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April 18th, 2006:

BREITBART.COM/ASSOCIATED PRESS: Oil Prices Settle at Record, Above $71

Oil Prices Settle at Record, Above $71Apr 18 3:26 PM US/Eastern Email this story

By BRAD FOSSAP Business Writer

WASHINGTON

Oil prices settled at a new high above $71 a barrel Tuesday as supply threats around the world overshadowed a new report from OPEC forecasting weakening global demand.

There was no fresh catalyst for Tuesday's buying, but analysts said the market psychology would likely remain bullish until there is some resolution to a variety of geopolitical uncertainties, particularly the West's nuclear dispute with Iran and output disruptions in Nigeria.

Global Insight oil analyst Kevin Lindemer said the slowing consumption growth and swelling inventories of crude oil in the United States would typically help pull down prices, but “all of that is getting swamped right now by Iran and Nigeria.” read more

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OIL & GAS JOURNAL: "Definitive Report on Oil Company Management and Ethics"

World’s Most Sustainable and Ethical Oil Companies – 2006

A new report about Ethics, Sustainability, Corporate Governance, Transparency and Corporate Social Responsibility of the major worldwide oil companies, is available from The Oil & Gas Journal Online Research Center. The report is by Management & Excellence S.A., the prestigious research and rating company.

This report makes an in-depth comparison of the business practices of 15 of the major worldwide oil companies. This is the third in-depth study measuring oil companies’ compliance with over 280 key areas of sustainability, corporate governance, ethics, social responsibility and transparency by the Madrid-based ethics research and rating company Management & Excellence S.A.

The study uses the M&E Facts Only method consisting of a list of 280 internationally recognized standards in sustainability, corporate governance, social responsibility and ethics, customized for the oil industry. M&E surveyed all companies included and researched public information services to determine actual point-by point compliance with these standards. All percentages in the report refer to the number of points with which a company complies out of a total of over 280.

The report provides a true comparison for evaluating the business practices of these major oil companies.

THIS REPORT PROVIDES THE LATEST INFORMATION ABOUT THE TRENDS AND MOVEMENTS OF COMPANIES IN THE OIL INDUSTRY, IN FIVE (5) AREAS ANALYZED; SUSTAINABILITY, CORPORATE GOVERNANCE, ETHICS, SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY, AND TRANSPARENCY.

This report is a must for evaluating the future for these companies and the industry.


Product No. M&E2006 Price: $6,000 US (5000 Euros) *
To Order:
Phone: 1.800.752.9764
or 1.918.831.9421
E-mail:
[email protected]
For More Information:
E-mail:
[email protected]
Phone 1.918.831.9488

To order online go to the OGJ Online Research Center web sitewww.ogjresearch.com
*Contact OGJ Online Research Center for Customized Reports

 

Following is a summary of the results of this study –A press release issued by Management & Excellence, S.A.

PRESS RELEASEShell Again Most Sustainable Oil Company in 2006Brazil’s Petrobras Moves to 2nd; Exxon Drops to 9th Place; Four of Top-5 Are European

 

Madrid, 22 February 2006: Shell tops the list of the worlds most sustainable and ethical oil companies for the third year running. In the 2006 study Shell achieves the highest score of any oil company ever, achieving 89.01%. This is the result of the third in-depth study measuring oil companies’ compliance with over 280 key areas of sustainability, corporate governance, ethics, social responsibility and transparency by the Madrid-based ethics research and rating company Management & Excellence S.A.

Shell was able to substantially improve its already strong 2005 performance of 82% even though this year’s study covered roughly twice as many areas as the 2005 study, thus adapting to higher benchmarks in sustainability in the oil business. Shell subscribes to no fewer than 12 codes of human rights and its board met a record 29 times in 2004. By comparison, top-rated BP’s board only met 8 times. The company offers grievance channels for its personnel in over 50 countries and is implementing 120 biodiversity projects worldwide. No oil company studied was as transparent as Shell: the company publishes 13 separate reports on topics ranging from environmental impact assessment to animal testing.

 

Ranking

1

Shell

89,01%

2

BP

83,52%

Petrobras

83,52%

4

Statoil

83,15%

5

Total

76,19%

6

Norsk-Hydro

73,26%

Repsol

73,26%

8

Chevron

72,53%

9

ExxonMobil

68,13%

10

Conoco

66,30%

11

Pemex

62,64%

12

ENI

62,27%

13

Lukoil

58,61%

14

Gazprom

35,90%

15

Petronas

20,15%

  read more

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Reuters: Nigeria to build highway, create jobs in oil delta

Nigeria to build highway, create jobs in oil delta
18 Apr 2006 16:05:30 GMTSource: Reuters

By Camillus Eboh
ABUJA, April 18 (Reuters) – Nigeria will build a $1.8 billion highway and create 20,000 new jobs to address a crisis in the Niger Delta, where militant attacks have halted a quarter of oil output, President Olusegun Obasanjo said on Tuesday.
A mediator appointed by the militants, whose four-month campaign of sabotage and kidnapping has shut down 550,000 barrels a day of crude exports, dismissed the proposals as insufficient to end the crisis.
Obasanjo announced the measures, which also include dredging of the River Niger, at the inaugural meeting of a new council designed to speed development in the delta states, which pump almost all Nigeria's oil but where most people live in poverty.
“We have a wonderful opportunity for a new beginning,” Obasanjo told delegates in the presidential villa, adding that the government of the world's eighth largest oil exporter had made mistakes.
Obasanjo listed a series of projects to be undertaken by the federal government — including a $1.8 billion East-West highway and 20,000 new jobs in the military, police, state oil company, and teaching — and called on state governors to come up with plans of their own for the next council meeting on July 18.
“The announcement from Abuja is not exciting enough to compel a positive response,” Oronto Douglas, an activist nominated by the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) to mediate with the government, told Reuters.
“The struggle has gone beyond just development,” he added.
MEND has demanded greater local control over oil revenues, the release of two jailed leaders from the delta and compensation for oil spills from Royal Dutch Shell <RDSa.L>.
The demands were echoed by the Ijaw National Congress, a lobby group representing the largest tribe in the vast wetlands region, in a statement published over the weekend.
BOYCOTT
Many prominent delta activists stayed away from the Abuja meeting, dismissing it as a “jamboree”.
MEND has been threatening another attack on the oil industry since February, but has yet to carry it out. The group released the last of its foreign oil worker hostages at the end of March.
Obasanjo insisted the council should come up with concrete measures with detailed timelines. Saying the region's problems were not tribal, he called on governors to deal with armed groups in their states.
“You cannot carry weapons in one hand and expect that you will have a warm handshake with the other hand,” Obasanjo said.
Many inhabitants of the delta, a region almost the size of England dominated by mangrove-lined creeks, feel cheated out of the huge riches being extracted from their ancestral lands.
Their bitterness against government and Western oil companies fuels insecurity in a region awash with small arms and riven by internecine conflict.
Analysts say the conflict is linked to elections next year, when various zones are vying for the ruling party ticket.
Oil is Nigeria's economic lifeline and the government is keen for the main operator, Royal Dutch Shell, to resume production from areas it abandoned after the militant attacks.
Shell is reluctant to return to the oilfields until violence eases. The prolonged loss of high-quality Nigerian crude, most of it pumped by Shell, has helped push world oil prices towards new highs. read more

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Reuters: Shell yet to assess Nigerian oilfield, output shut

Shell yet to assess Nigerian oilfield, output shut

Tue Apr 18, 2006 11:33 AM GMT

 

LONDON (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell has yet to carry out an assessment of an offshore oilfield in Nigeria, a step required before it can restart output shut since February following rebel attacks, a spokeswoman said on Tuesday.

 

“There is no change,” the spokeswoman said, adding she could not say when the assessment would take place.

 

Shell previously said it hoped the appraisal of the EA field, which pumps 115,000 barrels per day (bpd), could take place last week. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Globe & Mail (Canada): Husky follows Shell in trying to squeeze oil from hard rock

Husky follows Shell in trying to squeeze oil from hard rock

Calgary firm pays $10-million for limestone leases

PATRICK BRETHOUR

CALGARYHusky Energy Inc., saying it is aiming for a “dominant position” in the oil sands, is boosting its bet that it can wring crude out of limestone.

The Calgary-based integrated energy company said yesterday it has spent $10-million to acquire leases 95 kilometres west of Fort McMurray, in an area where the oil sands become oil rocks — where bitumen is trapped in limestone rather than clay.

Husky already had substantial holdings of what is technically known as carbonate in its Saleski leases. Saleski holds about 16.8 billion barrels of original bitumen in place, one of the most expansive measures of the potential of an oil reservoir. The new leases, adjacent to Saleski, contain another 2.7 billion barrels of bitumen in place. All told, the Saleski properties hold more than half of Husky's oil sands potential. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Convenience Store News: Shell Stations Pump Out News

Shell Stations Pump Out News

NEW YORK — Shell gas stations in Los Angeles will be giving out more than just gas at the pumps. NBC Universal Television Stations made a deal with Los Angeles-based VST Media Network to show national and local news, weather and entertainment news on daylight-viewable 17-inch screens with stereo speakers, reported Brandweek Magazine .

The programming will currently reach 17 Shell gas stations in Los Angeles with plans by VST to have 500 stations in L.A., San Francisco and San Diego by the end of the year, according to the report. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: Oil Settles Above $70 a Barrel, Despite Inventories at 8-Year High

Oil Settles Above $70 a Barrel,
Despite Inventories at 8-Year High

By BHUSHAN BAHREE in New York and ANN DAVIS in HoustonApril 18, 2006; Page A1

Crude oil closed above $70 a barrel for the first time, highlighting a phenomenon reshaping the petroleum world: Investment flows into oil futures are supplanting nitty-gritty supply-and-demand data as prime drivers of prices.

In contrast to past bull markets in crude, this year's run-up has occurred even though oil inventories in the U.S., the world's largest market, have swelled to their highest levels in nearly eight years. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

The Independent: Nestlé looks set to swallow up McCartney range of frozen meals

Nestlé looks set to swallow up McCartney range of frozen meals

By Matthew Beard

Published: 17 April 2006

Devotees of ethical consumerism were dismayed when The Body Shop was sold last month to a company part-owned by Nestlé.

They may now have further food for thought following reports that the company set up by the vegetarian trailblazer Linda McCartney is also about to be swallowed up by the Swiss food giant, which is named today among a top 10 of “unethical” multinational companies.

The late wife of Sir Paul McCartney popularised a meat-free diet in the 1980s through her best-selling cookbooks, and in 1991 launched her eponymous range of frozen meals. read more

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Belfast Telegraph: "Ethical Consumerism"

Nestlé looks set to swallow up McCartney range of frozen meals
Belfast Telegraph; Apr 17, 2006

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Devotees of ethical consumerism were dismayed when The Body Shop was sold last month to a company part-owned by Nestlé. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Lloyds List: Statoil envisages Barents gas pipe link

Statoil envisages Barents gas pipe link

Oil giant studies options for transporting energy to Europe as it seeks access to Russia's Shtokman field, writes Martyn Wingrove
Lloyds List; Apr 18, 2006

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STATOIL has conceptual plans to build a gas pipeline from the Barents Sea to existing infrastructure in the Norwegian Sea. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Asia Pulse: INT'L OIL GIANTS SEEK EXCLUSION OF INDIA'S ONGC, RIL FROM NELP VI

INT'L OIL GIANTS SEEK EXCLUSION OF INDIA'S ONGC, RIL FROM NELP VI
Asia Pulse; Apr 18, 2006

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NEW DELHI, April 18 Asia Pulse – Oil giants Shell, Exxon and BP have sought a ban on bidding by India's Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) (BSE:500312) and Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) (BSE:500325) for fresh oil and gas blocks put on tender in the sixth round of the New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP). read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Jackson News-Tribune (WY USA): Report: Venezuela Took Land From Oil Cos.

Report: Venezuela Took Land From Oil Cos.

Staff and agencies
17 April, 2006

CARACAS, Venezuela – Venezuela reclaimed more than 10,700 square miles in potential drilling acreage from private oil companies last month by requiring them to join new state-controlled joint ventures, a newspaper reported Monday.

Under the new terms, PDVSA took at least a 60 percent stake in each field, hiked taxes and royalties, and took back drilling acreage that it claimed the companies had failed to invest in.

Unnamed foreign companies received a total of $900 million in “investment bonds” for use in new joint ventures to develop the oil acreage that was seized, El Tiempo said on its Web site.

Oil companies such as Chevron Corp., Brazil‘s Petrobras, and Royal Dutch Shell PLC lost oil acreage to PDVSA during the contract negotiations.

Venezuela is a founding member of OPEC and was the fourth-largest supplier of U.S. oil imports in 2005.


This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.