Oil firms' taxes spur arguments

As Bay Area refinery owners fight for reduction of assessments, some want levy on windfall profits

By Rick Jurgens

CONTRA COSTA TIMES

Governments vigorously tax oil companies for the same reason legendary criminal Willie Sutton robbed banks: “Because that's where the money is.”

Take the owners of the five East Bay refineries. As a group, Chevron, Shell, ConocoPhillips, Valero and Tesoro posted 2005 profits of more than $58 billion, as soaring fuel prices boosted their total sales to $859 billion.

A portion of that money went to finance the operations of governments. The five companies paid $41 billion in income taxes in the United States and other nations during 2005, according to company financial filings. read more

Ogoni may pull out of reconciliation process with Shell

Hope of a successful Ogoni/Shell reconciliation process has again been threatened just as the Ogoni people have indicated their likely withdrawal from the talk.

In a press statement circulated in Port Harcourt on Saturday and signed by the Information Officer of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), Bari-ara Kpalap, the group frowned at what it described as Shell’s “provocative and unfriendly actions” in recent times.

MOSOP contended that the alleged entrance of some workers of the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) into Kpean, an Ogoni community, on the night of April 13, this year, was a violation of the terms of the ongoing peace and reconciliation process. read more

Structures larger than Prudhoe Bay exist in regions that extend the prolific onshore petroleum systems of northern Alaska

Alan Bailey

Petroleum News

With Shell planning to restart drilling in the Beaufort Sea and seismic surveys planned for both the Beaufort Sea and the Chukchi Sea, this may be a good time to review the petroleum resource potential of the outer continental shelf of northern Alaska.

And at the April 6 meeting of the Geophysical Society of Alaska U.S. Minerals Management Service geologist Kirk Sherwood spoke about the new MMS assessment of Alaska’s Arctic offshore region. read more

Murkowski cites local support for oil and gas development, North Aleutian basin could hold up to 23 trillion cubic feet of natural gas

Wesley Loy

Anchorage Daily News

Alaska Gov. Frank Murkowski came off the fence April 12 and endorsed the idea of oil and gas leasing in the federal waters of salmon-rich Bristol Bay.

In a letter to the U.S. Minerals Management Service, Murkowski said he based his position on local support around the bay for leasing in what is known as the North Aleutian basin.

The governor last October had stopped short of backing a lease sale, saying he needed to hear more from the region’s people. read more

By Hector Igbikiowubo 

Posted to the Web: Saturday, April 15, 2006  

THE Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) has denied allegations of human rights violations in Ogoni land levelled by the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP).

A statement released by management of the company disclosed that SPDC was forced to pull out of Ogoni land in 1993 without the opportunity to secure and make safe its wells and other facilities.

“Since then, continuing sabotage and deterioration of facilities left behind have caused a number of crude oil spills and fire incidents, putting communities and the lives of people at risk. SPDC has been seeking access from Ogoni leaders to return to the area to secure these facilities and clean up the spills and the environment, but without success.” read more

By Andrew Gumbel in Los Angeles

Published: 15 April 2006

Two of Hollywood's most prominent power players – one the former president of Disney, the other the current chairman of Paramount Pictures – took centre stage in America yesterday in the growing scandal surroundingthe disgraced private eye Anthony Pellicano and his unorthodox investigative methods.

Neither Michael Ovitz, the one-time super agent and Disney supremo, nor Brad Grey, the Paramount chief who once shared an office building with Mr Pellicano, has been accused of wrongdoing. Both men, through their lawyers, have insisted they are only witnesses in the case. read more

By Martin Hickman, Consumer Affairs Correspondent

Published: 15 April 2006

Just when the executives of the world's biggest fast food company were beginning to get over the damage done by the hit film Super Size Me, a new film and book about McDonald's are about to dump a fresh bucket of ordure over the Golden Arches.

With Hollywood backing and a stellar cast, a film of Eric Schlosser's best-selling book, Fast Food Nation is looming as a potent threat to the burger chain's fragile reputation. read more

News in brief, edited by Erin Baker

For Leading Exxon to Its Riches, $144,573 a Day

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For 13 years as chairman and chief executive, Lee R. Raymond propelled Exxon, the successor to John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil Trust, to the pinnacle of the oil world.

Under Lee R. Raymond, the market value of Exxon Mobil increased fourfold to $375 billion, overtaking BP as the largest oil company.

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Graphic: The $686 Million Man

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Executive Pay: A Special Report

Under Mr. Raymond, the company's market value increased fourfold to $375 billion, overtaking BP as the largest oil company and General Electric as the largest American corporation. Net income soared from $4.8 billion in 1992 to last year's record-setting $36.13 billion. read more