A tax break from next year for North Sea oil and gas companies was welcomed by the industry on Monday as a chance to stimulate investment, hit by falling oil prices, high costs and a shortage of finance.
November, 2008:
Oil and gas sector welcomes North Sea relief
Oil groups expect $40 barrel
When most of the oil companies budgeted their projects, they were using $70, $80, even $100 a barrel for their cash flow calculations, he said. For those projects that have started, certainly they will try to complete them, but for those projects that have not started yet they will delay or cancel.
PetroChina Doubles LNG Purchases in Accord With Shell (Update1)
Nov. 25 (Bloomberg) -- PetroChina Co., the nation's largest oil company, doubled the volume of liquefied natural gas it will buy from Royal Dutch Shell Plc in an agreement to supply terminals being built along China's eastern coast.
Shell scores low in “The Good Companies Guide”
Of the 350 companies in the FTSE350 index I suspect that Royal Dutch Shell probably spends more on corporate advertising than most. Over the past few years there was been a steady stream of advertising messages which seek to persuade, in particular, that Shell is driven to a large extent by its commitment to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). However the result of the recent study by the (London) Observer newspaper together with Co-operative Asset Management shows that the rhetoric in no way matches the reality.
Shell starts gas exploration in Skåne
The UK-Dutch company has begun using mineral exploitation licenses in two areas of Skåne Colonussänkan, stretching across the county from southeast to northwest, and Höllvikengraven in the far southwest close to Malmö and Trelleborg.
Oil, gas industry acts to cut pollution in Wyoming
Jim Sewell, staff environmental engineer with Shell, said he knows of no other field in the United States where the emissions control systems are being used on land drilling rigs.
Nigerian militants threaten chaos in western delta
LAGOS, Nov 24 (Reuters) - Nigerian militants threatened to bring chaos to the western Niger Delta by interrupting shipping and attacking oil and gas facilities run by U.S. firm Chevron (CVX.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) unless the region's military commander was removed.
Shell Studies Possible Oil Projects in Iraq, CEO Says (Update1)
Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Europe's largest oil company, is examining possible oilfield projects in Iraq as the nation prepares to issue exploration permits next year, Chief Executive Officer Jeroen van der Veersaid today.
Shell to supply LNG to China in 20-yr deal -Xinhua
Royal Dutch Shell Plc has agreed to sell an annual two million tonnes of liquefied natural gas to China in a 20-year deal, China's official Xinhua news agency reported on Monday, citing Shell's China unit.
British business assesses future leaders
"Now is the time for agility and determination," declared Paul Walsh, chief executive, Diageo, with Royal Dutch Shell's chief Jeroen van der Veer chipping in: "When times are easy, anyone can succeed."
Shell CEO says Iraq gas deal will take time
"Don't expect miracles in the first or second quarter," van der Veer told reporters on the sidelines of the Confederation of British Industry's annual conference on Monday.
Cnooc Plans $29 Billion South China Sea Exploration (Update1)
China, the world's second-biggest oil user, is expediting projects including nuclear power plants, gas pipelines and oil refineries to help stimulate the domestic economy and meet future energy demand. The country will overtake the U.S. as the world's biggest oil and gas consumer in about five years, Royal Dutch Shell Plc said in September.
Recessions Grip Forces U.S. to Flood World With More Dollars
Nov. 24 (Bloomberg) -- The world needs more dollars. The United States is preparing to provide them. In an all-out assault on capitalisms worst crisis since the Great Depression, the U.S. is taking on the role of both lender and borrower of last resort for the global economy.
How Arctic melting could benefit shippers, oil companies
Shell was the main buyer of the Chukchi leases in February, spending $2.1 billion. "Shell, like many other national and international oil companies, is actively assessing Arctic opportunities," said Shell spokeswoman Darci Sinclair.
Consolidation in oil industry likely in 2009
Major oil companies are sitting on enormous piles of cash after posting record profits in recent quarters, while crumbling stock and crude prices have made many smaller oil and gas companies potential targets.
Pay at top truly out of whack
We have an old saying in this business: When dog bites man, its not news. When man bites dog, it is. So the latest study finding that top executives for companies at the center of the financial crisis walked away with billions in compensation in the years leading up to the current calamity seems like just another dog nipping at the heels of the beleaguered American stockholder.
Oil giants talk tax to kill environment
Evidence is mounting of a coordinated global oil industry effort to seize upon the international economic crisis as an opportunity to rebel against ecological controls and bludgeon concessions out of governments.
Sakhalin-II project to start LNG supplies to Japan in early 2009
LIMA, November 23 (RIA Novosti) - Liquefied natural gas supplies to Japan under the Sakhalin-II oil and gas project off Russia's Pacific Coast will start in February next year, a Gazprom senior official said on Sunday
Groundwater contamination lawsuit settlement costs Shell $46 million
"There is $26 million sitting in J.P. Morgan bank, gathering dust," he said. "All of it is earmarked for the Limestone residents." That amount is separate from another $20 million from Shell for construction of water lines to provide Aqua Illinois service to residents where underground water has been contaminated by chemicals from the gasoline spill in 1988.
Shell loses Alaskan battle as court supports whales
Royal Dutch Shell has lost yet another battle to drill the deepest offshore Alaskan well after a federal appeals court ruled government approval of the plan violated environmental laws, writes Sheila McNulty.
From the Kremlin to Caracas, how oil collapse changes everything
As the price of a barrel falls to below $50 for the first time in years - to a third of its value just a few months ago - petrol will be cheaper but the shockwaves mean crisis for oil-producing nations and further instability for a battered global economy
The bravest woman in oil
Ann Pickard, Shell’s chief in Nigeria, knows the true meaning of oil crisis.
By Jon Birger, senior writer
NOVEMBER 21, 2008: 7:13 AM ET(Fortune Magazine) — Ann Pickard’s title sounds normal enough – she’s regional executive vice president in Africa for Royal Dutch Shell’s exploration and production division. But there’s nothing normal whatsoever about Pickard’s job. Indeed, as Shell’s top official in Nigeria, Pickard may well hold the most dangerous executive post within the oil industry.
A 53-year-old Wyoming native who helped organize battered women’s shelters before entering the energy biz in the late 1980s – “making $7,000 a year doesn’t quite cut it,” she says of her former life – Pickard is the first woman to run Shell’s African operation. She talks a lot about reducing accidents, and by accidents, she’s not talking about the industrial variety.
Big oil gets help leaving footprints in Alaska
Yogi Berra put it best: It's déjà vu all over again. As it drills wells in the Chukchi Sea, Shell Oil is delivering the same sheen of assurance to Arctic villages and native subsistence hunters. "As a company, we could never afford an oil spill in the Arctic. We just can't afford to have that happen," Marvin Odum, president of Shell Oil Co., said in an Anchorage speech this month.
Palin, Alaska grapple with lower crude prices
Falling oil prices will take a bite out of Alaska's state budget and put a damper on oil-field investment, Gov.Sarah Palin told a conference of major North Slope oil operators on Wednesday.
Chevron slows Colorado natgas drilling development
Chevron Corp said on Thursday it had to curtail plans for expansion of a new development in Colorado's Piceance Basin due to a drop in local natural gas prices.
Russians control TNK-BP as foreigners leave-sources
Russian oligarchs have taken effective management control of BP's Russian oil venture TNK-BP as part of an exodus of foreign executives from senior positions, according to TNK-BP sources.
Gunmen attack Nigerian navy near Shell oil facility
Unknown gunmen attacked a navy houseboat in southern Nigeria protecting a Royal Dutch Shell crude oil flow station on Friday, a military spokesman said.
Appeals court rules against Arctic drilling plan
"The U.S. faces an energy supply crisis, and delays like this only extend and aggravate it. In times of shrinking global supply and ever increasing reliance on imported oil, the Alaska offshore could be a significant resource for national energy security," Shell said in a statement.
Court voids Shell’s Beaufort Sea drilling plan
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday blocked a major oil-drilling program in the Beaufort Sea, ruling that federal officials failed to address environmental impacts when they granted permission to Shell Oil to drill wells over a three-year period. The company spent $2.1 billion earlier this year...
Royal Dutch Shell can’t drill oil well off Alaska, court rules
Royal Dutch Shell, Europe's largest oil company, can't drill the deepest offshore Alaskan well after a federal appeals court said the government's approval of the plan violated environmental laws.
Big Oil: We told you so
"Exxon got criticized for underinvesting over the last four years," said Fadel Gheit, a senior energy analyst at Oppenheimer. "It's not that they were stupid, it's just that they thought it was too expensive. Now Exxon is going to laugh all the way to the bank."
Anti-corruption speech by Richard Wiseman, Royal Dutch Shell Plc Chief Ethics & Compliance Officer
A reputation for integrity is a priceless asset which can vanish or be severely tarnished by a single error of judgment. (Don't mention the reserves fraud)
London oil prices have slipped below $50 a barrel for the first time since May 2005
BREAKING NEWS
2:11pm UK, Thursday November 20, 2008
The fall in the cost of Brent crude will boost motorists’ hopes of even lower petrol prices.
Traders have been predicting for some time the economic downturn will hit demand.
Light, sweet crude on the New York Mercantile Exchange – the benchmark price – fell to $52.70 a barrel in Asian trading.
Analysts said they expected it to follow London and hit the $50 mark “sooner rather than later”.
Oil dives towards $50 as investor confidence sinks
Shipping brokers said on Thursday, U.S. oil trader Koch and Royal Dutch Shell had booked supertankers capable of storing 10 million barrels of crude, more than top exporter Saudi Arabia produces in a day.
Royal Dutch Shell gains three coal gasification contracts
Shell Research Limited (Shell) announced today that three new Shell Coal Gasification Process (SCGP) licensing agreements in China have come into effect, bringing Shell's total number of licensing agreements in the country to 19.
Another Internet scam using Shell’s name
SHELL JOB APPLICATIONS SCAM
Turkey’s Botas, Shell sign gas deal in Iraq
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) Turkey's state-run gas company Botas and Royal Dutch Shell PLC signed a preliminary agreement on Thursday for natural gas exploration and marketing in Iraq.
Top job shake-up at Shell in pipeline as new chief eyes costs
Shell has suffered a small exodus of talent in the past six months, including Lynn Laverty Elsenhans, 52, who reported to Mr Routs as head of refining and chemicals and was seen as a strong candidate to succeed him. Losing too many more top executives would be embarrassing.
Stranded but not sunk amid a deepening financial storm
In May, Shell provoked uproar when it withdrew from the world's largest offshore windfarm - the London Array in the Thames Estuary - after the costs allegedly had risen from £1 billion in 2003 to £3 billion.
Crack down on overseas bribes, ministers told
For years, the government has been criticised for failing to pass strong legislation to stop payments by British companies to foreign officials and politicians, in return for contracts.
Bosses who ignore bribery and corruption face 10 years in jail under new laws (take note Shell)
Britain's international reputation took a battering two years ago when then-Prime Minister Tony Blair called off a Serious Fraud Office inquiry into BAE Systems' multi-billion pound arms deal with Saudi Arabia.
In BAE Probe, U.S. Steps In Where Brits Fear to Tread (the corruption scandal in which Shell played a key role)
The BAE case is four years long, with a complicated history. But it springs from some fairly simple acts: In order to secure a lucrative arms contract, BAE allegedly paid off several Saudi officials, including Prince Bandar bin Sultan bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud. The payments allegedly totaled some $2 billion over nearly two decades.
Shake-up in pipeline as Shell chief eyes costs
Royal Dutch Shell is considering changing the structure of its top executive team, in a move seen by some industry insiders as a precursor to a wider shake-up under Peter Voser, who takes over as chief executive in July.
Shell and Dutch Government exchange managers
Shell and the Dutch government will exchange managers. That has been agreed on by Peter de Wit, director of Shell Netherlands, and Minister Guusje ter Horst (Domestic Affairs).
Oil groups expect $40 barrel
The worlds national oil companies expect oil prices to fall further and will cancel most planned investment projects even at current levels, according to the head of a Chinese state-owned group.
No moves on Iraq oil law in KRG-Baghdad talks
Get your copy of the Shell-Iraq gas Heads of Agreement.
ConocoPhillips, a Cheap Big Oil Play
ConocoPhillips' strength in natural gas production and oil refining and recent oil deals in Russia and the Mideast make its beaten-down shares promising
Chevron declares Nigeria oil exports force majeure
U.S. energy giant Chevron declared a force majeure in Nigeria on Tuesday after a main supply pipeline to its Escravos export terminal was sabotaged last week, forcing it to shut in around 90,000 barrels per day.
Alaska denies Exxon permit for ice road
The Alaska Department of Natural Resources has denied ExxonMobil Corp. a permit to build a seasonal ice road to carry equipment to an oil and gas field the state says it has seized.
Shell, Aramco, Petrobras Speed Project Spending Cuts
Nov. 19 (Bloomberg) -- The biggest oil companies including Saudi Aramco,Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Petroleo Brasileiro SA are accelerating spending cuts and delaying projects as the world enters a recession, said Morgan Stanley & Co.