyone will end up a winner.” read more

By Andrew England
Published: January 28 2008 06:10 | Last updated: January 28 2008 06:10

As concerns mount about global energy security, north African producers find themselves in a prime position and attracting much attention.

Algeria is already a big operator in the European market, providing the continent with about 13 per cent of its total gas consumption, while rapid investment in Egypt’s gas sector over the past seven years has seen that nation rise to become the world’s sixth largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) producer. Libya has been attracting renewed interest as it has opened up to international companies after years of isolation as a result of US and United Nations sanctions. read more

By Martin Clark
Published: January 28 2008 05:38 | Last updated: January 28 2008 05:38

Chinese oil companies have made a beeline for Africa’s natural resources in recent years to secure fuel supplies for the country’s own blistering growth, but not all of these investments will pay off.

State-backed groups such as China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) have established strong interests in oil-rich territories such as Nigeria, as well as frontier exploration zones, often muscling traditional western rivals aside. By 2008, Chinese companies had amassed 56 upstream contracts between them across the continent, according to consultants IHS Energy. That is not much compared with the collective total of the international oil companies, but impressive given the lateness of China’s engagement with Africa’s energy industry. read more

By Sven Ridley-Wordich
27 Jan 2008 at 02:19 PM GMT-05:00

AMSTERDAM (ResourceInvestor.com) — In the next few days, British Dutch oil and gas major Shell [NYSE:RDS-B] could be faced with increased problems. Nigeria, Shell’s major upstream operations area, is set for new discussions regarding Shell’s operations and investments.

The last days, Nigerian news sites have been buzzing with assessments on the possibility of an increased crisis between the oil major and the Nigerian government, as both parties seem to be heading toward different targets. On Friday, January 25, Shell’s CEO Jeroen van der Veer and Nigeria’s president Umaru Yar’Adua will meet in Davos, Switzerland, where both are taking part in the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum. 
 
Some days ago, Van der Veer said  he is prepared to discuss all issues pending, such as renewed contract discussions, the gas flaring issue and possible new investment schemes. Analysts, however, think both leaders will also discuss the growing unease Shell and others are feeling about the unwillingness of the Nigerian government to deal effectively with the Niger Delta uprising, which has resulted in the shutdown of more than 450,000 bpd of crude oil. read more

By Hamish Rutherford

ROYAL Dutch Shell is expected to report the biggest-ever profit by a British company – more than $26 billion (£13.1bn) – on Thursday, breaking its own record of 2006.

Consensus forecasts among analysts predict fourth-quarter earnings of $5.82bn, with higher operating costs and lower refining margins biting into profits, even though oil prices reached record levels during the period.

Assuming the consensus is correct, Shell would then have made a full-year profit of $26.65bn, 5 per cent ahead of 2006. read more