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May 13th, 2006:

THE NEW YORK TIMES: Military Plans Tests in Search for an Alternative to Oil-Based Fuel

May 14, 2006

Military Plans Tests in Search for an Alternative to Oil-Based Fuel

By THOM SHANKER

WASHINGTON, May 13 — When an F-16 lights up its afterburners, it consumes nearly 28 gallons of fuel per minute. No wonder, then, that of all the fuel the United States government uses each year, the Air Force accounts for more than half. The Air Force may not be in any danger of suffering inconveniences from scarce or expensive fuel, but it has begun looking for a way to power its jets on something besides conventional fuel.

In a series of tests — first on engines mounted on blocks and then with B-52's in flight — the Air Force will try to prove that the American military can fly its aircraft by blending traditional crude-oil-based jet fuel with a synthetic liquid made first from natural gas and, eventually, from coal, which is plentiful and cheaper. 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.

Petroleum News: State forecasts two more years of growth

State forecasts two more years of growth

Department of Labor: jobs added in Alaska for 18 consecutive years; moderate growth should continue this year and next

Petroleum News

The Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development expects Alaska’s 18 consecutive years of economic growth to extend through 20 years, adding 2006 and 2007 onto the growth period at moderate rates, 1.7 percent this year and 1.5 percent in 2007.

Department economist Dan Robinson, writing in the May issue of “Alaska Economic Trends,” said “high oil prices, a generally favorable national and international economy and significant federal spending in Alaska practically assure continued job growth over the forecast period.” 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.

Petroleum News: Technology keeps hope alive in Western Canada Sedimentary Basin

Technology keeps hope alive in Western Canada Sedimentary Basin

Finding enough natural gas to sustain flows from the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin is a tough job, but the hope that drives explorers is still alive, bolstered by new seismic and drilling technologies.

It is becoming “harder than ever” to uncork “good gas wells,” said FirstEnergy Capital analyst Steven Paget in a new research note.

“High-production gas wells are getting fewer and further between” and the quality of the top wells has declined since 2002, he said. 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.

Petroleum News: Beaufort beckons; majors bid C$52 million

Beaufort beckons; majors bid C$52 million

EnCana partnership acquires offshore exploration license adjacent to Richard’s Island wells; Shell Canada dips into offshore

Gary Park

For Petroleum News

Regardless of uncertainties surrounding the Mackenzie Gas Project, which holds the key to getting any gas out of the Mackenzie Delta-Beaufort Sea, Canada’s northern exploration prospects are attracting strong interest.

In the latest rights sale, a partnership of EnCana, Anadarko Canada and ConocoPhillips Canada made a successful bid of C$40.27 million for 140,000 acres on the Mackenzie Delta and Shell Canada took its first step into the Canadian Arctic offshore, bidding C$11.55 million for 247,000 acres in the Beaufort Sea, 120 miles northwest of Inuvik, Northwest Territories. 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.

Petroleum News: Shell Canada leader touts emissions trading

Shell Canada leader touts emissions trading
While the Canadian government is pulling back from the Kyoto Protocol to ponder its next move, one petroleum industry leader is growing tired of the uncertainty.

Shell Canada Chief Executive Officer Clive Mather is pressing for industry and government to join forces and accept the climate change treaty.

In two speeches within a week, Mather has called for action on several fronts.

“If we waited for everyone to sign up (to Kyoto), frankly, it would be too late,” he told a group of business leaders in Toronto on May 5. 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.

Itar-Tass: Sakhalin Energy signs contract on liquefied gas supplies to Japan

Sakhalin Energy signs contract on liquefied gas supplies to Japan

13.05.2006, 06.30

YUZHNO-SAKHALINSK, May 13 (Itar-Tass) — The company Sakhalin Energy that is developing oil/gas deposits on the Sakhalin shelf has signed a contract with the Japanese company Tohoku Electric Power on the supplies of 420,000 tonnes of liquefied gas a year to Japan. The supplies will be made for the next 20 years beginning from 2010 from a natural gas liquefaction plant under construction in Prigorodnoye, southern Sakhalin. The contract was signed in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk on Friday.

The capacity of the plant will make 9.6 million tonnes of liquefied gas a year, the Sakhalin Energy press service said on Saturday. The plant has been built by 70 percent, but the greater part of the plant’s produce will be supplied under the already signed contracts. Sakhalin Energy signed contracts on gas supplies with energy companies of Japan, the United States and South Korea.

The company Sakhalin Energy is an operator of the Sakhalin-2 project. According to specialists, this project is the largest complex oil/gas project in the world. Sakhalin Energy began supplying oil from the Sakhalin shelf on the international market in 1999 and produced about ten million tonnes of oil for the period. Companies from Japan, the US, Taiwan, the Philippines, China and South Korea buy oil produced by Sakhalin Energy. Sakhalin Energy is planning to launch liquefied gas supplies on the world market in 2007-2008.

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.

Glasgow Evening Times: THE partner of a man killed on a North Sea oil platform is suing for £800,000.

THE partner of a man killed on a North Sea oil platform is suing for £800,000.

 

Keith Moncrieff, 45, and Sean McCue, 22, died after being overcome with gas while working on Shell's Brent Bravo installation in September 2003.

 

Mr Moncrieff's partner, Jacqueline Ogilvie, of Dundee, has launched an action seeking damages from Shell, which owns the installation, and Wood Group, which employed Mr Moncrieff as a technician.

 

The case is being registered at the Court of Session in Edinburgh. 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 Times: Dead worker's partner sues Shell for damages

Times Online May 12, 2006

Dead worker's partner sues Shell for damages

By Michael Herman

The former partner of a man killed while working on a Shell oil platform is suing the Anglo-Dutch energy giant in an £800,000 joint damages claim.


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Jacqueline Ogilvie, who was due to marry Keith Moncrieff at the time of his death in September 2003, has today filed a lawsuit against Wood Group, Mr Moncrieff’s former employer, and Shell, owner of the North Sea oil platform he was working on when he died.

George Clark, managing director of Quantum Claims, a specialist compensation firm representing Mrs Ogilvie, said his client has accused Shell of “negligence” that led to financial losses for her and her two daughters. 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.

BBC NEWS: Shell sued by oil death partner

Shell sued by oil death partner
 

  

The partner of a man who died on a North Sea oil platform is seeking £800,000 in damages.

Keith Moncrieff, 45, and Sean McCue, 22, died after being overcome with gas on Shell’s Brent Bravo in 2003.

Mr Moncrieff’s partner Jacqueline Ogilvie has now launched an action seeking damages from both Shell and also Wood Group, which employed him.

Shell has already been fined £900,000 and the result of a fatal accident inquiry is also due soon. Mr Moncrieff, from Invergowrie, Dundee, and Mr McCue, from Kennoway, Fife, were inspecting a pipe on Brent Bravo, which lies 116 miles north-east of Shetland, when they died. 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-News Roundup: 13 May 2006: MORE TROUBLE IN NIGERIA:

Oil-News Roundup

The WALL STREET JOURNAL ONLINEMay 13, 2006

Crude-oil prices fell to less than $73 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, despite continuing geopolitical worries and trouble in Nigeria, as traders apparently chose to cash in after oil's recent rally. Here is today's well of news about oil and energy.

* * *

MORE TROUBLE IN NIGERIA: At least 150 people died when a ruptured gasoline pipeline exploded in southwestern Nigeria. It was the third disruptive incident in the region in as many days, though this seemed not to have been caused by militants, who earlier this week killed one foreign oil worker and kidnapped three others. Instead, the volatile fuel inside the pipeline simply exploded after a rupture, at a moment when several locals had surrounded it and were trying to gather the spilling gas for fuel or resale on the black market. Crude prices, which had fallen earlier in the morning after militants released the kidnapped oil workers, recovered a bit after the explosion. One cynical oil analyst said the incident, while tragic, was “not that big a deal from [a] supply perspective.” But Nigerian supply concerns are not going away any time soon. Militant attacks in the country have shut down about a fifth of its daily production, putting upward pressure on global crude prices. Today, the militant group Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta vowed to attack a liquefied natural gas plant in Bonny. 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.

Daily Telegraph: Can you afford to ignore risk of fraud?

Can you afford to ignore risk of fraud?
By Ian Cowie, Personal Finance Editor (Filed: 13/05/2006)

Former fraudster Frank Abagnale is a classic example of poacher turned gamekeeper.

He was in town this week to promote a new service which aims to protect us from 21st century forms of theft, which the Home Office reckons cost £1.7 billion last year. Mr Abagnale also had some free advice to help make life more difficult for the cyber crooks. As always, his timing was impeccable.

On Monday, The Daily Telegraph had revealed how a £1 million scam forced Shell to suspend payment for petrol with chip and pin (Personal Identity Number) cards in all its 600 forecourts. 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 Guardian: Up to 200 killed in Nigeria as fuel thieves cause huge pipeline blast

Up to 200 killed in Nigeria as fuel thieves cause huge pipeline blast Tom Ashby in Inagbe beach and Reuters
Saturday May 13, 2006
The Guardian
A pipeline explosion killed up to 200 people on the outskirts of Lagos yesterday, leaving charred corpses on a sandy beach where locals tapping the pipe to steal fuel ignited the blast.

The Red Cross said the pipeline blew up in the early hours of the morning while thieves were siphoning fuel into jerry cans for sale on the black market. The explosion burned everything within a 20 metre radius. Only calcinated skulls and bones were left of five people who were closest to the pipeline, which bore marks of drilling in several places.

About 100 blackened corpses were strewn on the water's edge. Some bodies, charred and bloated, floated in the creek, which is about a mile from Lagos city centre. “You can see the corpses. Some are burnt to ash. Others are remnants. We estimate 150 to 200 people died,” the Lagos state police commissioner, Emmanuel Adebayo, said at the scene. 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 NEW YORK TIMES: Oil Prices Vulnerable as Hurricane Season Nears

Oil Prices Vulnerable as Hurricane Season Nears

By REUTERS
Published: May 12, 2006

Filed at 2:16 p.m. ET

Skip to next paragraph Reuters

HOUSTON (Reuters) – Worldwide oil supplies may be even more vulnerable to disruption as the 2006 hurricane season approaches than they were before Katrina and Rita shut down nearly 25 percent of U.S. oil and gas production and 15 refineries in coastal states last year.

“We're still living in a disrupted world,'' said Guy Caruso, administrator of the U.S. Energy Information Administration, at a recent Houston energy conference. 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 NEW YORK TIMES: Nigerian Militants Threaten Major Gas Export Plant

Nigerian Militants Threaten Major Gas Export Plant

By REUTERS
Published: May 12, 2006

Filed at 7:29 a.m. ET

Skip to next paragraph Reuters

LAGOS (Reuters) – Militants threatened on Friday to destroy a $13 billion natural gas export plant in Nigeria.

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Deltasaid in an email to Reuters they were conscious of the potential for an attack on the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas plant to hurt nearby communities, and would launch a warning raid on an oil facility beforehand.

“We recognize the catastrophic result of an unannounced attack on the NLNG and will not do so without good warning to surrounding communities,'' MEND said. 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 NEW YORK TIMES: Three Foreign Oil Workers Freed in Nigeria: Police

Three Foreign Oil Workers Freed in Nigeria: Police

By REUTERS
Published: May 12, 2006

Filed at 3:51 a.m. ET

Skip to next paragraph Reuters

PORT HARCOURT, Nigeria (Reuters) – Three foreign oil workers, including an Italian, taken hostage in Nigeria's oil capital Port Harcourt were released on Friday after a day in captivity, police said.

The employees of Italian oil contractor Saipem were abducted at gunpoint by members of a community where Saipem was working and which was in dispute with the company over compensation for environmental damage. read more

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Irish Times: Clarification sought on gas pipeline plans

Clarification sought on gas pipeline plans
Lorna Siggins, Marine Correspondent
Irish Times; May 13, 2006

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The Government's Corrib gas pipeline mediator Peter Cassells has asked Shell E&P Ireland's chief executive Andy Pyle to clarify the company's position on alternative plans for the project. read more

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IPS News Network: Dutch Bank Urged to Pass on Russian Oil Project

ENVIRONMENT:
Dutch Bank Urged to Pass on Russian Oil Project
Emad Mekay

WASHINGTON, May 12 (IPS) – The giant Dutch bank ABN Amro, one of the world's largest financial institutions, is facing charges of “environmental hypocrisy” from green groups concerned over the bank's possible financing for a controversial Russian oil extraction project.

The accusations came on the eve of a ceremony in which ABN Amro was scheduled to accept the 2006 Gold Medal Award for “International Corporate Achievement in Sustainable Development” from the World Environment Centre, a Washington-based industry-backed organisation. 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.